If you had asked me a week ago to recommend a slim alternative to PopSockets’ magnetic phone grips, I would have told you to buy the OhSnap Snap Grip 5. Ask me now and I will refer you back to this company. Accidentally invented the phone grip Back in 2012 when Apple tried to find a better way to jangle the EarPods. PopSockets’ new Low-Pro is its thinnest phone grip yet, and it’s not only thinner than OhSnap’s latest, but it’s also more functional and more comfortable to hold.

Available in four colors exclusively through Apple starting today (it will be available here PopSockets online store and other retailers starting July 29), starting at the same price as the $39.99 Low-Pro Grip Snap Grip 5. I’ve been a dedicated fan of OhSnap grips for the past few years and recently upgraded to the Grip 5, but after testing the PopSockets Low-Pro, I’m only ready to ship the Imp for a week.

The last PopSockets grip I used was the Kickout Grip and Stand that debuted last year and worked better. Oh Snap Grip 4 As a phone stand that works well in both portrait and landscape mode. But when dropped to 7mm thick, I found the kick-out grip occasionally snapped when pocketing my phone. I never had this problem with the 2.5mm thick Snap Grip 4 or the 3mm thick Grip 5.

The new PopSockets Low-Pro falls between OhSnap’s last two offerings at 2.6mm, which the company compares to the thickness of a pair of dimes or toothpicks. It’s certainly slim, but you have to look incredibly close to see the height difference when comparing the Lo-Pro and Snap Grip 5 side by side. If you were going by touch alone, the difference in thickness is imperceptible.

Even more noticeable is how the two grips feel between your fingers when you hold your phone. The Snap Grip 5 advances a design that uses a set of interlocking flexible arms that connect the base of the grip to an extension disc. This is a unique approach that OhSnap has since improved and strengthened. the edgeVictoria’s Song had a break from the Snap 3 Pro almost three years ago. But while durability is better, the Snap Grip 5’s flexible arms still aren’t the most comfortable. They’re not painful by any means, but using the Snap Grip 5 always feels like I’m sacrificing the grip comfort of PopSockets for something else.

With Low-Pro, you get the best of both worlds. Instead of plastic arms or traditional PopSockets designs that feature a collapsing squishy cone, Lo-Pro uses what the company describes as a “one-piece polymer” expansion layer that connects a pop-out disc to the base of the grip. It looks like a tube filled with diamond-shaped holes to help it fall firmly, but it’s made of a squishy material that makes the Lo-Pro feel softer and more comfortable to hold at any angle. My fingers occasionally fall asleep during long one-handed dome scrolling sessions using the Snap Grip 5, but this isn’t a problem with the Low Pro.

Both grips double as phone stands, but the Lo-Pro does it better. With the Snap Grip 5 you can tuck one edge of its extension disc into a notch on the base and use it to prop up your phone. But it’s limited to just one angle, and it works better with your phone on its side rather than standing vertically. Around the base of the Lo-Pro is a hinged metal ring that folds at any angle, so it works as a stand in any orientation. The base of the Lo-Pro is slightly wider than the Snap Grip 5, but the size difference is negligible.

There’s a reason to consider OhSnap’s Snap Grip 5 over PopSockets’ Low-Pro. Both accessories let your phone stick to metal surfaces, magnetic mounts, and wireless chargers with attached grips, but the magnets on the Snap Grip 5 are stronger than the Low-Pro’s. The SnapGrip 5 always remained securely attached to the back of my iPhone 16 Pro when removing it from the magnetic wireless charging stand, but the Lo-Pro remained permanently attached to the stand.

If you regularly mount your phone on such a magnetic accessory, such as relying on a car mount to use your phone as a GPS device, there’s a good chance the Low-Pro will often get left behind and forgotten. If you don’t, PopSockets’ new low-pro grip is a worthy alternative. It’s not the slimmest grip ever, but PopSockets improves on the OhSnap’s design in a few key areas that make the grip an attractive accessory, even if you’re trying to keep your phone as slim as possible.

Photography by Andrew Lezowski/The Verge.