How to Apply a Screen Protector to a Smartphone

Introduction

Today’s smartphones are the ultimate business tool, so protecting your crucial investment is of an utmost importance. Whether you use it for business, pleasure, or trading stocks on the daily, a broken phone in the high-stakes finance world is a no go.

Thankfully, there are ways to protect your investment and a screen protector is one of the cheapest and most effective options available. A screen protector is an extra thin layer that is added on top of your normal phone screen to protect it against accidental damages.

Applying a screen protector to your smartphone can be a very daunting process to try out especially for the first time. How do you make sure it’s fitted correctly without it forming bubbles? Some of the screen protectors only give you once chance to install them right or else you risk losing them even before they’ve served their purpose.

These easy steps if followed as instructed will give your smartphone a clean and smooth protective coat without you trying so hard. You will not have to worry about air bubbles ruining the entire process.

These steps are applicable for both tempered glass screen protectors and plastic screen protectors.

You are likely to come across thousands of user manuals on how to install these screen guards, however, some of them turn out not to be so clear. These steps below have been designed to assist you to properly apply a screen protector to your smartphone.

Step 1. Clean the smartphone screen.

Find a flat, dust-free surface. This is the place where you intend to work. The surrounding environment should be free of wind, preferably indoors.

After you’ve secured a safe working space, you can take out your smartphone and begin cleaning it. A micro-fiber cloth will work better in this case, as it cleans off any fingerprint marks and dust. Take note that you may not be able to remove all the dust particles. As long as you remove the visible ones, you’re good to go.

Another cleaning technique for removing dust particles is breathing onto the phone screen, just as it’s usually done with eyeglasses.

Important: Refrain from using tissue paper to clean your phone screen. This is because they leave behind a lot of fluff that messes up your phone screen instead.

Step 2. Removing the screen protector from its packaging

Before you remove the screen protector from its packaging, it’s very important to identify which one is the upper side. Do not rush to remove the protective film that sits on the sticky side of the screen protector.

After this, take 2 pieces of scotch tape (at least 1 inch long) and place each of them on the right side of the screen protector. Stick one-half of the tape to the top of the screen protector and place the other half slightly close to the first tape. If you’re lucky, your packaging may come with rectangular stickers to use rather than using regular scotch tape. Either of them work.

Step 3. Position your screen protector.

Your protective film should still be in the middle of the screen protector of your phone screen. Make sure to align it properly with your phone screen. Also, do not remove the protective film just yet.

As you’re aligning the screen protector with your phone screen, the cutouts on the screen protector should guide you on how to position it and make sure it fits properly around the entire screen.

After you’re sure everything is well aligned, hold the screen protector in place while wrapping the pieces of tape around your phone.

The tape should be wrapped tightly around the screen protector to prevent it from shifting after you’ve released it.

Step 4. Re-cleaning your device

Flip your screen protector over to reveal your phone screen. With a microfiber cloth, clean the surface of your phone screen to get rid of any dust particles that may have been exposed to your screen.

Try to remove the visible dust particles trapped under your screen protector otherwise; they may create irremovable dust bubbles after you apply the screen protector.

Step 5. Applying the screen protector.

In this step, the screen protector is applied. Carefully flip the screen protector over and remove the protective film while still ensuring the scotch tape stays in place.

Turn it over onto your phone screen while keeping enough tension on the scotch tape. The tape is there to ensure that the screen guard lands in the right position.

Carefully remove the pieces of tape. Do it slowly to avoid accidentally raising the screen protector off the device. Now gently peel off the front cover of the screen protector.

Step 6. Getting rid of bubbles

This method tends to cause some bubbles to form underneath the screen protector. There’s no need to worry though because if no dust was trapped, they can easily be removed.

Do not use your hands to remove the bubbles; instead, use the plastic card that usually comes with the packaging. Another alternative is to use your credit card to push the bubbles down away from the main screen. A few stubborn bubbles may need you to apply more force to properly remove them. Apply as much force as you want because your screen is now protected.

Tempered Glass or Plastic Screen protector?

Today’s market is flooded with thousands of varieties of screen protectors, which makes choosing the right one a bit tricky. This article will, however, help you make a better decision on what type to choose, especially if you’re struggling to go for either the tempered glass screen protector or the plastic one.

Below are some factors you can consider by comparing the advantages and disadvantages so that you can easily decide.

Plastic Screen protectors

These are available in most markets worldwide.

Advantages

• Plastic screen protectors have proven to last for a much longer time. For example, when a strong amount of pressure is applied to it, (similar to falling on a rocky surface) there won’t be any serious damage on the screen.
• Secondly, this type of screen protector can be re-used. You can remove it, keep it, and put it back when you please.

Disadvantages

The disadvantages are quite numerous when it comes to the plastic screen protectors.

• They start to look fogy after some time because they are made of plastic. This fogginess makes it difficult for the phone holder to view what is on their phone screen hence causing them to strain their eyes in the long run.
• The scratches can easily be seen because of the plastic texture.
• A plastic screen protector is thin compared to tempered glass, and as they say; the thinner the screen protector the more vulnerable it will be to damages.
• The cracks on the screen usually start small and get larger with time.
• The “feel” of swiping over a plastic screen protector is not as smooth as that of a tempered glass screen protector.
• Fingerprint marks remain on the phone screen after a series of swiping. It’s not a good look to see many fingerprint marks on a phone screen. The only solution to this is periodically cleaning the screen.
• Plastic screen protectors are unable to cover all the phone edges, so in case of an accidental falling, they get scratched.

Tempered Glass Screen protector

These are the best choice compared to plastic screen protectors. They completely cover all the edges of your phone screen hence 100% guaranteed protection against accidental damages. When making tempered glass, it undergoes a process that involves heat application that makes it extremely strong. Glass tempered screen protectors comprise of many layers. They contain an oleophobic Nano coating, an anti-shutter film, and a penetrable silicone coating on the top surface of the glass. The many layers make the glass stronger and more resistant to scratches.

Advantages

• They may be more expensive compared to the plastic screen protectors, but they are stronger.
• Tempered glass is scratch-resistant because of its gorilla glass build.
• Users can smoothly swipe with their fingertips on the phone screen, giving them a better experience.
• Fingerprint marks do not stick to the screen.
• One may not tell that the phone has a screen protector. The tempered glass screen protector blends in well with the original phone screen.
• Cleaning the phone screen is easy because the tempered glass screen is smooth.
• When it cracks, it gets broken into small cracks but still does not endanger your original phone screen.
• Its sleekness allows users to enjoy clear images and also continue maintaining touch screen sensitivity.

Disadvantages

• They require extreme cautiousness because when they crack, they cannot be fixed. You continue either using them cracked or you replace with a new one.
• The cracked tempered screen protector can easily hurt your fingertips when swiping. In case a screen is extremely cracked, it’s better to replace it.
• A tempered glass screen cannot handle extreme pressure once it falls onto a rock or a rough surface.

Conclusion

Simply follow the above-mentioned steps involved in applying a screen protector to your smartphone. Also, make sure not to skip any of the mentioned steps because they need to be followed in their stated order if you want to achieve the best results.

Tempered glass is more durable, looks sleeker, and is smoother to touch as ones swipe on their phone screen compared to the plastic screen protector. On the other hand, plastic screen protectors are cheaper, re-usable but do not look as sleek as the tempered glass screen protectors. With the above information, you can now gauge and choose your preferred screen protector option.