Have you ever wanted to take along your iPhone, some cash, a credit card, and ID while you go for a run in the park? Many runners probably tried putting all those items in their shorts and eventually find out that it wasn’t such a great idea having the iPhone jump out of their pocket while running. That’s where the Armpocket Sport 20 comes in. It’s a pocket for your arm!
The Armpocket Sport 20 securely carries a cell phone, iPod, ID, credit cards, keys, energy bars, and much more. For my run I usually carry my iPhone, a credit card, some cash, and my ID. The Armpocket is made with water-resistant recycled plastic fibers. It also as a high visibility reflective piping on the front of the Armpocket which I will show below. It uses memory foam for the padding and the ultra-soft strap is vented. The Armpocket Sport 20 comes in two sizes for the upper arm : 7” – 10” for small and 10” – 16” for medium.
The first thing I noticed when I took the picture was that the flash from my camera illuminated the reflective piping around the Armpocket. This is a pretty good safety feature if you like running at night. Personally I use my iPhone with a protective case as shown which I’ll explain later why I even mentioned it. The audio port is your standard port which you find in a lot of book-bags or slings. It allows the headphone cord to snake out of the Armpocket and holds it tightly to keep a constant length.
On the side, where the two zippers end, you’ll find that there’s a nice little loop to hold on to the zippers so that they don’t go bouncing around when you run. This is a nice little feature which I appreciate.
Inside the back of the Armpocket, you’ll find 2 pockets to put in credit cards, ID, and some cash. On the front side you will find a stretchy band to hold iPhone.
The first picture shows the iPhone with the protective case. It’s a very tight fit. The second picture is the iPhone without the casing which is a better fit.
The screen on the front gives easy access to the iPhone’s screen and button. I was able to use the touch screen of the iPhone through the clear plastic but the problem is that the screen isn’t flush with the clear plastic. It was about 1 mm off the screen which makes it harder to do the swipe to unlock the iPhone. The clear plastic is also not glossy enough to feel smooth to the touch.
Here are 2 pictures showing the cash, credit card, and ID being put in the inside pockets.
Here’s a look at the audio port with the headphones in.
And here lies the major problem for Armpocket. The Armpocket won’t zip up all the way with the headphones plugged in!! I’ve tried different brands of headphones from Apple, Sony, and Bose. All of them have the same problem with sticking out just a bit too much for the zippers to close.
The strap is nicely made. It’s very soft and the vents help cool you off a bit while running.
The padding is very soft too and feels comfortable on long runs. You do notice the Armpocket’s weight on your arm while running. At first it does get quite annoying since you have to shift your balance a bit to compensate your heavier arm. But I believe you will get used to it when used daily.
The Armpocket Sport 20 is a good attempt at making a pocket for the arm but they need to make it a little bit bigger to fix that major flaw with the headphone cord.
Product Information
Price: | $29.95 |
Manufacturer: | Armpocket |
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I was hoping to find a case that would carry my iPhone safe and DRY. The Armpocket package talks about the waterproof layer between your arm and the pocket. It doesn’t mention that the fabric wicks sweat all around that and soaks the pocket anyway. I found to my alarm a layer of condensation inside the pocket next to my phone. No damage then. I went to REI and bought a tube of tent seam sealer, and coated the entire inside and outside of the pocket–all fabric surfaces must be sealed to stop the wicking. Now, two treatments and half a tube of sealer later, it’s waterproof. If you don’t want this much trouble, don’t buy the armpocket.