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Whether you’re walking to the subway, running around the park, or taking a selfie on a ski lift, the right pair of gloves will keep you cozy and comfortable during the colder months without compromising dexterity or preventing you from swiping on your smartphone. To find the best winter gloves and mittens for women, I talked to outdoor-gear experts, stylists, and professional snowboarders about their favorites. I tested a few pairs myself while consulting fellow Strategist staffers about the best women’s gloves that keep their hands well-insulated season after season. You’ll find recommendations here for leather mittens that’ll last forever, running gloves that’ll prevent your fingers freezing while you select a new playlist, and sleek hiking gloves you can keep on while you take photos of surrounding vistas.
What we’re looking for
Material
The material of the glove will tell you a lot about the best use case and the level of warmth you can expect. Leather, for example, is windproof but not so good with damp conditions. Polyester or fleece will dry quickly and let your fingers breathe, but that means it’s not the most windproof.
Smartphone compatibility
Two features make for a good pair of tech-friendly gloves. First, those all-important touchscreen-compatible fingertips, which conduct electricity and can therefore interact with your smartphone screen, enabling you to make calls, send messages, and take photos without going barehand. Some gloves feature five touchscreen fingertips, while others only enable you to use your thumbs and index fingers. The latter option is fine if you’re skipping songs on Spotify, but the former is preferable if you’re texting a lot.
Some gloves explicitly designed for exercising outdoors are made with silicone grips on the palms that’ll help you hold on to that precious phone when you’re on the move. While this is not an essential feature for everyone, I’ve noted which gloves are grippier than others.
Price
I decided on three price points, denoted as $ (less than $20), $$ (less than $50), and $$$ (more than $50).
Best gloves for women overall
Material: Fleece | Smartphone compatibility: None | Price: $
A glove is no good if it doesn’t do the main thing it’s made to do: keep your fingers warm. So when we went in search of the very best gloves, we focused on function over form. These unisex gloves from OZero are first and foremost warm, which is likely why almost 7,000 readers have purchased them since 2019, making them our most-purchased gloves. They’re lined with a patented Heatlok thermal layer that can withstand temperatures of down to -20 degrees Fahrenheit (though the company notes that’s the extreme temperature for the gloves, and 0 degrees Fahrenheit is the comfortable temperature). The gloves’ exterior is made with a grippy deerskin-suede palm and a fluffy polar-fleece top, both of which add warmth and utility. Deerskin has great grip and durability, and it doesn’t harden in the cold, so you can wear these for everything from riding a motorcycle to shoveling the driveway. The polar fleece, meanwhile, is soft and flexible, making these gloves just as great for daily wear in the colder months.
Best (less expensive) gloves for women
Material: Knit Polyester | Smartphone compatibility: Three fingers, palm grip | Price: $
It’s hard to find a good pair of gloves for less than $10, so while these gloves from Achiou may not seem much cheaper than our best overall pick, they’re the cheapest pair on our list of the ten most-purchased gloves (and, we should note, they are more than 40 percent cheaper than the best overall gloves). Made of a knit-acrylic fabric with a wool lining, they’re warm enough for day-to-day winter use, and the knit fabric is stretchy enough that you maintain full dexterity. What makes these gloves especially great for daily wear is the touchscreen capability on the thumb, forefinger, and middle finger.
Best knit gloves for women
Material: Acrylic, nylon, polyester | Smartphone compatibility: Five fingers, palm grip | Price: $$
Travel journalist Brittany Loggins initially bought these gloves for their look and affordable price, and now she can’t go on trips without them. The microfleece lining and dual-layer construction help keep the heat in, she says, and they feature a conductive fiber on all fingertips. A final feature that Loggins — who says she’s prone to dropping her phone — calls out is the GripTrak pattern that offers a secure hold.
Best insulated gloves for women
Material: Polyester | Smartphone compatibility: None | Price: $$
If you live in an extra-chilly climate or do a lot of outdoor activities in the winter, you’ll probably need a thick pair of gloves, and these from Carhartt are our third-most-purchased gloves since 2019. They’re well-reviewed on Amazon — they have more than 3,000 five-star ratings — especially among reviewers who live in infamously cold places like Minnesota and the Rockies. The gloves’ outer shell is made of durable ripstop taffeta and reinforced with a synthetic palm for more durability, so they’ll hold up for hours of shoveling snow. Inside, they’re insulated with warm Poly-Fil, Carhartt’s moisture-wicking FastDry lining, and a waterproof insert — all of which keep your hands dry and warm throughout any lengthy outdoor activity. The elastic fleece cuff is tight enough to keep moisture out but stretchy enough to easily get the gloves on and off.
Best insulated touchscreen gloves for women
Material: Fleece | Smartphone compatibility: Two fingers | Price: $
While many of the gloves on this list are touchscreen-compatible, none are as warm as this pair from OZeros — the brand that makes our best overall glove. Like the OZero deerskin glove, these are made to withstand extremely cold temperatures — down to -20 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlike the deerskin gloves, these have goatskin-leather touchscreen fingertips on the thumb and index finger, so you can text and navigate without exposing your fingers to the cold. Their windproof polar fleece and imitation-lambswool lining keep hands warm and comfortable throughout outdoor winter activities, and a polyurethane layer makes them water-resistant. If you’re worried about navigating through winter with soft yet slippery fleece, the palms have a cowhide-leather patch for better grip so you don’t drop your phone (or anything else) in the snow.
Best winter gloves for women with added grip
Material: Synthetic leather, Spandex, Neoprene | Smartphone compatibility: Two fingers | Price: $
Writer and film wrangler Maggie Slepian wears these gloves on winter shoots in frigid Montana, where standard days on set can stretch for 12 hours while temperatures reach -15 degrees with cutting wind. Thick and fleece-lined, they’re certainly plenty warm, and she especially likes the added palm grips, which make it easier to handle horses or perform other dexterous tasks. Elastic cuffs also make these gloves easier to slip on and off when needed, compared to those with a hook-and-loop fastening.
Best skiing gloves for women
Material: Leather | Smartphone compatibility: None | Price: $$$
When it comes to ski gloves, “the most important thing is that they have to be waterproof, windproof, and breathable,” Liz Lamanna, manager and buyer at Brooklyn-based outdoor shop Panda Sport, told us when we asked her about the best ski gloves for women. “Just like in the gym, you want materials that will wick away sweat and are breathable so that you stay dry and warm,” she explains. Olympic snowboarder Aimee Fuller says that these are her favorite gloves because they are “lightweight yet versatile, keep your hands warm, and have good movement for holding and grabbing items.”
Best skiing mittens for women
Material: Synthetic leather, Gore-Tex | Smartphone compatibility: Two fingers, palm grip | Price: $$
Burton sent me a pair of these to test out at the beginning of winter and, having only ever worn ski gloves like the pair above on the slopes previously, I’m now firmly team mitten. These offer the best of both worlds: the warmth of mittens with the option of added dexterity and smartphone compatibility of two liner gloves when you need it. On a ski lift, for example, you can take off one mitten (it will remain secured with a wrist strap) and snap a photo while wearing just the liner glove. The mittens are fully waterproof, their fit is snug and highly adjustable, and I like that they feature an outer zip pocket that can be used to stow hand warmers or left open as additional ventilation.
Best running mittens for women
Material: Recycled polyester | Smartphone compatibility: Convertible mitten allows finger access | Price: $$
Chelsea Rizzo and Allison Levy, the co-founders of Brooklyn-based outdoor-clothing brand Hikerkind, told me about these snuggly convertible running mittens that are also great for cold days on the trail. The flip top of the mittens keeps hands nice and warm when you’re not using them, and there’s even a secret pocket to stash a hand warmer on particularly frigid days. Should you need to use your hands to text or tie your shoelaces, it’s easy enough to briefly free your fingers for full dexterity. Rizzo calls the design “super functional and streamlined.”
Best running gloves for women
Material: Polyester, spandex | Smartphone compatibility: Two fingers | Price: $
These lighter running gloves from Nike are highly breathable and come recommended by Strategist junior writer Brenley Goertzen, who calls them a lifesaver, because “the touchscreen feature allows me to change my music or hit buttons on my Garmin watch without stopping, so I can still be in full stride.” The slimmer silhouette means you won’t feel weighed down as you move, plus a fitted cuff retains heat balanced with the Dri-Fit technology’s breathability. Goertzen says that while these gloves aren’t waterproof, they are durable enough for contact with snow without adversely affecting touchscreen compatibility.
Best hiking gloves for women
Material: Nylon and leather | Smartphone compatibility: Five fingers, palm grip | Price: $$
I purchased these gloves for the five-day W Trek in Patagonia’s Torres Del Paine National Park. Perfect for backcountry hikes, they’re thin enough to provide ample dexterity when fishing items out of a backpack or taking photos of scenic vistas yet thick enough to insulate against frosty mornings or random rainstorms. The touchscreen fingertips are highly responsive, and the stretchy cuffs prevent cold wrists. While I wore them hiking, these gloves would suit a variety of outdoor purposes. Brian Githens, a certified ski instructor at the Jackson Hole Mountain Sports School, says he appreciates that the Black Diamonds let him “actually grab things out of my coat pockets” while allowing him to stretch his hands and use his phone to communicate with clients at the base of the mountain. Githens says he also likes that the grippy suede palm gives him enough traction to hold on to his poles. While they’re warm for everyday winter wear, in extremely cold conditions, I’d pack an additional pair of mittens to put on top of these.
Best heated gloves for women
Material: Nylon and leather | Smartphone compatibility: None | Price: $$$
If you’re doing intense outdoor work or just don’t want to have cold fingers, Jake Allison, gear expert at Park City–based outdoor store Backcountry, says heated gloves are the best option. In addition to thick insulation, these have a rechargeable heating element to keep you warm on the go. Strategist contributing writer Jessica Silvester tested Eddie Bauer’s AI-powered heated gloves (that automatically adjust their internal heating elements according to the outside temperature) over the course of two months and found them to be surprisingly adaptive. While she mostly used them for cold-weather walking around town, they came in handy during a game of paddle. Silvester notes that there is a bit of a learning curve with these gloves when it comes to their battery life, as your dominant hand will require more battery power to keep warm than the other. Still, especially on milder winter days, her hands stayed “positively cozy” while wearing these — with heat “piping in from everywhere and nowhere at once.” (For a low-tech option, you can always invest in some hand warmers — I’m partial to HotHands.)
Best leather mittens for women
Material: Waxed leather| Smartphone compatibility: None | Price: $$$
Mittens made from leather possess naturally insulating and moisture-regulating properties. They look smart, too, and will last for years. Slepian says these ones have been her ski mittens for many years, and they also come in handy on winter film shoots. They “start off somewhat stiff but start to break in after just a few wears,” she says, adding that she also enjoys their classic look, Thinsulate lining, and top-notch waterproofing.
Some more women’s winter accessories we’ve written about
Our experts
• Jake Allison, gear expert at Backcountry
• Jasmine Caccamo, celebrity stylist
• Erik DaRosa, ski instructor at the Aspen Skiing Company
• Aimee Fuller, Olympic snowboarder
• Ari Gefen, buyer at Westerlind
• Brenley Goertzen, Strategist junior writer
• Liz Lamanna, manager and buyer at Panda Sport
• Taylor Manson, visual specialist at REI
• Jessica Silvester, Strategist contributing writer
• Megan Ann Wilson, designer, stylist, and creative consultant
• Winnie Yang, Strategist senior editor
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