The Sneaky Squid Nova ($59) seeks to solve one of the major issues with smartphone photography—capturing natural looking images in dim lighting conditions. It's no secret that even on the latest Apple iPhone 6 Plus, the on-camera LED flash leaves a lot to be desired. The Nova illuminates scenes with diffused light from 40 LEDs, and its off-camera design allows you to position it to your liking. I found it a bit awkward to use, as I prefer to hold my phone with both hands when shooting, and there's no power switch or battery indicator, so you'll have to be diligent in keeping it charged. But if you're looking to step up the quality of your smartphone images, the Nova is worth a look.

The Nova is billed as being small enough to fit into a wallet, and it is. It's no bigger than a credit card, although it is a lot thicker. If you do choose to stow it in your wallet you'll have to keep it in the billfold area; it won't slide into any of the pockets that are designed to hold credit cards. It charges via micro USB—there's a yellow light that shines when it is charging; it turns off when the unit is fully powered. There are 40 lights housed in the small frame; half are balanced at a cool color temperature, and the other half are warm.