The glass on modern iPhones is incredibly tough but not impossible to scratch or break. A high-quality screen protector will not only keep your phone’s screen pristine while you use it, but it will also protect your investment if you ever want to trade the phone in or sell it to upgrade later. This ZAGG XTR3 screen protector is not only incredibly easy to install but once installed, it just disappears and makes you completely forget it’s there guarding your screen against scratches and damage.
Pros:
* Incredibly easy to install with pristine results and no bubbles.
* Edge-to-edge protection.
* Feels like the original glass for touch and swipes.
* Invisible protection.
* Leaves just enough room at the edges for most cases.
* Additional blue-light filtering for eye protection.
* Lifetime warranty if it ever breaks or scratches.
Cons:
* Adds a bit of thickness that may make it protrude from some cases.
* Slight adjustments needed to use the iOS “scroll to top” gesture.
If you’re like me, you value your iPhone enough to want to keep its screen as pristine as possible. Nobody likes a scratched or broken screen, so a good quality screen protector is essential. Not all screen protectors are equivalent, and while a cheap one might seem like it’s better than nothing, a high-quality one will install easily and virtually disappear while guarding your screen from day-to-day use and damage.
Installation:
Even if you’ve installed a screen protector before, the process can seem a bit scary. A botched install can last for the life of having it on your phone and be a constant reminder that your screen is covered with something. This ZAGG screen protector comes with everything you need for an easy and flawless installation. There’s a tray to hold your phone in place and keep the screen protector perfectly aligned before it is installed. Additional supplies are provided to clean the screen and remove any dust that might get trapped under the screen protector. Online videos are available if you need more instruction and reassurance, but the basics are printed in the box and that’s probably enough for most people.
First, take off any case that might be installed and place your phone in the tray. It only fits one way and centers perfectly. Then wipe the screen with the cleaning pad to get any smudges or residue off so that the screen is perfectly clean before applying the protector. Then dab the sticky pad all over the cleaned screen to ensure that no dust is left over to get trapped under the glass.
The final step is to peel off the protective film from the phone-side of the glass and align the holes on the glass’s top-side protective film with the posts on the tray. It only fits one way so you can’t mess up (provided you put the exposed glass facing the phone’s screen ;-) ). With the glass protector suspended above the cleaned phone screen, just press the middle of the glass with one finger and the glass gently adheres to the screen from the center and spreads out until it is adhered to the phone.
Once the glass is adhered to your phone’s screen, remove the top protective film and remove your phone from the tray. That’s it! With my installation, there were no bubbles to wipe away, but if there were, you just gently guide them to the edge of the glass.
I’ve installed screen protectors on my last 5 phones and this by far was the easiest to get a pristine application. Flimsy plastic screen protectors seem to be more susceptible to getting bubbles trapped under the film so I prefer glass screen protectors. Plus, the glass ones feel more like you’re not using your phone through a protector.
Fit and Usage:
This glass screen protector covers my iPhone 15 Pro Max’s face from edge-to-edge with no notches or cut-outs. The top of the glass ends just before the earpiece and all edges are nicely rounded for a smooth touch if you glide your finger across the edge onto the glass. By the way, if you use the iOS gesture where you tap the top-most edge of the screen to “scroll to top” of a list, since the top edge of the screen protector covers that area partially, you just have to get used to tapping the edge of the screen protector instead of tapping the flat glass. Once you get used to this, it’s no big deal.
The glass itself is supposedly treated to reduce blue light emissions from the screen and enhance the colors of the screen. I don’t know if I can tell a difference, but the screen 100% looks at least as good as it did without the screen protector installed. There is no distortion, bubble or haziness. The feel of tapping and swiping is the same as doing so on the original phone screen glass.
The edges of the screen protector are inset just a bit from the absolute edge of the screen’s original glass. This allows for cases that might wrap around the edge of the phone so the glass doesn’t interfere with the case.
Something to be aware of is that this glass screen protector does add just a bit of extra thickness to the phone. This is relatively meaningless if you’re not using a case, but if your case has raised edges designed to keep the screen from touching the table when flipped over with the screen facing down, the extra thickness of the screen protector might make it protrude just enough to negate that little bit of lip from the case. This probably won’t matter to most but just be aware of it.
Conclusion:
This all-glass screen protector is very easy to install perfectly. Once installed, it virtually disappears from view and you forget that a screen protector is installed. It just does its job of keeping your screen pristine without constantly reminding you that it’s there. In the event you ever do have a problem with the screen protector or it gets damaged, ZAGG has a great lifetime warranty to replace it. Overall, this screen protector fits and installs perfectly. I couldn’t ask for more.