Honestly, phones now a days are pretty hard to get scratched up. You have to drop it from a good height depending upon the surface, or really go at the screen hard. Not that i intentionally do it, but sometimes my keys are in the same pocket as my Nexus S4G and I never had a scratch on it. I always keep my phones in great condition. My Hero never had a scratch on the screen. I'm not saying it doesn't need one, but you will be just fine without one. If you are prone to accidents or really protective, then you just might need one. Anything is possible. The SGSII has gorilla glass on it and it makes it that much harder. Nexus S 4G doesn't and I haven't scratched mines up. I always carry a micro fabric cleaning cloth with me though. I love for my screen to be clean. Not to mention, I work at Home Depot after classes.