Don’t want to keep your hands in your puffy jacket’s pockets all winter? Wear winter gloves. If you’re going to do that, make sure it’s one of those touchscreen-friendly types, so you don’t have to take it off every time you want to swipe right on your phone.
Good news is, touchscreen-friendly winter gloves have been around for a long time now, as they started showing up as soon as the iPhone made capacitive touchscreens the standard smartphone interface. As such, plenty of materials and fingertip tech have been developed to ensure you can interact with your phone while keeping your digits covered, so there are plenty of choices for anyone looking to add phone-friendly winter gloves to their cold weather outfits.
Here are some of our favorites.
ViGrace Winter Warm Touchscreen Gloves
If you want something affordable, this simple and stylish knitted pair from ViGrace makes for really great value. It offers conductivity on three fingers of each hand (thumb, index, and middle), with the material available across the entire tip, so you don’t have to find the correct angle that will register with the touchscreen. The thumbs do require a little extra push when tapping on your phone, so if you type with your thumbs, you’ll probably have to calibrate a bit before you get the hang of it.
It’s a thinner type of glove, so it’s ideal when you need to work with your hands a fair amount, all while being reasonably warm, especially compared to some knitted gloves we’ve tried at a similar price point. Do note, the brand appears to make gloves mostly for women, so their sizes will be a bit off if you’re a guy. Keep that in mind when choosing a size to order (best to go one size up).
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Moshi Digits Touchscreen Gloves
Love thick, knitted gloves? We like the overall feel of this pair from Moshi, which uses a double-layer knit construction to deliver warmth. And yes, it’s really warm. Patterning across the palms and fingers add grip, so you can hold your phone more securely than standard knitted gloves, while conductive fibers on all 10 fingertips allow accurate control for your touchscreen devices. We love the snug fit of these gloves, along with the soft and cozy microfleece lining. It’s not the most durable gloves, however, as it does tend to fray if you use the gloves actively, while the lining occasionally separates from the outer layer, especially if you wear it for an extended period (you can just push it back in, though). Oh yeah, it’s also strictly for hand washing, so it’s not the most convenient.
- GripTrak pattern for improved grip of your handheld devices.
North Face Etip Glove
This technical pair of gloves use multi-panel construction to provide a snug fit that leaves no room for air to sneak inside, with an option to tighten the cuffs using the integrated strap clip. While we found it insulated enough for most winter days, it is far from the warmest gloves out there. In fact, it’s probably the least toasty out of everything in this list, so if you prefer really warm gloves, this is not the way to go.
Functionally, it’s really good to use with a phone, with every tap, swipe, and pinch registering properly. Because it is multi-paneled, some of the seams may get in the way when holding a phone or some other object, which can be some sort of inconvenience for some folks, although it didn’t really create any issues on our end.
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Mujjo Insulated Touchscreen Gloves
This glove is one of the warmest we’ve put on, courtesy of 3M Thinsulate and polar fleece insulation, without making our hands look unusually bulky. We love the straightforward, no-nonsense aesthetics, too, making it easy to pair with practically any winter outfit. It’s also incredibly functional, allowing you to do everything from unlocking your phone and scrolling through the phone book to using one of those slide-typing apps to write an email. Heck, you can even play games that require you to use all your fingers. So long as you don’t use fingerprint security on your phone, you won’t have to take it off at any time, while silicone lines along the palm and fingers provide additional grip when holding your phone. In case this one isn’t warm enough, by the way, you can also opt for the toastier double-insulated variant.
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Black Diamond HeavyWeight ScreenTap Fleece Gloves
Probably our favorite gloves for typing, this pair’s relatively thin construction makes thumb-typing on a phone pretty easy, while taps, swipes, and pinches registered pretty accurately (save for a few misses here and there). They’re stretchy with an elastic wrist, so they’re pretty comfortable to slip on and off, while a goat leather patch on the palm makes it easy to secure your phone in hand. It’s not the warmest glove out there, although it does have DWR coating that allows it to shed water and moisture really well. Its streamlined profile, by the way, makes it ideal for use as a liner glove, which the outfit does recommend when using it in sub-30-degree weather.
- 320 g Polartec Power Stretch Pro on back of hand
Sealskinz Waterpro
Need completely waterproof gloves, so you can shovel up snow while you’re texting on your phone? Try this pair, which bonds the merino wool liner and the goatskin leather outer shell to a unique hydrophilic membrane, creating a waterproof accessory that will keep your hands dry even in the wettest and coldest weather. Because the shell and liner are bonded, there’s no movement between layers, so the whole thing stays intact at all times while allowing a much closer fit.
It’s a very warm, very comfortable pair of gloves that offers really high dexterity, so you can move your fingers very well. Touchscreen functionality is limited to the index finger and thumb, though, so while it may not be ideal for gaming, it should be suitable for most anything else you do on a phone. Do note, you need to tap the phone exactly where the conductive material is located and, in our experience, it takes a few tries with these gloves to get that right.
Canada Goose Workman Gloves
If you’re willing to splurge on cold weather gloves that you can wear for more than a couple of winters, this leather pair will keep you smartly styled for way longer than cheaper alternatives, all while keeping the cold out with its rib-knit cuffs. Made with reinforced leather, it shrugs off abrasions very well, allowing you to wear it during active days, while being warm enough for all but the coldest winter weather. While the touchscreen conductivity is really good and accurate, it’s only restricted to the index fingers, so you’re fairly limited with the kind of things you can do. If you intended to do a lot of typing or gaming while on your phone, this probably won’t be the way to go. If you only use your phone to take calls and type short replies, though, it should be good enough. Yes, it’s pricey, but if you want a good-looking and reasonably warm pair of touchscreen-friendly gloves that can hold up to regular wear, this really does the trick.