Bright phone grips: why more users are choosing bold designs
A Verge writer explains how larger smartphones pushed her from minimalism to a bright magnetic phone grip. Accessory makers say interest in colorful, playful designs is growing.
Allison Johnson, a writer at the technology outlet The Verge, says that after years of using phones without cases, she has switched to a bright magnetic grip. The reason is the growing size of smartphones: after a long stretch with Google's large foldable Pixel 10 Pro Fold, she decided a grip made the device more comfortable to hold.
At first she chose understated options such as slim ring stands. The change came when a friend showed her a PopSocket grip shaped like a stick of butter, paired with a boldly striped case. She later bought a hot dog-shaped grip. Because it attaches with a magnet, it can be removed whenever she wants.
Unconventional designs
Bailey Hikawa, a designer based in Los Angeles, has made unconventional phone grips and cases since 2018. She says her designs draw on input from the disabled community, aiming to make phones easier to hold for people who grip them differently. This year Apple collaborated with her on a bright MagSafe grip. Her own shop also sells grips made of clear urethane with spaghetti noodles or baby shrimp suspended inside.
PopSocket offers collections such as a tomato pincushion, a food truck series and one called Sugar Rush. Company founder David Barnett said by email that consumers increasingly embrace color, texture and personality in phone accessories.
Why it is happening
The author argues that phone makers share some of the blame, since most phones come in muted shades. Bold accessories are easy to find: color-blocked "dopamine" cases are widely sold on TikTok and Amazon, there are cases holding a tube of lip gloss, and OhSnap offers grips in colors named "hazmat honey" and "electric teal."
For now, her own grip is sitting in the office in New York, and she is waiting to be reunited with it.
