Review: New smarTouch Gadget Gloves

by Lori Cunningham

When I was approached by ISOTONER to review their latest pair of ISOTONER Gloves with smarTouch technology, I laughed.  How on earth would I be able to do a review on gloves when I live in sunny Southern California!  I thought I was going to have to wait 3 months before I would have a chance to use them.

The Clouds Came Rolling In

Miraculously, three days after the gloves arrived*, the sun disappeared.  We had dark clouds and a puzzling cold front rolled in.  All of us were caught off guard.  Fortunately, I grabbed my new ISOTONER smarTouch gloves and I was prepared for anything.  Many people commented on my gloves with their snazzy blue stripe.  I’m sure they were wishing they had their gloves too.  I was thankful that my hands were warm.  Had I not had these gloves, it would have taken me at least a few days to dig out my gloves from last year, which, by the way, were also Isotoner gloves.

But these new Isotoner  gloves are different from my old ones in the way they are constructed.  The palms of the gloves feature fleece, just like my old gloves.  However, the new gloves had a “web” of fine rubber lines on top of the palms which is great for holding your phone, iPad, iPod, in place.   All of the fingers have the same “web” lines except for the thumb and forefinger.  These fingers have conductive threads on them that actually convey electrical impulses to the screen to help move through pictures, apps, etc. faster.  I was a little skeptical of these conductive threads.   However, in my scientific comparison testing, I found that the conductive threads did a better job.  Interesting.

With my new SmarTouch gloves I could:

• easily touch and scroll through my phone’s pictures
• text a message
• play and win tic-tac-toe on my phone (OK, the gloves didn’t win the game for me but they allowed me to  select the right squares)
• keep a firm hold on my phone
• grip my steering wheel better
• grip my ice cold protein shake glass better while driving
• keep my hands warm!

Not only are the SmarTouch gloves good for your cellphone, mp3 player, iPad, GPS system, etc. you will also find them helpful at the ATM machine or the touchscreens at the gas station.

Pros:

• warm – they are fleece lined inside
• great grip
• the conductive  thread fingers work well on touchscreens
• the sides of the gloves are soft – helpful when itching your nose
• they look like normal gloves on the outside of the hand
• flexible – the fabric stretches as needed

Cons:

• they are pricier than the normal Isotoners
• not sure how warm they would keep your hands in below freezing temperatures

A Mom’s Perspective

Honestly, for a product that wasn’t a gadget, I wasn’t expecting much.  However, I was surprised by how helpful and well thought out these gloves were.   These will now be my “go to” gloves at the slightest hint of coldness in the air.  The SmarTouch gloves look good and are dual functioning – they keep you warm and keep you connected.

Especially for those of you already facing colder weather, you might want to consider SmarTouch gloves.  You will no longer have to take a glove off to text a message, update your status on Facebook, or flip through your pictures on your phone.  As there is nothing yet like these gloves on the market, SmarTouch gloves would be a great Christmas or birthday present for that hard-to-buy-for friend or family member.

Isotoner SmarTouch gloves retail for $40 and will be available soon in most department stores and mass merchants nationwide.  The gloves come in numerous colors including pink & black, black, camel, charcoal, cobalt blue & black, red with black, turquoise & black, and violet & black.  Searching online I found the SmarTouchgloves at a better price at JC Penney’s for $29.99 online.

Stay tuned.  Soon we will be offering a pair of SmarTouch  gloves to giveaway to one of our lucky readers!