Corning Gorilla Glass 5 & 6 and up... Still buy extra screen protector?

[lvt]

So Corning Gorilla Glass gets better and better, from the Gorilla Glass 5 your phone screen can survive a drop from 1.6m height.

Will it be the end of an era where we buy craps called screen protectors to cover our devices's screens and at the end we never have the real feel of a product that we paid for?

How many of you know how a real Corning Glass feel? I bet that most of you only know how a cheap tempered glass feels, not the real one that comes with your device.

 

[Hadron]

It's still glass, it will still break. And it won't always survive falls from the height claimed either (if you want a simple case, it lands on a rough surface or a bit of grit and that concentrates the force). To be honest these claims don't sound very different from those made for previous generations.

Each year there are claims, each year the screens still break. And less prone to shattering generally means more prone to scratching (e.g. Gorilla Glass 4 scratches quite easily, though it survives drops a little better than 3).

BTW I'm currently using a flip case and no screen protector. And the GG4 on my phone scratched just from being placed face down on a desk, so I am speaking from experience (though I've read enough to know it's a representative experience too).

 

[dan330]

been lucky.. hate screen protectors.. got rid if them 3 phone upgrades ago.
love the glass feel and clean clear look.
use a semi-good case. make sure there is enough lip support in the corners....
also dont like fat thick cases... so thin ones with corner coverage.

have not had any issues ..
but i know .. shiiiit happens.

99% covered in most NORMAL everyday drops.

 

[Hadron]

Avoid cobbles. My previous phone was protected like that, until I dropped it from shoulder height onto a cobbled street. A lip doesn't necessarily protect it in a face-down fall if the surface isn't flat.

(In fact on first glance it looked completely undamaged. Then 10 minutes later there was a crack across the width of the device: there had been a tiny chip, invisible unless you looked closely, but that meant stress points at the corners and the crack had developed from those).

 

[dan330]

yeah.. of course..

that is why i said... 99% of NORMAL drops.

shoulder height .. on to cobbled street... that aint a normal drop.
and in this situation... i would guess 60% chance it would be fine.

 

[lvt]

The problem is that many of the tempered glasses are actually more plastic than glass, and even when it's glass, the quality is inferior.

Unlike the tempered glass I bought from eBay, the Gorilla glass on my HTC doesn't retain any fingerprint, technically speaking I don't have to wipe it, it always remains clean and clear.

My latest phone (Oppo R15) comes with a pre-installed screen protector so I can't verify the glass yet.

 

[Hadron]

I've never met a glass protector that wasn't glass (it would be illegal to advertise it as tempered glass if it was anything else). As for oleophobic coatings, sure, if you want that you should expect to pay more, which on a disposable item like a screen protector won't be many people's choice. But that's not a property of Gorilla Glass either, it's something the manufacturer has to add.

 

[lvt]

I've never met a glass protector that wasn't glass (it would be illegal to advertise it as tempered glass if it was anything else). As for oleophobic coatings, sure, if you want that you should expect to pay more, which on a disposable item like a screen protector won't be many people's choice. But that's not a property of Gorilla Glass either, it's something the manufacturer has to add.

I have broken a couple of used tempered glasses just for fun, somes break in a spider-web like pattern, others just break in half, I genuinely doubt that all of them are glass.

And for the oleophobic coating, yes they are advertissed as oleophobic coated, but it doesn't work. The glasses are full of fingerprint and grease after a day of use.

 

[dan330]

i see many phones that have these tempered glass protectors...
many are soo scratched up.. and dirty.. it is nasty looking.
they dont change them out..or remove them.. because they fear the Gorilla glass will suffer same fate.

we argue this.. as their ugly screen is sitting next my naked beautiful screen.

 

[lvt]

i see many phones that have these tempered glass protectors...
many are soo scratched up.. and dirty.. it is nasty looking.
they dont change them out..or remove them.. because they fear the Gorilla glass will suffer same fate.

we argue this.. as their ugly screen is sitting next my naked beautiful screen.

No difference from leaving your $60K BMW outside under the sun or wearing your $8K Rolex without any protector.

If we put a screen protector on our phone, we are protecting a disposable item, we aren't enjoying at all.

 

[Hadron]

I was just saying, don't believe the marketing. Corning have been making the same pitch since their first Gorilla Glass, and they still scratch and still break.

(The reason they always show it standing up to keys and coins is that these are soft. Grit is the issue for scratches).

 

[dontpanicbobby]

I've used screen protectors. Don't bother.
2 out of 7 phones across platforms have scratches or "Broke Good". T-mobole G1 screen broke. A scratch on my LG G6.
No screen problems with PocketPC or WindowsPhones though...
Lots of platforms die.
Android phones get tougher amd tougher...