Should you buy a PopSocket or Style Ring for Galaxy S10?
Best answer: If you value your fingers, you should at least consider getting some Swappable PopSockets for your Galaxy S10. This upgraded system allows you more — and more ergonomic — grip on the go, and the PopTop twists off to let you wirelessly charge. While Spigen's Style Rings have more stable kickstands and more gripping options, they're thicker and their metal construction interferes with wireless charging
PopSockets: Swappable PopGrips by PopSockets (From $10)
This is about more than cute kickstands
If you're thinking "I know how to hold a phone, I'm not some weak millennial always dropping their phone", you've kinda missed the main point of phone grips. Yes, holding a phone isn't hard, but holding your phone the wrong way can lead to significant damage to the joints and tendons in your hands over time.
Between years of heavy copy-pasting data entry and propping my phone up with my pinky at the bottom, my left pinky absolutely hates me. My thumb isn't much happier with the way I've strained it reaching for top-right menus on last year's Samsung Galaxy S9+, and the Galaxy S10 series is taller than ever. These kinds of injuries are called RSIs — Repetitive Stress Injuries — and while I can alleviate the soreness with rest, I will never get rid of it completely.
That's where phone grips, like PopSockets and Spigen Style Rings, come in. PopSockets aren't just for protecting your phone and looking cute; they're here to protect your hands from the way you use your phone. It allows a wider, more natural grip while also giving your thumb easy access to a wider portion of the screen. As a reminder, we check our phones dozens if not hundreds of times a day, so using a relaxed grip rather than straining your hands around the sides and bottom of the slim S10 really will add up, especially when using the phone one-handed.
After all, a PopSocket is $10, while an RSI is for life.
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Get a grip without losing wireless charging
I love ring-style phone grips like the Spigen Style Ring, but the metal construction means that you can't use wireless charging while it's on your phone. As such, unless you want to take off your case every time you use your Galaxy S10 with a Qi chargers, you're better off buying PopSockets, especially with the new Swappable PopGrips that came out last fall.
Swappable PopSockets allow you to stick one PopGrip base to your phone — in one of six colors — and then you can swap between any PopTops you buy in a multitude of colors. Swappable PopGrips use a push-and-twist locking system that works exactly like a pharmacy prescription bottle, and because the metal pieces involved are in the PopTop rather than the base, you can remove the PopTop rather than your whole case when you want to use wireless charging.
You can also buy spare PopTops for a lower price than buying a whole new PopSocket because you don't need more than one PopGrip base, including delightful Swappable 3-packs like this delightfully retro Just Go Camping pack (seen right). Not every licensed PopSocket has been switched to the new Swappable design yet, but more and more are being added every week.
Ergonomic, fun, and dare I say cute
Swappable PopSockets support wireless charging when you twist off the PopTop while still allowing you a better grip, a larger range of motion, and a flash of style for your phone. This accessory isn't just a POP culture fad, it's an investment in your hands.
Ara Wagoner was a staff writer at Android Central. She themes phones and pokes YouTube Music with a stick. When she's not writing about cases, Chromebooks, or customization, she's wandering around Walt Disney World. If you see her without headphones, RUN. You can follow her on Twitter at @arawagco.