Flat PopSockets are here. Will men want it now?

If you thought PopSocket foam grips were too bulky, well get a load of this

It's flat! I have been taking the Lowepro for a test drive, but first I sat down with PopSocket founder David Barnett

to get the story behind its design. This is the Lowepro. I need to hear all about how this came to be

How it came to be is a long story. I was a philosophy professor at University of Colorado

and I was frustrated with my headset tangling every time I took it out of my pocket

So I went to the nearest Joanne Fabric and glued a couple of clothing buttons to the backside of my phone

Voila, I solved my problem, but I had a new problem. My friends and family all made fun of me for this ridiculous solution

To prove my friends and family wrong, I thought I would design a case with two buttons that it would expand and then collapse flush

And so I taught myself 3D CAD. This is my very first prototype

It's about the same thickness as our new grip, the Low Pro, but it doesn't work at all

It took 60 more rounds of prototypes, hundreds of designs. Popsockets all began as a sticky thing you put on the case

but the iPhone MagSafe made it easier to swap out designs and accessories magnetically

Now, I like to have fun swapping out statement pieces, but this is for another kind of customer

Each time I would meet a male consumer almost every time the men would say to me oh that super cool I love that but I can use it And I say why not And they say it would get caught in my pocket

And I think to myself, it's never gotten caught in my pocket ever. And so ultimately, I wanted a

solution that would meet this challenge of not being perceived as thick and bulky. We were first

focused on the original accordion design, and then we pivoted to this completely different mechanism

We call it the Popstar expansion layer. So it's a one-piece tapered mechanism that conforms to the fingers and soft, comfortable, but highly durable

And this grip is fidgetable. So you can slide it open, snap it shut

All right, that was fun getting to talk to the team. But I also have a few impressions after fidgeting with it a bit

It feels interesting. It's also really thin. I mean, I always put my phone in my back pocket, so I do like that it just kind of slips in there

And it is, though, springy, and I keep wanting to play with its springy bounciness

And all these holes I find myself as I'm walking around just wanting to stick my finger in it very awkwardly

I mean, that makes for a really good fidget. It looks really weird, but you know what

It's holding together, and it's keeping its shape. And I've been tugging on it

It looks thin because the way it comes together with its little design but it been fine so far to matter how I try to tug at it The company says it can handle about 30 pounds of pressure

You can really like mess with it and it's still pretty strong and they have gone through a lot

of testing to see that it's durable. A big question is if it can handle charging and yes

the more you put between the MagSafe charger and your phone, like a case and another pop socket

well, it's going to slow down that connection. So I really wouldn't keep this on if you want fast charging

Fun fact I learned, these were almost called iButtons before he landed on the name Popsockets

But, you know, the whole Popsocket phenomenon got out there so early in the iPhone game

that I feel like everyone just calls any grip a Popsocket. So yes, there are other grips out there that are flat

And I've used this one by a company called Osnap. and when I compare the two

I do think PopSocket made a good option here because of the way it's designed

not only can you pop it open from any angle by just pressing your finger down

it kind of pops open. With the O-Snap kind, you have to sort of do it right at the bottom and the top

or kind of twist it around a bit. So technically it takes a little more fudging

to get it open and closed, but I also like how PopSocket has this option

of a really strong ring as part of the stand Now pop sockets normally range from to depending on the design And these low pros are It the same as this big chunky Mandalorian

one that I've been sporting for a few days now. You're going to first see the low pro pop sockets

at Apple stores. It'll come in four colors. And after a month or so, you'll see it at other

retailers, including popsockets.com. So yeah, this might be something you see more of in the summer

What is interesting to me is how when you pop it on, and I'm using my little Grogu case here for display purposes, it is actually lower than the camera bump of the iPhone

It kind of tells you how big that camera bump is getting now, isn't it? You will be able to stick this to other metal surfaces, but just keep in mind that the camera bump might get in the way

Regardless, we are entering a world where there are more MagSafe accessory choices than ever

And I like seeing companies push where they can go next or show us where they can squish next

Let me know in the comments if you're into this thinner design if you've been afraid to pop socket before because they're too big for your pants perhaps

Or you know, maybe you just want to try a different kind of stand

Thanks to David Barnett and the pop socket team for showing us how they're popping next. Yes

I'm still making bad jokes and you're still watching. Thank you for that

Let me know in the comments what you think. I'll see you next time