Tag Archives: Accessories

The general consensus is that to protect your smartphone or tablet screen you should go with a screen protector because they can offer many advantages in terms of safety and reducing glare etc. However, on some devices you won’t always want to use a screen protector and there are others that are not suitable, such as a desktop or laptop.

So, how do you go about protecting screens when you don’t want to use a screen protector? Simply cleaning a screen may sound like common sense or something that you do only when you need to, but there are many benefits to cleaning a screen regularly and in particular by using the right equipment. You can think of it as applying an invisible screen protector because it will not only protect the screen’s top layer, but it also greatly reduces the chance of dirt and duct getting in between the screen and a finger or stylus which is when damage most often occurs.

I have been sent a Bausch + Lomb clens™ Home and Office Cleaning Kit which currently retails for $19.95 and which comes with the following in the box-

2 oz. clens cleaning spray
6 pre-moisened cleaning tissues
2 polishing cloths

You can also buy the Travel Kit for $14.95 which comes with 20 pre-moistened wipes and two polishing cloths.

The above contents sound like just a collection of cleaning products that you can use to clean a screen, and that is technically correct, but there is some more science behind the product that make it a cut above standard cleaning products. When you use the spray or cleaning tissues to clean a screen the first thing you notice is that there are no streaks left at all which is unusual. You are left with a ‘very’ clean screen, but that is not the end of the story. Apparently an oleophobic coating is also left on the screen which means absolutely nothing to me. What this does, however, is ensure that dust and grime is far less likely to accumulate on the screen and, perhaps more importantly, fingerprints are also much less of a problem than before.

I tested it on my iPad and it worked very well indeed. The screen was shiny as a button, but the lack of fingerprints afterwards was the real surprise. Screen protectors are my personal choice for reducing fingerprints, but this solution really does make an impact if you are looking for the real display experience from an iPad. I have since used it on my iPhone 4 and it was just as positive an experience and this then led me to use it on my Netbook and even my glasses. I am not sure if this product works on them, but I am now obsessed with using the product anywhere I can. Send me a bucket of the stuff and all of my windows in the house would soon be covered in oleophobic coating!

On a serious note, it seems to be a very good product, but I’m not sure how much of a market it has when screen protectors are still such big business. However, mobile products are very expensive and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be using this product before you add a screen protector anyway. All in all, I have to give it a thumbs up.

More details are here and the kits are available direct from Apple.

iPad Screen Protector

Some people seem to feel that screen protectors are not necessary these days, but I am one of those who always installs a screen protector the moment I purchase a new device. For all of the talk of Gorilla Glass and the other strides made towards indestructible screens, my iPhone 4 still has a couple of small scratches on the screen and this is with prolonged care having been taken in the way I carry and use it.

First up I tried the iPad screen protector and this was a timely arrival because I had previously made the error of buying a cheap £5 protector from an independent store. I wasn’t prepared to pay the £20 cost most retail chains ask for and so this was a quick and easy option. Unfortunately it also proved to be a waste of money because within a few days it was so scarred from normal use that it got in the way of the whole iPad experience. Expert Shield charges a more reasonable £9.95 (£17.95 for a twin pack) for the standard protector and £11.95 for the anti-glare version. Mine arrived with no packaging or extras, but yours will come with a lint-free cleaning cloth to aid installation. It is advisable to have something like a credit card to help smooth out the protector after installation because the iPad screen is big and so there is lots of room for tweaking the installation afterwards.

I got started and cleaned the screen and then gently lined it up with the home button and sides to make sure it was positioned correctly. The protector has two sides to pull off and you will notice after the first has been removed that it is very thick for a screen protector. Once you peel off the second side it starts to feel more like a standard protector, but one which offers a feeling of confidence over the thinner protectors that supposedly offer a clearer view. There were a few air bubbles, but the advantage of a thicker protector like this one is that they are much easier to remove. Simply spend some time brushing the bubbles away and you should be left with a perfectly installed protector. I rushed my installation and still ended up with a perfect fit and no bubbles or dust caught at all.

It is hard to get too excited about a screen protector, but this one is awesome. It went on perfectly and is by far the best one I have used to date on the iPad. It’s not all about protection because a decent screen protector on a device as large as the iPad makes a huge amount of difference to usability. When you consider glare, fingerprints and all the other bits of dust that can be attracted to a screen this size the experience is completely different to how it was with the cheap protector that actually made things worse.

I want few things from a screen protector, but value, toughness and clarity are necessities. The iPad anti-glare protector from Expert Shield has all of these in spades.

iPhone 4 Screen Protector

Expert Shield also sent over a front and back iPhone 4 screen protector combo which is even better value at just £6.95. It doesn’t have the full anti-glare of the iPad version I tested, but this is not so necessary on an iPhone and the back cover is an added bonus. You could read my iPad protector review again and replace ‘iPad’ with ‘iPhone’ because it is a similar story.

It installed without fuss and managed to cover the entire front and back without bubbles or overlapping on the edges. This is something I have seen many times with the iPhone 4 in particular which is surprising because it is so flat, but many protectors struggle to cover the surface without overlapping the edges. On both sides I had no problems here and I was as impressed with the iPhone 4 protectors as I was with the iPad protector.

You can purchase both screen protectors direct from Expert Shield.

Expert Shield advertises on PDA-247, but this has no effect on my final thoughts. I only give god reviews if the products justify such positivity because to do otherwise would reduce trust in future write ups.