REVIEW – I have been blessed with thin bony feet that get cold very easily in the wintertime. Keeping them warm even in shoes is tough, but while I’ve tried hand warmers, I’ve never tried heated socks to keep them toasty. As it’s winter time and my feet are once again icicles, the inliCare heated socks caught my eye and I had to give them a try.
What is it?
The inliCare heated socks are a pair of knee high heated socks that can be controlled via rechargeable batteries or phone app.
Hardware specs
- 5000 mAh battery packs
- 22.5% viscose fiber, 52.5% nylon, 10% polyester
- Machine washable
- 3-10 hour charge depending on power level
- Unisex 9-14 size
- Heats between 104 and 158 degrees Fahrenheit
What’s in the box?
- Pair of knee length heated socks
- USB-A to split dual USB-C charging cable
- Laundry bag
- Two rechargeable 5000 mAh batteries
- User manual
Performance
As I mentioned before, my feet are constantly cold, so instead of charging up the batteries, I had to give the inliCare heated socks a spin right away. I plugged the batteries into the socks and manually used the buttons to set the heat to the 75% setting. To do so, I held down the button on each battery to turn it on, then clicked the buttons until they were at the setting I desired. The red indicator light showed which setting you are on. It was pretty self explanatory.
It took a little bit, but before long, my feet were toasty. So much so, that I wondered if I could even use the 100% setting at all, as the top of my feet were feeling the heat. The heating elements are on the top and bottom zigzag designs on the front half of the foot of the socks, so if you are expecting the entire sock to warm up, be forewarned. For me, this worked out fine as that is always the coldest part of my body.
The inliCare heated socks, at least on my 5’6 frame, went to just below my knee. This works well for keeping the bulky battery packs up out of the way, but they are definitely not meant for skinny jeans or tight leggings. They also run small, as my foot size is a women’s size 9 and they almost fit me just right. There is room to stretch, but if you have a large shoe size, they may not fit.
Recharging the inliCare heated socks was simple using the USB-A to split USB-C cable. The split cable meant I could charge both batteries at once, which was good as it took quite a bit of time to charge each battery up. They seemed nearly full after roughly 6 hours of charging, so afterward I just charged them overnight as to not have to wait impatiently during the day.
inliCare advertises between 3-10 hours of charge depending on the power settings you choose, and it seemed to be on par with what I experienced. On 75%, it went from full to empty in roughly 6 hours, while at 100% it seemed to last 4.5 hours. There’s a setting in the app that heats the socks past 100%, which is likely what would drop it to 3 hours after using it from time to time.
Speaking of the app, while it definitely needs work in some areas (white text on white background to sign up for example) it is also very straightforward. It connected automatically to the socks once I had them turned on and had me sign up for an account. Once in, I tapped that flash heat setting that gave me a blast of heat to my socks and they warmed up extremely fast. This setting goes for 10 minutes and then drops down in temperature. Also for safety, you can set a timer to have the socks turn off automatically after 30 minutes and up to 120 minutes.
While having another app on my phone is a little much, it was quite useful due to it updating both socks at the same time. Manually, you have to dig into the sock pocket and pull each pack out enough to see the display and set it to your desired setting. The app does that all for you. I decided to keep the app on my phone due to this.
After several uses, the inliCare heated socks did not smell at all, though I felt I should probably give them a wash. Since they are machine washable, I removed the batteries, tucked the cords as deep into the pocket as possible, tossed them in the included washing bag, and threw them in the washer using cold water. They washed up just fine, and as instructed, I did not dry them. Instead, I hung them over my shower rail to dry as it’s the closest thing I have to a drying rack. Once dry, they were just fine for the next round of usage.
What I like
- Able to use the app to change heat settings
- Keeps toes incredibly warm even on lower settings
- Machine washable
- Flash heat mode
What I’d change
- Batteries are bulky
- Hard to adjust the temperature without the app
- Might not fit larger feet
- A bit expensive
Final thoughts
Overall, while the inliCare heated socks did a very good job of heating my toes, I doubt I would use these as more than slippers to keep my feet warm on cold mornings. They work very well if you want the front half of your foot warm, and if that’s all you need, you wear baggier pants, and don’t mind the cost, they could be something to look into. For me, however, they seemed more of a novelty item than anything else.
Price: $75.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by inliCare.
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I kind of get having an app for these socks, but they require you signing up for an account? To control your own product? And what happens when they someday go out of business, can you no longer control your socks?