6 Ways to Carry Your Phone on a Run

I’m somewhat baffled when I see people running with a phone in their hand. I get why you want your phone with you: for safety, for taking spontaneous photos, for emergency calls from loved ones. But awkwardly gripping a sweaty phone during a run is hard work (tightens your muscles and throws off your balance), dangerous (you could easily drop it), and annoying (it’s too easy to look at it with every buzz, ring, or newsflash).

Because I spent a summer as a camp counselor watching The Lorax every Thursday, here’s a Suessian rhyme about all the alternative ways to carry a phone:

You could hold it on your arm.
You could hold it in your pack.
You could hold it in your bra
—in the middle of your back.

You could hold it on your waist
You could hold it in your pants.
You could hold it in your shorts
—while you do a little dance.

Rhyming aside (I’ll stop, I promise, as tempting as it is to keep going), here are six sensical ways to carry a phone on a run—or, while you do a little dance.

If you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission. This supports our mission to get more people active and outside. Learn more.

6 Great Accessories for Carrying a Phone on a Run

All of these methods prevail over carrying a phone in your hand while you’re running.

On Your Arm: Using a stretchy band that wraps around the upper arm via a Velcro closure like the Nathan Sports Laser Light  5K Phone Carrier ($35) beats the snot out of carrying a phone in your hand. While strapping my phone to my arm isn’t my personal favorite (my arm gets too sweaty; I’m a sweater) and it doesn’t combat the issue of asymmetry, it works to keep your phone from begging for your attention and removes the worry about dropping it. Many runners find it convenient.

In Your Pack: Not every run requires a backpack or hydration vest of some sort, but super lightweight, comfortable running vests can feel barely there while carrying a phone—plus things like a hydration flask, lightweight jacket, or car or house keys. Tucked away into a chest pocket of a small, lightweight pack like the Salomon Advanced Skin 5 ($145), your phone is with you and at the ready, but not annoying you.

In Your Bra: Sports bras with pockets designed for smartphones midback are a growing category. I’ve tested the Rabbit Strappy Pocket Bra ($55), Rabbit UtiliBRA-vo ($50), Brooks 3-Pocket Sports Bra ($55), and the Oiselle Flyout Bra ($68), and each successfully holds my phone without bouncing, chafing, or creating excessive sweat, plus doesn’t require a shoulder contortion to access it.

On Your Waist: I’ve long been a fan of simple waistpacks meant for phones and other small items. The Nathan Sports Zipster Lite $35 is my favorite for its simple yet functional design. It’s a loop of stretchy mesh, with multiple pockets, and I like stepping into it instead of futzing with buckles. I like the breathability afforded by its fabric, and the options to use zippered or envelope pockets for my phone and other items.

The RooSport ($28–34) magnetic pouch also carries a phone comfortably at the waist but with no around-the-waist belt. The seemingly simple pouch holds a phone (it comes in two sizes), and then stashes down the front or back of your shorts or pants, with a small flap on the outside holding the pouch in place via magnets. I don’t find this as comfortable as the Nathan Zipster, but another Outside editor swears by it as the lowest-maintenance, most versatile, and least obtrusive phone-carrying method he’s found.

In Your Pants: It’s hard to find tights these days that don’t have pockets donning the thigh area, and those pockets are a great place to carry a phone. The Hoka Novafly Run Tights ($98) for men and women, for instance, feature one zippered pocket at the hip and one envelope pocket on the other hip. Both are great, no-bounce options for carrying a phone.

In Your Shorts: It can be challenging to find shorts with a big enough pocket for a phone, let alone a pocket that can hold the phone without pulling the shorts down. Shorts, by nature, are lightweight—there’s not as much material to a pair of shorts compared to a pair of tights. For that reason, I’ve found that shorts that fit like bike shorts (short tights) tend to hold a phone better than traditional shorts with a brief and exterior shell. That’s not to say that there isn’t a perfect pair of traditional shorts that holds a phone comfortably; it’s that I feel that the closer to the body a phone is held, the better (i.e., thigh pocket on the leg of tight-style shorts versus loose fabric of a shorts shell).

The Janji Men’s 8” Trail Half Tights ($82) (short tights with an 8” inseam) have seven pockets in total, but one that’s open mesh along the side is ideal for carrying a phone. The Rabbit Leggy Smashems ($70) for women (short tights with a 5” inseam) have deep pockets on each thigh that carry a phone without bouncing, or pulling the shorts down–either while running or while, yes, doing a little dance.