Pivo Pod Silver Review

Disclaimer: This blog post contains affiliate links

The Pivo pod seems to be all over social media recently. It seems to be a cheaper alternative to the other very expensive auto-follow cameras on the market. As someone who films every lesson with a camcorder, I was incredibly intrigued. I've always wanted to have videos of higher quality than what my camcorder can provide. And I always wanted to have my camera set up at a different angle but that would mean sacrificing a large amount of the ring due to the camera's blind spots. When I found out about the Pivo, I was excited and hoped that this would be the answer I was looking for.

So did the Pivo meet all of my expectations? Keep reading to find out.

Photo credit: Pivo

If you’re unfamiliar with the Pivo, it’s a little rotating stand for your phone. The Pivo pod links up to your phone through their app. Once they are connected through Bluetooth, the pod will rotate to allow the camera to follow you as you ride around the ring. This is all done through the app’s motion sensor. Once it detects a horse in front of the camera, it will lock in and tell the pod to rotate as the horse moves away from the center of the frame.

The Pivo pod can rotate 360 degrees. That way, the pod is capable of following you even if you place it in the center of the ring (which is what Pivo recommends). I’ve never put my pod and phone in the middle of the ring, however. I decided to keep mine on the rail for two reasons. The first reason, I don’t want to have it somewhere where it could be in the way. As a jumper, having the pod set up right next to a jump means that I can’t get footage of that jump or it could get knocked over if there’s a refusal or a runout. If I set it up in the middle of the ring away from a jump, then it very easily could get in the way when working on tight turns or during my warm-up. The second reason, I don’t want to risk anything breaking. If my setup were to fall or get kicked, then I risk not only spooking my horse (and other horses in the ring) but it also probably means that I’ll need to buy a new phone. Something that I simply cannot afford to risk. So, I’d much rather be safe than sorry and I keep the Pivo pod and my phone out of the way and on the rail.

Red vs Silver
Photo credit: Pivo

I decided to buy the Pivo pod silver. For the price difference, I figured that I’d rather make sure that the pod can keep up than paying less and not being able to use it to film me jumping my courses. And I would recommend that you do the same. I'm not confident that the red pod can keep up as you canter past it.

I also decided to purchase the starter pack. Mainly because I wanted the travel case. It also comes with a smart mount so that you can change the angle of your camera if needed. The travel case is nice quality. It fits the pod and the remote snugly. They won’t be sliding around during travel but the smart mount won’t fit in the case. The smart mount is made of metal and holds onto your phone securely. It adds a bit of height to your phone but the height isn’t adjustable. The smart mount only allows you to tilt the angle of your phone. You can tilt it up or down. Which could be handy in certain environments.

Some of the other add-ons that you can purchase are the tripod, the action mount and the studio 360. The pod fits on any standard tripod mount so unless you need a tripod and don’t own one already, you won’t need to purchase this. The action mount allows you to add your GoPro camera to the Pivo pod. Your phone still needs to be connected to the pod for this to work though as the pod still needs to track you through the app. You can then decide to record using both your phone and the GoPro or the GoPro alone. Just make sure to press record on your GoPro as the remote and the app will not do that for you. The studio 360 allows you to turn your Pivo into a rotating platform. Whether you want to film a 360 video of a product or you want to take pictures of a product in a mini photo box, this could be a useful add on for you.

I should also add that the Pivo pod will automatically come with a remote. This remote allows you to start and stop recording from a distance. So you can get the pod set up, mount up and then press record. The remote will allow you to stop recording during your walk breaks or cooldowns without needing to walk over to your phone screen.

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I do want to make this point really clear though: the remote is not a tracking device. The Pivo tracks motion.

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It does not have a sensor to follow the remote. Which I was hoping it did. Maybe they’ll develop a wristband or update the app in the future, but for right now, the Pivo follows motion only. This means that if you have more than one horse riding in the ring while using the Pivo, it will get confused and start to follow whichever horse the sensor detects. This means that it could be tracking you and your ride, but if another horse gets in between you and the Pivo for long enough, the Pivo will start to follow them. The only way to get it to follow you again is to stop what you are doing and purposely get in front of the Pivo for it to track you again. It’s the huge downside to the Pivo if I’m honest. And I know that riding in an arena alone just isn’t possible for many of us. For this reason, the Pivo hasn’t replaced my trusty camcorder. Instead, I have the two cameras set up. That way I can make sure that I can get the whole footage of my ride.

Pivo pod dimensions
Photo credit: Pivo

Photo credit: Pivo

The Pivo starter pack
Photo credit: Pivo

To summarise, I thought it would be useful to list the pros and cons of the Pivo pod silver before giving you my final thoughts:

Pros

-Links through Bluetooth (No internet connection needed)
-Affordable
-Could replace a cameraman
-The dynamic footage is more pleasing to watch
-Easy to set up
-Doesn’t take up too much space
-The app is always being updated

Cons

-May need to manually rotate pod if it rotates too much and faces out of the ring
-Not ideal when riding with others in the ring
-Requires enough phone storage to save the videos
-Feeling the need to make sure that it is still tracking you throughout your ride

Overall, I am happy with the Pivo pod. For its price point, I don’t think it’s fair to expect it to do what the other expensive options can. My only real disappointment with it is it’s tracking abilities. If they developed a wristband or if they updated the app to be able to follow the remote, then I would be recommending this to everyone and singing its praises. But until that happens, I’ll continue to set up my camcorder in the corner to capture the whole ride at a distance. I just don't trust it enough to record me the whole time. I'd much rather have both cameras set up.

I will be sharing some of the footage that I get from the Pivo over on my personal Instagram account @ashley.s.ward if you’d like to follow me there. If you would like to purchase your own Pivo pod, then you can click here or click on any of the images or links in this post. As mentioned at the beginning of this post, they are affiliate links. Though they allow me to receive a small commission from every purchase using the link, it does not affect your price point at all. As always, this review is still unbiased. My thoughts are still my own and have not been influenced by the affiliate program whatsoever.

If you have any more questions about the Pivo pod, then please let me know. I will try to help you the best I can.

Until next time, happy riding!