Screen protection overkill - OMG

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It beggared belief. There was I accepting a second hand Android smartphone as a 'thank you' for a favour done for its previous owner, and undergoing my usual 'clean it up, check it out, before re-selling or passing on' routine.

Nothing out of the ordinary so far. Bog standard Android phone, Gorilla Glass screen and... the owner had put on a crude screen protector, seemingly fashioned out of a sheet of OverHead Projector slide. I sighed, peeled it off and set to work trying to clean the glass underneath with my wipes.

But there was still a 'ridge'. I looked more closely. There was a second screen protector! Yep, you read that right, the owner had put on a crude screen protector to err... protect the protector underneath. Which was 'protecting' the Gorilla Glass underneath. #facepalm

Complete and utter experience-ruining overkill.

Two, repeat two sheets of shoddy plastic to get in the way of using a capacitive touchscreen, all to 'protect' a sheet of glass which was a hundred times tougher than the plastic protecting it. The feel of the phone was ruined. So was the look. WHY DO PEOPLE DO THIS?



I had a relative who insisted on protecting his aluminium-chassised Nokia N8 (with Gorilla Glass from the factory, one of the first phones to have this, I think?) for its entire two year life/contract with him, with an ugly fingerprint-infested, horribly scratched screen protector, meaning that he could never really enjoy the screen as it was meant to be seen by the manufacturer.

Is it just me? Has the world gone mad? Take TWO screen protectors into the shower? I'd rather go in naked. Ahem......

Comments

misterleoni said…
Could be that they just didn't realise there was already a screen protector on there.

I always use one because - much as your point about Gorilla Glass being harder IS true, I couldn't be able to just rip off my screen and replace it for a few pounds if I got a scratch.

I see no negative impact on my screen - though I'm particularly good at applying screen protectors and I don't buy rubbish ones. I also buy tempered glass ones now, which not only feel like the original glass but also add a slight amount of shock protection if the phone is dropped.

I'm very fussy about microscopic scratches and even the hardest Gorilla Glass DOES get these. I keep my phone in its own pocket and baby it. I even clean it regularly with a lint-free cloth. Despite this I've always found that my phones develop microscopic scratches after a few weeks. Things in the environment are harder than you think.

Sure, if you don't care about microscopic scratches - and let's face it, most don't - then 'go naked'. I like the peace of mind though.

Obviously I wouldn't go as far as the person in your example, and I hate badly-applied screen protectors with a PASSION; but I strongly suspect that the person in uour example had no idea. Maybe the original one was applied by an owner before them and was done so well that they didn't notice :P
2:44 PM
cragnet said…
I bought a privacy screen filter for my iPhone 6 plus as I got sick of people shoulder surfing and looking at my screen. Now they can go and make themselves useful elsewhere. But this is only reason I'd recommend one. Otherwise I do agree with you.
7:17 PM
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