Much like a great recipe, it started with a stick of butter.<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t real butter; it was a friend\u2019s new phone grip, complemented by a phone case with bold stripes. Butter is in vogue now, or at least that\u2019s what a 12-year-old told me a few months ago. This stick of butter<\/a> was labeled \u201cunsalty\u201d and committed to the bit by including the appropriate tablespoon markings, just like the real thing. I was enamored. \u201cWhere did you get that?\u201d I asked. It was a PopSocket-branded combo, and I found it so irresistible I ordered an equally eye-catching grip a few weeks later. After years of carrying buttoned-up, minimalist tech, I finally said, \u201cTo hell with it. I\u2019m gonna have some fun.\u201d I have zero regrets, and it seems I\u2019m not alone in this journey.<\/p>\n Over the past few years I\u2019ve been a vocal, occasionally regretful, member of Team No Phone Case. A case adds bulk and collects pocket lint. Why spend $800 on a piece of tech just to cover it up? If I must use a case, I want it to barely exist<\/a>. This philosophy worked great with my iPhone 13 Mini, which is perfect as-is. Its size means it\u2019s eminently grippable \u2014 no PopSocket necessary and it feels much more secure when I hold it. But phones are big now and are only getting bigger.<\/p>\n Since it\u2019s just held on by a magnet, you can take it off whenever you want to present yourself as a serious grownup<\/p>\n An extended period using Google\u2019s hefty Pixel 10 Pro Fold last year convinced me to adopt a magnetic grip just to use the thing more comfortably. At first, I gravitated toward the minimalist options like low-profile ring stands. But then I saw that stick of butter, and something clicked. A chunky grip is easy to hold. It\u2019s fun. And since it\u2019s just held on by a magnet, you can take it off whenever you want to present yourself as a serious grownup. Why not? I put in an order for a PopSocket shaped like a hot dog, and I was so excited when it arrived I accidentally pulled it apart<\/a>.<\/p>\n This \u201cwhy not have fun\u201d ethos has clearly been part of Bailey Hikawa\u2019s mission for the better part of a decade. She\u2019s been making unconventional phone grips and cases out of her Los Angeles studio since 2018. Her designs incorporate input from the disabled community, aiming to offer an easier grip for people who hold their phone differently. But they can be appreciated by anyone who\u2019s ever felt their phone slide out of their fingers. They\u2019re also vibrant and bold. \u201cI would like the phone case to feel like a friend or like a new stuffed animal,\u201d she told The Verge<\/a> in 2019. Earlier this year, Apple collaborated with Hikawa on a chunky, bright MagSafe grip<\/a>. Her own online shop includes other grips made of flexible, clear urethane with spaghetti noodles or baby shrimp suspended inside. They\u2019re handmade and the very definition of one-of-a-kind.<\/p>\n In more conventional territory, PopSocket has a surprising number of unusual grips and cases on offer. There\u2019s a classic tomato pincushion<\/a>, the food truck collection<\/a> where I found my beloved hot dog, and an aptly named \u201cSugar Rush\u201d collection<\/a>. I asked PopSocket founder David Barnett whether I was alone in my pursuit of a bold grip. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing more consumers embrace color, texture and personality in their phone accessories,\u201d he told me over email. \u201cI think people want their everyday essentials to feel a little less ordinary. Your phone goes everywhere with you, so why not have a little fun with it?\u201d<\/p>\n Me and my ridiculous PopSocket are in good company. Or we will be \u2014 I left it in the office last time I was in New York and its absence has been bumming me out ever since. We\u2019ll be reunited soon enough, but I guess if there\u2019s one downside to being able to take a grip off your phone easily, it\u2019s that you can accidentally leave it behind without much effort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Much like a great recipe, it started with a stick of butter. 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