When you buy a new smartphone, salespeople love to pester you into buying some added protection—insurance, a case, and, of course, screen protector. Screen protectors have long been hailed as a necessity, with prices ranging from $10 to $60.These small fragments of plastic and glass have expanded to a $50 billion industry, But behind it all lies a dirty secret. Your screen protector may no longer be necessary.
You’re not going crazy trying to protect your screen.Crack your screen is The first way to damage your phone, followed by water damage and battery issues. Over the past five years, however, the glass in phones has gotten stronger. Some experts say you might be able to skip the screen protector, and even warn about some relatively unknown drawbacks that salespeople don’t tell you about.
“It’s really not particularly useful,” DisplayMate Technologies CEO Raymond Soneira, whose company studies how to optimize phone displays, said of the screen protector in an interview with Gizmodo. He doesn’t use a screen protector, just a phone case, but he warns that he’s very careful with his phone and rarely drops it.
DisplayMate found that screen protectors can make your phone more reflective. This reduces the quality of the display and requires you to increase the brightness of your phone to achieve the same quality. Over time, this drains the phone’s battery and shortens daily battery life, he said.
However, The mobile phone industry has mixed opinions on the issue of screen protectors. iFixit maintenance engineer Carsten Fraunheim pointed out that screen protectors can effectively prevent scratches and micro-scuffs, giving you peace of mind. He calls them a “no-brainer” but admits they aren’t as important as they once were.
“As smartphone glass technology becomes increasingly shatterproof, screen protectors will lose their ‘shatterproof’ sales feature,” Fraunheim said in an email.
Even liquid screen protectors have their issues.
“Liquid wipe-on screen protectors are snake oil,” iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens said in an email. He said the protection can actually damage the screen’s structure, though he There was no comment on panel-mounted protection.
Trey Barnett, a computer technician at uBreakiFix in Manhattan, has seen a lot of cracked screens in the 14 years he’s been repairing cell phones. However, he sees fewer iPhones with broken screens than before.
“I would say the screens have gotten sturdier, but, you know, that hasn’t stopped people from completely breaking them.”
There’s an obvious argument in favor of screen protectors: They cost less than replacing your phone’s screen. While this is true, the likelihood of having to repair your screen is much lower than it used to be. The multi-billion dollar screen protector industry wants to keep it low.
The Origin of Screen Protectors
In 2021, Apple’s iPhones began using ceramic shields, a new material said to be tougher than any previous smartphone glass.It comes from Corning, the glass company that Jobs commissioned The first screen of the iPhone in 2007.
Jobs gave Corning a six-month deadline to produce iPhone screens, and the company initially planned to use plastic screens.Corning did just that, creating an especially strong, thin material called Gorilla glass. This material would be used for the first decade of the iPhone and is still used in most Samsung phones.
Gorilla Glass is stronger than most glass, but it doesn’t work well at first. Phone screen protectors emerged almost immediately as consumers raced to wrap their phones in protective materials.
Apple Forum 2008 was packed with people Discussing early screen protectors. The first iPhone users quickly scratched their Gorilla Glass displays. Some users found these early screen protectors so bad that they messed up the iPhone’s touch screen. Screen protectors have gotten better, but so have the screens themselves.
Ceramic shielding is a major leap forward in screen technology. The materials used in ceramic shields are much different than typical smartphone glass.Corning describes it as somewhere between ceramic and glass, while Apple says it’s Four times stronger than Gorilla Glass When it comes to drops.
However, these significant improvements went unnoticed. This may be related to the growth of the screen protector industry.By 2030, the industry is expected to Grows to approximately US$85 billionAccording to Grand View Research.
Why do screen protectors persist?
Anyone who has ever shattered a phone screen will tell you how painful the experience can be. Even though phone screens have gotten better, the replacement process is enough to make anyone just buy a damn screen protector.
It’s completely understandable why you would still put your phone in a screen protector. It’s a big investment, but there’s growing evidence that screens are getting better. A good phone case is enough.
So when should we ditch our screen protectors? These fragile films can degrade the quality of the very expensive screen you have in your pocket, and they can drain your battery. Screen protectors are slowly becoming a thing of the past.