The original Spigen Style Ring was one of the most useful phone grips out there, but it was thick and the protruding center post made phones wobble when laid on a tabletop. The new Style Ring POP lets the phone lay flat, works with magnetic car mounts, and looks bolder than ever with colors like periwinkle Orchid Gray and candy apple Red.
Pros
- Grip rotates 360 degrees around the adhesive base
- Ring folds 180 degrees for any angle of grip
- Kickstand works in landscape or portrait at multiple angles
- New model's slim design lets phone sit flat
- Magnetic mount compatibility
Cons
- Metal grips interfere with wireless charging
- Hinges and bearings can wear out over time
- Limited color options
PopSockets are more than a phone grip; they're a pop culture phenomenon! The brand new swappable PopGrips are great for collectors and smartphone addicts. You can now swap PopTops without having to remove the adhesive base, and you can remove the PopTop for better wireless charging compatibility.
Pros
- Lots of designs and textures available
- Swap PopTops easily for a new look
- Collapsible grip doubles as a landscape kickstand
- Two-level pop-out mechanism doubles as a fidget toy
- Remove the PopTop for wireless charging
Cons
- PopTops can twist off unexpectedly at times
- Kickstand only works in landscape mode
- Only works with proprietary car/wall mounts
- Adhesive gel ring is thinner than original PopSockets
PopSockets and Spigen have been the cream of the crop for phone grips for years, but they haven't been resting on their laurels. This year has seen new iterations on both PopSockets — with the new swappable PopGrips and PopTops — and the Spigen Style Ring's slimmer, sleeker POP model. While we'd declare a winner between these two, the reality of phone grips is that what's "best" is going to depend greatly upon personal preferences.
Style Ring around the rosy, a PopSocket made for posing...
When trying to decide between a Style Ring POP and PopSocket, there are a lot of stylistic and functional features to prioritize, but at the heart of these grips is a fundamental choice: do you want to stick your finger through a grip's ring, or wrap your fingers around the outside of a grip?
I'm personally in in the ring camp, and the Spigen Style Ring POP is the most functional and beautiful ring-style grip we've ever seen, earning an AC Choice Award in its full review. The squared-off base of the POP's ring offers better stability for kickstand use — especially portrait kickstand use, an area where most phone grips struggle or outright fail.
Meanwhile, the popping up and down of a PopGrip's two-level accordion is as simple as it is addictive. Many users can be seen popping their PopGrips when they're bored or anxious — I certainly know I do. The new PopGrips are swappable thanks to a new twist-locking mechanism for the new PopTops, which can be bought separately or with a base as a complete PopGrip. The ability to remove the PopTop also helps thin the PopGrip base down so that it's more compatible with wireless chargers, though the thickness of your case still plays a factor in how effective it is.
| Spigen Style Ring POP | Swappable PopGrips | |
|---|---|---|
| Grip Material | Zinc Alloy & Stainless Steel | Hard (PC) & Flexible (TPU) plastic |
| Grip mechanics | 180-degree hinged Ring grip on 360-degree rotating base | Pop-up accordion with twist-locking PopTop switching mechanism |
| Kickstand options | Multi-angle landscape Multi-angle portrait |
Single-angle landscape |
| Wireless charging | ❌ | Remove PopTop for wireless charging |
| Mounting adhesive | 3M foam dot | 3M gel ring |
| Car/wall mounting options | Magnetic mount compatibility | Proprietary snap-in mounts only |
| Transferring between cases/phones | Spare 3M dot included in box | Rinse-able, reusable gel ring |
| Style options | 5 solid metallic finishes | Hundreds of PopTops in every color and style imaginable |
| Best features | Easy single-finger ring grip Multi-angle portrait/landscape kickstand |
PopTop twist-lock switching mechanism TPU accordion doubles as a fidget toy |
| Price | $13 | $10-25 Swappable PopGrips $8-15 Additional PopTops |
If you still need a little more help picking one over the other, the complaints against each model can help you narrow it down. The Spigen Style Ring POP's metal grips prohibit wireless charging. Its metal ring is easier to wrap a single finger around — you can even wear your phone like a super-sized bling ring — but some users feel the metal ring is harder on their fingers over time than the soft plastic of the PopGrip accordion. The metal hinge and bearing can also wear out more quickly than the PopGrip's pop-up, pop-down, pop-up, pop-down, accordion.
Speaking of, the PopGrip's namesake popping makes it a better fidget toy than kickstand, which only works in landscape and only at one angle. PopSockets can come in just about every style and color under the sun, but that also means that unlike the Style Ring POP's $13 "buy one, you're done," PopSockets many styles and designs can turn into a Pokémon-style "gotta catch 'em all" addiction. There are many people who collect PopSockets, and the new swappable PopGrips and PopTops only make buying multiple styles easier, as you don't have to pull the adhesive base off to swap between them anymore.
Magnetic multi-tasker
Style Ring POP by Spigen
A cool, metal grip for hard-core users that want to get more done.
Whether you need to hang onto your phone on busy subway platforms or prop it up next to your laptop while you power through term papers in a coffee shop, the Spigen Style Ring POP is here to help your phone do more for you. As fashionable as it is functional, this grip can bring a POP of color and stability to phones big and small.
Popular plastic
PopSockets Swappable PopGrip
These grips are simple, swappable, and oh-so-satisfying to POP!
Not everyone needs to change grips every day to match their outfits, but the ability to swap PopTops on the new PopGrips — as well as remove them for wireless charging — make the most popular grip on the market even more useful. And at $10, they make a practical yet cool stocking stuffer.
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