PopSockets Swappable PopGrip vs. Spigen Style Ring 2: Which phone grip should grip your phone?

PopSockets and Spigen have been the cream of the crop for phone grips for years, but they haven't been resting on their laurels. Last year brought new iterations on both PopSockets — with swappable PopGrips and PopTops — and the Spigen Style Ring's slimmer, sleeker 2nd-gen model. While we'd normally 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

Source: Ara Wagoner / Android Central

When trying to decide between PopSockets and Style Rings, there are a lot of stylistic and functional features to prioritize, but they boil down to 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 2 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.

Source: Ara Wagoner / Android Central

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 simple 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.

	Swappable PopGrips	Spigen Style Ring 2
Grip Material	Hard (PC) & Flexible (TPU) plastic	Zinc Alloy & Stainless Steel
Grip mechanics	Pop-up accordion with twist-locking PopTop switching mechanism	180-degree hinged Ring grip on 360-degree rotating base
Kickstand options	Single-angle landscape	Multi-angle landscape Multi-angle portrait
Wireless charging	Remove PopTop for wireless charging	❌
Mounting adhesive	3M gel ring	3M foam dot
Car/wall mounting options	Proprietary snap-in mounts only	Magnetic mount compatibility
Transferring between cases/phones	Rinse-able, reusable gel ring	Spare 3M dot included in box
Style options	Hundreds of PopTops in every color and style imaginable	5 solid metallic finishes
Best features	PopTop twist-lock switching mechanism TPU accordion doubles as a fidget toy	Easy single-finger ring grip Multi-angle portrait/landscape kickstand
Drawbacks	Kickstand use limited Potentially addictive	Bearings/hinges wear out Metal can feel harder on fingers
Price	$10-25 Swappable PopGrips $8-15 Additional PopTops	$13

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 $15 "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. I already have four PopTops — don't judge me! — and I've found myself looking for more twice this week alone.