GripStick Headphone Plug Extraction Tool

This tool allowed me to remove the broken piece of the headphone connector lodged inside the ipad. Highly recommend this product.

My son broke off a 3.5mm headphone jack in his laptop for school, rendering the port unusable. I tried all the solutions I could find on YouTube (straws, glue, etc.) and none of them worked. The broke plug was really jammed in there. I had purchased the 3 year extended warranty on the laptop from the big box retailer, and they said it would be at least 6 weeks turn around for the laptop to be fixed (they wouldn’t even try anything in the store...). This wasn’t feasible as he needs this for school. I called a couple local repair shops and they quoted over a hundred dollars, possibly higher.I saw the Gripstick and it had mixed reviews. I don’t know if I would have paid the $25 MSRP with the reviews, but somehow I got it on sale at $10 so it was worth a shot. First off, it arrived in only a few days despite the estimated delivery date of nearly 2 weeks later. This was awesome!I tried first just using my hands and didn’t have much success. I could feel it setting, but couldn’t grip the broken plug enough to extract it. I saw some places said a few gentle taps with a hammer will help it set better, so I tried that. Then I couldn’t plug it out so I grabbed it with some pliers and it came out and pulled the broken plug with it. AMAZING! Total time (including failed attempts), about 3 minutes. Successful attempt took about 30 seconds.It is thin metal, so it bent a little when I was gripping it to pull it out. I might be able to use it again if needed, but I’d plan on this being considered a single use product. $25 full price is a tough price to swallow, but if it works for you, it’s the quickest and cheapest option out there! And much easier than tearing about your device and replacing the port.

Spending so much on a tool that says it's a one-time use - I should have known better. It doesn't work. Poor quality too.

This product has too many things working against it.1. The metal is soft which makes sense for it to be able to pinch and grab the broken jack but this also leads to the tool getting bent very easily. Maybe if they had some kind if metal form that you could use to reshape the tool, it would mitigate this shortcoming.2. The soft metal works against it again if you have a broken piece that is large or off center. If you try to wedge into the space between the sides of the receiver and the jack, the tool will just curl up instead of surrounding the jack.3. Following the instructional video of how to use the tool, it showed using soft taps to try and surround the jack but again, the metal is too soft and the tip of the tool will just collapse and possibly push the broken piece in further.I wanted to like this product and spent a good hour trying to make it work but it just wasn’t happening.

I don't write a lot of reviews however, thought I would put in a word for this this little guy. I was skeptical after reading the mixed reviews. I took my laptop, with the broken pin in the jack, to two repair places. One suggested i take it apart and the other flatly took me they couldn't help me. I tried the glue method i saw on YouTube. Needless to say, it didn't work and I was afraid i made a bad situation worse. I had nothing to lose at that point and decided to give the grip stick a try.I unplugged my laptop, took out the battery and inserted the grip stick in the jack, praying all along. I pushed it in a bit and it appeared to go in. I then covered the head with a rag and tapped it very gently with a hammer. I felt the tightness. Now, the moment of truth. I pulled it out and did not see the tip come out. I used my flash light to peer into the jack and saw a hole. My heart raced thinking i had pushed the broken pin in even further. I was going to try sticking the stick in again when the piece fell out of the grip stick cylinder. Apparently, it came out with the first attempt but i had the non-hollow side facing me and see the extracted tip right away.What a relief!! The material and build of the tool itself may not be worth $20. However, it was more than worth it for me considering I would have paid more had someone worked on it. The cylinder is slightly bent on the hollow end close to the end. Considering the material has to be thin and light to get the job done, I am not worried. It may be for one time use and that's okay. I am saving it, just in case. For $20, give it a try. You never know.