Smartphones!
A couple of items:
(1) I have been using screen protectors on my smartphones since I got my old TyTn II. Back then, it was absolutely necessary as the screens would scratch really easily. It seems like the screens have gotten a lot better with more scratch resistence. Should I dispense with the screen protector? As screens have gotten larger, it’s become more difficult to get one of those on there with any dust (which creates permanent bubbles). On the other hand, when I thought I could finally go without a protective case, I ended up with a smartphone with a cracked screen.
So do any of y’all use screen protectors? If not, has scratching been a problem for you at all? For reference sake, what kind of phone do you not use a screen protector on?
(2) I will be doing a series of post on Android Apps, most likely to appear on weekends. Basically it will be along the lines of “I want a [fill-in-the-blank] music app. Which one should I get?” answered with what I consider to be the best option. When looking for a software to perform a particular function, I have a tendency to download a dozen or so and then start eliminating them one by one until I have the ones that are worth using.
On the whole, it’s been very helpful to know several good programs because when the OS updates or I change phones, what used to work great yesterday won’t work as well anymore, and then I’ll go to one of the others and find that some limitation that made me not like it has been addressed. It also lends itself to this sort of post, since I tend to have familiarity with a number of products.
I already have planned one on navigation apps (online, offline, and premium), music apps, video apps. Do you have any requests?
I had a Motorola Photon with no screen protector for two years and never a scratch. I’ve had my Galaxy 4 for about 6 months now with no problems. I do think a good case is warranted if you’re clumsy (like me) or just active. I have a Ballistic case on mine and while the extra bulk in my pockets can be a nuisance, I like the peace-of-mind. I do NOT recommend the bomb-proof Otterboxes with the screen shield. My daughter has one on her phone and it definitely impacts the audio quality on phone calls.
I will also just add that I have been on Team Android for three years now with no regrets. The only drawback I have seen is that new apps often hit Apple first and then Android later but we’re usually talking about a couple of months, not years. Those small iPhone screens are doodie in my opinion. Now if you’re a Mac guy, that’s a whole other conversation.Report
I used to have one of those otter cases until I realized that my phone actually didn’t need to survive reentry.
Now, if I ever do get my badass battle-hardened cyborg warrior body (like I keep wishing for every night), then I’ll probably have to upgrade the case. (As I fight the evils of conservatism by beating up douchy guys on the subway.)
Been doing iPhones for a while, and I’m definitely a Mac girl, although my new job is kinda Linux heavy and they like Android more ’round the office (to say the least), so I might switch back. Not sure precisely what to get. Used to have a Samsung thing and I hated it. I guess I can ask around.Report
What didn’t you like about the Samsung?
My Android phones have almost all been Samsungs, though I’m not a loyalist of Samsung’s the same way I am for Thinkpads. I mostly like the removable battery, SD Card, and the accessory support. Pre-Android, all my phones were HTC.Report
Well, I had like the first (or maybe second) generation Galaxy S, and the GPS was just garbage and was wrong constantly and sucked the battery like {insert inappropriate sucking metaphor}. Plus there was some kind of bug in the screen touch controller, which when the antenna went into high power mode it would get all kinds of spurious positives. Which meant that if I tried to do anything with my phone on the subway, it kept thinking I was hitting “back,” even though I was not. Combine that with the fact that it also though I was doing screen captures when I was not, I would end up with tons of screen captures that I could not immediately delete since my touch screen wasn’t working. So like later when I got off the subway I would have to remember to go delete all the screen caps.
So, yeah, some pretty bad engineering.Report
Regarding cases, I have found that the best way to do that is to order three or four cheap protection systems from China. Between them, one will be just right. Collectively I spend about $25, which given the life of a phone isn’t such a bad deal.Report
Just curious, how many people have a Windows Phone? Like, I’ve known a couple people who got them and both liked them but then ended up getting Androids (or whatever), ’cause like no one else had a Windows Phone.
Which is a sorta strange reversal of fortune.Report
Isn’t it?
Farhad Manjoo commented on the irony of Microsoft downtalking the importance of marketshare and instead talking about how we should focus on profit margins.
Not to get all Kimmi here, but I actually had some exposure to WinPho long before it was released (right when they announced that it would be Windows Phone instead of Windows Mobile, actually), but haven’t really touched it since.
I was big on Windows Mobile before Android. I was reluctant to get an Android in part because I was waiting to see if I would eventually stick with Microsoft. Then they started announcing more about what they were doing and I decided that it would almost certainly be Android just as soon as they reached a certain point.Report
We live in a strange new world where the iconoclasts use a Windows product, and thus get to act smugly superior to all the normos using Apple and Google stuff (she writes on her MacBook Air while sipping chai).
(I don’t actually drink chai.)Report
I don’t use them on phone because I found it annoying to get all the bubbles out. I used it on my digital camera and it’s nice and quite effective.Report
Steam up the bathroom and put the cover on in there.Report
That’s a really good idea, @chris.Report
I use an Otter cover – the Commuter, which is slimmer than the typical huge ones. I do not use the screen protector. Too much trouble to put on right. Not needed. I’ve had my iphone 5 for 14-15 mos. maybe, and no scratches at all yet.Report
The Otter case! For if your phone is attacked by a herd of angry rhinoceroses.Report
My daughter lives across the highway a bit from their home office. I think they think in terms of moose, elk, and black bear for animals. And dropping it off a 150′ cliff that you either were climbing, or were preparing to rappel down. Cell service works in some odd places in Colorado :^)Report
My Samsung is Otter-safe from pachyderms and ice giants, too. But no screen protector.Report
@burt-likko — Even from Dire Wolverines?Report
WOLVERINES!
…sorry. It’s just sort of a reflex.Report
I’ve had my Galaxy S4 for a year now. I had a screen protector at first, but when it peeled off around six months ago I never bothered replacing it. Still no scratches.
I also don’t use a case. I once dropped it on concrete and had it turn cartwheels for ten feet or so, and the only damage was chipped paint.Report
I don’t use a screen protector on my iPhone. It’s actually fallen down an entire flight of stairs, much to my horror. It suffered no cracks though.
I did get a little $5 case for it, primarily to protect the charging port rather than for impact resistance.
I agree with others that the Otter is ridiculous. If feel you need one, you shouldn’t be using a phone.Report
I use a screen protector for my phone (which I got back in November). The guy at the store offered to put it and the case on for me, and he did a great job getting rid of the bubbles.
I used a screen protector for my old phone until about the final year I had it (as it started to become un-stuck). It quickly got scratched up a bit, but nothing too serious.
I, too, have an Otter case, but smaller than most of the ones I’ve seen. I got it because I know I needed some sort of case (the phone will always get dropped somewhere along the line), and it was the only one in stock that fit my phone.Report
(1) – Been using a Galaxy S3 for a bit more than a year, no screen protector, no case. No issues so far – the screen is pretty scratch resistant, and it only has a couple very small ( less than 1mm ) marks on the sides from falling down.Report