Best phone grips for students 2023
Get a better grip on your phone with these awesome accessories.
School is a dangerous environment for most tools and tech, but none more so than phones. Phones are essential items always in arm's reach, but often bumped, dropped, or banged in the hustle and bustle of changing classrooms or running to meet up with friends at lunch.
The best phone grips for students are a lifesaver for slippery fingers and we've rounded them up for your perusal. Considering how affordable most of these are, they're well worth the investment.
Here are the best phone grips for students
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15 colors
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. Plus, they double as a kickstand. These also come in a bevy of colors to match your personal style and phone case. We've tried and tested multiple PopSockets PopGrips and they are the best phone grips money can buy.
15 colors and designs
Speck's phone grip is the size of a credit card, comes in dozens upon dozens of styles. It's easy to keep a precise grip in our experience. Best of all, since the grip is wide and flat, your phone won't wobble around your desk the way it might with other phone grips.
Champage gold, Gunmetal, red, Rose gold
Like the original Spigen Style Ring, the Spigen Style Ring 360 is easy to apply, comes in great colors, and works as a kickstand in vertical or landscape mode (an improvement over the last Style Ring). This phone grip also lets your phone sit flat on the desk, and is compatible with magnetic phone mounts.
Black
Ghostek makes some great phone cases, but did you know it dabbles in phone straps and grips as well? Let me introduce the clever Ghostek Loop, a handy little accessory that has an interchangeable phone strap and a tiny little kickstand that pops out. Thanks to the strap, the Ghostek Loop is compatible with wireless charging as well.
11 color combinations
Not all students need a full wallet, especially when they can just stick their student ID and lunch money in this handy grip-wallet combo from Sinjimoru. The Sinji Pouch Band's elastic, which you can use as a phone grip by sliding your hand through, wears out over time. But it should last the school year, so long as you don't yo-yo it.
Black, clear; 1-, 3-, or 5-pack
A slap bracelet and a phone grip made a baby, and it's wonderfully clickable. The Scooch Wingback has the most durable kickstand around, according to our experience with the grip. Unfortunately, this blend of phone grips and stands is not compatible with Qi charging, but it lasts a long time, and is easy to deploy with one hand. Grab a single one for yourself or a multi-pack to share.
28 color and design options
This banded grip will click in or out of the bracket at the top to swap it between a grip, a kickstand, or keep it flat when the phone is in your pocket. CLCKR's Universal Stand and Phone Grip is available in a wide variety of textures and finishes, and it's a very stable vertical kickstand that can also show off your personal, quirky style.
Dozens of colors and styles with limited edition options
CASETiFY focuses on protecting the environment big time, making us appreciate the brand's 2-in-1 Grip Stand all the more. It may be pricey, bit this grip doubles as a kickstand in a pinch. As we've tested many CASETiFY accessories for ourselves, we can vouch for the durability and high quality of the CASETiFY 2-in-1 Grip Stand. Keep an eye out for limited edition designs you'll want to get while they're hot.
Black, Lavender, Stormy Blue, Tercotta
Pela has mastered the art of creating understated phone accessories that are compostable. This collapsible phone grip is simple yet effective, and you can feel good about purchasing it since you know it won't be contributing to landfills once you're ready to exchange for a new one. Even the packaging it comes in is made of recycled paper.
Black and blue, Rose gold and silver
I have been using the HANDL New York HANDLStick phone grip for years and absolutely adore it's simplicity. It uses an elastic brace system so you can neatly slide your hand through to grip the phone for taking selfies or even while walking. Pop the top into the groove and it becomes a kickstand to prop the phone up vertically or horizontally. It does wear over time, especially if you use it often. But mine lasted for years before it needed replacing.
14 colors and styles
The elastic LoveHandle PRO phone grip is the successor to one of the most recognizable phone grips made in America. It consists of an elastic strap incorporated into a plastic mechanism that swings outwards, doubling as a kickstand. The LoveHandle PRO comes in a bevy of patterns and colors with matching plastic bits to boot. Think everything from marble to leopard print to the American flag to show off your patriotism.
Black, Clementine, Midnight blue, Olive grey, Teal
Like the wallet/grip combo, but still want a built-in kickstand? This model from Sinjimoru is slightly thicker than the other Sinji Pouch Band due to the leather flap attached to the elastic that can be folded to use as a kickstand. There's also an extra flap to help keep cards in the wallet section, and the Sinji Pouch B-Grip comes in plenty of colorways.
Why the best phone grip for students is a PopSocket
PopSockets come in swappable varieties that allow you to swap among styles to match your kid's wardrobe (and are removable for wireless charging). PopSockets are affordable, recognizable, and with the Pop Culture collection updated (Hello Baby Yoda!) to swappable PopTops, they're cool, too.
PopSockets are also as much a toy and stress relief accessory as they are a tool. I often pop one of my spares up and down when I get bored during staff meetings. I'm sure there are some easily distracted kids (like me) out there who could use a fidget toy to help them avoid drifting into a daydream during a lecture.
Kickstands are cool, but you know what's really cool? Vertical kickstands.
While the best phone grips for students to use with their Android phones provide a secure hold of the device, there's more to a phone grip than in-hand use. Most non-fabric phone grips double as landscape kickstands, like PopSockets and Spigen's Style Ring 360. But there are a growing number of phone grips that also allow you to set your phone upright next to your computer, so you can scroll through Threads or reference notes while rushing through some last-minute homework, is quite limited.
Among the group that can do both, I would recommend the Scooch Wingback, the Spigen Style Ring 360, CLCKR, and HANDLstick. The Scooch's springy mechanism is the most resilient among phone grips, outside of the classic PopSocket accordion. If you want something less bouncy, the CLCKR is a bit less of a balancing act. The HANDLstick is a more refined design: did you know the company was started by an artist who got inspired for the design by looking at how he held his paint while creating artwork?
None of these support wireless charging but I'm more than happy to plug in at night if it means I can use my phone as a note-stand during my work, which I do often. If you value your wireless charging capability, the Ghostek Loop is a good alternative. It has a phone strap dangling from and it and a teeny tiny little kickstand that flips open when you need it.
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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.
- Namerah Saud FatmiEditor — Accessories, speakers, and tablets