How I learned to love an obnoxious phone grip

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我学会如何爱上一款招摇的手机支架

Making the case for a loud smartphone accessory.

为张扬的手机配件正名。

Much like a great recipe, it started with a stick of butter. This wasn’t real butter; it was a friend’s new phone grip, complemented by a phone case with bold stripes. Butter is in vogue now, or at least that’s what a 12-year-old told me a few months ago. This stick of butter was labeled “unsalty” and committed to the bit by including the appropriate tablespoon markings, just like the real thing. I was enamored. “Where did you get that?” I asked. It was a PopSocket-branded combo, and I found it so irresistible I ordered an equally eye-catching grip a few weeks later. After years of carrying buttoned-up, minimalist tech, I finally said, “To hell with it. I’m gonna have some fun.” I have zero regrets, and it seems I’m not alone in this journey.

就像一道美味的食谱，这一切始于一块黄油。当然这不是真的黄油，而是朋友新买的手机支架，搭配着一个带有醒目条纹的手机壳。黄油现在很流行，至少几个月前一个12岁的孩子是这么告诉我的。这块“黄油”上贴着“无盐”的标签，甚至还煞有介事地印上了和真品一样的汤匙刻度。我被迷住了。“你在哪买的？”我问。那是一个PopSocket品牌的组合，我觉得它太诱人了，几周后我也订购了一个同样吸睛的支架。在多年使用严肃、极简的科技产品后，我终于对自己说：“去它的，我要找点乐子。”我对此毫无悔意，而且看来在这段旅程中我并不孤单。

Over the past few years I’ve been a vocal, occasionally regretful, member of Team No Phone Case. A case adds bulk and collects pocket lint. Why spend $800 on a piece of tech just to cover it up? If I must use a case, I want it to barely exist. This philosophy worked great with my iPhone 13 Mini, which is perfect as-is. Its size means it’s eminently grippable — no PopSocket necessary and it feels much more secure when I hold it. But phones are big now and are only getting bigger.

过去几年里，我一直是“裸机派”的一员，虽然偶尔会感到后悔。手机壳会增加厚度并积攒口袋里的灰尘。为什么要花800美元买一台设备却把它遮起来呢？如果非要用手机壳，我希望它几乎不存在。这种理念在我的iPhone 13 Mini上效果很好，因为它本身就很完美。它的尺寸意味着非常易于抓握——不需要PopSocket，拿在手里感觉非常稳当。但现在的手机很大，而且只会越来越大。

An extended period using Google’s hefty Pixel 10 Pro Fold last year convinced me to adopt a magnetic grip just to use the thing more comfortably. At first, I gravitated toward the minimalist options like low-profile ring stands. But then I saw that stick of butter, and something clicked. A chunky grip is easy to hold. It’s fun. And since it’s just held on by a magnet, you can take it off whenever you want to present yourself as a serious grownup. Why not? I put in an order for a PopSocket shaped like a hot dog, and I was so excited when it arrived I accidentally pulled it apart.

去年，在长时间使用谷歌笨重的Pixel 10 Pro Fold后，我确信自己需要一个磁吸支架来让使用过程更舒适。起初，我倾向于选择低调的指环支架等极简方案。但当我看到那块“黄油”时，我突然开窍了。厚实的支架更容易抓握，而且很有趣。既然它是靠磁铁吸附的，你随时可以在想表现得像个严肃成年人时把它取下来。为什么不呢？我下单买了一个热狗形状的PopSocket，到货时我太兴奋了，以至于不小心把它扯坏了。

This “why not have fun” ethos has clearly been part of Bailey Hikawa’s mission for the better part of a decade. She’s been making unconventional phone grips and cases out of her Los Angeles studio since 2018. Her designs incorporate input from the disabled community, aiming to offer an easier grip for people who hold their phone differently. But they can be appreciated by anyone who’s ever felt their phone slide out of their fingers. They’re also vibrant and bold. “I would like the phone case to feel like a friend or like a new stuffed animal,” she told The Verge在2019年. Earlier this year, Apple collaborated with Hikawa on a chunky, bright MagSafe grip. Her own online shop includes other grips made of flexible, clear urethane with spaghetti noodles or baby shrimp suspended inside. They’re handmade and the very definition of one-of-a-kind.

这种“为什么不找点乐子”的理念显然是Bailey Hikawa过去十年使命的一部分。自2018年以来，她一直在洛杉矶的工作室制作非传统的手机支架和手机壳。她的设计融入了残障人士社区的建议，旨在为那些以不同方式握持手机的人提供更轻松的抓握感。但任何曾感到手机从指间滑落的人都会欣赏这些设计。它们既充满活力又大胆前卫。“我希望手机壳感觉像个朋友，或者像个新的毛绒玩具，”她在2019年告诉《The Verge》。今年早些时候，苹果与Hikawa合作推出了一款厚实、明亮的MagSafe支架。她自己的网店里还有其他由柔性透明聚氨酯制成的支架，里面悬浮着意大利面条或小虾。它们是手工制作的，绝对是独一无二的。

In more conventional territory, PopSocket has a surprising number of unusual grips and cases on offer. There’s a classic tomato pincushion, the food truck collection where I found my beloved hot dog, and an aptly named “Sugar Rush” collection. I asked PopSocket founder David Barnett whether I was alone in my pursuit of a bold grip. “We’re seeing more consumers embrace color, texture and personality in their phone accessories,” he told me over email. “I think people want their everyday essentials to feel a little less ordinary. Your phone goes everywhere with you, so why not have a little fun with it?”

在更传统的领域，PopSocket提供了数量惊人的奇特支架和手机壳。有经典的番茄针垫、我找到心爱热狗的餐车系列，以及名字贴切的“糖分冲刺”系列。我问PopSocket创始人David Barnett，我追求这种张扬的支架是否是个异类。“我们看到越来越多的消费者在手机配件中拥抱色彩、质感和个性，”他在邮件中告诉我。“我认为人们希望他们的日常必需品能少一点平庸。手机会陪你去任何地方，所以为什么不从中找点乐子呢？”

I think phone makers are partly to blame here, too. Aside from your stray Cosmic Orange and anything Motorola is doing, phones mostly come in shades of Boring and Light Boring. Don’t even get us started on what passes for a purple phone these days. Maybe a radical reaction to this sameness was inevitable. Whatever the reason, you can find an awful lot of punchy, vibrant grips and cases without much effort. There are color-blocked “dopamine” cases all over TikTok and Amazon, viral phone cases that hold a tube of lip gloss, and OhSnap grips in colors called things like “hazmat honey” and “electric teal.”

我认为手机制造商也难辞其咎。除了偶尔出现的“宇宙橙”配色和摩托罗拉的一些尝试外，手机大多是“无聊”和“浅无聊”的色调。至于现在市面上所谓的紫色手机，我们还是别提了。也许对这种千篇一律的激进反应是不可避免的。无论原因如何，你现在可以毫不费力地找到大量醒目、充满活力的支架和手机壳。TikTok和亚马逊上到处都是撞色的“多巴胺”手机壳，有能装唇彩的网红手机壳，还有颜色被称为“危险蜂蜜”和“电光青”的OhSnap支架。

Me and my ridiculous PopSocket are in good company. Or we will be — I left it in the office last time I was in New York and its absence has been bumming me out ever since. We’ll be reunited soon enough, but I guess if there’s one downside to being able to take a grip off your phone easily, it’s that you can accidentally leave it behind without much effort.

我和我那滑稽的PopSocket并不孤单。或者说很快就不会孤单了——上次在纽约时我把它落在了办公室，从那以后它的缺席一直让我很沮丧。我们很快就会团聚，但我想，如果说能轻松取下手机支架有什么缺点的话，那就是你也很容易不小心把它弄丢。