PopSockets is launching a new version of its MagSafe grip that can be used to prop a phone up vertically for scrolling TikTok or video calls. The PopSockets Kick-Out Grip and Stand is less than a millimeter thicker than the company’s current lineup of MagSafe PopGrips, according to the company’s founder, David Barnett, but introduces a hinge so the pop-up grip can now fold out and double as a support stand.
The Kick-Out Grip and Stand is available starting today through the PopSockets online store for $39.99 in colors that include black, dusk, putty, and latte. It’s also available through Best Buy’s website and retail locations which offer two exclusive color options: French navy and silver, both featuring a shiny metal finish. If those colors don’t work for you, as with previous iterations of the PopSockets, the collapsible grip on the new Kick-Out can be removed with a twist and replaced with alternates in different colors or designs.
It’s compatible with iPhones and cases that support Apple’s MagSafe feature, as well as Android devices and accessories that support the Qi2 standards’s Magnetic Power Profile. For older devices lacking wireless charging, or those using protective cases that are too thick for MagSafe to work effectively, an included adhesive adapter makes the Kick-Out Grip and Stand compatible with nearly any smartphone.
PopSocket’s new grip is thicker than competitor’s products like the OhSnap Snap 4 and it needs to be completely removed if you want to use a wireless charger. But the Kick-Out is more comfortable to hold than the Snap 4, can be personalized, and offers more functionality.
Although the Kick-Out Grip and Stand is the first modern version of the PopSockets that can be used to prop a phone up vertically, it’s technically not the very first. After gluing a couple of buttons to the back of his phone so he could wrap and store his wired earbuds, Barnett went on to design and successfully crowdfund an iPhone 4 case featuring two of the accordion style pop-up grips that PopSockets still feature today. It could be used to store headphones, but also prop an iPhone up horizontally or vertically.
Wireless earbuds like Apple’s AirPods eventually made the PopSockets’ original dual grip design obsolete, but that wasn’t the end of the product. “A friend of mine calls me the luckiest man on earth because phones grew into my invention,” says Barnett. “I invented PopSockets to solve the problem of headset tangle, and turns out they served as a great grip.”
PopSockets eventually simplified the design of its products as consumers embraced them as a more secure way to hold their phones that continue to grow larger and heavier, with one hand. To date, the company has sold over 285 million of the grips, and while their success may seem like a fortunate accident, the latest version brings a useful improvement that PopSockets has been working on perfecting for several years. “Our products are all designed to bring joy to daily phone life by eliminating pain points. I think this one hits the mark,” says Barnett.
