Goodmaal

Reading reviews about these screen protectors always gets me overly paranoid, and I end up never knowing what to get. So, what the heck, I decided to give Skinomi a try, just because their website did a good job describing their product and Zagg has received way too many negative reviews (particularly about how the Zagg screen protector destroyed the feel of “smoothness” as fingers no longer “glided” over the iPhone).

I’ve applied a number of screen protectors, both from the cheap and the expensive end. And my experience has been all pretty benign, suggesting applying a screen protector (ANY protector!!) doesn’t need to be such a stressful process!! Just work with it, and it all comes out peachy at the end.

First, FOLLOW the instructions. (Clean off lint, dust, etc. and make sure not to introduce them to the screen protector’s sticky side!)

The solution they provide is essentially water. So, if the pump that comes with the kit doesn’t work, or you used up all of it, just use water! Wet fingers and drizzle some onto the screen protector, and voila, your fingers won’t stick to the protector, nor will it leave behind annoying finger prints. Before applying it onto the device, drain off excess water so that they don’t get into the electronics.

Wetting fingers and the screen protector is key. As long as both are wet, you can align the screen protector to perfection any way you want to.

Again, FOLLOW the instructions about how to get rid of major bubbles. Have a napkin on hand to soak up excess liquid as you push the bubbles out.

As claimed, the microbubbles that get left behind, they disappear with use. A majority of it is gone by the second day, and the stubborn ones go away with long-term use.

Say after you have it aligned fairly well, and it’s dried. You noticed it aligned horribly. Carefully peel it off so that you DO NOT distort the screen protector. Wet fingers and the backing of the screen protector, and start the whole process over. Re-do if necessary, though I highly recommend don’t wait until after it’s dried. Do these major re-alignments while you’re still at the “wet” stage.

Okay. Say you’re finally done with the major alignment, and it’s had a day to dry. You’re happy with it, but you wished you could shift, oh say, the hole over the camera to the right a millimeter or so. These minor “millimeter” adjustments can be easily done by just pushing it where you want it to go. Obviously, there’s no need to be rough. Just gently work it, and you can minutely adjust the position of the screen protector to your desired place.

Lastly, I’m not sure why a number of people have commented on how the screen protector distorted the image. Maybe I’m blind, but I can’t tell the difference. Obviously, you can tell there is a screen protector. But distorted images? My eyes couldn’t tell. My best guess is during the application step, finger prints/dust/lint got left behind, and/or some of these reviewers have not given the day or two needed for the microbubbles to clear out. When it has not fully dried, the image does come up fuzzy (due to the microbubbles and the liquid that has yet to dry). But if you’ve applied the screen protector according to the instructions AND made sure to clear out excess liquid AND had the patience to let it dry, then it is great at what it is suppose to do!
Rating: 5 / 5

I had an original iPhone and 3GS before I got the 4. The original never scratched but the 3GS seemed more sensitive and I ended up with a number of fine scratches on the screen despite the same care in handling. Therefore I don’t want to take chances with my 4.

I’ve installed similar but cheaper skins on other devices such as old Palms and the Nintendo DS. The Skinomi application process was a little different in that you put it on wet. I think it’s an improvement but it’s still fiddly and hard to notice minor imperfections until it’s too dry to really fix. It still came out OK if I don’t want to be a perfectionist, but part of the iPhone 4′s appeal is its beauty and so this is annoying. It’s also annoying that their stated “lifetime replacement” policy doesn’t apply to installation problems so take care.

The surface of the skin is a little rubbery to the touch. I have an internal debate over whether I like it or not but I think “like” is winning. I’d recommend the full body cover for more than just scratch resistance: (1) it makes the whole thing easier to grip and (2) for me at least, it eliminates the famous signal attenuation problem. It seems slightly less likely to get oily smudges from fingerprints but given how bad any iDevice looks when it’s turned off, this isn’t saying much. On the downside it seems to grab dust slightly more easily than the bare glass, but once again it’s not a big deal.

But to get down to the real purpose here, it does seem to be very tough. I can’t imagine anything really that could accidentally scratch the screen through this. It’s fairly easy to make minor marks however; I can draw lines all over it with my fingernail quite easily. Then again they do seem to “self heal” over time as advertised. It will take more time to determine just how complete that healing can be but my impression is that it will take a considerable amount of time if it ever happens. Unfortunately I think anything that comes between you and the 4′s screen will reduce some of that beautiful clarity, but the marks are not immediately obvious when the device is turned on.

All in all, I think this provides great protection that preserves much of the iPhone 4′s natural good looks, but still intrudes enough on the experience to feel like a worthwhile but unfortunate “cost” of protecting the device.
Rating: 4 / 5

Was relatively simple to apply. Took the advice of the instructions to spray fingers and both sides of the pieces just before application. Went on bubble free for the most part as a result. A little awkward in that it “slid around” prior to “scraping” the surface with the installation card (especially the side pieces for the iPhone4).

However, and this is pretty big, the display is distorted for lack of a better term. Imagine applying a “grainy” texture to an image in Photoshop. That’s what it looks like. Not a good thing for the Retina Display of the iPhone 4. It’s something I don’t want to “get used to” as it significantly degrades the quality of the iPhone 4 experience.

Perhaps the solution needs to dry before I assess but I’m not holding my breath. If it does improve, I will update this review.

UPDATE: Changing this from 2 to 4. The “grainy” distortion that I complained of originally is no longer an issue. Maybe it was the moisture prior to the protector bonding with the surface of the iPhone 4. The reason for not giving it a 5 out of 5 is due to the price.
Rating: 4 / 5

Reading reviews about these screen protectors always gets me overly paranoid, and I end up never knowing what to get. So, what the heck, I decided to give Skinomi a try, just because their website did a good job describing their product and Zagg has received way too many negative reviews (particularly about how the Zagg screen protector destroyed the feel of “smoothness” as fingers no longer “glided” over the iPhone).

I’ve applied a number of screen protectors, both from the cheap and the expensive end. And my experience has been all pretty benign, suggesting applying a screen protector (ANY protector!!) doesn’t need to be such a stressful process!! Just work with it, and it all comes out peachy at the end.

First, FOLLOW the instructions. (Clean off lint, dust, etc. and make sure not to introduce them to the screen protector’s sticky side!)

The solution they provide is essentially water. So, if the pump that comes with the kit doesn’t work, or you used up all of it, just use water! Wet fingers and drizzle some onto the screen protector, and voila, your fingers won’t stick to the protector, nor will it leave behind annoying finger prints. Before applying it onto the device, drain off excess water so that they don’t get into the electronics.

Wetting fingers and the screen protector is key. As long as both are wet, you can align the screen protector to perfection any way you want to.

Again, FOLLOW the instructions about how to get rid of major bubbles. Have a napkin on hand to soak up excess liquid as you push the bubbles out.

As claimed, the microbubbles that get left behind, they disappear with use. A majority of it is gone by the second day, and the stubborn ones go away with long-term use.

Say after you have it aligned fairly well, and it’s dried. You noticed it aligned horribly. Carefully peel it off so that you DO NOT distort the screen protector. Wet fingers and the backing of the screen protector, and start the whole process over. Re-do if necessary, though I highly recommend don’t wait until after it’s dried. Do these major re-alignments while you’re still at the “wet” stage.

Okay. Say you’re finally done with the major alignment, and it’s had a day to dry. You’re happy with it, but you wished you could shift, oh say, the hole over the camera to the right a millimeter or so. These minor “millimeter” adjustments can be easily done by just pushing it where you want it to go. Obviously, there’s no need to be rough. Just gently work it, and you can minutely adjust the position of the screen protector to your desired place.

Lastly, I’m not sure why a number of people have commented on how the screen protector distorted the image. Maybe I’m blind, but I can’t tell the difference. Obviously, you can tell there is a screen protector. But distorted images? My eyes couldn’t tell. My best guess is during the application step, finger prints/dust/lint got left behind, and/or some of these reviewers have not given the day or two needed for the microbubbles to clear out. When it has not fully dried, the image does come up fuzzy (due to the microbubbles and the liquid that has yet to dry). But if you’ve applied the screen protector according to the instructions AND made sure to clear out excess liquid AND had the patience to let it dry, then it is great at what it is suppose to do!
Rating: 5 / 5

I had an original iPhone and 3GS before I got the 4. The original never scratched but the 3GS seemed more sensitive and I ended up with a number of fine scratches on the screen despite the same care in handling. Therefore I don’t want to take chances with my 4.

I’ve installed similar but cheaper skins on other devices such as old Palms and the Nintendo DS. The Skinomi application process was a little different in that you put it on wet. I think it’s an improvement but it’s still fiddly and hard to notice minor imperfections until it’s too dry to really fix. It still came out OK if I don’t want to be a perfectionist, but part of the iPhone 4′s appeal is its beauty and so this is annoying. It’s also annoying that their stated “lifetime replacement” policy doesn’t apply to installation problems so take care.

The surface of the skin is a little rubbery to the touch. I have an internal debate over whether I like it or not but I think “like” is winning. I’d recommend the full body cover for more than just scratch resistance: (1) it makes the whole thing easier to grip and (2) for me at least, it eliminates the famous signal attenuation problem. It seems slightly less likely to get oily smudges from fingerprints but given how bad any iDevice looks when it’s turned off, this isn’t saying much. On the downside it seems to grab dust slightly more easily than the bare glass, but once again it’s not a big deal.

But to get down to the real purpose here, it does seem to be very tough. I can’t imagine anything really that could accidentally scratch the screen through this. It’s fairly easy to make minor marks however; I can draw lines all over it with my fingernail quite easily. Then again they do seem to “self heal” over time as advertised. It will take more time to determine just how complete that healing can be but my impression is that it will take a considerable amount of time if it ever happens. Unfortunately I think anything that comes between you and the 4′s screen will reduce some of that beautiful clarity, but the marks are not immediately obvious when the device is turned on.

All in all, I think this provides great protection that preserves much of the iPhone 4′s natural good looks, but still intrudes enough on the experience to feel like a worthwhile but unfortunate “cost” of protecting the device.
Rating: 4 / 5

Was relatively simple to apply. Took the advice of the instructions to spray fingers and both sides of the pieces just before application. Went on bubble free for the most part as a result. A little awkward in that it “slid around” prior to “scraping” the surface with the installation card (especially the side pieces for the iPhone4).

However, and this is pretty big, the display is distorted for lack of a better term. Imagine applying a “grainy” texture to an image in Photoshop. That’s what it looks like. Not a good thing for the Retina Display of the iPhone 4. It’s something I don’t want to “get used to” as it significantly degrades the quality of the iPhone 4 experience.

Perhaps the solution needs to dry before I assess but I’m not holding my breath. If it does improve, I will update this review.

UPDATE: Changing this from 2 to 4. The “grainy” distortion that I complained of originally is no longer an issue. Maybe it was the moisture prior to the protector bonding with the surface of the iPhone 4. The reason for not giving it a 5 out of 5 is due to the price.
Rating: 4 / 5