Best Grabber Tools

See our full ratings of grabber tools.

For people with very specific needs, grabbers can be a very personal decision. Someone with arthritic hands might prioritize handles that are easy to squeeze. Others might find it more important to have a foldable grabber that’s easy to tuck away in a small space. Given this, read our reviews below, pay close attention to the features (or lack thereof), and if you’re on the fence, consider buying a couple of grabbers online and returning those that don’t work for you.

Effortless triggers: All our picks below have easy-to-pull triggers. Some allow the use of more than one or two fingers. If you have mobility issues in some of your fingers, it makes sense to choose a grabber that allows more fingers to help with the job.

Magnetic assistance: Some grabbers offer a small magnet on the outer part of the grabber claw that can be helpful for picking up metal objects. 

Adjustability: Some grabbers are basically a stick with a claw, while others allow you to adjust things like length, angle, and rotation. We found that the ability to rotate the claw can make it easier to approach objects from the best angle.

Materials: A few of the tested grabbers are made with flimsy metal, and their claw tips don’t align well. These grabbers are excluded from the recommendations above.

Popda Reacher Grabber Tool has a grip span that some found too large, and it scored low in construction.

EZ Reacher Steel Reacher Grabber Tool has tips that don’t align perfectly, and it’s hard to squeeze the final inch of the claw closed. There are also concerns about fragile metal that seems to warp easily.

Unger Professional Nifty Nabber has an easy trigger, but the handle is at an odd angle, underneath the product, so you have to squeeze upward, which sometimes tweaks your wrist and arm into an odd angle. Testers also struggled with angled claws like this one when it came to picking up objects above them.

Amazon Basics Reacher Grabber Tool is quite loud, even right out of the package, and doesn’t seem overly sturdy. This model (sold as a two-pack) also lacks some basic convenience and comfort features.

Zayad Grabber Reacher Tool has one of the smallest tested weight limits for picking up objects, is too long when folded, and lacks key features like magnets, locks, or jaw hooks.

We assembled a group of seven people to use the grabbers for a total of one month. Six of the testers were in the Consumer Reports labs. I was the seventh tester, and I tried all the products at home. The testers had a variety of dexterity concerns. 

The testers and I analyzed the following aspects to determine how effective the reachers were:

Nobody wants to use a grabber that feels awkward or uncomfortable, or that calls for movements that could be painful (such as a difficult twist of the wrist). Comfort carried a weight of 35 percent in the testers’ analysis, and this score involved:

• Force needed to pull the trigger
• Grabber weight and weight distribution
• General handle design and ergonomics
• Potential pinch hazards

These metrics accounted for 35 percent of the Overall Score. All testers used the products across a variety of tasks and challenges, including:

• How well models can grab a can of potatoes from the top of the fridge
• How well models can grab a credit card from the floor
• The maximum weight the model is capable of grabbing from the floor
• Maximum/minimum diameter of objects that can be graded based on jaw measurements

Features that made the grabber tool simple and easy to use, and something you’d be inclined to reach for in a bind, fell under “convenience.” This factor had a 10 to 15 percent weight for testers and included:

• Rotating jaws
• Hook for storage
• Trigger lock
• Magnet on the jaw
• Foldable

Finally, testers evaluated the product’s construction and durability. This was based on the maximum weight the model could withstand before bending. Models that could withstand higher weights received higher scores. This feature was given a 10 to 15 percent weight in testing.