iPhone Glove Battlemodo

The iPhone is great, until, one frosty day, you realise its capacitive touchscreen doesn’t work through gloves. So we tested three pairs of iPhone-friendly gloves to decide which were best.

Freehands Stretch ($US21)
Gimmick: Finger tip flaps allow your real fingers to do the typing.

Finger tip hinges allow actual finger to touch iPhone screen, 100% responsiveness

Finger tip hinges are made of non-breathing wetsuit material

The tips, predictably, leak air in

Build quality is generally low

The North Face E-Tip ($US40)
Gimmick: Shimmery gold finger tips activate the iPhone’s capacitive touch screen.

Palm design is grippy, makes me feel like Iron Man

Touch responsiveness is at about 85%, though typing is futile

Thin enough to work as lining under additional glove for skiing, etc

We just got word that E-Tips are sold out nationwide with no plans for additional production. UPDATE: They’ll come back in the Fall 2009 line.

tavo Gloves ($US30)
Gimmick: Like the North Face E-Tips, the shimmery gold finger tips activate the iPhone’s capacitive touch screen.

Minimal black design looks like a normal glove

Finger responsiveness at about 70%, usable, but worse than E-Tip

So our conclusion is a sad one. The North Face gloves were our favourite if you can stand the overly-techie design (which my wife hated but I loved). However, the tavos do come in a close second, offering a passable way to check your email in the cold.