As anyone who’s wintering in a ’van knows, the weather has taken a turn for the worst just lately. And, when it’s well below zero outside, there’s nothing worse than having to take off a glove just to fiddle with the touch-screen on your smartphone.
Fingerless gloves are one option — just be sure to get some with a fold-over mitt if you don’t want your fingertips to freeze. Alternatively, you can buy a pair of full gloves with special fingertips that work with a smartphone touch-screen.
Most modern smartphones (iPhone and Android included) have a ‘capacitive’ glass touch-screen that uses the electrical conductivity of human skin to detect when they’re being touched — this is different from older ‘resistive’ technology that had to be forcibly pressed with a stylus for the same effect.
The problem is that the fibres used for most gloves won’t conduct electricity, which is why you need a pair with special conductive fingertips for use with a capacitive touch-screen.
We’ve seen various types of smartphone-friendly gloves on sale, but since the folks from Fivepoint decided to email us about theirs, we thought we’d pass the information on.
The gloves are 95 per cent wool and are currently only available in blue, with grey fingertips. One neat touch is that all four fingers and both thumbs have conductive tips, so they don’t dictate the way in which you must use your smartphone screen.
The Fivepoint gloves cost £24.99 and are available online.
