Best Hand Warmers
We evaluated hand warmers from HotHands, Zippo, and other brands to find out which disposable and rechargeable products help keep you comfy when gloves just aren't cutting it
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You’re bundled up. You’re ready for freezing weather. And even still, you’re cold. Have you considered how well you are taking care of your extremities? Feet and hands are often the first to get too cold, and also among the body parts at highest risk of frostbite. You might be missing a winter must-have: hand warmers.
- Hand Warmers: HotHands Lerat Ocoopa Ororo Sport Temp Zippo How We Evaluated
Sport Temp hand warmers are our top pick for a few reasons—they are easy to open and intuitive to use. They’re on the cheaper side at $1.50 a pair and would make a great bulk buy if you were going to consistently need to use hand warmers frequently.
I appreciated that they were well-constructed, with a thicker material covering the heating element compared to others. I felt reassured that they wouldn’t break open and get mysterious heating powder on my kids.
If you are interested in all-day single-use hand warmers, I would choose these.
One of the most important factors to consider when you shop for hand warmers is how it actually feels in your hand—after all, the idea is to hold on to it on and off for hours. The Zippo HeatBank is the most comfortable hand warmer I evaluated. Your fingers and thumb have a natural place to rest, and it’s easier to hold for longer times because you don’t have to constantly move around and “regrip” to keep hold of it. However, this comes at a cost as it’s slightly bulkier and heavier than some of the other rechargeable options.
The Zippo is highly customizable with the most settings of any hand warmers we tried (six!), but I found myself wishing for a simpler setup, like others that had high, medium, and low. The Zippo has a USB charging port, which is convenient if you’re out and your phone dies. While it might seem counterintuitive to plug your phone into something warm, it works quite nicely and makes it a versatile object to keep in your car, purse, or pocket.
The Zippo also features a visible and easy-to-read battery charge indicator, which gives clear alerts as to how much longer you have before it’s time to recharge.
This hand warmer comes in a pack of 1.
The Ororo is the luxury pick of the hand warmers world because it’s not just a small box to hold on to—it’s an entire fleece-lined muff that buckles around your waist like a fanny pack that you tuck your hands into. It feels like your coziest hoodie when it comes right out of the dryer, but that feeling sticks around for up to 14 hours.
Extra features make this much more than a hand warmer, including a zipper pocket to stash your gear such as a phone or credit card. The buckle is highly adjustable and should fit most people, and is easy to snap on and off even behind your back. When you aren’t using the muff, you can hit a button to turn off the heater, and simply spin the muff around to your back (and out of your way) until you need it again. This makes it much less cumbersome than other types of hand warmers that you have to carry or put in your pocket.
The heat is well distributed throughout the large, thick muff because it has multiple heating elements inside that connect to the charger. This means you don’t have to find the right area inside the muff to feel the heat. Folks who frequently need to be outside for long hours may particularly appreciate the Ororo.
HotHands are quite similar to Sport Temp: they’re two-pack disposable warmers that claim to last around 10 hours. You break and shake the package and it heats up when it’s exposed to air. They are very small and easy to throw in a kid’s coat pocket, and my kids especially love them for playing sports. And because they’re so budget-friendly at about 70 cents per unit, you don’t have to worry too much about your kid inevitably losing one.
The fabric containing the heating elements is a bit thinner than competitors, which has me concerned about them ripping easily if older kids use them for sports or other outside activities. However, my 9-year-old who evaluated both disposable options never had this problem.
Lerat’s rechargeable hand warmers come in two-packs for a budget-friendly price of about $11 per unit.
These lightweight hand warmers fit naturally into my palm without feeling too bulky. Instead, the Lerat is quite slim and fits well into many pockets. Some of my pockets are a bit tight and don’t always fit bulkier objects, so I find this ideal for easy transport. I also like that it fits easily in a purse’s phone pouch.
This is a solid choice if you want to use your hand warmer again and again and not even notice it’s there, thanks to its streamlined design.
In addition to the above winners, I also tried the Ocoopa HotPal Rechargeable Hand Warmer, which comes in a pack of 1. It was bulkier than other competitors and not as comfortable to hold.
How We Evaluated
Price: Hand warmers range from just under $1 per 2-pack for most disposable options, to around $12-$50 for rechargeable hand warmers. The muff option is much more expensive, at $150, making it a luxury pick, but it might be worth it for the added comfort and extra features.
Size and weight: I evaluated the size and weight of each product to determine which might be too heavy or bulky to carry around on a frequent basis, keeping in mind that some people have small hands, such as children, as well as hands much larger than my own.
Shape: Similar to computer mice, there are simple oval options, and there are complex “ergonomic” products that claim to more naturally fit the shape of most hands.
Extras: I considered extra benefits such as device charging capabilities and pockets. After all, when your hands are getting warm and toasty, you don’t want to have to also hold additional items.
Ease of use: I evaluated whether these hand warmers were overly confusing or complicated, and that they didn’t get in the way of everyday life. I also assessed how natural and intuitive they felt to use.
Heat duration: We tested how hot each product got, and how long it stayed hot, in our labs. José Amézquita paired each hand warmer with a thermocouple and placed it inside a mitten, with the exception of the larger Ororo hand muff, which had the thermocouple placed inside. The thermocouple tracked the temperature of the hand warmers for over 16 hours.
Charging time: José also measured how long it took to charge each rechargeable hand warmer.
