Best GN2 Screen Protector

[PyroSporker]

Only reason I've never considered the Ultra Optics is I'm not a fan of matte screen protectors. But I haven't seen it in person, to really evaluate how different it is.

Calling Ultra Optics, matte is a slight bit of an overstatement. It is good that you guys don't expect it to be crystal clear (thankfully they don't lie to people on their website), but calling it matte isn't exactly right either. Matte is the Ultra Fine/Anti-Fingerprint line. That is like a frosted window.

Hope I'm not mixing analogies or confusing things further, but here is a goofy car analogy I came up with; If AntiFingerprint/Ultra Fine(matte) is to flat black paint and Ultra Crystal/Oleophobic is to super high gloss showroom candy coat paint, Then Ultra Optics is to slightly glossed Satin/pearlescent paint.

Its sort of in this gray area between crystal clear and matte.

Just ordered the Ultra Optics from Spigen. Really wanted an anti-glare screen and you cant argue with the quality that everyone claims Spigen has. This will be my first screen protector from them and my first Matte screen protector. Interested to see how it effects clarity and interested to see how bad the rainbow effect is.

Clarity is still very clear.
(If you look especially close you can notice a slight haze or if you put your eyeball on the screen you can see faintly the inlayed optical lens array, but at normal viewing with your eyes in focus it is more or less not noticeable)

It is not the best at anti-glare, though you won't get a blinding reflection off of it like a crystal screen protector.

As far as the Rainbow effect goes, You will really only see it if you are reflecting certain light sources, or if there is liquid/super oil build up on the screen. Rainbowy effect doesn't happen too often and is easy to avoid. You'll still need a microfiber wipedown, just much less frequently.
see examples of rainbowy effect:

Spoiler

(source:ttp://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/united-sgp-steinheil-ultra-optics-for-iphone-4

(source: Google search gave a screen grab from this videowww.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct1x31kh12U)

I've seen/read more people have noticed that it has a unique texture to it. Reminds me of those old 'lenticular cards' that show a animated action sequence as you turn the card or change viewing angle (you may remember these from when you were a kid). There is that very slight zip noise, I actually enjoy the slight texture and don't mind the soft noise at all. Example:

(source:google search results)

Welcome to the forum. Please let us know what you think of it after it arrives.
I'm especially interested in hearing about how Ultra Optics (and crystal/oleophobic) work with the Stylus. The gent in the video posted above completely left it out of his demo. If people could weigh in on the SGP+stylus use it would be fun to read about it.

I have the Ultra Nano Optics for the Galaxy SIII on my Evo LTE. It is slightly more clear than plain Optics because the material is much thinner and flexible. I know if the stylus was used with the Nano line though, there would be problems with the stylus leaving indentations in the thinner impressionable plastic material.

 

[solongiphone]

Ahhhhh now you have me nervous about the reduction in clarity

 

[BRM10984]

I just received my Ultra Crystal SGP screen protectors today. I guess now I need to go buy a phone to protect with them.

I've used Steinheil/SGP in the past. I had their anti-fingerprint protector on my Droid X. For my Galaxy Nexus, I've stuck with the Verizon screen protectors. Those are truly something awful.

Back to SGP I go...

 

[ScandaLeX]

Ahhhhh now you have me nervous about the reduction in clarity

Made me nervous too and I already have mine on the phone.


I'm rocking the ultra crystal. Put it on last night in ONE TRY!!!! THAT has never happened to me before. Sprint stuck an invisible shield on it the day I got my phone and my s-pen would move across the screen like it had glue stuck to it.

The ultra crystal (yes, I'm tootin' my own horn........beep, beep) is beautiful. You cant tell there's a screen protector on the phone and the s-pen glides as though it's sliding on ice.

The zagg IS went in the trash.

 

[ScandaLeX]

Did anyone see in the User Manual page 9 says DO NOT use a screen protector. This causes sensor malfunctions?

 

[SoulSmilen]

Did anyone see in the User Manual page 9 says DO NOT use a screen protector. This causes sensor malfunctions?

Affirmative, but there have been people testing the difference in resposiveness and I don't believe any issues have been found. I don't remember which threads, but XDA has discussions about it, too. Maybe someone else will have a link since I'm worthless at the moment.

The kicker? Samsung even sells screen protectors for this phone! How's that for 'it's really ok'? Haha

 

[ScandaLeX]

Affirmative, but there have been people testing the difference in resposiveness and I don't believe any issues have been found. I don't remember which threads, but XDA has discussions about it, too. Maybe someone else will have a link since I'm worthless at the moment.

The kicker? Samsung even sells screen protectors for this phone! How's that for 'it's really ok'? Haha

As far as screen responsiveness, I'm using the ultra crystal and I find it outperforms the invisible shield I snatched off my phone. So in that regard, I feel the screen protector did have an impact on sensor performance.

As much as I appreciate XDA, too many over there act like their word on any subject is law and quite frankly, no one can tell me how the phone in my hand is performing.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Forum Runner

 

[drexappeal]

Calling Ultra Optics, matte is a slight bit of an overstatement. It is good that you guys don't expect it to be crystal clear (thankfully they don't lie to people on their website), but calling it matte isn't exactly right either. Matte is the Ultra Fine/Anti-Fingerprint line. That is like a frosted window.

Hope I'm not mixing analogies or confusing things further, but here is a goofy car analogy I came up with; If AntiFingerprint/Ultra Fine(matte) is to flat black paint and Ultra Crystal/Oleophobic is to super high gloss showroom candy coat paint, Then Ultra Optics is to slightly glossed Satin/pearlescent paint.

Thanks, Pyro. All this time, I always stayed away from everything but the ultra crystal, just because I didn't want anything but a stock looking protector. I might try the ultra optic next time. I gave the oleophobic a shot this time, simply because of the description.

 

[SoulSmilen]

As far as screen responsiveness, I'm using the ultra crystal and I find it outperforms the invisible shield I snatched off my phone. So in that regard, I feel the screen protector did have an impact on sensor performance.

As much as I appreciate XDA, too many over there act like their word on any subject is law and quite frankly, no one can tell me how the phone in my hand is performing.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Forum Runner

Agreed on XDA

As for Invisible Shield, they certainly affect responsiveness on just about any screen, so apologies for the all inclusive response. I should have stated that some will affect the sensors, some will not, as you know.

I think that disclaimer/warning is a bit comical, though, since Sammy does make one. I would be willing to bet that same warning is in more than one mfg's manuals these days.

 

[ScandaLeX]

Agreed on XDA

As for Invisible Shield, they certainly affect responsiveness on just about any screen, so apologies for the all inclusive response. I should have stated that some will affect the sensors, some will not, as you know.

I think that disclaimer/warning is a bit comical, though, since Sammy does make one. I would be willing to bet that same warning is in more than one mfg's manuals these days.

No apologies necessary!!!

I've never read a user manual until getting this phone and if it weren't for DrEx & TS, I still wouldn't have read it. Heck, there should be a stickie instructing everyone with this phone to download the user manual as they can always check anything (or most things) they want to know.

I don't recall seeing a Samsung made screen protector for this phone.

 

[evohicks]

I have had a blonde moment on my GN2 this morning. Woke up using the alarm and decided to put some more charge in the phone before work, as I picked the phone up I went to put the plug into the bottom and ghe phone slipped in my hand, while trying to keep hold of it the end of the charger caught my screen and made a nasty scratch around 20mm long. But the SGP protector took the full force and my phone is still unmarked! phew


Untitled by evohicks, on Flickr

 

[Luke C]

You guys seem dead set on Spigen products, what's your opinion on mediadevil screen protectors ?
Mediadevil Vs SGP ?

 

[ScandaLeX]

@Evo did you place that plastic on top of the scratch to show the scratch. I can't tell if you have a screen protector on there. When I look at my phone I don't see mine either.

 

[ScandaLeX]

You guys seem dead set on Spigen products, what's your opinion on mediadevil screen protectors ?
Mediadevil Vs SGP ?

Never heard of Media Devil.

 

[Luke C]

Never heard of Media Devil.

MediaDevil | Galaxy Note II - Samsung - Browse By Device

Not out yet, but there comming soon. Amazon seems to have positive reviews for them.

Ahhh, are you based in the us. They may not be available out there

 

[evohicks]

@Evo did you place that plastic on top of the scratch to show the scratch. I can't tell if you have a screen protector on there. When I look at my phone I don't see mine either.

That plastic is my screen protector lol. It looks like that because I took it off at work (dusty)
As for Mediadevil, never heard of them but I will usually go with what the best reviews are saying and SGP seem to be among the best around for this device right now.
I think for sure my screen would have been compromised today if it was not for a screen protector.

 

[drexappeal]

MediaDevil | Galaxy Note II - Samsung - Browse By Device

Not out yet, but there comming soon. Amazon seems to have positive reviews for them.

Ahhh, are you based in the us. They may not be available out there

Just by virtue of seeing that it's a Wet application vs. the Dry application of the SGP screen protectors, I say SGP wins.

 

[drexappeal]

That plastic is my screen protector lol. It looks like that because I took it off at work (dusty)
As for Mediadevil, never heard of them but I will usually go with what the best reviews are saying and SGP seem to be among the best around for this device right now.
I think for sure my screen would have been compromised today if it was not for a screen protector.

I wouldn't even just say that SGP is the best for just the Note 2. I'd say it's hands-down the best screen protector I've ever used on any of my smartphones.

 

[ScandaLeX]

Just by virtue of seeing that it's a Wet application vs. the Dry application of the SGP screen protectors, I say SGP wins.

Wet vs dry......Dry will ALWAYS win in my book. When I applied my screen protector it went on dead straight in one try. No mess. No fuss. No worries. The last wet application I ever used was a nightmare. Once I finally got it on, it looked so bad I took the protector off and threw it away.

 

[evohicks]

Wet vs dry......Dry will ALWAYS win in my book. When I applied my screen protector it went on dead straight in one try. No mess. No fuss. No worries. The last wet application I ever used was a nightmare. Once I finally got it on, it looked so bad I took the protector off and threw it away.

Same here, my work collegue put the Zagg on his Gs2 and it looks awful, nothing near as clear as the SGP.
Just ordered another SGP lol, worth the

 

[drexappeal]

Wet vs dry......Dry will ALWAYS win in my book. When I applied my screen protector it went on dead straight in one try. No mess. No fuss. No worries. The last wet application I ever used was a nightmare. Once I finally got it on, it looked so bad I took the protector off and threw it away.

Yup. Unfortunately, SGP didn't support the Photon, so I had to use a cheap ebay dry install screen protector (which wasn't bad, but not great). So glad to have SGP ready to install by the time both of my Note 2's come in.

 

[ScandaLeX]

Yup. Unfortunately, SGP didn't support the Photon, so I had to use a cheap ebay dry install screen protector (which wasn't bad, but not great). So glad to have SGP ready to install by the time both of my Note 2's come in.

How much longer now? Are they going to be in before you leave for vacay?

 

[PyroSporker]

Ahhhhh now you have me nervous about the reduction in clarity

Sorry to be that guy. Don't fret, just keep an open mind and decide for yourself when they arrive.

MediaDevil | Galaxy Note II - Samsung - Browse By Device

Not out yet, but they're coming soon. Amazon seems to have positive reviews for them.

Ahhh, are you based in the us. They may not be available out there

Just by virtue of seeing that it's a Wet application vs. the Dry application of the SGP screen protectors, I say SGP wins.

Wet vs dry......Dry will ALWAYS win in my book. When I applied my screen protector it went on dead straight in one try. No mess. No fuss. No worries. The last wet application I ever used was a nightmare. Once I finally got it on, it looked so bad I took the protector off and threw it away.

Hey guys, MediaDevil for the Note 2 are dry apply...
Never heard of them either, but after looking around a little they don't look too bad.

 

[Liam548]

Made me nervous too and I already have mine on the phone.


I'm rocking the ultra crystal. Put it on last night in ONE TRY!!!! THAT has never happened to me before. Sprint stuck an invisible shield on it the day I got my phone and my s-pen would move across the screen like it had glue stuck to it.

The ultra crystal (yes, I'm tootin' my own horn........beep, beep) is beautiful. You cant tell there's a screen protector on the phone and the s-pen glides as though it's sliding on ice.

The zagg IS went in the trash.

can you post a photo of your screen protector on your handset

 

[drexappeal]

How much longer now? Are they going to be in before you leave for vacay?

I'm already back from vacation. It was a short one from my b'day to the 30th. I've been back at work since Halloween.

Still, so many mixed reports. The store I pre-ordered at said that they heard it would be there yesterday (didn't happen). Most of the consistent reports I've heard are next weekend (which is fine).

Funniest thing is, I'll have my Samsung ATIV Tablet (w/ S-pen and Keyboard dock) by Tuesday. I didn't even plan on buying that until after the new year, but got too sweet of a deal to pass up. I'd laugh if Daily Steals even gets me the International Note 2, prior to the Sprint one being available at Best Buy. Funny thing is, I'm not in that much of a rush now that I've pre-ordered.