Over the years phones haven’t exactly gone down in price, especially on the higher end of the spectrum. With that, cases have been huge for me in keeping my expensive devices safe but I have also toyed around with a few cases that have integrated kickstands or holding devices on them but they have never fit the bill. When I got the Samsung S21 Ultra three years ago now, its size (and price really) pushed me to find a solution. My wife was able to get a case with a pop socket integrated but my only option was to add one to my case and while it functioned well. It was thick and has caused problems with any wireless charging and any situation that tries to clamp to the phone like with the remote for my drone. I came across the OhSnap 4 a while back but put it off and they recently reached out and suggested that the Snap 4 Luxe which also has MagSafe support could be useful in other ways, like when streaming as a secondary screen. So today I’m finally going to check it out and see If it is worth the pickup.

Product Name: OhSnap Snap 4 Luxe

Review Sample Provided by: OhSnap

Written by: Wes Compton

Photos and Features

As the product name clues us in on. The Snap 4 Luxe isn’t the first phone grip that OhSnap has made. The first of their design started with a Kickstarter back in 2019 and all of the main ideas you see with their newest grips can be seen but the design at that time was completely different. They were aiming for a thin and versatile grip at that time that integrated a magnetic solution for mounting. But it wasn’t until their second design that the shape changed to be round. The Snap 3 is when I found them and was looking at getting one but they were hard to find in stock and then the Snap 4 Luxe, which I have here today replaced that design is the only option you can currently get. The Snap 4 Luxe is available in a 2-pack or as a single mount in their store and doing that saves $10. But you don’t have as many color options when doing that. They have a standard color lineup and then they have added other brighter colors as well. The standard lineup includes Stone, Obsidian Black, Dusty Rose, Midnight Blue, and Pure Silver. The new brighter colors are listed as limited edition and they have Ruby Red, Lavender, Hot Orange, Hot Pink, and Sky Blue. When I saw they had an orange I had to check it out and they were nice enough to send over two, the Obsidian Black and the Hot Orange.

The packaging for both of the Snap 4 Luxe grips are similar. They are white and are designed to hang on a peg in retail. The ohsnap! Brand name is up top but isn’t the largest font and below that the biggest font says “The Phone Grip That Doesn’t Suck” across it then with the model name below that. They have a drawing of the grip shape that has a pie slice out of it giving a window inside so you can see the grip and in this case, it also helps you see the color. The left packaging for the Hot Oraneg model uses some chromed finishing around that and down at the bottom setting it apart from the standard colors. The orange also doesn’t have its color name listed, with it just saying Limited Edition in that location which is a good idea for limited runs, letting them change colors up without having to make all new packaging for each color as well. They continue with the edgy branding down on the bottom where they list out some of the grip’s functions including Thin AF. The front does open up and inside they give you a full view of the grip and they have a few line drawings that highlight the Magsafe support, how thin the grip is, and how you can use it. Then around on the back most of the back of the packaging is black with just the white down at the bottom where they use a sticker for the bar code, part number, and color. In the black, they have a line drawing of the grip where they have lines going to some of the features with short descriptions. Then there is a purple pull tab you can use to open the box up.

You would think, the purple pull tab would have been obvious to me, but I ended up just pulling the packaging apart like a crazy person to pull the Snap 4 Luxe out. Behind it, I found a small emergency pack where they say you probably won't need it but break in case of an emergency. There is also a QR code here that asks you to register which will extend the warranty length. Behind that and next to the pull tab you have a short set of instructions including a QR code taking you to installation videos. Inside of the emergency pack you get a QR code you can scan that explains all of the components inside of the envelope. Basically, this stuff is needed if your adhesive is old or damaged, it didn’t stick to your case, or your Samsung S Pen doesn’t work. The metal ring is for the S Pen issue to stop interference issues. Beyond that, though the block dot is 3M vinyl which you use when it won't stick to your case and the blue has a new adhesive ring. It's nice to see these are included, none of them are expensive but it helps make sure you have them on hand if you do run into an issue rather than waiting for them to be shipped to you. Plus if you ever move the Snap 4 Luxe to a different case you do have a new replacement adhesive there to use.

With the Snap 4 Luxe out of the packaging, it sinks in how thin the design is. No space is wasted in the design, especially once you compare it with a Popsocket. The Snap 4 Luxe is 2.67 mm thick in our measurements whereas the Popsocket is 6.65mm. That focus is especially obvious when you pull the sticker off of the back of the Snap 4 Luxe and can see the adhesive used. They use what is double-sided Scotch tape whereas a Popsocket uses the thicker double-sided mounting tape. But even from there the back of the Snap 4 Luxe also has the magnets exposed, it's all going to be on the back there isn’t any reason to add thickness by covering them up. Then around the magnets is the aluminum ring which in the photos has the orange anodized finish. Then in the center of that ring is the black finished pop or flip-out section. I will show that off more in the next section where I have it installed.

Installation and Performance

Installing the Snap 4 Luxe is easy, but knowing exactly where to install it can be a little more complicated. You want to have it right on top of your wireless charging on your phone and that can be different from phone to phone. Once you have the correct location though, you clean the surface then peal the thin cover off of the adhesive layer and stick the Snap 4 Luxe down.

I installed the Snap 4 Luxe on my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, not directly on the phone but on the case. I run a TPU case from Ringke which has a matt finish. When I originally put the pop socket on the case, I was concerned it wouldn’t stick well. But after running that for so long, I wasn’t concerned at all about putting the Snap 4 Luxe on it just as long as I cleaned it ahead of time. As long as you have a flat surface it should work, but if you are trying to take advantage of the Mag-Go compatibility a thinner case is going to be better.

Speaking of the Popsocket though, having that installed before the Snap 4 Luxe gave me a great chance to get a 1 to 1 comparison between the two when it comes to overall thickness and this is the main reason I was interested in the Snap 4 Luxe. With the Popsocket installed, it was thick enough that my phone would never sit flat and the thickness also caused issues when putting my phone in my drone controller as well. The pop socket and my phone/case came in at 18.65 mm thick. For comparison, the Snap 4 Luxe on the phone was 14.13 mm thick. You wouldn’t think that would make a difference, but between that and not having the rounded surface of the pop socket lets my phone sit flat. It is still a hair thicker than the camera bump out, but with that, it offers the camera a little protection without being wobbly.

The Snap 4 Luxe is similar in some ways to how a Pop Socket works, but not entirely. It has the outer MagSafe compatible ring with an aluminum cover, then inside is the flip-out grip. That grip is shockingly thin and made of a custom polymer to give it strength. That lid surprised me, I thought it had to be metal because you can’t bend or flex it. Then under that they have a web of arms that when you pull on the lid stretch out and let you flip the lid in either direction. Those arms let you put your fingers on the outside of them or slip in between the arms depending on the grip that you prefer. This ends up being a lot thinner than a Pop Socket but because of the design you do have to get the grip lined up, you can’t grab it from the top down. That entire grip assembly in the center then can spin in the center of the outer ring helping you get that grip no matter how you want to hold your phone. The lid has magnets in it and that is what holds the grip down when it isn’t in use and gives that signature “Snap” as well.

While I installed the orange model on my phone, here is a look at the standard all-black version as well which is going to look better on most phones.

I’ve been using the Snap 4 Luxe for over a month now and coming from the Pop Socket the Snap 4 Luxe does have a few different benefits and downsides. The thin design has to be the biggest benefit, I had issues with the add-on Pop Socket not letting my already big phone fit when using my drone, but that went away right away. But where I saw the biggest difference was just putting my phone down on things. The rounded head on the Pop Socket combined with its thickness turned my phone into a Weeble Wobble. The Snap 4 Luxe on the other hand is flat and my phone sits flat. It is just thick enough that when I put the phone down it isn’t sitting on the face of the camera bumpout either so there is still protection there.

One of the downsides to the design though is you do have to work a little more to flip the grip out. With a Pop Socket, you just slide your hand onto your phone and it pops out, with the Snap 4 Luxe you need to push down on it to unsnap the magnet. Then slide a finger under it to get a grip. Because of that, there are times when I would normally flip the grip out but I don’t. Once the grip is out though, it fits my fingers well no matter how I grab it. I like that the flexibility of the arms can fit different hand sizes. Spinning your phone around on it can be fun as well.

With a ring of magnets in the outside ring of the Snap 4 Luxe, you can stick your phone anywhere a magnet would stick. This worked well with the stainless steel in our kitchen. Once you trust it, it could even be useful as a way to keep your phone up and visible when cooking to read a recipe. But given the popularity of short-form videos, streaming, and even just selfies. This is also a great way to be able to stick your phone to something to get a hands-free camera angle. For some, that might be the best reason to use the Snap 4 Luxe, even if you aren’t using the grip itself often, just being able to mount your phone to something without having to carry anything else around is worth it. That said, anyone using the Snap 4 Luxe in that way will most likely also be heavily using the grip when filming as well.

The other thing you can use the magnetic ring for is of course using chargers and devices designed for Apple's MagSafe. The most obvious use is with wireless charging, but there are other MagSafe devices including mounts for your car, stands if you need a flip-out stand, and even mounts to keep your phone on top of your monitor. Things get even crazier when you get into MagSafe wallets. Wireless charging is still the most common though and to check that out I did reach out to Anker and they sent over a few devices to try things out. They sent one of their Power Banks over and the MagGo Magnetic Charging Station. The Power Bank looks a lot like other pocketable power banks and if you aren’t using the MagGo functionality at the time it does still work that way with one Type-C connection that can be used to charge it or output from. But its main feature is being able to just magnetically stick to your phone and wirelessly charge. It also has a flip-out stand as well. I was worried that I wouldn’t have the Snap 4 Luxe attached in the correct spot but this does work, I must be close to being wrong or the thickness of the Snap combined with my phone case is pushing things because sometimes it takes a wiggle to get things up and running. The charging station functions the same, but it is a desktop charger. It has three AC power outlets and four USB ports on the front with two being 67-watt Type-C connections and the other two are Type-A 12W ports on the back. So if you need to charge faster the option is there. I prefer a wired charge normally, but this is great to be able to keep your phone topped off and keep it in one spot. Or you can put this next to the bed and let it wirelessly charge at night. Either way though, the idea is that it is there ready and waiting for when you need it.

Overall and Final Verdict

After living with the Snap 4 Luxe for a while now and all of our testing there were a few surprises in my experience. Going in I expected the Snap 4 Luxe to the thin, but was still surprised at how thin they managed to make it. It was just thick enough to protect the camera bump-out on my phone but didn’t stick out enough to give me the issues that I had when using the Pop Socket. Beyond that, the design integrated the magnets which allow me to stick my phone to metal surfaces, and also added MagSafe functionality to a non-apple phone. That opened up new accessory options, with the biggest being convenient wireless chargers, but also car mounts, wallets, and other MagSafe accessories.

The Snap 4 Luxe isn’t in the same class as the Pop Socket when it comes to construction. The aluminum design and the magnetic “snap” that the grip gives when you close it is significantly nicer than the Pop Socket. You do trade off some of the customization however with Pop Sockets having a nearly endless supply of designs over the years. That said Snap does have a variety of color options including limited-run colors like the orange that I did most of my testing on. The grip can spin around and fits a wide range of hand sizes. It is a little different than a Pop Socket when it comes to functionality and I do wish it could be a little easier to pop out but you do get used to it over time. But I do find myself using the grip a little less because of that.

The other big difference and downside is the pricing. Because of the aluminum and magnetic construction, the Snap 4 Luxe is more expensive than a Pop Socket. It has an MSRP of $39.99, for comparison the higher-end Pop Sockets are $30-$35 but you can also find basic models as low as $10. You are paying for the better construction but you are getting more functionality, specifically with the addition of MagSafe support and being able to stick your phone to ferrous metal surfaces. Given the popularity of short videos, that alone will be worth it for some. You can stick it to a surface and film yourself without any additional stand. For me though, it being thinner is the biggest draw.

Live Pricing: HERE

Author Bio

Author: garfi3ldWebsite: http://lanoc.org

Editor-in-chief

You might call him obsessed or just a hardcore geek. Wes's obsession with gaming hardware and gadgets isn't anything new, he could be found taking things apart even as a child. When not poking around in PC's he can be found playing League of Legends, Awesomenauts, or Civilization 5 or watching a wide variety of TV shows and Movies. A car guy at heart, the same things that draw him into tweaking cars apply when building good looking fast computers. If you are interested in writing for Wes here at LanOC you can reach out to him directly using our contact form.