Remember back in the day when screen protectors were a dirt cheap plastic film and you could buy big sheets of it and custom cut it with scissors for your phone? Cost like 10 cents for a screen protector? Then came the bullet proof, space shuttle glass screen protectors for like $12 a pop? Turns out the expensive space age glass stuff breaks super easy. I want off this crazy ride. Anyone know where to get the old school JNCO wearin, NIN listenin screen protector material?

  • @drudoo@lemmy.world
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    311 months ago

    Buy protectors cheap on AliExpress? I get them at like $1 each for an iPhone. Even cheaper in bulk. Works flawless.

  • @EeeDawg101@lemm.ee
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    311 months ago

    I can’t help you but you brought up memories of those plastic films! I remember having them with my handspring visor pda. Ha!

  • @Vqhm@lemmy.world
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    411 months ago

    You can still get plastic (non tempered glass) screen protectors

    I prefer plastic matte screen protector over glossy and usually get ones from the company IQ shield

  • @fireshaperA
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    3911 months ago

    Turns out the expensive space age glass stuff breaks super easy.

    Sounds like you are really rough on your phone. The point of glass screen protectors is that it cracks instead of your phone’s screen. The cheap plastic film isn’t made to do that, just keep the glass from getting scratched.

    • @stevehobbes@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      While that is true, the screen protectors are significantly less flexible than the glass screen.

      If you hold something even a little firmly against your phone, you will crack the glass screen protector. Your phones screen would not and does not crack.

      I’ve cracked quite a few screen protectors that way.

      The real answer is stop buying expensive ones. Buy the $9 for 3 from Amazon and replace every couple of months when they crack.

      The reason they crack is that screen protectors tout their scratch resistance, and hardness, which comes at the expense of flexibility. Being hard and being brittle tend to go hand in hand.

      I wouldn’t care if they scratched more and cracked less, I’m happy to spend $3 every 2-3 months either way.

      • @fireshaperA
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        111 months ago

        I bought an Ailun 2 pack of glass screen protectors May 2021 for $9 to put on my iPhone, which is in my pocket every day while I work around the farm. The first one I put on hasn’t cracked yet.

    • @Aliendelarge@lemmy.world
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      111 months ago

      Only phone screen that ever broke on me was with a glass protector. My phones last years with the plastic ones. I’m not convinced the glass ones offer any benefit.

    • @sir_whocampsalot@lemmy.world
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      -811 months ago

      No like they literally break on their own. Ive had multiple “glass” protectors just crack in my pocket or just by pressing too hard on it with my finger. Never using such screen protectors again, back to plastic/film like protectors for me.

      • @fireshaperA
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        111 months ago

        Okay, so you are buying cheap glass screen protectors. I have had glass screen protectors on my phones and keep them in my pocket all the time. I’ve never had them just crack by being in my pocket or pressing too hard. If that were the case people wouldn’t buy them.

    • @SzethFriendOfNimi@lemmy.world
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      1211 months ago

      Like the crumple zone of a modern car. Looks worse but better to have the force absorbed by the protector than transferred to your phone itself.

  • @Today@lemm.ee
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    411 months ago

    I hate the glass! They break so easily. I buy the plastic film ones on Amazon in 2 or 3 packs usually. I’ve never seen the sheets that you can cut. What’s your phone?

  • @nublug@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    811 months ago

    TPU screen protector is what you want and need to search for. it won’t be like a sheet you cut yourself it’ll still be form fitting for your specific phone but they are cheaper (usually get a pack of 3 or 5) they are floppy and they tear when they wear out they don’t crack. protected my phone for years now, unlike the hard glass ones, which always still broke the screen under after a bad drop in my experience.

  • Wolfie 🐺🌙
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    411 months ago

    If you hate glass protectors you can always use hydrogel ones. That’s what I use on my phones and never had problems with them. The glass ones always breaks on me like a day or 2 after I install them and I don’t even drop my phones that often, they just break from the lightest drops. So I swiched do hydrogel ones and I have the same protector since January and its still fine.

    • @cedarmesa@lemmy.worldOP
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      211 months ago

      Same problem. I dont beat up my phone, they just break super easy. I dont know what hydrogel is. Are there specific screen savers made of hydrogel or is it a material you repurpose for phones?

      • Wolfie 🐺🌙
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        11 months ago

        Specific screen protectors made from hydrogel so you should look for one for your phone. I like them because even if you got some light scratches they will heal themselves.

  • @Ducks@ducks.dev
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    211 months ago

    Maybe I’m ignorant but I’ve felt like phones haven’t needed screen protectors for a while… I’ve had a GS9 for years with no screen protector and I have a very very minor scratch that can only be seen with the screen off and that’s it.

    I’ve never shattered a phone screen before, am I just an outlier?