Since its introduction in 2014, PopSockets have been the weirdest (and a bit clunky) grip on phones. They are popular with those who like to accessorize their phones with their flexible designs and people who like to play with an accordion-style pop-out piece. But the company is now hoping to attract a new customer with the Low-Pro, a new grip design that is so thin that when dropped, it sits lower than the camera bump on my iPhone 17 Pro Max.
The Low-Pro will go on sale Tuesday for $40, launching first at Apple stores and PopSockets.com, with additional retailers at the end of July. You can see more of how it works in the latest episode of One More Thing, embedded below:
Watch this: Flat PopSockets May Be More Attractive To Men: Hands With Low Grips
I’ve been using the MagSafe Low-Pro for the past week, and I can see the appeal this will have for those people who just want something that fits easily in their pants pockets. Like other PopSockets, it still attaches with MagSafe’s magnetic backing. The front has a soft matte finish, and while it doesn’t “pop,” moving a finger in any direction will lift the disc to reveal a single cut, flexible piece of polymer. The metal ring on the edge becomes a flexible swing stand to support your phone in portrait and landscape mode.
When open, the Low-Pro grip is designed to handle fidgeters who want to twist, twist and pull on it (well, up to 30 lbs of pull).
When Low-Pro is extended, it reminds me of a kid’s paper lantern craft project. The thin construction material gives the impression that it will be flimsy, but no matter how I twist, pull or try to pry from the holes, the material holds. Good news for fidget lovers: This seems to be able to handle all my stretching — and the PopSockets team tells me it was designed to withstand more than 30 pounds of stress in tests.
Apple Stores will carry the Low-Pro in four exclusive colors to begin with: Blue Aura, Electric Fuchsia, Black and Navy.
The PopSocket isn’t the first to come up with a magnetic phone holder. The company OhSnap gained popularity with its Snap Grip, priced at $30, which uses a metal hinge to fold down. But since I’ve used both, I prefer the PopSocket design because it’s easier to open with one finger at any angle, and it has an extra kickstand.
I sat down with PopSocket founder and co-founder David Barnett to learn more about the Low-Pro pivot. Although the PopSockets company will continue to make the existing design (the one that really came out), Barnett said that the motivation here for the new model is to attract men who told him that in years past they never gave PopSocket a chance because of its size.
PopSocket founder David Barnett didn’t start with the goal of holding a phone. Here, you’re holding the creation that inspired the PopSocket: large buttons on the back of the iPhone 3GS to help wrap around long headset cords.
“They said, ‘Oh, it’s going to get caught in my pocket,’ and I thought to myself, It never got caught in my pocket,” Barnett said. “Ultimately, I was looking for a solution that would meet this challenge of not being taken as big and big.”
There’s an added benefit to this slim design — you don’t have to remove your Low-Pro if you want to plug it into the MagSafe stand for charging. Don’t count on getting a quick charge: if there are many things between your phone and the charger (like the case and holder), the power will be slow for your device.
But I usually use MagSafe stands to support my phone at work. And for once, it meant I didn’t have to take out my PopSocket to hold it forcefully.
