Swany X-Cell Under Mitt Review

Review by Erin Trail

Initial Impressions

The Swany X-Cell Under Mitt mittens are a well constructed and warm mitten.  The leather is incredibly soft, giving a nice flexibility while the stem finger construction keeps your fingers supported and warm.

Detailed Review

I’ve been a dedicated glove wearer for skiing, but recently, I decided to give mittens a whirl. Mittens intrigued me because they look warmer and many of my friends swear by them.

Swany has a long and legendary history making gloves, with over 130 years of production.  They began specializing in ski gloves in 1990, with the founding of the Swany Ski Division. Now in 2025, Swany has an extensive line of winter gloves and mittens, all designed with winter performance in mind.

I chose the Swany X-Cell Under Mitt for reviewing because they feel and fit like gloves, but are actually a mitten.  These mittens offer stem finger construction on the inside of the mitten – essentially individual finger channels, giving the mittens a very glove-like feel. The channels are made from Tri-Plex Alpha Insulation system for warmth.  The finger channels are lined with Dryfinger II W/B Insert and the rest of the mitten is lined with Dyna-Therm lining to keep your hands dry.

The Swany X-Cell Under Mitt has elastic wrist straps to prevent accidental glove drops and a zippered top pocket (good for a head pack or tissues).  The leather is smooth grain LeatherShield and nubuck leather with reinforced digitized palm.  The leather is SO incredibly soft.  The gloves feel broken in from the start, offering great flexibility and also grip.  The mittens also have a small gauntlet cuff, which is just the right size to place over or under your jacket sleeve.

Performance

Immediately after putting on the Swany X-Cell Under Mitt, I could tell these were different from standard ski mittens.  The stem finger construction surrounds each finger with insulation, providing a glove feel but with a whole lot of warmth.  The Triplex Alpha insulation uses different weights PrimaLoft Gold with Cross Core technology, providing 30-50% more warmth than standard PrimaLoft Gold.

I wore these gloves on a 20 degree powder day, and I could immediately tell that these mittens were warmer than any other glove that I’ve worn skiing.  The stem finger construction with the leather mitten overlay keeps your hands TOASTY.  The Dryfinger II W/B Insert technology helps keep your hands from feeling clammy. The premium leather is very flexible. All of these factors made the gloves super warm and comfortable, even with cold winds and snow.

Pulling the Swany X-Cell Under Mitt mittens on was easy, thanks to a well designed pull tab (perfectly sized to fit a thumb through). Based on the design of your jacket sleeve cuffs, the mittens gauntlet cuffs can fit both under and over your jacket, giving you flexibility on your sleeve/coat overlap preferences.

The fit of your fingers inside the mittens is snug, due to the stem finger construction.  If you wanted to wear a liner glove (to keep your hands warm if you need to take the mittens off), you should size up.

I wore these mittens for just one day (I’m nearing the end of my ski season), but it was a long day with steeps, bumps, and trees. My hands never felt sweaty or clammy. They only felt cold once, on a super long and slow chair that was exposed to the wind. Taking my hands in and out of the gloves throughout the day was a non-issue.  The inner liner made for smooth and easy finger placement inside the mitten and the pull tab let me pull the mittens on easily. The hook-and-loop tab on the gauntlet cuff is sized appropriately so you can adjust the cuff tightness while wearing the mitten.

Closing Thoughts

Swany X-Cell Under Mitt mittens feel good both inside the mitten and on the outside.  The exterior leather is super soft and flexible. The interior of the glove is incredibly warm without making your hands feel clammy.  Pulling the gloves on and off throughout the day was very easy, due to thoughtful construction. Best of all?  My hands were warm and comfortable. The Swany X-Cell Under Mitt mittens are a great option for those who want mittens with a little more insulation and warmth for individual fingers.

Erin Trail

Erin Trail’s hobby is collecting hobbies. She’s a 5th Generation Coloradan and grew up exploring the outdoors on family camping trips and hikes.  Her first backpacking trip was at eight years old to Grizzly Reservoir – she proudly carried all of her own gear those 3 miles from the main parking lot to the Reservoir.

Erin is an adult-onset athlete who started as a Masters Swimmer and then developed into a triathlete.  She completed 5 Ironman races and nearly 20 x 70.3 distance Ironman races, including the World Championship in Lahti, Finland, in 2023.  Somewhere along her triathlon journey, she picked up a deep love of cycling.

Cycling encouraged her to see landscapes in a new way, learn new skills and to develop self reliance; now she often goes and does Type 2 rides just to see if she can do it.  She’s got all the bikes: gravel, mountain, fat bike, time trial and road.

She is even known to combine her love of camping and cycling and go off on solo 24 hour overnight bikepacking trips in the mountains of Colorado. In addition to bikes, she teaches yoga, lifts weights, skis, SUPs and has recently purchased a campervan.

Erin is a former Montana park ranger with a degree in environmental engineering.  She loves getting into technical details while putting her gear (and herself) through the paces. She shares her home in Colorado with her husband, Will, and her 3 cats (Zipper, Brewtus, and Simcoe).

2025 brings some exciting things.  Erin has qualified to be on Team USA for USA Triathlon and will be competing in a World Championship off-road triathlon in Pontevedra, Spain in June. To prepare for this event, she’s got several mountain bike races and training weekends planned in the months leading up to the big day.  Additionally, she’s racing Ironman Boise 70.3 in July.  Once her race schedule closes out in July, she’ll be moving to more adventure based activities (bikepacking, vanlife, and mountain bike festivals).

When not adventuring, she can be found on a sunny patio somewhere, drinking beers with her husband.