Just because it’s winter and freezing cold outside doesn’t mean you simply give up and stop using your smartphone. There are still photos to be snapped, messages to be typed, and virtual buttons to be tapped. Half the parking meters these days force you to whip out your smartphone instead of pumping quarters or swiping a credit card… Regular gloves won’t cut it, as a touchscreen won’t recognize your input. Standard touchscreen gloves tend to be thin and not up to extremely cold temperatures, plus the sewn-on conductive pads that many use are a pain. That’s where the Moshi Digits touchscreen gloves come in. They’re warm and fuzzy, grip your phone securely, and the entire fingertip—of all fingers—works with touchscreens.
Old School Touchscreen Gloves
When smartphones first became a thing, cold weather was a problem. You couldn’t just put on a pair of gloves and expect to be able to operate your phone. It wasn’t long before glove makers came out with a solution: gloves with conductive pads sewn onto a fingertip (or two). They work, and the design has been refined over the years, but I’m always on the lookout for something better. The pads can crack or fall off, and they feel limiting. The thin, stretchy fabric that most use may make for easy finger motion, but it provides modest cold protection at best.
Moshi Digits: Warm, Fuzzy, Grippy, and Goodbye Finger-Pads
Moshi Digits are nothing like those old school touchscreen gloves. These are ultra-warm and fuzzy. Not bulky, but substantial, with a microfleece lining and a knit outer layer. There’s a nice elastic cuff to keep cold (and snow) out.
Instead of finger-pads, each of the fingertips incorporates woven conductive fibers. So you aren’t limited to one or two finger-pads, every finger can be used. And they work well—at least with the iPhone we tested with. When wearing gloves, the risk of accidentally dropping a phone increases. Especially when the gloves are a soft (and slippery) knit material and it’s cold. Moshi has you covered there as well. The palms right up to the lower fingers of both gloves are treated with the company’s GripTrak material that lets you grip a phone securely.
Despite the high-tech materials, Moshi says Digits gloves can be safely hand washed.
If You Have Large Hands…
One word of caution, the biggest size Moshi makes is a Large, and that was too small for my hands (my wife ended up doing the hands-on evaluation of these gloves). Large is suitable for a hand length of 7.1-inches to 8.1-inches, but if your hands are larger than that, you’re probably out of luck.
Recommendation
If you use a smartphone—or any touchscreen device—outdoors in cold temperatures, Moshi Digits are a great option. These double-layer gloves are warm, and you can use any finger to operate your device, while GripTrak keeps it secure in your hand. They are priced at $29.95 and available in two shades of gray.
Disclosure: Moshi provided Digits gloves for evaluation but had no input into this review. As an Amazon Associate, I earn affiliate fees from qualifying purchases.
