REVIEW: Pocket Solutions High Definition Screen Protector

[Guest dwallersv]

I'm cross-posting this to the i9x0 forum as well for my old buddies over there, as it might be useful to some of them too. I hope the admins will make an exception to the rule in this case.

I've tried many different brands of screen protectors during my Omnia and Omnia II ownership, with mixed results. Among those I've tried are Martin Fields, Amzer, Amzer mirror (strong recommend against), some generic no-name from Verizon, a "universal" (again, strongly recommend against), and finally, the Pocket Solutions High Definition SP, which arrived yesterday. I applied it this morning, and have been using it all day.

Summary: Best SP I've had to date. For my needs and tastes, it works the best, with one complaint that I'll get to.

It is advertised as a "High Definition" SP -- meaning superb clarity. Marketing hype, as far as I'm concerned -- every plain clear SP has been just as crystal clear to my eyes as any other. The exception, of course, was the "mirror" SP, which I thought I'd try out of curiosity, and it was a completely disaster. Attenuated the brightness due to its smokey, half-silvered color, and made the phone unusable in so many environments, positions, etc. because of reflections. It is a mirror, after all. Don't buy one of these if you want to actually used the PPC aspect of your phone.

The Pocket Solutions HD SP is pretty standard stuff for the most part -- die-cut to exactly fit the screen of my 920, washable, comes with a cleaning cloth, typical static adhesion rather than adhesive, 6 bucks US, moderately priced.

What makes it a step above all the other SPs I've used is the surface texture. I've been wary of trying out "anti-glare" or "anti-scratch" SPs because of negative comments from people about difficulty in sliding their finger over them, and interference with the sharpness of the screen image. This SP was not billed as anti-glare, so I assumed it was the usual perfectly smooth plastic surface.

It is not! It has a fine, randomly textured surface -- their anti-scratch technology -- which also cuts way down on reflections and glare. It turns out that this is a rockin' good feature!

Very clear, bright, sharp transmission of the image from the screen. No complaints there at all. The texture, on this SP at least, makes sliding my finger around on the screen so frictionless that it's like the thing has been lubricated. Speed-scrolling is so easy and natural now. In fact, the screen has a slipperiness to it now that I have to adjust to a little bit on those rare occasions when I use a stylus. Microscopic price to pay for such great finger action.

The texture also obscures fingerprints, cheekprints, etc., which is a nice bonus, making them much less visible. Normally, I find myself wiping the screen of my O2 clean again and again during the day to remove oily prints and smears. I didn't feel compelled to do that once today.

Finally, it's thin and flexible enough that I don't detect any interference with good touch response (something the Amzer mirror was awful about, being really thick and stiff).

The one negative has to do with their manufacturing technique, and the impact it has on application. It seems that they stamp these out from the top surface down, thereby leaving a very slight edge on the bottom of the SP, the part that contacts the screen, so after application it simply will not "stick" completely out to the edge of the film. Consequently, there is about a 1/2-1mm space all the way around the SP where it isn't adhered to the underlying screen, and this is visible, similar to what a bubble or dust spec looks like under a badly installed SP. It doesn't get close to the actual screen display area, and is pretty un-noticable unless you're looking for it, so it's a problem I'm willing to live with.

Still, I plan to contact Pocket solutions about it and see if it's defective, or if all of them are like this. Regardless, it's the best I've used so far, and do recommend it!

i8000 version

i920 version (don't be fooled by the i8000 picture -- this is the right SKU for the i920)

Edited March 10, 2010 by dwallersv

[Guest silvos3189]

sounds like just the protector i needed, was getting tired of martin fields.

hmm cheaper too...

btw... any pictures you can post up to show the... negative side of the protector?

I'm not exactly getting a clear descriptive image of your description, so i'm wondering if you could take a picture and show me.

also compared to martin fields, is it still as clear? cause the texture you're describing... it makes me think of the anti-glare types. So i'm just asking is the clarity comparable to the Martin Fields SP?

Edited March 10, 2010 by silvos3189

[Guest dwallersv]

sounds like just the protector i needed, was getting tired of martin fields.

hmm cheaper too...

btw... any pictures you can post up to show the... negative side of the protector?

I'm not exactly getting a clear descriptive image of your description, so i'm wondering if you could take a picture and show me.

also compared to martin fields, is it still as clear? cause the texture you're describing... it makes me think of the anti-glare types. So i'm just asking is the clarity comparable to the Martin Fields SP?

Here's a pic posed in such a way to make the edge problem as prominent/visible as possible. Under normal use/orientations, it isn't nearly as obvious as in this picture:

As for clarity, to my eyes, just as good.

Still loving the finger slipperiness!

Edited March 10, 2010 by dwallersv

[Guest kdkinc]

If you say it good then its got to be great <_<

For $6.00 were not quite breaking the bank.

I have been using Clairevue with satisfaction but also want to trying something new.

:mellow: :(

[Guest silvos3189]

hmm... truthfully I can live with that =] defintiely getting that protector then... thanks for the recommendation

[Guest babyjosef17]

thank you very much for this. I am just currently wearing out my screen. Once my scratches are to the point where is cannot see the screen any more. Then I change my digitizer then put this screen protector on.

Thanks a lot.

[Guest dwallersv]

thank you very much for this. I am just currently wearing out my screen. Once my scratches are to the point where is cannot see the screen any more. Then I change my digitizer then put this screen protector on.

Thanks a lot.

Just curious: Why wait?

To my anal-retentive attitude, one visible scratch would be enough... <_<

Edited March 11, 2010 by dwallersv

[Guest babyjosef17]

Just curious: Why wait?

To my anal-retentive attitude, one visible scratch would be enough... <_<

I want to see how much abuse the omnia II screen can take from me ! BWAHAHAHA!

Seriously right now though I am bit tight so I wait till the screen is unbearable. Plus I kinda want to really know which caused the scratch, the pouch or my fingers? We'll see hehe.

[Guest silvos3189]

sorry kind of offtopic, but did you ever try out their charger?

http://www.thepocketsolution.com/PSI-050/T...te+Charger.html

[Guest kdkinc]

Just installed mine and I like it.

Nice keeps finger skids marks to a minimum ,not as noticeable.

<_< :mellow:

[Guest c3p9]

Just installed mine and I like it.

Nice keeps finger skids marks to a minimum ,not as noticeable.

<_< :mellow:

To bad they don't ship oversees. Does anyone knows where can I buy and have it shipped outside us (Brazil actually).

[Guest Will.]

For all of you who have the non verizon / american version of this phone: Be careful, the screen protector won't match

I have an import from singapore, the one with the 3D cube in the middle of the hard keys and this protector doens't match that, it's only for the half circle round ones (as seen on the above picture).

@c3p9: I've sent them an email to exchange it or take it back, but i guess i could sell it to you instead if they don't want to take it back for some reason... I've just opened the package but haven't peeled of the screen protector or anything.

[Guest silvos3189]

I thought he posted links to both i8000 and the i920

[Guest Will.]

I thought he posted links to both i8000 and the i920

And so he did, I guess they must have made a mistake in the shipping because i clearly have the i920 version while it says Omnia II HD in the order receipt...

I'll keep u posted

[Guest Will.]

deleted

Edited March 14, 2010 by Will.

[Guest dwallersv]

Here's a pic posed in such a way to make the edge problem as prominent/visible as possible. Under normal use/orientations, it isn't nearly as obvious as in this picture:

As for clarity, to my eyes, just as good.

Still loving the finger slipperiness!

By working on it by rubbing those edges while watching TV I've been able to get the side to almost completely adhere down eliminating the visual imperfection, and improved the adherence on the top and bottom quite a bit too.

Shouldn't have to do this at all, but as I said in the original review it was worth living with this minor problem anyway. Wanted to follow up and let everyone know that, with a little effort, even that can be largely corrected.

After using it for almost a week I can now say the single best feature of this protector is the textured surface, and what it does for sliding finger/thumb on the screen. It is almost frictionless, with the small amount of resistance being just right, and most important consistent all over the screen. One of the things that was a constant source of frustration was having resistance to sliding vary depending on environmental factors (humidity, etc.), dryness level of my hands (which varies all the time depending on humidity, activity, etc.).

Sliding on the screen is such a smooth, consistent, perfect experience now.

Glad I bought 4 <_<

[Guest dwallersv]

Just installed mine and I like it.

Nice keeps finger skids marks to a minimum ,not as noticeable.

:mellow: :(

Indeed! One of the nice features of this protector.

In the interest of full disclosure, this is a double-edged sword... The texture hides the smears, but the downside is it's a little bit (not a lot) more effort to clean the screen.

Can't just breath on it and then rub it on your t-shirt (or a cloth -- I know I'm the only one that does this on my t-shirt <_< ) a little to get it clean. Takes 2-3 cycles of this get the smears completely cleared off.