Whether it’s keeping your feet dry in the snow, staying warm while working out or even finding fleece-lined leggings so your legs don’t freeze, dealing with the cold can be frustrating. But there’s one thing we just can’t stand when walking around in the cold: trying to use your phone with gloves on. It’s a lose-lose situation. If you don’t wear gloves, your fingers freeze, but if you do wear gloves, you have to take them off every time you need to send a text or check your maps app.
Fortunately, touchscreen gloves are built with a conductive material in certain fingertips that lets you use your phone while keeping your hands toasty. This sounds nice, but do touchscreen gloves really work? Can you actually type and text with them on? To find out, we went hands-on (hands-in?) with some of the most popular touchscreen glove options on the web and tested them ourselves. Here are 13 we found that actually work.
The Mujjo gloves are one of our favorite pairs of gloves we’ve ever tried. They’re slim-fitting, but extra-stretchy, so they are totally comfortable on your hands. These will be your go-to winter glove for any outdoor activity from walking the dog to hitting the ski slopes. — Rosanne Salvatore, deputy editor
These are a really attractive-looking pair of gloves with a slim fit. The wrist definitely fits snugly, so consider sizing up from your normal glove size to ensure they fit. Because of the tight fit, they work really well on screens and can definitely be dressed up or down depending on the color you choose. — Rosanne Salvatore, deputy editor
These gloves look like your average knit gloves, but they’re anything but average. Not only can you use them on any screen, but they also keep your hands incredibly warm because they’re made of wool. We tested this pair out during a snow storm and they earned top marks. — Rosanne Salvatore, deputy editor
I would still wear these gloves even if they didn’t play nice with my phone. The North Face’s Apex+ Etip gloves are some of the most comfortable and well-insulated I’ve worn in a while, and have done a great job keeping me warm during these brutal New York winter months. But they’re also great for screens — I had no problem swiping and typing with them on, and their silicone palms did a nice job keeping my phone secure while I caught up on messages. And unlike other touchscreen gloves I’ve used, every finger on these cozy hand warmers is screen-friendly, which made using my phone feel especially natural. — Michael Andronico, senior tech writer
These thin gloves kept my hands warm on my morning walks, and they’d be a great option if you want to run or exercise outdoors in colder months. However, they are thin, so if the weather gets really cold you’ll probably want a thicker pair. These gloves are made from a soft, polyester material that was felt comfortable on my hand and they had a perfectly snug fit. I also loved the extra grips on the palm and non-touchscreen tips, which made grabbing my phone and other items much easier than normal. I was surprised at how easily I could use my screen with these gloves on, specifically with my pointer finger. The touchscreen pad on the thumb didn’t quite sit perfectly on the pad of my finger, so I definitely found myself using my pointer finger more often. I could easily swipe, scroll and slowly text with these gloves on, making them a perfect buy if you only need to do simple tasks with them on like send a message or two. — Kai Burkhardt, associate editor
Not only are these gloves from The North Face sustainable, but they’re also very comfortable. I’ve been testing them in close-to-zero temperatures, in heavy rain and in snow. They’ve kept my hands warm and they’ve also allowed me to be quite functional. Thanks to a coating on select fingers, I’m able to easily interact with my smartphones (iPhone, Pixel and Galaxy S22 included) and Apple Watches. — Jacob Krol, tech and electronics editor
The first thing I noticed about these gloves is the fit. I have very small hands, and it’s rare that I put on a pair of gloves and don’t have a ton of room at the end of the fingertips. These were perfectly snug, and lined with some of the softest material I’ve ever had on, which is actually a blend of cashmere and wool. I also liked how three of the fingers (the thumb, middle and pointer) were touchscreen-compatible, as opposed to the more standard two. If you’re looking for some curiously cheap but also incredibly high-end looking gloves that’ll last you a few winters, I can’t recommend these enough. — Rachel Lubitz, senior lifestyle editor
These leather gloves are pretty thick, so their touchscreen compatibility isn’t outstanding. You won’t be able to type up emails or a paragraph-long text, but you can swipe around on your phone and send a quick message to your friends and family, although it might have a few typos. The Elma gloves have three fingers with screen-friendly tips, which is better than the more standard two, plus, they’re made from supple hair sheep leather and have a luxuriously soft cashmere lining. They’re stylish and decently warm, so if you don’t need to do a whole lot on your phone and just want to be able to check the time and your notifications, these gloves are a solid pick. — Kai Burkhardt, associate editor
The most important thing to note about these gloves is that they unfortunately run very big. The smallest size felt enormous on my hands, rendering them basically unable to truly be touchscreen compatible for me. The touchscreen fingertips were also only featured on the thumb and pointer fingers. However, I will say these are very, very soft. So soft that I actually ended up using them as regular gloves and didn’t even care that I had to take them off to use my phone. If you have not-so-small hands, these are fantastic and incredibly warm for daily use. — Rachel Lubitz, senior lifestyle editor
Featuring a screen-friendly thumb and index finger on each side, these Smartwool gloves are perfectly reliable for opening apps and doing some basic swiping. However, I found their touch-sensitive areas to be a bit too resistant when rapidly scrolling through my Twitter feed. And while these gloves are comfortable, they’re also very thin, so I wouldn’t recommend them for extreme cold. — Michael Andronico, senior tech writer
With these knitted gloves, it almost feels like you’re not wearing any. They are super comfortable to have on and kept my hands warm. The fit of these gloves was pretty spot-on, although I did find myself wishing that the cuff was a bit longer. Surprisingly, it was very easy to type out text messages, search things up on Google and click into my apps and I didn’t feel slowed down like I usually do when wearing touchscreen gloves. I also liked that I was able to use my phone with my thumb, pointer and middle finger. These gloves are a huge winner in my eyes and look great on as well. — Rachel Dennis, editorial coordinator
While wearing these gloves reminded me of putting on gardening gloves, they fit my hands pretty well and I love that they have an adjustable strap in the wrist area for a tighter fit. I found that these gloves did a perfect job at keeping my hands warm and toasty during an hour-long walk in the cold with my dog. Even though it was easy enough to navigate around my phone with these gloves on, I found it very difficult to type text messages using my thumb and pointer finger. Overall, I think these gloves are great at keeping you warm but will slow you down a lot if you need to send a quick text or two. — Rachel Dennis, editorial coordinator
These gloves have a spandex-like feel to them and a soft suede-like interior that make them super comfortable to wear. While these gloves do a great job of keeping your hands warm I felt that the fit was off for me in some places. The wrist area didn’t have as snug a fit as I’d have liked and there was a lot of extra space in the thumb area, which had a big impact on how I could use my phone while wearing these gloves. While I was able to open up my apps and type out text messages (albeit slower than usual) with my pointer finger, it was disappointing that the extra fabric from the thumb area prevented me from using both of my fingers as intended. All in all, they are a solid pair of gloves that allow you to use your phone without exposing your hands to the elements. — Rachel Dennis, editorial coordinator