The PGYTech Photography Gloves Master are brilliantly designed gloves for photographers working in cold environments. They are packed with technology that will keep your hands warm up to -35°C, and features that enable you to use your camera with ease. These are ideal for working in cold climates and for nighttime photography such as astrophotography. The gloves lose half a star for me due to slightly weak magnets on the flaps and the limiting wrist movement when the battery's are in place, but otherwise are an excellent buy.
Pros
+
Excellent build quality
+
Quality design
+
Useful features for photographers
+
Comfortable and warm
Cons
-
Bulky when battery inserted
-
Battery quick to drain
-
Weak magnets for finger flaps
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The PGYTech Photography gloves (Master) are designed to keep your hands and fingers warm when shooting in extremely cold environments, and much like all the best photography gloves, they also enable you to use your camera. Those who have experience shooting in cold locations, whether in winter landscapes, astrophotography in the dead of night, or the arctic tundra, will know gloves are a key part of the kit bag.
PGYTech is a company that specializes in well-designed camera peripherals such as bags, straps, and card readers. It is renowned for exceptional build quality and design, and these gloves are a testament to that.
The PGYTech Photography Gloves come in three different levels, each with varying levels of protection and therefore price point - the Fingerless, Professional, and Master. In this review, I test out the Master, the top end of the lineup, and analyze the comfort, warmth, and usability, before providing my final thoughts.
Showing the thumb flap capability of the PGYTech Photography Gloves Master (Image credit: Future)
The Master version of the photography gloves is the top in PGYTech's lineup, and the price reflects that accordingly. They are available for $130 / £120 / AU$162.
As is the case with all safety equipment, you get what you pay for and the Master gloves provide a lot of warmth and security for the money. There aren't many manufacturers making photography gloves that are both warm and functional, especially ones as heavy-duty as these.
PGYTech Photography Gloves Master with the four finger flap up (Image credit: Future)
The first thing that is noticeable about the gloves is the high level of quality in the build and design. They feel premium which provides confidence that they will do their job when called upon.
These gloves have more features than I even knew were possible in a pair of mitts, but each one is added with the user in mind, whether for ease of use or warmth and safety.
Designed to be warm, windproof, and breathable the Master gloves are constructed of multiple layers of material to insulate. Working from outside in, there is a splash-resistant layer, a windproof and breathable layer, a Hipora liner, a 3M Thinsulate cotton layer, a graphene heating layer, and a velvet lining for the cherry on top.
The battery inserted into the PGYTech Photography Gloves Master (Image credit: Future)
What separates the Master version from the Professional is the upgraded heating system which comes from the battery-powered graphene heating technology. The technology enables the use of a battery to evenly heat the gloves quickly and efficiently with 3 different settings. The graphene heating film is more than 90% more efficient than traditional wires.
In my experience, the heating technology worked tremendously and heated the gloves in no time at all. The power comes from a battery that is connected via USB-C in each glove, which in addition to heating the gloves can also act as an emergency power bank for charging devices. I did find that the battery did drain quite quickly, however, this may just have been my well-used review copy.
Although this is one of the main features of the gloves and it did exactly what it said it would warming both hands, I did however feel the battery was a little too big and restricted my wrist movement when in its designated pouch. As I was not testing these gloves in a sub-zero climate it is easy to find this an issue, however, I am sure that I would quickly exchange warmth for limited wrist movement if I was in the Arctic!
A palm view of the PGYTech Photography Gloves Master with the four finger flap off (Image credit: Future)
Another great quality of the construction is the material used on the palms. Made from genuine leather and an SBR cushioning layer, my camera felt safe and comfortable in the grip.
PGYTech is great at designing products with top draw ease of use features and these gloves are no different. Hidden zip storage on the back of the glove, anti-loss wrist straps, adjustable cuffs, rubber textured tightening strap, and an anti-loss buckle complete these feature-packed gloves.
A palm view of the PGYTech Photography Gloves Master with the four finger flap up (Image credit: Future)
I could easily use the camera with the finger flaps lowered (Image credit: Future)
PGYTech Photography gloves (Master) : Performance
We have looked at how these gloves perform as gloves, but what makes these photography gloves, is how they enable you to use your equipment whilst using them.
The thumb, index finger, and middle finger of each glove have conductive microfibre tips, enabling the use of touchscreens for use with smartphones or cameras without exposing your skin to the elements.
If more accessibility and durability are needed these same tips are also finger flaps, enabling the user to easily slide out the fingers and thumb for quick and easy settings changes. These finger flaps are easily fastened out of the way by magnets, which in theory sound great, but unfortunately in practice weren't strong enough to keep the flaps secured whilst using the camera. This was also the case for the 'fold-back finger cap'.
The finger cap adds another level of warmth and comfort and houses the graphene film that transmits the battery-powered heat. Changing the gloves to mittens is a quick and easy step, however again, the flap ends up flapping around due to weak magnets.
PGYTech Photography Gloves Master in use when taking a photo (Image credit: Future)
PGYTech Photography gloves (Master): Verdict
The PGYTech Photography Gloves Master are a brilliantly designed piece of kit that will be a lifesaver when working in cold environments. They are extremely comfortable and kept my hands warm throughout testing, although it must be noted that they were tested in the South of Wales in Spring, not the coldest of locations.
The ability to quickly take my fingers out of the flaps was very helpful when it came time to adjust settings, without the need to take the entire glove off, however, the magnets needed to be just a touch stranger to stop the flaps from becoming a nuisance.
I highly recommend these gloves for a cold climate excursion as they are said to withstand -35 to 0°C, however, based in the UK, I feel my needs are better suited to the Professional version which offers -10°C.
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Features
Packed full of features including battery powered heating
★★★★★
Design
Brilliant design makes these gloves comfortable and effcient
★★★★★
Performance
Worked well except from annoying flaps and large battery
★★★★
Value
On the expensive side but you cant put a price on safety and warmth
Kalum Carter is a photographer, photo editor and writer based in the UK, and for almost a decade he has worked with brands and publications to create, edit, and sequence imagery. Having recently graduated with a Master's Degree in Photography from the University of the West of England (UWE), Kalum joined Digital Camera World as a Staff Writer, covering news, reviews, and his biggest passion – photography books!
Kalum's photography has been published and exhibited around the world, and he continues to photograph on a project-by-project basis. He is currently working on a personal project capturing the people and landscape of Gower, South Wales. Currently untitled, this body of work will be exhibited for the National Trust later this year.
