Well i picked my phone up... got a pack of Droid Bionic screen protectors from verizon... well i get home and i realize that they are the anti glare protectors.... lovely.... hate these things. Then i opened the pack figuring this is my only option to protect the screen till SGP makes one for this phone and i realize these protectors are complete GARBAGE! They cover literally only the screen, the display area. The speaker, front camera, touch buttons at the bottom and eve the sides of the glass screen are all exposed! :/ NOT COOL! /rant
I guess my thoughts are: I first got them for my OG Droid. I could never get them to fit okay, and the bubbles were super frustrating. I took it off within the hour. I've had my OG since day two of release and there's not a scratch on it. I've dropped it plenty of times, often on concrete. I'm very confident in the Gorilla Glass and have no intention of putting a screen protector on my Bionic. (as an aside, our Galaxy Tab 10.1 just too a fall from the bed to the wood floor, probably 3 feet, and it totally destroyed the screen. I'm pretty sure it's supposed to have GG, but not sure. Either way, just take care of your phones; don't get too drunk and text with them!)
Hehe I do take care of them for sure I just feel safer with the protectors on there, and that Ultra Crystal protector truly is crystal clear so It looks as if there is no protection on there at all. Its more for my own mental comfort than anything. Thats why I'm not TOO upset about parts of the "screen" being exposed, but as soon as SGP makes something for this phone, I'll be one of the first people to get it.
I feel ya! I found out about that when I got some VZW ones from my Droid X. They literally only cover the screen! Thats why I bought a Otterbox Defender, yea its expensive and HUGE as hell. But, it does protect my investment. All of my smartphones in the past look brand new, I can credit that to good cases and screen protectors because I have dropped them many times. lol
Screen protectors are a scam. All you have to do to ensure your screen doesn't get scratched is to not do stupid things with it ie put it in a pocket with keys or change, lay the phone face down on an uneven surface, drag the phone across said uneven surface while laying face down on it <- Has carried smartphones in his pocket for years and not one of them has a single scratch on the screen. I don't do anything extraordinary to keep them in mint condition, I just don't abuse them, that's all it takes.
I'd think that if you cover the FFC you'll get distorted/dim/blurry images, and if you cover the speaker it'll sound muffled. And as dguy pointed out, screen protectors don't really serve any purpose anyway.
I didn't mean to literally cover them though, usually screen protectors have an oval shape cut out to go around the speaker and a little circle cut out to go around the camera. That way the surrounding area is covered but the speaker and camera are undistorted.
What I did with my Fascinate was got one of those screen protector thingies for it, a clear sticker that only covers the screen and then got an Otterbox which covered up everything else, including the touch buttons on the bottom and the speaker on top (I don't have a front camera) I know it sounds weird, but it's the way I like to get things done. Plus, my old second generation iPod Touch has one too and now the screen is VERY badly cracked, to me it seems to be holding in some loose glass pieces and keeping the crack from spreading.
I used the extended cover on my OG droid and loved it. They use a heavier plastic that is used on helicopter blades to protect them from debris. I droped it many times and never got a scratch anywhere. Installation is a little tricky though... Motorola Droid Bionic Extended Protector Regular Protector Case Compatible Protector
I'd have to agree with screen protectors being unnecessary, these days. My original Droid took a number of falls and had its share of bumps, and while the chassis has its dents and scratches, the screen is perfect. There are a lot of old carry-overs from phones of years past, which should be reconsidered.
