Question Information/Opinions regarding hydrogel screen protectors? - Google Pixel 7 Pro

With my P7P due later today, I looked for an alternative to the Whitestone Dome, which is not yet available (and which, never having installed one, I want to read reviews before making a purchase decision). My choice, which I now have, came down to the AACL Hybrid Film screen protector (whose price has gone up $2 since I ordered it on October 10). If I like it enough, I might keep it even if the Whitestone gets the highly-favorable reviews some expect.
In reviewing AACL installation information, I noticed for the first time that AACL refers to its film material as a "hydrogel". See the second photograph down at the Amazon webpage: "5H Hybrid. Abrasion-resistant, scratch-resistant, stain-resistant, and smooth polymeric nano-materials are attached to the surface of the Hydrogel membrane." (Emphasis added). I'd never encountered the word before, and my own limited websearching hasn't come up with much.
I have run across suggestions, however, that hydrogel screen protectors, if only because of their thinness (AACL puts the thickness of its protector at 0.18 mm), may not be very protective of the phone's screen in the event of a drop. As this is not something I can test directly without dropping my phone, I'm writing to ask whether someone more knowledgeable than I has information to help me decide whether I should be looking for an alternative to the AACL while I await availability and reviews of the Whitestone?
TIA

Whitestone is an offshore pain with lousy customer support. Sent me the wrong protector in the right box. Cost me a lot of time and trouble, fk them.
Hygrocell protectors rock especially for curved displays. Last 6 months or more, easier to apply.
All I use on my N10+'s. Your case should always be your primary protection and have raised display guards.
The display must be completely dust free. A bathroom with a hot shower running works well to kill Airborne dust.
Wet your finger before handling the back of the protector. Center it and work the air out from the center, don't lose your alignment as it will want slide at first. Do the curved areas last,hold down for 3-20 seconds with microfiber cloth to get get it to take if needed. Spray a little bit more solution on trouble spots if needed. Keep working it until air bubble free and seated.
Allow time to set up before using, high ambient temperatures speed this up. I go for a fast charge to raise the temperature. Gorilla IQ Sheilds are inexpensive.

blackhawk said:
Whitestone is an offshore pain with lousy customer support. Sent me the wrong protector in the right box. Cost me a lot of time and trouble, fk them.
Hygrocell protectors rock especially for curved displays. Last 6 months or more, easier to apply.
All I use on my N10+'s. Your case should always be your primary protection and have raised display guards.
The display must be completely dust free. A bathroom with a hot shower running works well to kill Airborne dust.
Wet your finger before handling the back of the protector. Center it and work the air out from the center, don't lose your alignment as it will want slide at first. Do the curved areas last,hold down for 3-20 seconds with microfiber cloth to get get it to take if needed. Spray a little bit more solution on trouble spots if needed. Keep working it until air bubble free and seated.
Allow time to set up before using, high ambient temperatures speed this up. I go for a fast charge to raise the temperature. Gorilla IQ Sheilds are inexpensive.
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Thank you for the quick response. While I'll continue to wait-and-see on Whitestone, I take comfort from the fact that I will be using a case. Also, the AACL screen protector uses UV, but not separately-added glue, to complete the installation. Regarding running showers: yes, I've always installed screen protectors in the bathroom with the shower running hot.

I got a cheaper version of the Whitestone to try out from IMBZBK on Amazon- will see how it compares to WSD, but it was like half price and exact same offering

RebDovid said:
Thank you for the quick response. While I'll continue to wait-and-see on Whitestone, I take comfort from the fact that I will be using a case. Also, the AACL screen protector uses UV, but not separately-added glue, to complete the installation. Regarding running showers: yes, I've always installed screen protectors in the bathroom with the shower running hot.
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You're welcome. A new phone is fun... but determining what to use for protection is a pain.
My N10+ has taken some rough tumbles including scraps across the display on the factory protector which then had to be replaced, no damage*. With a good case a good plastic protector works well. The N10+ has no display scratches after 3 years of heavy usage. Less issues with case inference too. The biggest issue is that one speck of dust that ruins a perfect installation meh.
*not the last time this kind of contact happened. So this type of protector provides adequate protection most times. I never take a drop lightly but they happen. Without the Bolt case this phone be a mess today. The Zizo Bolt offers great protection but they aren't any for your model as of yet, I believe.

aaronc_98 said:
I got a cheaper version of the Whitestone to try out from IMBZBK on Amazon- will see how it compares to WSD, but it was like half price and exact same offering
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Any feedback on that imbzbk alternative solution? Is that a different manufacturer or a different product from Whitestone?

niko26 said:
Any feedback on that imbzbk alternative solution? Is that a different manufacturer or a different product from Whitestone?
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Click to collapse
After five days, I’m quite pleased with the IMBZBK. First, although I had difficulty visualizing the installation-never having used LOCA before-and had to watch the video several times, including during the installation, the process actuallly is straightforward. The screen went on without any bubbles and without any overspill of the LOCA. Having done it once, I think I would find future similar installations fairly easy.
Second, with LOCA it’s vital that one install on a flat surface. IMBZBK helps by including a bubble level in the frame that holds the phone during the installation.
Third, so far screen sensitivity is pretty good. I’d estimate that the phone responds to my fingerprint on first press more than 90% of the time and the glass feels smooth.

After initially purchasing and detesting the SuperShieldz protector because of it's thick black adhesive and it's complete lack of fingerprint enrollment, I took a leap of faith and bought the IMBZBK.
The install process is pretty straightforward, you just have to be meticulous and follow directions correctly. I suggest watching the video twice before you order and then once just before you go to install so you're familiar with the process.
After install, my fingerprint registered on the first try and I have to say that the entire surface responds to my touch better than 98% of the time. The only area that decreases it from 100% response is the bottom navbar area and I'm not sure why - there was no dust and no bubbles in the glue, but hey, I'll take it because it's FANTASTIC!!!

Related

Best Scratch Guards: Best Skins Ever vs Invisible Shields vs Ghost Armor vs Body Guar

Every gadget owner loves their devices be it Cell Phones, Laptops, GPS, Gaming Consoles, etc. and would never want our devices to get scratchy, dirtily, peel off or loose their color and shine. For this some of us freaks keep cleaning out devices or cover them with cheap looking low quality plastic guard just to see it getting peeled off soon and getting all scratches just to buy another one in few weeks. This is because many of us are unaware of some of the finest Body Scratch Guards which themselves can never attain a scratch.
Yes, that’s true and this article is about Top 4 Body Guards covering not just the screen but the complete body of your device, that I came across. I’ll just be giving my honest reviews about all four of them and leave the rest on you to decide which you prefer.
you can find the comparison here:
http://winmo.techparaiso.com/best-s...isible-shields-vs-ghost-armor-vs-body-guardz/
Well based on peoples experience here....http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=398021
I can safely say Invisible shield is not a good solution. Generally anything that adheres to your device runs the risk that your finish will lift off if you ever decide to remove the shield.
band27 said:
Well based on peoples experience here....http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=398021
I can safely say Invisible shield is not a good solution. Generally anything that adheres to your device runs the risk that your finish will lift off if you ever decide to remove the shield.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i would still like to see some screenshots of bestskinsever for diamond as nothing is available anywhere.
want the best protector? Buy a psp HORI Protector, cut to size. 100% invisible and only a knife will scratch it. 2 for .99 on ebay
I'd also love to hear people experience with Best Skins Ever. I'm a sucker and always buy the zagg.com stuff, price = quality after all... but would be willing to grab a BSE skin based on peoples reviews, as the markup on zagg.com is ridiculous.
One thing, I dislike with the zagg.com skins is, after a while the protector appears as if it has a gasoline like stain in the middle of it, symmetrical to about half an inch away from the edge of the screen on all sides. So basically a mini rectangle on the inner portion of the display. Any else experience this? and does the BSE have this tendency?
P.S. Don't forget BodyGuardz
I've been using Invisible shield by Zagg since I bought my Diamond and I completly agree with Lokosis. I also feel the corners are becoming a bit rough, it looks like someone can just pull it off.
* Doesn't fit into my HTC pouch anymore (see picture attached).
* Attracts a lot of dust.
* Don't need a bulky case anymore.
* Gives the back cover a shiny effect.
well yesterday i received my best skins for diamond. i must say delivery was really fast but a little disappointed. i'll tell you why later.
also i'll be posting the pics of my diamond soon.
I bought a full cover from invisible shield about a week and a half ago but am still waiting for it to be shipped to me since I live in Australia and there is not stock here.
Didn't realize there was a cheaper alternate to it. I've got to say I'm a bit worried after just reading that post that says it can damage the screen when you remove it after a while...but hopefully I will never have to remove it
AdamHC said:
I bought a full cover from invisible shield about a week and a half ago but am still waiting for it to be shipped to me since I live in Australia and there is not stock here.
Didn't realize there was a cheaper alternate to it. I've got to say I'm a bit worried after just reading that post that says it can damage the screen when you remove it after a while...but hopefully I will never have to remove it
Click to expand...
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nothing to wory dude. even i first bought IS and den after an hour got to know about BSE so i ordered that too. i'd a talk with IS ppl and they say that when i receive the item, then i should take out the screen guard, put it in envelope and send it back to there address. thats it. they said they dont need the box of spray or anything. just the invisible shield in an envelope. and as soon as they receive it, they'll refund you the money. sending it back in envelope is much cheeper and you save alot. so order BSE now and wait for IS to arrive and send it back
invisible? are you blind?
Well, it's a good screen protector, but it's definitely not invisible...
Are you blind guys?
I just got the screen one and not the whole case skin because I own an o2 Ignito which has a lovely-grippy-rubber-feeling-matt-black back cover, although it is not as sexy as the standard Diamond my wife has.
I was honestly quite disappointed because it is expensive and honestly looks crap compared to cheaper alternatives.
Have you ever tried Vikuiti by 3M guys?
I have it on my Orbit (it's a PSP screen protector, I opened the Orbit and cut the film on the proper size of the display, once re-assembled you can't see any edge at all) it's impossible to leave fingerprints and it is anti-reflection.
The Diamond one is gloss finishing instead, it costs € 8 on eBay (german seller but ships worldwide)
The invisible shield finally arrived. It wouldn't stick to my screen...lol
Well it stuck to the screen, just that the edges are supposed to bend and protect the sides too and no matter how long i held the edges in their positions for they would just unpeel themselves after a couple of minutes. Gave up on the screen, the rest all went on easily and without any visible bubble thingies. I'm not sure if I really care enough to get a new screen protector for the screen, I was more worried about the back of the phone to be honest
Still kinda dissapointed that the screen protector ended up failing for me
AdamHC said:
The invisible shield finally arrived. It wouldn't stick to my screen...lol
Well it stuck to the screen, just that the edges are supposed to bend and protect the sides too and no matter how long i held the edges in their positions for they would just unpeel themselves after a couple of minutes. Gave up on the screen, the rest all went on easily and without any visible bubble thingies. I'm not sure if I really care enough to get a new screen protector for the screen, I was more worried about the back of the phone to be honest
Still kinda dissapointed that the screen protector ended up failing for me
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i really don understand where u guys fail. i understand that d edges don stick up but it takes half an hour effort to do it. its easy but takes times and u constantly hav to make it stick.
rest both BSE and IS are great. the point is to make it wet properly and den apply.
the only issue i had is that the IS solution went in my front camera screen and has made it blurred.
rest both are the same according to me.
also to be noted that you do not need to use IS spray. instead you can even put your IS in soapy solutions and apply it like BSE.
the aim is to 1st attch is properly on front screen. let it dry and then bend the edges.
sunnyin86 said:
i really don understand where u guys fail. i understand that d edges don stick up but it takes half an hour effort to do it. its easy but takes times and u constantly hav to make it stick.
rest both BSE and IS are great. the point is to make it wet properly and den apply.
the only issue i had is that the IS solution went in my front camera screen and has made it blurred.
rest both are the same according to me.
also to be noted that you do not need to use IS spray. instead you can even put your IS in soapy solutions and apply it like BSE.
the aim is to 1st attch is properly on front screen. let it dry and then bend the edges.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used enough of the solution, got it lined up perfectly with the phone. It was the edge bits that have to be bent to protect the sides where I went wrong. Just couldn't get them to stick and stay stuck properly for some reason
AdamHC said:
I used enough of the solution, got it lined up perfectly with the phone. It was the edge bits that have to be bent to protect the sides where I went wrong. Just couldn't get them to stick and stay stuck properly for some reason
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it takes alot of time for sure. for half an hour i kept trying and thought maybe the adhesive wasnt strong enough. but there are two things, 1st you have to use alot of spray to smoothly allign it on screen and then this excess spray avoids the sides to stick onn. so patience, repeated efforts and only when the solution dries up, that is when it starts to stick onn. very tough for sure but in the end it pays off.
BUT the diff bet IS and BSE is that BSE only covers the screen and does not cover the sides so there is no bending problem like IS.
sunnyin86 said:
it takes alot of time for sure. for half an hour i kept trying and thought maybe the adhesive wasnt strong enough. but there are two things, 1st you have to use alot of spray to smoothly allign it on screen and then this excess spray avoids the sides to stick onn. so patience, repeated efforts and only when the solution dries up, that is when it starts to stick onn. very tough for sure but in the end it pays off.
BUT the diff bet IS and BSE is that BSE only covers the screen and does not cover the sides so there is no bending problem like IS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In that case I think I might buy one of the BSE. I think that trying to protect the sides is simply too much effort and is tedious. Besides that, the sides are fairly scratch resistant and you can't even see those scratches if them do occur without having to look for them anyway. I really think IS should have skipped trying to protect them or made a second piece to go around the outside.
both are sam so betteer to opt for bse. am loving it.
more pros n cons on bse please......
i found that they didn't provide spray bottle....
mygreatdiamond said:
more pros n cons on bse please......
i found that they didn't provide spray bottle....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its best not to have spray. as spray gets into front camera and spoils it. best to use simple soap water.
BodyGuardz vs BestSkinsEver
Hello,
Here is my experience. I had a InvisibleSHIELD on my iPod Classic and it was great so I was considering buying one but after reading some of the the feed back it seemed that the product was good but the fit for our diamonds and even the iPhone (which i am now looking for) was not great.
I then heard about BestSkinsEver and because it was so cheap decided to go ahead and try it. I got it over 2 months ago and when I received it I applied it immediately. I have done a few of these so and since I am some what of a perfectionist I applied it to the best I could. It looked OK but after a few weeks the corners started peeling. Also due to the way the backing is placed it puts stress in areas which causes other areas to lift off (this is mostly on the corners). I ended up using a nail clipper to start clipping areas that were peeling off. After about 2 months it started to peal even more so I decided to go back to the reviews and see what was available. After doing some research I decided to go with the 12 piece BodyGuardz. It came in a set of 2 which is nice when i transfer the phone to my wife.
So all of this is to tell you that my first impressions of the BodyGuardz is well as good as I felt when I put the InvisibleSHIELD on my first iPod Classic. For me it did take a while (about 2-3 hours) to apply. This was not done in one sitting but instead because it was a 12 piece I applied each piece with 10 minute intervals allowing for tackiness to set in and so it would be easier to handle as I continued with the many pieces. First major thing I noticed and was really happy about was the BodyGuardz stickiness was considerably more than the BestSkinsEver. It stuck to the corners almost right away. Although throughout the process I did press down on the corners it was quite a bit easier as the BestSkinsEver did not have good stickiness. Also on a side note when i removed the BestSkinsEver it came of like a sticker which i know from my previous iPod is not normal and it usually takes a lot more effort to get it off carefully. Overall I am very happy at my first impressions of the BodyGuardz and the quality of the material seems to be better than the BestSkinsEver. Not to mention the 12 piece may seem like a lot of work but having individual pieces allows for no stress on the film in weird areas allowing it to sit flat with no parts lifting off (so far, i'll update in a month or two). Which is not the same case for the BestSkinsEver and from what I hear the InvisibleSHIELD. Newayz I hope this review helps someone.
Justin
Mr. Makk said:
its best not to have spray. as spray gets into front camera and spoils it. best to use simple soap water.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never sprayed the device only the shield itself. I would not recommend spraying the device. That said I do like the spray on the shield as it is a bit more even but you can use any spray bottle. I got one with Bodyguardz but there was not enough fluid in it so i had to fill it up with my own solution newayz.

Screen Protector

I wanted to put this out there for anyone who might be interested, since I have never been a fan of the usual "peel & stick" screen protectors. They hardly ever go on right and I think they interfere with the touch sensitivity of the screen. So, I decided to give one of these military grade, high tech, screen protectors a try to see if they were any different.
The first thing I noticed is that this one is thin. I mean like Saran Wrap thin. This is great for the touch response of the screen but it made me wonder how well it would actually protect my phone. Second, it is laser cut accurately to fit the screen and all of the holes are in the right place. Supposedly, this material is used to cover the blades of helicopters and it is advertised as being "self healing". On this, I am happy to report that it really does work as advertised. Small scratches slowly fade away and disappear over the course of a few days. One day, I accidentally slipped my phone into the same coat pocket as my car keys and it came out with a bunch of tiny little scratches all over the screen. Within a few days they were all gone. It was kinda weird.
This screen protector is applied with a special spray. I was a bit concerned about having to do a wet application but it really isn't that hard. The package comes with good directions and a link to a video to show you how to put it on. The downside is that your phone will be out of commission overnight while it dries. At first, there will be some minor blemishes, or tiny bubbles, but these will all disappear in a few days. The finished product is crystal clear, almost like having nothing at all. It has kind of an orange peel feel to it and your finger stick a bit, until a little oil builds up on it. The only real negative I have noticed is that finger prints show up badly. I find myself cleaning the screen a lot.
Last, this product comes with lifetime replacement. I can attest that the company stands behind their product. The first one I ordered had a small bubble of the material right in the center of the screen. I was really irritated by this, after all the trouble I went through. I contacted the company and within two days an entire new kit was delivered to my door.
I found this one on Amazon but I'm sure you can find it, or one like it, elsewhere.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A0VN0Q0/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I just recently bought 6 pack of screen protectors from ebay for 2 eur with free shipping in Europe delivered just in few days.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191212361321?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
great value and the 6 pack is a great idea, you have few tries to put the screen protector on the correct way
sorgo said:
I just recently bought 6 pack of screen protectors from ebay for 2 eur with free shipping in Europe delivered just in few days.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191212361321?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
great value and the 6 pack is a great idea, you have few tries to put the screen protector on the correct way
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I've been through a lot of them. You need to have about 6 to get one on right! If you're lucky - you get it in less than 3 tries and have some on hand for next time. :laugh:
I purchased the IQ shield product based on the original poster's recommendation. The product arrived ahead of schedule. Like other liquid mounted product, it was fairly easy to put on and adjust until properly aligned. All of the cutouts were correct.
The finish product initially had few bubble, which I squeeze out the bigger ones with the enclosed squeegee. Most of the bubble disappeared after a few hours. The rest after a day.
The surface is really smooth like glass. There isn't any decrease sensitivity issue. The only issue as indicated by the original poster is that finger prints shows and is hard to clean off.
Paul

Whitestone dome delamination cause

So I have said this from the start. Whitestone has cut major corners on this product. I knew this from the first "Review" if you want to call it that because no one has reviewed this. They just make install guides and try to get you to buy it. The dead give away for me was when they sell it at around $40 when proper UV adhesive alone would cost $20 and the amount they give you would be $40. That's bulk prices. I work in the opto-electronics industry so stuff like this is what I deal with every day.
So I did some test. Using the stock Whitestone cure light, A UV oven, a Spot cure UV station, A Dymax cure station as well as others. When I took the protector off you can tell the adhesive never fully cured. This explains why you get the delamination what looks like bubbles to some or a kinda web look.
In one of the pictures marked spot cure. You will see the dot that is a proper optical adhesive. You see why the included adhesive turned to gel the stuff we use was fully cured. Both were exposed to the same light for the same time. If you use this I guarantee you will never get delamination or have a case light the protector up. But keep in mind that one tube of that is $20 but it shows how cheap the included adhesive is
.
No UV cure station I have here can fully cure that junk. And it is junk. I have seen some cheap UV adhesive but this is by far the absolute worst.
I will do some more test with this adhesive. I don't even think its optical grade.
But if Whitestone wants to send me some samples of adhesive or some kits i'll be more then happy to test them and post my findings. But from the 2 kits I have seen. First had delamination the second kit direct from Whitestone aka Cellto USA in Torrance California is 100% total trash.
And here is a video of more uv light then will ever be put on this adhesive. Note that adhesive was from my first kit. So 2 kits one from Amazon the other direct from them and neither one of them could do a full cure.
https://youtu.be/yzLzeLolpb4
bignazpwns said:
So I have said this from the start. Whitestone has cut major corners on this product.
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Thanks for this in-depth info. If you check reviews for this product on Amazon and sort by new, you will see tons of others having delamination on the edges and reporting their screen still broke after a drop.
I was hoping for a good, glass screen protector it looks like Whitestone is astroturfing reviews and even comments here. Maybe they are inconsistent in production causing the disparity, but after doing research on it, I skipped Whitestone.
PHP:
Mattheyu said:
Thanks for this in-depth info. If you check reviews for this product on Amazon and sort by new, you will see tons of others having delamination on the edges and reporting their screen still broke after a drop.
I was hoping for a good, glass screen protector it looks like Whitestone is astroturfing reviews and even comments here. Maybe they are inconsistent in production causing the disparity, but after doing research on it, I skipped Whitestone.
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I'll get back with a part number and link to some good uv adhesive. Then just get the Whitestone replace the adhesive with that and it will be good to go. Install the same cure the same. Just gotta check a few adhesives out get one that flows well and gets a good cure off the oem light.
bignazpwns said:
PHP:
I'll get back with a part number and link to some good uv adhesive. Then just get the Whitestone replace the adhesive with that and it will be good to go. Install the same cure the same. Just gotta check a few adhesives out get one that flows well and gets a good cure off the oem light.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are going that route, might as well just get a cheaper glass screen protector, strip any adhesive, and apply your own. Since it doesn't seem effective at drop protection, the only concern would be possible lackluster screen sensitivity. No need to pay a company for doing a bad job and cutting corners on a "premium" product.
Mattheyu said:
If you are going that route, might as well just get a cheaper glass screen protector, strip any adhesive, and apply your own. Since it doesn't seem effective at drop protection, the only concern would be possible lackluster screen sensitivity. No need to pay a company for doing a bad job and cutting corners on a "premium" product.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could but the little tiny bumps on the bottom of the protector help get an even coat of epoxy. You can do it without them but those would help with it.
But depending on fit the Zagg with the little strips of 2 sided tape might be the best bet. I just don't know how it will fit. I might have one laying around I can dig up and test with some uv adhesive if people really wanna see how that would work. Should be the same for any other one since they would all have flat bottoms without the little bumps.
Ok video is uploading. I test it against some ok optical adheasive. I might have to upload it when I get home. I made it to show that the stuff was fresh from the vial for the Whitestone and the optical adhesive I used was crap and it was expired. Here are some pics of it at 380x.
And I must say. The stock adhesive I dont think is optical. Because this was some pretty cheap optical adhesive and as you can see it's better.
Phone messed up and did a double post. Please delete this post.
Showing delamination at 380x proper adhesive won't do that. It just fails. This Dymax also made a stronger bond and it was even expired. Also note the optical propertys of it even failed are much better then the delaminated oem.
I am trying to understand but I have no idea what the pictures mean. Please explain briefly?
Bought a 2-set of Whitestone Dome for my Note 9, and I installed the first one and for me, it was perfect..? I made the mistake of using the Gear VR with the old adaptor (Note 8 fit) that puts pressure on the bottom part of the screen, so I got the bubbles effect on a tiny horizontal strip around 1mm high by 10mm wide. But other parts of the protector are amazingly smooth. I don't understand what is not ideal here. I believe you are warning us about something that is ****ed up, I just don't understand what..?
EDIT: also please recommend the good enough adesive, if possible at all, available at amazon.co.jp too.. I can use the second glass from the 2-pack
Will the Whitedome light suffice?
@gamekill, the left image shows the problem with the whitestone adhesive. Can you see the spiderwebs already? That is what I was getting. Whitestone sent me a replacement, but I had to pay for shipping (12 €) which I regret for doing. Their excuse is to blame the user.
@bignazpwns, how difficult is to remove the screen protector if you use a stronger UV adhesive? This whitestone one comes out very easy.
would like to know what kind of adhesive you recommend when you find it
alher591 said:
would like to know what kind of adhesive you recommend when you find it
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Click to collapse
I second this!
Little tied up at work so ill do some more testing this week. Company I work for is a huge player in the 5g market so we're pretty busy. The picture shows delamination. That's what happens if you push on it. The adhesive does not fail because it's like a gel. It will streach. That give you that webbing or bubbles as some call. Stronger adhesive fully cured won't streach. You can push and you won't get any delamination. It will hold until the adhesive fails. So with your gear VR that part pushing on it would not happen with high quality optical adhesive. Keep in mine that line is 100um. The slide each line is 10um. So looking at a gear VR you are getting some distortion with the oem adhesive. Pixels on the note 9 are red 22um blue 24um and green 14um. So using a gear VR with the screen and oem adhesive the picture will not be as sharp due to the low quality of the adhesive. Will it be a huge impact? Probably not but it will be there and under magnification you can really see how poor the adhesive is. Under magnification the adhesive not being optical quality acts as a defuser for the light. Look good until you start to add magnification. I haven't looked at it with a gear VR because I don't have one but I know what optics they use for hmd's and you will start to see that it actas as a defuser.
Adhesives I'll test a few we got here and get some samples and test them. Removing even with a stronger adhesive should be fine. I don't know of the protector will come off in one peice but it when I poped the slides apart it wasn't like the Whitestone's oem that was like tar. This was a hard snap at the point of the adhesive failing then it lifted off.
I got a spare done screen protector. I'll clean that up and run some adhesive removal test on it. The oleophobic coating on the note 9 will help with that removal.it won't be as strong as a pure glass to glass bond like on the slides. But it can be removed. And we use methonal to help remove it on some tiny fiberoptic lenses.
But as soon as I can I'll get to more testing. Grade some adhesives on holding power. We have a machine that can mesure the force required to break that bond. And if tell you what adheasive to use if you want something like the strength of the oem or if you want something a little stronger for a case that likes to press against it.
I should have some time this week to do some test and let you know know what adhesive to order and where to order it. I'll be using the oem Whitestone dome light to cure it so my results will be the same you can get at home.
Batas said:
[MENTION=3255110](...)the left image shows the problem with the whitestone adhesive. Can you see the spiderwebs already?(...)
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Yes, on a thin horizontal area at the bottom center part, right above the USB port. That is where the Gear VR connector pushed against the screen.
bignazpwns said:
(...) with your gear VR that part pushing on it would not happen with high quality optical adhesive(...)
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It would be nice indeed to use a better adhesive and not have that problem!
I have a question. If we use a stronger adhesive and when time comes you'll break the protector and if we try to remove the protector, will it damage the original glass in the removal process?
I'm also interested i. This because my current protector lost some adhesives on the curved edges.
Any update? ?
worldsoutro said:
Any update? ?
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Pretty tied up at work. I'll get more info in a day or two. I did find some adhesive if you guys never want that screen protector to come off lol.
Ordered some samples to test so soon as those get in I'll start testing those.
bignazpwns said:
I did find some adhesive if you guys never want that screen protector to come off(...)
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That is my concern. Screen protectors are supposed to be replaceable if they break. If when they get broken or removed,the original screen gets ruined, it is meaningless.
Also, if an adhesive is super strong, wouldn't if make the protector grip so strongly to the screen that if the protector shatters, the screen gets shattered too?
gamekill said:
That is my concern. Screen protectors are supposed to be replaceable if they break. If when they get broken or removed,the original screen gets ruined, it is meaningless.
Also, if an adhesive is super strong, wouldn't if make the protector grip so strongly to the screen that if the protector shatters, the screen gets shattered too?
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That's using our stuff for a permanent bond lol. I got some other stuff here that's about 40% stronger then oem but I was able to get it off no problem. I ordered the liquid version of it we use a gel version. Same adhesive ones just a gel. I'll get it on the. Pull it off and let you guys know how it is.
End of the year and the upcoming 5g were pretty busy here.
ravijob said:
You mean can't get it off like in this video?
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It's about bond strength. I got some stuff that's better then the oem. I can peal it out. Then I got some good stuff that holds 10x stronger then the oem...that will come off...with a ton of force. So I think I found the sweet spot. Checking out a gel version to see how that goes and if it will offer some impact resistance why still maintaining touch sensitivity.
When I pick the winner I'll do a video installing and the. Removing it to show everyone. For the love of God don't just put some on. Most atlre permanent and if you don't know what the propertys are just going with optical uv adhesive you will get something for the fiberoptics industry thats used to hold lenses on fibers.

Whitestone dome review "A real review"1

Seems like all the "Reviews" are nothing more then install video's of people saying oh its so amazing. But if you dig deeper you will find issues that a proper review would of find easy. So lets review it.
Little about my self. I am and Engineer in the fiber optics industry. I wonk on the absolute faster detectors available. We use UV optical adhesives every day. So needless to say i know a thing or two on this topic.
The concept is great and when done right the best way to attach a screen protector. But this comes at a cost. Cheap out on anything and it will show. So lets look at this.
-Full cover. errrr not really Notch cut for the camera and sensors. Odd because optical adhesive you can go full over and have zero impact on those.
-9H Hardness. "Shakes head" No..Its not. They need to stop claiming this every company. Its not 9H.
-Beveled edges. This is a must. Ask anyone who has one that is not beveled how easy they chip.
-UV curing light is a good design and has plenty of LED's to cure the adhesive. "5w max" Honestly im not seeing those being close to 1w LED's. If people want i'll take apart the light but no heat sinking as far as i can tell. So im guessing 3v 60ma .5w each total max output 3w. And honestly 3w is fine. Its very thin and easy to cure.
Fixture is great and works very well. No complaints on that. Just watch a few videos and read the instructions and you will do fine. The Fixture is well thought out so hats off to engineers who did that.
The ugly. This is where things get bad. This is where you can see the corners that were cut and boy did they cut them.
-Dust removal sticker. Don't use them. Cheap sticker and will leave residue on the screen. Save your self some time and just put them in the trash.
-Cleaning cloth. Not optical quality. Again put it in the trash it will just put stuff on the display. Cheap fabric not a quality optical cleaning cloth.
-Alcohol wipe...Well the directions say that but the wipes included are Ethanol...Please tell me these are not medical grade. If so then they have some additives. Well again trash it and use some 95% or higher Isopropyl alcohol. Make sure no color or sent has been added. You want as pure as you can get.
-Absorption pads. Now i would love to say trash them. But you need them. Make sure you give them a good rub down to remove all the lose fibers on them. And give the long fibers that hang off after a little trim. You do not want one to get under the screen or at the edge.
-Dimples on the underside of the protector. You don't need these. They do nothing but put 4 contact points to your phones display. The adhesive will flow an even coat.
-The worlds cheapest UV adhesive...Guys its bad...Real bad. Give you an idea. In bulk the quality optical adhesive is expensive. Well you get what you pay for or in Whitestone's case you don't get what you do not pay for. I searched and i found the supplier for there adhesive. How cheap is it? Well its $1 per 30ml. Stuff we use is $30 per oz. or 29.9ml. Yup that explains everything. This is why they can give you so much and still keep that price point. But for this you want less but higher quality. Combine that with tubes that are not 100% air tight and you are begging for problems. Also keep in mine UV Adhesive's have a shelf life and exposure to oxygen age them faster.
Lots of people complain about the delamination. This is from bad UV adhesive. Keep in mind you have a bare glass surface you are attaching to a glass surface with an oleophobic coating. This coating does after the adhesion of the adhesive. So you really need the proper quality adhesive. The adhesive they use never fully cures. If you check out my video in the Deamination topic you can see even after curing then putting 200w of UV on it for an addition 20sec with a proper industrial UV curing station it never fully cures. Multiple kits i have tested they all do this. But its $1 per 30ml so what do you expect.
You will see pictures of the optical property's of the adhesive. It is my opinion that it is not optical grade. Also you will see a picture of the delamination.
Overall this is a 4-10. Held back by the extremely low quality UV adhesive. The most important part is the cheapest. This is why they cut the notch in the protector. Because it would affect the caners where a proper optical adhesive would have zero affect. I'm disappointed. This was hyped so much but no one really looked at it. It's a great concept held back by cut corners. The proper adhesive this would be a 8-10. This method with the proper optical grade adhesive could do a true full cover screen protector then it would be a 10/10. But i do not recommend this. Price is to high for the corners that were cut. The adhesive issue really needs to be addressed because i would take a few other protectors over this.
Message to Whitestone.
I tested Adhesives from 3 kits. Results were all the same. All the kits were ordered at different times as 2 were from Amazon and one was direct from you. I have identified this adhesive not long ago and this is typical for it. However if you want to play we only use the highest quality materials card then you can go ahead and send me a tube of it. It can be in the manufacturers tube or the tubes that come in the kits. I do not want another kit im only interested in testing this adhesive and i will give you one chance to test some prior and send it to me. I will then report my finding's on here and make a note of it here. If you would like to work together on finding a cost effective quality optical adhesive i have contacts with not only the distributes for these but also with the companies that make the highest quality optical grade UV adhesives in the industry. I do not want nothing in return i will work with you for free to fix this product so that future phones can benefit from it and i have the option to easily order a quality kit. I want a 100% coverage protector and working together this can be done. There is potential here and it is with the system developed for the install and that is what makes the product stand out. My work has a building in SoCal. I go out there a few times a year and i am more then willing to come visit your office why i am out there and we can talk.
Now i know i will get the "Mines perfect best ever" post. But those post mean nothing. You have not tested the adhesive. I have. You just have not had any issues with it yet and you may never have them. But i went ahead and i tested this. Same results every time and i know what adhesive they use now.
So, would you say this thing is a pass?
Thanks for the detailed review and focusing on everything, not JUST the adhesive.
I still got mine applied to my phone, and well.. it is there. The time it starts wearing off the edges, maybe I will apply the second spare one just because I already bought it. But yeah, a full, really full screen coverage one with perfect optical properties would be awesome to have!
felloffthetruck said:
So, would you say this thing is a pass?
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I won't advise anyone to buy or not to buy this. Thats for you to decide. I'll answer any questions you have thought. I will say that I will not use this for reasons I posted. I won't buy another one until changes are made at the minimum in there selection of adheasive.
Could you point me in the direction of a good adhesive that you would recommend? (That I can buy online)
irieblue said:
Could you point me in the direction of a good adhesive that you would recommend? (That I can buy online)
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Will post that when I finish testing the samples I have.
bignazpwns said:
-Full cover. errrr not really Notch cut for the camera and sensors. Odd because optical adhesive you can go full over and have zero impact on those.
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Me a bit nitpicking here, but...
Weird, the part of optical physics that I learned back ... long ago.. taught quite clearly that if there are any surfaces with different optical properties on each side, it will have an impact. And I'm pretty sure the adhesives do not match (optically) exactly with either glass it touches (let alone both). Whether those effects will be significant enough to be visible in the photos depends on the whole optical path (and sensor's properties), though.
Since none of the surfaces have proper coatings aimed for optical performance (more for anti fingerprint etc.), and especially the protector glass (the internal material, not the coatings) not designed for optics, I'd expect ever so slightly more lens flaring and similar effects. (If there would be a flash LED for the front camera, it could get really messy, but Note 9 seems to use the whole display for front side "flashing", which reduces the spot brightness near the camera lens compared to a LED flash.)
The adhesive filling the space between the phone's glass and protector's glass does make the effect much lesser than with a protector that sits a tiny bit above with a tiny air gap. So in that sense, with these liquid adhesive type protectors, I'd expect the effects to be indeed mostly ignorable. But not zero, per se.
For the other sensors than camera, the effect can be considered zero, since they are measuring mostly (more or less) spatial averages to begin with. A bit of fuzziness doesn't change their results. Hmm. though I don't know how the iris-camera works.
All that said, I'd still say to choose a protector that covers the lens area(s). A single scratch on the phone's glass over the lens can make a worse effect than a protector does.
Also, (me partially countering the point of having an effect): I have currently a really bad example of a protector myself; a normal cheap protector with a typical dot grid on bottom surface, a normal (non-smooth) adhesive even on the area of the front camera lens, not a perfect fit by shape, etc. That is, I can see the non-smooth stuff between the glass layers (when display is black, and on the sensor spots). Yet, the photos come out ok, so things can obviously be pretty darn crappy and still be ok for the front camera needs. Though, I haven't zoomed in or done comparative tests in more challenging lighting situations. (I will do better tests once other protectors arrive; I need to keep this one on for now, for its main task of protecting.)
Nice review, but the whitestone still beats having nothing on the phone. I did the ghetto "whitestone" on my Note 8 using a generic glass protector and LOCA glue bought on Amazon. Served its purpose and protected my phone when I dropped it on a gravel surface. Phone looked brand new when I replaced the glass with a whitestone version because the ghetto glue method was too time consuming to ensure no bubbles. I have installed 4 more whitestone glass screens on mine and others phone with no issues and would not hesitate to recommend it. The issues you bring up have merit, but do not deter the protective elements of the tempered glass screen. I would like a better glue solution as well. But until then, my whitestone paired with a quality case will have to do. So far it does just fine.
Bullitt3309 said:
Nice review, but the whitestone still beats having nothing on the phone. I did the ghetto "whitestone" on my Note 8 using a generic glass protector and LOCA glue bought on Amazon. Served its purpose and protected my phone when I dropped it on a gravel surface. Phone looked brand new when I replaced the glass with a whitestone version because the ghetto glue method was too time consuming to ensure no bubbles. I have installed 4 more whitestone glass screens on mine and others phone with no issues and would not hesitate to recommend it. The issues you bring up have merit, but do not deter the protective elements of the tempered glass screen. I would like a better glue solution as well. But until then, my whitestone paired with a quality case will have to do. So far it does just fine.
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I can't get the same protection from a $12 protector. So how does it beat those in terms of protection? It offers no more protection then any other on the market. Infact the Zag elite offers more protection for the same price. The thicker gel adheasive offers significantly more impact protection. Much harder to put on and remove air bubbles but in terms of protection this is vastly superior. Where zag went wrong is not telling people how soft the adhesive is so they push down on it as hard as they can to get a bubble out and it cracks. And then they had to gimp it with some unnecessary bezzles that cover a bit of the display
Bottom line is the Dome is $20 over priced. The adhesive is trash and the olophobic coating is the worst I have ever seen. No excuses for this on something that sells it's self as premium. It's not. It's the same quality as the $12 Alibaba's and personally I would get one of those. Warranty is nothing since you could still get one on Alibaba shippped for the price you will pay for the warranty replacement. And it uses the same trash adheasive.
When you buy "Loca" it's trash from bad batches that they sell on places like Amazon or Alibaba or to places like Whitestone at a heavy discount because it's defective. So you are already useing a defective product from the start. These are facts. I tested these and posted those info. It's trash they pay $1 per 30ml of those stuff. And they call it Loca because it's not an optical adheasive. It makes it sound fancy because they can't call it a UV optical adheasive. Because it's not optical. But it's "optical cured" so Loca.
Facts are facts. I proven this adheasive is trash and defective from multiple kits. I'll test any of it. Got any left I'll test that Whitestone can send me some I'll test that because I know it's trash and it's from batches that were not mixed right. Multiple people have committed on this issues that's why I started testing this and looking into it because what they had in the prictures we seen before. Hell I can tell you exactly what is wrong with it. However working with a supplier when we had that issue I signed a NDA as part of them telling us every detail about it. Because we needed to know why it did that, when it started, how to test for it, how it will be fixed etc.
Like I said. If you use it and like it that's great. No problems with it that's even better. Get a case drop it face down. On a hard surface so it only hits the case then protector is unsupported and you will have delamination. I did this as part of the big testing video I'm doing for this. 2 drops it started.
Also I'm willing to work with them. All my test data as well as some samples I'll send to them or take to then when I'm in California. I love there install method and it will be a home run when the corners that we're cut are fixed. They pay $1 per 30ml of adheasive I can get them a bulk order that ends up being $1.75 per 30ml if they buy bulk lots. That's optical grade I'll send them the contract info and the sales rep I know for there. Use that and it's fixed. I tested that adheasive on this also and it works just like it should. I really want them to improve it.
As of right now now on my desk I have 35 different uv optical adheasives and more on the way. One manufacturer is even making a custom adheasive to test for this application. This all started as a simple test it and see what's wrong with it but due to all the people asking it's gotten much bigger. I hope Whitestone reaches out to me and I can get them the test information I have so they can improve the product.
Hi, I have been following your findings and it is an interesting matter for me at least.
Anyway, I wanted to write an update about my using the Gear VR with the default Whitedome / adhesive installation.
Previously I mentioned I got the "bubbles / webbing" permanently at the very bottom part of the protector, on a central area right above the USB connector (about 10mm wide, 1mm tal), after having the Whitedome applied and using the GearVR on the next day. Now it has been a couple of weeks maybe, and the bubbles part is still there (size unchanged apparently).
What I want to add is, something a bit unexpected (for me) happened: I used the Gear VR again yesterday (several days after the Whitedome installation) for around one hour, and and after taking the phone off, there were MORE bubbles / webbing in a different area, almost horizontally oval in shape, around 1.5cm wide by 0.8cm high. It was positioned about 2cm ABOVE the early thin stripe of bubbles, completely separate from it (not a continuation). I was pissed off because THIS was on top of the screen and obstructiong the image, really annoying. As it was late I decided to just go to sleep and deal with it when I had some free time. But to my surprise it was COMPLETELY GONE this morning. The previous thin mark at the bottom remains. But I can see no trace whatsoever of the "new" affected region..
gamekill said:
Hi, I have been following your findings and it is an interesting matter for me at least.
Anyway, I wanted to write an update about my using the Gear VR with the default Whitedome / adhesive installation.
Previously I mentioned I got the "bubbles / webbing" permanently at the very bottom part of the protector, on a central area right above the USB connector (about 10mm wide, 1mm tal), after having the Whitedome applied and using the GearVR on the next day. Now it has been a couple of weeks maybe, and the bubbles part is still there (size unchanged apparently).
What I want to add is, something a bit unexpected (for me) happened: I used the Gear VR again yesterday (several days after the Whitedome installation) for around one hour, and and after taking the phone off, there were MORE bubbles / webbing in a different area, almost horizontally oval in shape, around 1.5cm wide by 0.8cm high. It was positioned about 2cm ABOVE the early thin stripe of bubbles, completely separate from it (not a continuation). I was pissed off because THIS was on top of the screen and obstructiong the image, really annoying. As it was late I decided to just go to sleep and deal with it when I had some free time. But to my surprise it was COMPLETELY GONE this morning. The previous thin mark at the bottom remains. But I can see no trace
whatsoever of the "new" affected region..
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That's delamination from defective uv adheasive. As in my video you can see it cures about 50% and then still leaves some wet uncureable adheasive behind and is in some cases acting as an indexing gel. The delamination is still there you will need a microscope to see but masked by that adheasive that's wet acting as an indexing gel.
I got a gear VR on the way. It's on loan from a user to test it with another adheasive. I'll test this and see how it holds up. Run the phone hot and do multiple install and removals then do a few battery drains why it's in the vr. Glad this is a work phone and not my personal phone.
I actually find the oleophobic coating of the whitestone to be very good.
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
harlenm said:
I actually find the oleophobic coating of the whitestone to be very good.
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
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Yeah same here.
sefrcoko said:
Yeah same here.
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Then it's more product inconsistency. Friend said his is holding up ok. I know mine had scraches in it after a few hours. And one of them out of the box had a burn in the coating as well as a deep scrach deeper then the olophobic.
Any product recommendation or where we can get the good loca glue?
I personally would be interested in a tube of high quality adhesive if anyone is able to source some. Perhaps the OP would be able to point us to a supplier?
bignazpwns said:
Then it's more product inconsistency. Friend said his is holding up ok. I know mine had scraches in it after a few hours. And one of them out of the box had a burn in the coating as well as a deep scrach deeper then the olophobic.
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Ouch that looks rough. Never had those issues on multiple protectors but inconsistency does happen of course with all products. If they don't provide adequate service or replacement though, well then that's a different issue
sefrcoko said:
Ouch that looks rough. Never had those issues on multiple protectors but inconsistency does happen of course with all products. If they don't provide adequate service or replacement though, well then that's a different issue
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I posted this before. I will say Whitestone sent out a replacement kit for it for free and we're very easy to deal with and gave me very fast responses. So the service is great even though people say it's bad my experience was great. I reached out to them on Facebook and not via website so maybe Facebook is the way to go. And I noted all that when I made that post.
I would do the same for the adhesive but I know they can send out 1,000 kits they will all have this issue because the Adheasive used is from defective batches that had issues with the mixing process. I mean it works...but you will never get a full cure and will have issues under the right conditions and those are relatively common. But some people may never experience this.
But all of them so far have had pretty bad olophobic coating's. One is like it had none at all. One had the coating burned "pic in the previous post" and 2 just meh. Nothing great. But that's fine because I use the leftover ceramic coating I used for my car on my screens since it's better and thicker so I usually get over a year and 1/2 before I see any decrease in preformance. But this Stull is around $400 for a small bottle for a car and after not much is left. But Walmart sells a few kits. One is a great kit and only $12. If people wanna know what kit I'll let you know. Around here only one a almao had this kit in stock. "gerogia" the rest had other brands.
I'm one of the 'lucky' ones who has had no problems whatsoever. Going on three months and still getting compliments on how nice my screen looks. It's like I don't have a screen protector on at all.
I'm completely dissapointed from Whitestone.
I have been using it for weeks and yesterday, (all of a sudden) the tempered glass started to have a small line in the left edge of the phone and it seems like it is kinda lifted.
Unfortunately, the company wont help me, because I didnt bought it from their authorised stores
https://ibb.co/9s7jcV7

Question Screen De-Lamination: That was Fast!

My Flip 3 is about nine months old. Enclosed are two pictures, one from midnight on July 4, the second from 11:30 the next morning (noon-ish, July 4). The device was left open overnight because I was backing up my files to a USB stick in preparation for Samsung's fix of the screen. You can see the de-lamination of the factory-installed screen protector spread overnight from one-half the screen, across then entire fold-area, to encompass the entire screen, in less than 12 hours. There was no damage to the screen before the de-lamination started two days ago (July 2). The first indication was a tiny spontaneous de-lamination at the far right edge where the screen folds.
The phone is lovingly cared for, never dropped, no tears, no scratches on the protective film, no water exposure, battery-saver (85%) on, slow-chaage always on, etc... The phone is otherwise in "like new" condition. Samsung support recommends a local "UBreakIFix" store for the repair. I'll let you guys know how the repair goes.
So the "cost" for using this phone, so far, is $100 a month. $900 divided by 9 months, before it's now so fragile it can't be safely used. Wow.
That sucks.
Another dropped ball from Samsung.
This was predictable. Samsung exceeded the limits of the plastics and adhesive system. It is a high risk technical venture and they likely will never have the durability most would like.
As long as the screen underneath isn't cracked/loose, it should be fixable by removing the plastic screen protector and applying your own
buru898 said:
As long as the screen underneath isn't cracked/loose, it should be fixable by removing the plastic screen protector and applying your own
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Yeah, the phone is in perfect condition, except for the protected coming off. If it were out of warranty I'd probablly try to fix it myself.
Interestingly, the local Samsung-authorized repair sites near me are taking one look at the phone and saying (even before they look at it), "No, we don't fix those. Check one of the other repair sites.... ." They say they'd need to replace the entire screen, rather than peel/apply a new protector. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with such an involved process being done by "just anybody." This phone is just so intricate it's hard to imagine a local repair store having the experience needed to "cut open the glued bits, avoid cutting the cables, replacing the screen, and gluing everything back together so it's secure and waterproof."
If Samsung has to fix it themselves then if the phone fails again they have no one but themselves to blame.
Does anyone here have experience with Samsung replacing their phone screen?
I took off the original screen protector about 4 weeks ago. It had no damage, but curiosity beat me and I wanted to try the real, naked screen
It felt sooooooo goooood! Smooth, no fingerprints, brighter, touch nav was better, no rainbow effect ect.
Went naked for over 3 weeks and no scratches or anything. But, a couple of days ago I applied myself the whitestone film. Easy to apply and It's better then samsungs.
So, had a nice adventure
I've read in many places that Samsung will honor the warranty even after removing the plastic screen. Double check on that, but I highly recommend replacing it
Had mine for barely a month before I couldn't deal with all the fingerprints and ugly feeling of the screen
YouTube videos are your friend for gauging the difficulty and seeing the process. Helped give me the courage to do it
wpscully said:
Interestingly, the local Samsung-authorized repair sites near me are taking one look at the phone and saying (even before they look at it), "No, we don't fix those. Check one of the other repair sites.... ." They say they'd need to replace the entire screen, rather than peel/apply a new protector. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with such an involved process being done by "just anybody." This phone is just so intricate it's hard to imagine a local repair store having the experience needed to "cut open the glued bits, avoid cutting the cables, replacing the screen, and gluing everything back together so it's secure and waterproof."
If Samsung has to fix it themselves then if the phone fails again they have no one but themselves to blame.
Does anyone here have experience with Samsung replacing their phone screen?
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That should tell you something.
Getting it right on the first or even second shot may prove challenging. Wet apply hydrocell's are relatively easy, one sided adhesive ones like the stock ones are a true pain.
Anyone who has removed the stock protector can tell you the flaw that causes it. They are using a rigid protector with a weak adhesive.
The folding aspect has allowed Samsung to make the process sound much more complex, but it's installing a protector like any other phone. The only difference is taking more care to smooth it into the crease. Let it sit open for a day and try to take it light for the next few. Almost any third-party protector that is decent as a screen protector will work.
The stock protector is poorly designed, but it's not some magical specialty item. It is a slightly nicer version of the film Samsung wraps all their phones with so they look new out of the box.
Screen is fine, right?
Just like peeling off a bandaid IMO. ;-)
I have decided to send the phone back to Samsung for the replacement of the screen protector. They did not require a phone factory reset for this work. I'll report the quality of the repair work when the phone is returned. I'm hoping it will look "factory fresh". But I've also ordered an aftermarket protector in case I need to fix the fix.
wpscully said:
They did not require a phone factory reset for this work.
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They may not have required you to do one, but I hope you did a backup. It doesn't always mean they won't end up doing one, planned or not.
Does anyone have a source to buy a new screen protector that isn't too rigid or thick? There are tons of options online but I'm not finding an OEM option to buy. But it sounds like some of you may have found a better option anyway. Any links would be appreciated!
drosenau said:
Does anyone have a source to buy a new screen protector that isn't too rigid or thick? There are tons of options online but I'm not finding an OEM option to buy. But it sounds like some of you may have found a better option anyway. Any links would be appreciated!
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I've used Skinomi since my Pixel 2 XL days. The wet application process makes sense and the self repair screen makes it always look new. It's what I'm currently using on the Zflip
When I had mine before I got rid of it, I replaced the screen protector with a liquid one. Worked very well up until the actual screen started cracking on the crease. Keep in mind no drops and everyday use. For the 3rd generation it's definitely sad to see
Dr.Lost said:
When I had mine before I got rid of it, I replaced the screen protector with a liquid one. Worked very well up until the actual screen started cracking on the crease. Keep in mind no drops and everyday use. For the 3rd generation it's definitely sad to see
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The radius of curve is too extreme.
twistedumbrella said:
... but it's installing a protector like any other phone. The only difference is taking more care to smooth it into the crease. Let it sit open for a day and try to take it light for the next few...
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Thank you so much for this helpful hint. I previously purchased a Whitestone Dome screen protector with install jig. It went on perfectly, but when I folded the phone 30 minutes later it delaminated in the crease. I threw that $20 piece in the trash. Nowhere in the instructions or installation video did it say to wait a full day. Based on your input I installed the same kit again, waited a day before carefully folding the phone and, bam, works like a champ!
phil1737 said:
Thank you so much for this helpful hint. I previously purchased a Whitestone Dome screen protector with install jig. It went on perfectly, but when I folded the phone 30 minutes later it delaminated in the crease. I threw that $20 piece in the trash. Nowhere in the instructions or installation video did it say to wait a full day. Based on your input I installed the same kit again, waited a day before carefully folding the phone and, bam, works like a champ!
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UV cured adhesive once fully cured is at its full strength. No additional time is needed.
Redirect Notice
Failure: incomplete cleaning; contaminated bonding surfaces, incorrect application (a thinner layer is better), or incomplete curing.
I used this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09LV43G8M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Not the Seesaw UV curing machine whatever thingy. But my second attempt worked fine. Thanks for your feedback.
phil1737 said:
I used this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09LV43G8M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Not the Seesaw UV curing machine whatever thingy. But my second attempt worked fine. Thanks for your feedback.
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Yeah I have never had an easy time with either of those types of adhesive systems*. Hydrocell wet apply works best on non-folding screens for me but may not be ideal for a foldable.
*Whitestone sent the wrong screen in the right box so I never did install it. They were a complete offshore nightmare to deal with. The "new" one I received had been incorrectly reboxed. They caused me quit a bit of trouble... and never even apologized for the inconvenience. So free advertising for them.
phil1737 said:
I used this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09LV43G8M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Not the Seesaw UV curing machine whatever thingy. But my second attempt worked fine. Thanks for your feedback.
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Glad to hear it worked out in the end. There is somewhat of a curing period with any adhesive, but rigid protectors will still separate over time. Given how flimsy those are, it will be a lot longer than the stock one anyway.
If you use a UV one, longer is not always better. The catch to UV activated adhesive is the same as UV resin. It is on a parabola where it will hit peak adhesion and then actually begin to break down. It's best to follow the exact times provided and then let it get some sunlight to finish off curing.
P.S. Whatever you do, do NOT use a liquid adhesive protector on this phone. It's not an S series or Note where the panel is flush with the case. It's an aluminum body wrapped OVER the screen. While they do claim it's water resistant, getting adhesive under that edge can eventually lead to pressure on the edges that will damage the screen and cause it to fracture.

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