Hey All,
I was asked to review the Exo Skin by Xgear. I requested the White Carbon skin and I have to say it looks great on my black S5! I only have the back installed as I have the Skinomi Tempered Glass Screen Protector on the front. Installation was quick and painless. Literally just place the skin where you'd like it to be and take a hair dryer to it. This helps it conform to the phone and adhere to it. The skin is made from 3m film and has a nice texture to it. You can feel the ridges from the "carbon fiber". I haven't been able to test durability yet and my phone probably wont get a real good test as I typically keep my phone in a case. However, I do think this would stop small scratches and the like whenever I do have the phone out of its case.
I'll get some pictures up tomorrow. I took some on my old phone but lost them like an idiot when I was doing a factory reset for my Gma
Related
Since the S6 is very slippery but very good looking because of the glass, do you use a case because you want to be safe or do you use a skin to retain the phones thin body or you prefer it naked without anything on and around it?
Skin and Case! :good:
Definitely a case with shock absorbing properties. I'm not spending close to a grand on a glass encased phone just so it can have cracks on it.
I think the phone is gorgeous, but use a Verus aluminum bumper in order to get low drop protection and camera protection while keeping the phone mostly original looking. If it weren't for the protruding camera, I've consider carrying the phone bare. (Though I would be concerned with slippage.)
For comparison, I didn't hate the looks the of the S4, but I wasn't thrilled with them either so I put a Spigen Neo Hybrid on, which gave it a look that I liked more, while still looking like a phone and not a case. (Most people I showed my S4 to loved it and didn't realize it was a case.)
I think it's interesting that you bring this up because I asked a similar question in the "show us your case" thread, and people took offense to what I was asking. My basic question was "Do you use big UAG/Otterbox cases merely for protection, or do you prefer the look over the look of the bare phone." I guess I worded it poorly, as I mostly got defensiveness of case choices. Hopefully your thread gets better responses.
(In my photo below, the difference in screen glare and body color is only from a difference in lighting - I used different setups on different days and didn't match the screen lighting. There is no "glare" from the Verus case.)
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
Spigen backless silver satin bumper
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
naked is not a good idea.
friend dropped the phone and completely shattered the screen and created a spider web
flusha said:
naked is not a good idea. friend dropped the phone and completely shattered the screen and created a spider web
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(Sounds to me like dropping the phone is a bad idea. )
That would be the risk to not having a potentially unsightly case.
Case + skin. case to protect from falls and skin to protect from scratches
Got both the uag maverick and ash case, prefer the ash on my sapphire black s6, and the maverick on a white s6 both look crazy awesome tho
I use a Dbrand skin and tempered glass screen protector in normal days. Just bought a spigen rugged armour as I'm gonna go on a 3 day camp and I don't wanna risk breaking it.
The dbrand skin should suffice for everyday use. It protects the rear glass from cracking if I ever drop it. And the tempered glass helps with the front glass. The only thing that is unprotected in the event of a drop is my sides.
It's your choice, do you like the feel of the S6 naked? Or would you rather have a cheap piece of TPU protecting it?
Also, if you choose to go naked/skin, the chamfered edges of the aluminium is very soft so it scratches rather easily. You can get a metal bumper to help with drop and impact protection on the sides.
Case. I would consider a skin, but the extra protection is nice. No way I'm carrying this phone naked. Then again, I never carry phones naked anyway.
Dbrand black leather skin on the back, otherwise naked. I hate cases, I'd rather pay for insurance and deductible for replacement than compromise the look and feel of a phone I like.
I just use screen guard both sides it looks and feels good
I had an iron shield on it but removed it about a week ago because the aluminum bumper was killing my GPS signal. Somehow in that week time I got a scratch on my screen. Make sure to put a screen protector on too!
Going naked. I did not pay $650+ to put this in a $5 case. I want to enjoy the phone as it was meant to be. I only have a tampered glass on top and that's good enough for me.
Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk
Have a skin - slickwrap at the back, a case and a tempered glass on front.
Rhinoshield bumper for me with screen protectors on both front and back
ipaq_101 said:
Skin and Case! :good:
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Brand skin with Rhino Shield bumpers
im using melkco italian cowhide leather herman series case , prefer using genuine leather case for my protection rather than back cover case or softcase, anyone fans from using genuine leather case maybe can sharing to me?:good:
Hi,
I don't want a "short" screen protection but a full edge-to-edge one.
I know that I should go for a wet film....
Did you try some?
What about skinomi or zagg invisibleshield or spigen HDX?
This weekend, I put a Skinomi on both my phone and my wife's. They are pretty good. I got hers on a lot better than mine. I had a few bubbles, but they have disappeared as of this morning. The screen is not as slick, but still slides well enough. It doesn't show fingerprints as much as the glass, that's for sure. Other than some slight wrinkles and orange peel that you can see if you hold it in the light just right, the skin looks great. I will say that when my wife put her Slim Armor case on the phone, some of the edges began to peel. I'll try to re-address those soon.
After having seen all of the issues with the glass screen protectors for this phone, I decided that I needed to try something else in the meantime. While I have a Sakai glass one that I ordered from ebay that is due roughly a month from now, I'm not very hopeful for it working. As a result of all of this and the need for a screen protector ASAP, I went with the Spigen screen protectors that I have seen mentioned on here. Having used PET films in the past, I was expecting a huge hassle. Bubbles, cheap feeling etc. Turns out, these worked REALLY damn well, to my complete surprise.
Installation:
Installation was quite easy, much easier than the older thin film screen protectors that I remember. You simply clean the surface of the phone, following the instructions. Place the tabs on the screen protector to help you position it. Then carefully position it properly keeping an eye on the edges and the sensors. It adheres to the screen very much like a glass screen protector does. There are a few small bubbles here and there, but they squeegee right out. I ended up with two permanent bubbles (one by the light sensor and one near the edge). Neither were the fault of the screen protector, both were caused by me rushing and nicking the surface of the screen protector when squeegee-ing the bubbles out. I think I could easily get it on there next time with zero bubbles. Way less hassle than any other attempt I have had with a film screen protector. One complaint I have is that they only included one alcohol wipe (everything else is in multiples), I don't know if I just got unlucky or they aren't thinking. Anyways, I have access to many solvents at work. No big deal for me.
Result:
How does it feel? A bit more plasticy than the usual glass screen protector but otherwise surprisingly nice. It adheres to the curves perfectly with no major bubbles, clarity-wise it is crystal clear. I honestly can't tell it is there. It adheres nicely to the curves of the display without any gaps (other than my nicks at the edge). My Otterbox Commuter case fits right over the top of it with ZERO problems. I was expecting these to be a stop-gap measure until the better glass ones come out but honestly I don't see anything wrong with these as is and would be just fine using these alone. I am not sure about longevity as I just installed it but so far I am actually surprisingly happy with it, especially for the cost. If you are on the fence between glass and plastic. Go with these plastic screen protectors for now and let the manufacturers work out the difficulties of the glass ones. Then you can decide later if you really want the glass one for you phone.
Link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B1GQDGG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
it will get scratched to **** within 2 weeks don't worry. Then you'll have to use another of the 3 that came with it.
Agreed with everything that OP posted, and agreed with the person above. Mine got scratched within a day but I got over it.
I installed one only because I tried three different Temper glass ones and none sealed correctly. I like it so far installed very good, covers the entire screen. So far so good.
I got a soft screen protector from AliExpress. It's a bit tricky to apply at first but once you get the idea it's not so bad.
The screen protector is really good! It's like silicon , doesn't get scratched easily.
Best part? it's 1.4$ each! What else can you ask for..?
Link:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/For-LG-G5-Full-Coverage-Soft-Screen-Protector-Guard-Film-for-LG-G5/32618522429.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.54.iHJztH
Here:
Yup good screen protector but it does scuff, so is it perfect no, but one of the better non temper glass protector
I just tried and failed to apply all three. I can't be doing with bubbles or marks on the screen, and who in their right mind decided to put adhesive on a screen protector.
First one too many bubbles, second one, dust, bubbles and scratches, third one, same.
Add to the fact it feels like a ZAGG invisible shield, rubbery rather than glassy.. I will keep it naked from now on.
I have an Xtreme skin skin to install, wish me luck, i'll bloody well need it haha.
Jonathan-H said:
I just tried and failed to apply all three. I can't be doing with bubbles or marks on the screen, and who in their right mind decided to put adhesive on a screen protector.
First one too many bubbles, second one, dust, bubbles and scratches, third one, same.
Add to the fact it feels like a ZAGG invisible shield, rubbery rather than glassy.. I will keep it naked from now on.
I have an Xtreme skin skin to install, wish me luck, i'll bloody well need it haha.
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I got the dark oak Xtremeskin!
I've put on a tempered glass before, it was kinda bad, lost saturation and brightness, and i got a clear case from spigen, but the case's lips protudes to the center so much that it started to push the screen protectir out!, I eventually removed the tempered glass... Not usre which screen protector to apply on with the spigen case :/
The Spigen Crystal Clear is too thin in my opinion - I killed it within a week. My old Spigen Steinheil Ultra on the S4 was way better. Purchased a CrocFol Premium instead.
Yup I have to change my opinion as well, used it for a bit, scuffed easily, stays clear without the rainbow effect. I had a few defects in my screen protectors, changed them out. Using the otterbox Defender case for now.
1$ tempered glass (rectangular) from AliExpress are perfect of you dont care leaving the top curved part unprotected. No bubbles, no rainbows, no effect on colors\contrast\clarity.
I've been using the dbrand skin in a spigen crystal shell case for about 3 months now and thought that's enough time to share some thoughts with you guys.
Dbrand skin: https://dbrand.com/shop/lg-g5-skins...BlENC0VVnGH0I6M49hJFhXEGleAefzd4aAooREALw_wcB
- canadian company
- shipping + tax comes out to be around $24 CDN for front + full back + camera coverage (you get a total of 3 camera lens skin plus they threw in few additional pieces for the bottom front and bottom back)
- material is 3M vinyl
Installation:
I installed everything except for the lens part because I saw a review on Youtube which noted that you can see part of the wrap when the wide angle lens is in use, and I use the wide angle all the time therefore I didn't bother. The whole process took me less than 10 minutes. Key is to use your hair dryer to soften the edges so it moulds to the curvature of the phone and also smooth out the edges in the end to make the skin feel like it has fused to the phone.
Quality:
The matte 3M material feels great in my opinion. It has some gritty texture to it so it's not slick like the phone as is on its own, so it really comes down to personal preference. For me, the priority is to protect the phone so I don't really care about the texture. The skin will definitely protect the phone from scratches, but because it has some thickness to it as well, I think it will protect the phone from potential minor dents. I did use the phone without a case for about a week or so while waiting for the case to arrive and the skin felt nicely stuck to the phone and there were no signs of corners lift. I can't speak to how it would have done over the long run as I drop my phone a lot and I've left it in the case since then, however the general comments that goes around is that this company makes good quality skins. I do take my phone in and out of the case quite a bit for when I fly my drone so that the phone fits in the phone holder of the remote control, and again no signs of lifting.
Customer service:
I have to comment on this because I have dealt with this company before when I had the Samsung Galaxy s7 and it was exceptional. I foolishly pressed the wrong button and selected the option "without button cutouts" for the front skin. When I received the skin, I saw that there was no button cutout, I contacted dbrand about it. They reviewed the order and told me that I likely selected the wrong option before checking out, but they replaced it anyway without any hassle. I even offered to ship back the one sent out to me, and they said it's not necessary. I guess that's the kind of customer service you would expect when you pay $30 for some stickers...but then again it was my mistake! lol Shipping was blazing fast, but then I am from Toronto where their office resides.
I was using dBrand skins with Spigen Ultra Hybrid clear case as well. Highly recommend that case. It didn't tear the skins when pulling case on or off while still being snug fit. The corner air cushion did work to protect the phone from dents during a couple of falls.
I also had a full 3D coverage Supershieldz tempered glass protector that didn't lift up with that case; it did lift when using a Poetic Affinity and entirely cracked with the Spigen Style case. Only other case that didn't tear skins or protectors was Spigen Hybrid Armor (but it didn't show the dBrand skin off.)
I got my replacement for my skinomi today (I was stupid and lazy and didn't bother making a cleanroom or doing a perfect install for the original one and they replaced it), I decided to actually watch the video just to patronize them. I know you THINK you know how to install a screen protector but you really do need to watch their video because there are things very specific to their process.
I got the screen protector installed properly this time and it's absolutely beautiful. There's a tiny bit of orange peel texture in reflections from the protector, but the screen is always perfectly clear. I had one of these on my Zenfone 3 Zoom for 9 months of pretty rough abuse, it had only a few of the faintest scratches after that long time. I believe the fact that it's a soft vinyl-like super flexible material, it actually kind of moves out of the way of abrasive objects on a microscopic level, rather than getting slowly etched like a hard PET screen protector or glass screen protector. Of course taking a scalpel or something ridiculously sharp, even if it's not that hard, will scratch it.
I'm a huge fan of Skinomi TechSkin now, after a great experience with my Zenfone and another beautiful install on my OP6.
Does the Skinomi play well with phone cases?