Manfrotto and Tiltall are both good brands of tripod that don't need struts. The legs are sufficiently rigid and the hinge tolerances are good. If you think about the physics in terms of load vectors, the struts would basically reduce side-side slop in the center column if the legs are stable by 50%, and if the legs are stamped aluminum rather than steel (like a cheap walmart video tripod) they are more susceptible to rotational torque than a round tube leg (which can handle torque like a driveshaft). So if you have a cheap tripod with less stable stamped legs and a sloppy column, the struts don't do much for stability but might reduce warranty claims and returns from people snapping legs off the tripod like legs off a crab or lobster.
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