How to Carry Your Phone While Running
With more people embracing running as a way to stay active, clear their minds, and track their progress, a common question that pops up is, “how do I carry my phone while running?” Whether you’re logging miles for fitness, training for a race, or just enjoying a jog around the neighborhood, keeping your phone secure and accessible is essential.
If you stick 100 runners in a room and ask this question, you will most likely spark an argument that could last hours.
One thing all runners will agree on is that running with your phone in your hand is absolutely blasphemy. Holding onto something in your hand is annoying and the sweat will eventually damage your phone. Not to mention, dropping your phone will result in a trip to the apple store for an overpriced screen replacement.
In today’s age, there are plenty of ways to hold your phone correctly. From a hydration pack to a chest pack and running vest. In this post, we are going to break down the best methods for you to carry your phone while running.
Best Way to carry phone while running
We have tested out ALL possible methods of carrying your phone while running and have tested each method on a multitude of runners. Below we put the results in order of overall ranking and give you the pros and cons of each solution.
#1 RaveRunner® Chest Pack – Running Vest
These sweet chest rig bags are an up-and-coming trend for a reason. If you take the function of a normal fanny pack and combine it with the poise of an athlete, this is your result. These chest bags are comfortable, secure, and solve the problem of placing your phone in a safe spot while you run. When we tested them, we almost forgot we were wearing them. Not to mention they are super fashionable and sharp looking.
In addition to carrying your car keys and maybe some credit cards, you can also thread your headphone cord through the bag. These chest utility bags were designed to fit men and women both, regardless of chest size. Having a fanny pack across your chest is the best bet for all styles of runners. If you are yet to try the official bag for running, you’re missing out…
PRO’s: Fashionable, functional, comfortable, versatile, innovative
Con’s: Not many brands to choose from
#2 RaveRunner® Hydration Pack With Chest Pockets
Another option for runners who need a little bit more hydration while they run is a running water bag. Some hydration packs have pockets on the shoulder straps so you can put your phone or sunglasses in a safe space while running. While these may be a little bigger than a chest fanny pack, they still provide the same function with the added benefit of more water carrying capacity.
Pro’s: More hydration, functional, versatile.
Con’s: Bulky, can be expensive
#3 Running belt
Running belts are an older technology, but a method of running with your phone that is tried and true. We did occasionally have to twist and move the belt to keep it in our desired position. Additionally, one of the belts we tested did not have zippers and our phone slipped out a few times. We did constantly feel our phone on our hip but this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing because we never got anxious that we dropped it.
Pro’s: Functional
Con’s: Uncomfortable, unreliable, not fashionable
#4 Arm Band
This is lower on our list because it is an extremely outdated way of running with your phone. All of our test runners needed to buy different styles because most running armbands were made for certain phone sizes. That wasn’t the only aggravating factor. We experienced a lack of circulation in our arms because we needed to make sure the armband was tight. Even while cutting off our circulation the armband still slipped.
Pro’s: Functional, small
Con’s: Uncomfortable, not versatile, probably a little dangerous?
#5 Shorts/Leggings with phone pocket
While we expected this method to be the easiest way to run with your phone, it turned out to be the worst. Maybe it was the brand of shorts we bought, but our phones constantly bounced out. Even when it did not bounce out, we were running uncomfortably and abnormally to minimize the bouncing. In the end, we could not finish our run without getting too aggravated and utilizing our chest running pack instead.
Pros: Sleek.
Cons: Doesn’t actually work, not usable for any other occasion.
Conclusion:
You can see that you have plenty of options when you set out to go on a run with your phone. Some are way better than others. We encourage you to try a few of these options since we put a lot of time and effort into figuring out a method to carry your phone while running is most beneficial. This is not to say that the method that benefitted us the least will not end up helping you the most. Everyone’s body type is different, and a phone placed on the body in different positions can work differently for other people. While you may love your $10 fanny pack you bought off Amazon in 2010, there are many new options with features that will greatly benefit you when you run with your phone. Your overall speed, comfort, and sense of fashion will increase with ditching that old crusty fanny pack and settling for a new, innovative option.
Let us know what you find to be the most effect way to carry your phone while running and give us your pros and cons in the comment section. Additionally, if you find another method that you believe we should add to our list, we would be more than happy to give it a test and place it on this listicle to benefit our readers.