It's cold! These are the best iPhone-compatible gloves to keep your hands warm

Posted:
in iPhone edited December 2017
Parts of the U.S. is getting slammed by a massive cold front, and touch screens don't always respond well to gloves. Why freeze, just to use your smartphone? AppleInsider has options to keep your hands warm, and still take that call from your mother!




All six of these options have either been used by AppleInsider staff, or come highly recommended to us.

For the truly arctic - Timberland's Men's Fleece Touch screen Gloves

There's cold, and there's cold. If you live in a climate with the latter, Timberland has an option. Available in four colors, and three sizes, the gloves eschew the "whole-glove" conductivity that earlier options sometimes include to the detriment of insulation, giving only conductive pads on the user's index finger and thumb.




The Timberland Men's Fleece Windproof Glove with Touchscreen Capability retails for between $25 and $35 at Amazon.com.

Style, and smartphone use - Ralph Lauren Black Leather & Wool Touch Gloves

It's pretty apparent with some smartphone gloves that you're wearing a special set of handwear so you can use your phone. If you'd rather go a little fancier, Ralph Lauren has a leather glove, lined with wool and nylon to keep your hands warm.

Like the Timberland option, the glove has a special pad on the thumb and forefinger, but there's a slit on the outer wrist to give the user a little more mobility overall.




The Ralph Lauren Black Leather & Wool The Touch Gloves come in small and medium sizes, and retail for $65. Prices start at $62.99 with free shipping at Amazon.com.

Getting stuff done - Mechanix Wear Winter Wind Resistant work glove

Style is good, and all, but sometimes you've got to go shovel the walk, or change a tire, and the ability to answer your phone is still good. The Mechanix Wear Winter Wind Resistant gloves have nylon reinforcement, are Thinsulate-lined, and come in a wider array of sizes than some other models.




While the Mechanix Wear Winter Wind Resistant gloves retail for $25, your size may be less expensive.

For the clumsy - Agloves Grip

It's bad enough that ice lines the sidewalks, making a fall and a smartphone disaster more probable. If you're already known as "butterfingers," that makes it worse.

The Agloves Grip Touchscreen Gloves not only are conductive for use on your iPhone, but also have "strategic gripper dots" on the palms of the gloves for a better grip!




Agloves Grip Touchscreen Gloves retail for $29.95 and come in one color.

For the forgetful - Timberland Mens Commuter Texting Gloves with Touchscreen Conductivity

If you leave your gloves on the subway, or have a habit of dropping them, get a few pairs for the price of one. You won't have a lot of size options, but you'll have more gloves to blow through.

The wrap-around conductivity pad on the finger-tip means that the gloves aren't handed, and you can buy five pairs, and lose eight gloves before your hands get cold!




The Timberland Mens Commuter Texting Gloves have only one size and stretch a lot, and come in four colors. The gloves retail for $8, but are often on sale for $7.49 a pair.

For bicyclists and motorcyclists - Icon Mens Non-Perforated Pursuit Stealth Street Motorcycle Gloves

Riding a two-wheeler in the winter can be hazardous. Not only do you have to watch for the meatheads who haven't completely scraped the ice off their car and can't see you, but incompletely plowed roads are a problem too. All the protection you can muster is a good thing.

The Icon Mens Non-Perforated Pursuit Stealth Street Motorcycle Gloves feature integrated knuckle armor, a secure wrist closure, and a goat-skin leather palm overlay, in addition to conductive pads for touchscreen use.




The gloves come in three sizes, and retail for $69.99.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 24
    friedmudfriedmud Posts: 165member
    Great list!

    I just bought a pair of the new generation NorthFace "eTip" gloves and they are amazing.  There is no obvious "touch pad"... it just works like black magic.  They are super sensitive.  Highly recommended!

    Here are the ones I got: 
    https://www.thenorthface.com/shop/mens-thermoball-etip-glove?variationId=MST

  • Reply 2 of 24
    None of these work with the iPhone 7 home button. The home button requires skin contact. This is another reason why I'm not a fan of the 7. 
    christophb
  • Reply 3 of 24
    verthib said:
    None of these work with the iPhone 7 home button. The home button requires skin contact. This is another reason why I'm not a fan of the 7. 

    I have the seirus soundtouch gloves and they work fine with my iPhone 7 home button.  

  • Reply 4 of 24
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,861administrator
    All of these work with the iPhone 7 home button. The conductivity requirements on the button are no different than that of the screen.

    None of them work with Touch ID, but I was hoping I wouldn't actually have to WRITE that.
    edited January 2017 muppetryMikeymikeslprescottjSnivelypulseimagesbonobobfriedmudredgeminipaneo-techbeowulfschmidt
  • Reply 5 of 24
    muppetrymuppetry Posts: 3,331member
    All of these work with the iPhone 7 home button. The conductivity requirements on the button are no different than that of the screen.

    None of them work with Touch ID, but I was hoping I wouldn't actually have to WRITE that.
    It is possible, though, that some gloves work with the screen but not the button, which seems to require a slightly better conduction path to the skin.
  • Reply 6 of 24
    I think the picture of that last glove wants to kill me.
    Please...!   Please, make it stop!!!
    edited January 2017 pulseimages
  • Reply 7 of 24
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,727member
    It's too warm here in Florida!  Not sure I'll get any sympathy though!  ;)
    pulseimageschia
  • Reply 8 of 24
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,861administrator
    muppetry said:
    All of these work with the iPhone 7 home button. The conductivity requirements on the button are no different than that of the screen.

    None of them work with Touch ID, but I was hoping I wouldn't actually have to WRITE that.
    It is possible, though, that some gloves work with the screen but not the button, which seems to require a slightly better conduction path to the skin.
    I'm sure it's possible that gloves don't, but all of these listed work with the iPhone 7 home button.
    friedmudchiaGeorgeBMacjony0
  • Reply 9 of 24
    The link to the Icon motorcycle gloves says nothing about a conductive contact. Do these gloves actually work with our iDevices?
  • Reply 10 of 24
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,877member
    muppetry said:
    All of these work with the iPhone 7 home button. The conductivity requirements on the button are no different than that of the screen.

    None of them work with Touch ID, but I was hoping I wouldn't actually have to WRITE that.
    It is possible, though, that some gloves work with the screen but not the button, which seems to require a slightly better conduction path to the skin.
    How/why is that possible? Has this been identified and documented?
  • Reply 11 of 24
    If you get gloves made with the silver thread stuff for touch screens that came out years ago then you can use any finger you like, not just ones with those special pads on certain fingers.
  • Reply 12 of 24
    muppetrymuppetry Posts: 3,331member
    muppetry said:
    All of these work with the iPhone 7 home button. The conductivity requirements on the button are no different than that of the screen.

    None of them work with Touch ID, but I was hoping I wouldn't actually have to WRITE that.
    It is possible, though, that some gloves work with the screen but not the button, which seems to require a slightly better conduction path to the skin.
    How/why is that possible? Has this been identified and documented?
    I haven't seen it documented, but I did some simple tests with materials of varying conductivity, and I found that some of the less conductive materials work fine on the screen but not on the button. As for why that would be the case, I can only conclude that the detection threshold (electric field deviation) on the button is a bit higher than on the screen, either a physical difference or in the software.
  • Reply 13 of 24
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,861administrator
    mscohen said:
    The link to the Icon motorcycle gloves says nothing about a conductive contact. Do these gloves actually work with our iDevices?
    • "ToucTec™ Leather Palm Allows You To Use Your Touchscreen Device With Your Gloves On"
    chia
  • Reply 14 of 24
    bonobobbonobob Posts: 382member
    mscohen said:
    The link to the Icon motorcycle gloves says nothing about a conductive contact. Do these gloves actually work with our iDevices?
    iDevice screens are sensitive to capacitance, not conductance.  So the gloves don't need to be conductive.

    Unfortunately, the author of the piece does keep talking about conductive gloves, which might be why you've been led astray.

  • Reply 15 of 24
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    friedmud said:
    Great list!

    I just bought a pair of the new generation NorthFace "eTip" gloves and they are amazing.  There is no obvious "touch pad"... it just works like black magic.  They are super sensitive.  Highly recommended!

    Here are the ones I got: 
    https://www.thenorthface.com/shop/mens-thermoball-etip-glove?variationId=MST

    I use North Face "Runners 2 ETip Glove"  for running.   They work great!   My hand stay warm and the work well on the phone or watch.

    For me, if it isn't Apple then it's North Face.  Both great companies making great products that make people's live better.
    friedmud
  • Reply 16 of 24
    friedmudfriedmud Posts: 165member
    verthib said:
    None of these work with the iPhone 7 home button. The home button requires skin contact. This is another reason why I'm not a fan of the 7. 
    My NorthFace eTip gloves work perfectly well with my iPhone 7 home button.
    GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 17 of 24
    muppetrymuppetry Posts: 3,331member
    bonobob said:
    mscohen said:
    The link to the Icon motorcycle gloves says nothing about a conductive contact. Do these gloves actually work with our iDevices?
    iDevice screens are sensitive to capacitance, not conductance.  So the gloves don't need to be conductive.

    Unfortunately, the author of the piece does keep talking about conductive gloves, which might be why you've been led astray.

    Actually they do need to be conductive, because it requires a conductive surface to modify the local capacitance of the screen (charge has to be able to move). 
  • Reply 18 of 24
    Gloves for Snowboarding? :)

  • Reply 20 of 24
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    Another recommendation for the North Face eTip gloves. They work great with the iPhone 7 Plus. 
    GeorgeBMac
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