The belt clip cellphone holder is the modern equivalent of the fannypack - super useful but super dorky. While many women (and some men) carry the equivalent of a Best Buy Mobile store in their purses, the streamlined person has to make to do with the old school pocket. But with smartphones getting more expensive and more often out of your pocket than in, the gadget holster is making a stylish comeback as a useful tool and somehow not as dorky as it used to be. Or maybe we're just caring less as we get older.
Quicker & Easier Access
When smartphones were just cellphones, all it was good for really was making and receiving calls. Text messaging, apps, and the internet turned our pocket telephones into constantly used handheld devices that more or less stayed in our hands than in our pockets. With a holster the phone is always there ready to use.
More Comfortable
With monstrous phones pushing 5" screens (here's looking at you, Dell Streak), these behemoths don't always fit too comfortably in your pockets anyway, and getting them in and out is a pain, especially if you're sitting down.
Won't Break Your Phone
Even as far back as 2004, Siemens conducted a study showing that squeezing handsets in tight jeans was one of the most common reasons for broken phones (the most common being dropping it on the floor).
Case-Mate Phone Holsters
Case-Mate carries a large line of cell phone holsters (iPhone samples linked), ranging from horizontal and top loaders to arm bands for the active user.
Vaja
Vaja's immensely beautiful leather cases are absolutely gorgeous. Their neat clip system allows you to unclip the entire cover as well, so the phone stays protected.
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ha! yup, getting older.
Agreed. Still not cool. I'm a product designer, and I don't know a single product designer with a phone in a holster, no matter how old.
My first dumb phone was second hand from my stepmother and along with it came a holster (she would clip it onto a purse strap). I used it when i got it and continued to buy them as I got new phones. There is something to be said to not having to take up a whole pocket just for your phone. Also so many of the cases/covers are rubbery, great if you want to hold it, but sometimes more of a pain to get out of a pocket.
@mdevans & i8kermit - I feel so old... :)
Hell yes Jason Yang! I don't know why holsters got such a bad rep from the tech news blogger elites, but I had used phone holsters ever since my first cell phone, also my first smartphone, in 2002.
My phones has gotten bigger and bigger for every iteration, and its pocketability becomes lower and lower. Holsters become a great way to reach the phone, especially during summer, when there were no jacket pockets or pants space at all.
Unlike most men who have trouser pockets, women who wear dresses and tight jeans cannot put their phones in their pockets. And with the smartphones being more and more advanced, we use it more and more, and having them buried in a purse or backpack is not a good option.
Besides, there are way more stylish fannypacks that what people can imagine. It's not more cheap plastic clips and polymer fabric, but awesome leather with steampunk rivets and joints. A leather case from Vaja is stylish and functional with its awesome RivetClips - a holster-less phone looks naked, disposable and lack of care in comparison, which may suggest a similar lifestyle of its owner.
@i8kermit: I am the first product designer that you know who use a phone in a hoster then.
* and I'm still pretty young. ;)
Ugh. I agree that it's useful, but I'm a child of the 80s and can't handle the holster thang. I find that iPhones usually fit (awkwardly) even in the tailored pockets of lady trousers, but if they're in the back pocket they might nearly fall out and into the toilet when I disrobe!
For that reason, I go out of my way to purchase purses that have convenient phone-specific pockets. I've even had a purse custom made with lining pockets that were the right size for my various gadget needs. You can always sew (or pay someone to sew) an additional pocket inside the lining of a bag if need be.
And guys now carry murses more often (how else to protect that shiny new iPad?) so you can make sure to buy murses with phone-specific pocketry too. And you can get Timbuk2's strap-holster things so you can have it easily accessible while any backpack/messenger bag/murse is on. No excuses for fugly holsters, guys! ;)
I'm a child of the 80s too, and it's all just about doing it right. A man carrying a ugly murse is just as bad as wearing a holster. And I simply don't see anyone putting their phones in trousers anymore, lady or men. Everyone just holds their phone in their hand on the streets of New York.
To get holsters to work for your fashion, you simply need to master the art of wearing belts. There are tons of options out there, it's just a matter of time they catch on mainstream. To list a handy few: Wild Card, Happy Cow, Skingraft. They all match perfectly with the holsters in the article.
Besides, a clip holster doubles as a messenger bag strap holster, so holsters don't need to stay in your waist, but can hide in your bag too.