Desire Screen, plastic or glass

[JayCee]

I'm sure I read a review somewhere where they said the Desire's screen was plastic...right/wrong?
I'm thinking of replacing my Hero which has a nice hard glass screen but don't fancy a plastic screen.
Someone tell me it ain't so please?

 

[TimMatrix]

I think it is glass, since as it is a capacitive touchscreen, much like the iPhone. Drop it and if it shatters, then it's glass (I wouldn't advise you to drop yours!) otherwise it's plastic.

 

[lekky]

its glass.

 

[Ten10]

Screen is made up of 3 layers. Top is a glass protective layer. Second is the touch sensitive layer followed by the AMOLED. The review was probably referencing the casing of the handset.

 

[koolbreeze]

how good is it against every day wear and tear. i'm not a fan of screen protectors and i never used it on my iphone 3g and milestone. how scratch resistant is the screen?

 

[d.knight99]

Not a single mark on mine so far, although it does live in a leather slip case for most of the time but I've also dropped it screen down on concrete and it only suffered scuffs to the housing. The display was totally unscathed!

 

[Eugene's Mac]

Personally I prefer it without a protector for the touch and beautiful screen, but the fingerprints is a disaster and therefor a screen protector is needed for me.

 

[HTC_Desire]

Why put on a screen protector? - because you have an Amoled screen that is beautiful, that's why. I have the HTC screen protector on, and I honestly can't tell the difference between mine and a friend's which doesn't have one (Think he's nuts). You won't get another Desire with an Amoled screen because Samsung are hogging them all, so if your screen goes you are pretty much done, even if you are insured. Why oh why would you want to take that risk. I have a gel case on it, which in my opinion actually makes it a LOT easier to hold (for me anyway), and an HTC screen protector. I feel pretty safe and comfortable, my phone looks and feels great, and I am not afraid to use it for fear of scratching etc.

 

[Phenomenological]

I use my phone totally naked. No gel case, no screen protector, just a leather slip case for my pocket. Had it a month or so, not a scratch anywhere on it - I don't forsee this changing. As long as you're careful you don't really need any protection on it. If, however, you think you're likely to accidentally throw it at the nearest bit of concrete, by all means by a screen protector and a case to make your phone fatter and less appealing.

 

[jay_kay]

At some point during the 18 months always manage to have a moment and drop my phone, often doing the juggle trying to catch it and then trying to breaks its fall. Its almost inevitable.

I've got the Martin fields screen protector on mine which comes with a little one for the camera lens. Have tried loads before but have used these on my last 3 phones cos they are great. Also got the black flexishield case on it which I find perfect.

 

[SUroot]

Why put on a screen protector? - because you have an Amoled screen that is beautiful, that's why. I have the HTC screen protector on, and I honestly can't tell the difference between mine and a friend's which doesn't have one (Think he's nuts). You won't get another Desire with an Amoled screen because Samsung are hogging them all, so if your screen goes you are pretty much done, even if you are insured. Why oh why would you want to take that risk. I have a gel case on it, which in my opinion actually makes it a LOT easier to hold (for me anyway), and an HTC screen protector. I feel pretty safe and comfortable, my phone looks and feels great, and I am not afraid to use it for fear of scratching etc.

I'm a bit lost here. Whatever damage you do that will go through the digitizer and also break the screen, no screen protector can prevent.

The digitizer is what you touch. It translates touch into input. It is not actually attached to the amoled screen, rather it sits on top. These are replaceable seperately.

 

[Ghibli]

The review was probably referencing the casing of the handset.

But isn't the casing (at least the screen surround) metal in the first place, not plastic?
I wasn't sure at first, but then I dropped my phone on its face, leaving it dented in a way only metal can be. That and the distinctly cold touch assured me... unless I'm still mistaken?

 

[zafonic]

At some point during the 18 months always manage to have a moment and drop my phone, often doing the juggle trying to catch it and then trying to breaks its fall. Its almost inevitable.

I've got the Martin fields screen protector on mine which comes with a little one for the camera lens. Have tried loads before but have used these on my last 3 phones cos they are great. Also got the black flexishield case on it which I find perfect.

I have had a Martin Fields screen protector on my Desire since May, and only in the last month or so have i noticed a few scratches just below centre, caused only by my thumb when scrolling up and down.

A bit disappointed by that, but pleased to have a protector on my phone all the same after that.

 

[nickkr]

I use my phone totally naked. No gel case, no screen protector, just a leather slip case for my pocket. Had it a month or so, not a scratch anywhere on it - I don't forsee this changing. As long as you're careful you don't really need any protection on it. If, however, you think you're likely to accidentally throw it at the nearest bit of concrete, by all means by a screen protector and a case to make your phone fatter and less appealing.

+1

 

[SUroot]

But isn't the casing (at least the screen surround) metal in the first place, not plastic?
I wasn't sure at first, but then I dropped my phone on its face, leaving it dented in a way only metal can be. That and the distinctly cold touch assured me... unless I'm still mistaken?

Its a tricky one. It certainly looks, feels and acts metal, but there are some very cunning plastics around at the moment.

 

[HTC_Desire]

I'm a bit lost here. Whatever damage you do that will go through the digitizer and also break the screen, no screen protector can prevent.

The digitizer is what you touch. It translates touch into input. It is not actually attached to the amoled screen, rather it sits on top. These are replaceable seperately.

Just talking about inadvertantly scratching up the screen. Once you've done that your phone is horrible. Doesn't matter how careful you are, it only takes a set of keys (Been there) or something in your pocket etc, to ruin that screen, and if it does it looks crap and it feels crap. If it happens to me I'll just switch screen protecters for a new one. My point was that once you have damaged that screen in any way, you are unlikely to be able to get another Amoled based Desire because Samsung are hogging the screens.

 

[SUroot]

Just talking about inadvertantly scratching up the screen. Once you've done that your phone is horrible. Doesn't matter how careful you are, it only takes a set of keys (Been there) or something in your pocket etc, to ruin that screen, and if it does it looks crap and it feels crap. If it happens to me I'll just switch screen protecters for a new one. My point was that once you have damaged that screen in any way, you are unlikely to be able to get another Amoled based Desire because Samsung are hogging the screens.

Yeah but all is not lost if you hadn't got a screen protector and something unpredicted had happened and it got scratched to hell.

Luckily a replacement digitizer is

 

[HTC_Desire]

Dan, apologies if I'm being dense here, but what is the digitizer. From descriptions on ebay that I've just looked at it would appear to be the touch sensor part of the screen, so are you saying that if the screen got scratched, you could just replace the glass bit as long as you had one of these?

Cheers
Ken.........

 

[slugger09]

I have to admit the Desire although the case is made of plastic it seems very durable, The iPhone if you look at it the wrong way it would get scratched, I have had my Desire in my pocket with keys and change and it came out fine, I also think if you drop it it might actually survive, I've seen an iPhone 4 drop 3 feet onto a concrete floor and the screen smashed and the poor owner was devastated, I thing the Desire might of survived that fall

 

[UKseagull]

There a guy here that's tested his already broken screen for scratchiness, I still prefer to have a protector on mine just in case.

YouTube - HTC Desire vs. Schl

 

[tiring_day]

There a guy here that's tested his already broken screen for scratchiness, I still prefer to have a protector on mine just in case.

Happier after seeing that video, I have no screen protector on mine but I do have a Gel case on as every phone I have ever had has had one fall and a scuffed corner. My phone always lives in a pocket all by itself, it never has to share with keys or coins, never ever.

Steve