This works great as a monocular. It is nicely made and is durable material. I have not made it work on my phone yet, however, I have not tried it in different lighting situations. The brackets are not for a really large phone. I had to try and make it fit because my phone is pretty large. There is no light on the monocular and you have to line it up perfectly with the eye of the camera. I think with more trying it will work. This is a really nicely made item and great as a monocular.