Winter is nearing an end, so cold-weather gear reviews are almost silly, but for those of us that still have some snow or sub-freezing temps to deal with, gloves are a necessity. I recently picked up a pair of Isotoner SmarTouch gloves, which are designed to work with touch-screen devices. I had seen them before, but with a retail price of forty bucks, they were a bit more than I wanted to pay. Thanks to winter clearance at Sears, I found a whole bin of them going for 10 dollars a pair.
The SmarTouch line of gloves come in many styles, the pair I bought were the women’s stretch fleece. The gloves have a nylon back and fleece palm, which has silicone cross-hatching for added grip to your device or whatever you may be holding. On both hands, the index and thumbs have the conductive thread that allows the use of touch screen devices. Overall, I found the gloves to be snug fitting but comfortable, and thin enough to allow for some dexterity while keeping my hands sufficiently warm in temperatures of the 15-30 degree range. The only real warning I would offer regarding the craftsmanship is the fleece portion doesn’t repel water. At all. I found this out just by brushing some damp snow from my coat.
During usage with my Nexus One, I found the conductive tips worked about 90 percent of the time. The best responses, of course, came from broad movements such as launching an app or scrolling. More detailed usage such as typing was doable, but correcting mistakes is common. Because of this, I still found myself pulling the gloves off when I needed to type more than a couple words.
On the whole, I’m happy with my purchase, but I still would not buy them at the full retail price. If you can find them for less, then I highly recommend buying some. If you can’t use them now, tuck them away for next winter, or save them to give as gifts. They’ll never know how low you got them for!
