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Radiating

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Dec 29, 2011
1,018
7
I tried virtually every thin fim screen protector you can get on the market:

eBay glossy
eBay matte
Spigen Fine (matte)
Spigen Oleophobic
Spigen Ultra Crystal
3M Matte
3M Glossy Oleophobic
Phantomskins
Ghost Armor Glossy
Skinomi Gloss
Green Onions Industries Oleophobic
Screen Guardz Glossy
Zagg Invisible Shield Glossy

I've also tried Spigen Glas.T and Screen Guardz Pure, which I don't like due to the thickness.

If you want to skip the other reviews and wall of text here's my conclusion:
The Green Onions Industries Oleophobic screen protector is the best one you can buy by far.

It's $20 shipped, which is expensive but it has a near perfect cut, without a pointless camera cut out, it is better at resisting fingerprints than both the 3M Oleophobic and Spigen Oleophpobic, and the instalation package is the best I've seen to remove dust and get a good instal. It's pricey but by comparison all the others are junk. It also comes in a two pack.

Amazon is the cheapest place I've found to get it, (no I don't make a single dime off this link):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009EWNA1Q/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00

Here's a bullet point review of all the other options:


eBay glossy

- Garbage, scratches within 2 days made of inferior material.

eBay matte

- Garbage, scratches within 2 days made of inferior material to premium stuff.

Spigen Fine (matte)

- Doesn't eliminate work well at all, just resists fingerprints for a few hours. Makes screen have a speckled effect due to the matte material. Ultra Optics is better, as it's truely fingerprint proof and doesn't add speckles to your screen. The downsize is the Ultra Optics feel like a holographic sticker with a textured surface.

Spigen Oleophobic

- Not actually that great at resisting fingerprints compared to the Green Onions Oleophobic

Spigen Ultra Crystal

- Great cut, as with all Spigen products, but this gets covered in fingerprints within minutes until it just looks like a thick layer of oil.

3M Matte

- This is the same product as the Spigen Fine (matte) protector with a worse cut.

3M Glossy Oleophobic

- Orange Peel! Orange Peel! Orange Peel! It has the advantage of also being multicoated, but it turns your screen purple when it's off, and it isn't that good at preventing fingerprints. The cut also isn't that good.

Phantomskins

- Nothing special, terrible cut with way too large cutouts.

Ghost Armor Glossy

- Again nothing special with a terrible cut.

Skinomi Gloss

- Absurd levels of orange peel, feels very cheap.

Screen Guardz Glossy

- Again orange peel. Subsidized replacements seem like a good idea, but their product is pretty lame.

Zagg Invisible Shield Glossy

- Absurd levels of orange peel, feels very cheap.

With all these other screen protectors every day I'd look at them and notice their flaws and become a little annoyed. With the Green Onions Oleophobic, it's so good it's seamless. I don't even notice it's there because it has no flaws. No orange peel, no fingerprints (which it is amazing at resisting compared to all the others), no overly large cutouts. In fact it's actually better than the phone's bare screen due to the oleophobic properties.

Hope that helps.
 

nharrietha

macrumors member
Oct 17, 2012
70
0
Canada
I'm using the Zagg HD which has been a pretty good experience thus far. I'm curious as to how the Spigen GlasTR is though, have you tried it?
 

RichardC300

macrumors 65816
Sep 27, 2012
1,240
103
Any pictures of the green onions industry screen protectors? I really like the idea of no camera cutout b
 

Elevon

macrumors regular
Nov 29, 2011
157
1
Nice review unfortunately Ive brought the ultra fine by spigen before your post and find the noisy screen to be a problem, does the screen protector you recommend have anti glare too? I'm also interested to see how the power support anti glare performs too, whether it has the same problem as spigens ultra fine...
 

dinggus

macrumors 65816
Jan 17, 2012
1,309
63
I'm using the Zagg HD which has been a pretty good experience thus far. I'm curious as to how the Spigen GlasTR is though, have you tried it?

I haven't noticed how this protector works. I have it installed, seems the same since it has retina display.
 

nharrietha

macrumors member
Oct 17, 2012
70
0
Canada
I haven't noticed how this protector works. I have it installed, seems the same since it has retina display.
That's what I like to hear. I'm just scared of spending $30 and messing it up when the Zagg HD is by no means a bad screen protector. :eek:
 

AFDoc

Suspended
Jun 29, 2012
2,864
629
Colorado Springs USA for now
Keep your cheap flimsy plastic covers.... Glass is the only way to go IMHO. You don't like the extra thickness..... what extra thickness. That tiny mm of extra glass..... that really bothers you?
 

robotphood

macrumors 65816
Jun 25, 2010
1,020
122
How is it holding up to scratches? I don't know if you're ever going to beat glass for feel and scratch resistance. Oleophobic coating on the spigen and pure glass doesn't hold up for very long though.
 

bananataffy

macrumors regular
Dec 18, 2012
126
65
Keep your cheap flimsy plastic covers.... Glass is the only way to go IMHO. You don't like the extra thickness..... what extra thickness. That tiny mm of extra glass..... that really bothers you?

+1, can't beat glass. A BodyGuardz Pure is negligibly thin and feels much better than any plastic screen protector. It's the best screen protector out there imo.
 

Zwhaler

macrumors 604
Jun 10, 2006
7,090
1,564
OP you should give Martin Fields overlay a try, I found it to be one of the best screen protectors out there and you didn't have it listed
 

Radiating

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Dec 29, 2011
1,018
7
If you haven't tried Power Support, you don't get to claim you found the best.

I have a power support screen protector laying around that I never installed. It isn't oleophobic, which means it is junk.

OP you should give Martin Fields overlay a try, I found it to be one of the best screen protectors out there and you didn't have it listed

The Martin Fields overlay looks good but again it's not oleohpbic.

Oleophobic screen protectors keep your display looking pristine.
 

spring

macrumors regular
Oct 30, 2007
122
0
Bergen County, NJ
I too have the Green Onions Supply oleophobic screen protector and find it the best screen protector out there. It is as clear as SGP protectors (which are on par with power support crystal) and yet the oleophobic qualities are better than the sgp oleophobic screens. Unlike the SGP, the Green Onions actually wipe off easily instead of just smearing. I've had mine on since The first week of October and the coating is still there.
 

mcdj

macrumors G3
Jul 10, 2007
8,964
4,214
NYC
I have a power support screen protector laying around that I never installed. It isn't oleophobic, which means it is junk.

Ok Mr. Expert, whatever you say. Just don't tell Apple, who have specifially chosen to sell ONLY the Power Support in their stores and online. And don't tell the hundreds of people here who consistently rate it among the best (though since you only joined MR a year ago, you probably haven't seen all the raves). And don't tell me, who has tried as many screen protectors as you, if not more, on every iPhone since 2007, and keeps going back to Power Support, even though it's junk.
 

Phillskill

macrumors newbie
Nov 26, 2012
3
0
New Zealand
The op does loose credibility here for not including power support in his comparison list. Especially when it is widely considered one of the best screen protectors on the market. How can one say what is "the best" without trying all the brands already considered "the best"? I think the op has shown their personal favorite protector, and so the title for this thread would be more accurate if it was "my favorite screen protector".

Also glass protectors, and p.e.t. films are completely different from each other, so cannot be directly compared.

The green onions protector may be a good protector, but it will have to prove itself with a good amount of positive feedback like powersupport, and spigen have done, before it truely can be considered "the best".
 

Radiating

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Dec 29, 2011
1,018
7
Ok Mr. Expert, whatever you say. Just don't tell Apple, who have specifially chosen to sell ONLY the Power Support in their stores and online. And don't tell the hundreds of people here who consistently rate it among the best (though since you only joined MR a year ago, you probably haven't seen all the raves). And don't tell me, who has tried as many screen protectors as you, if not more, on every iPhone since 2007, and keeps going back to Power Support, even though it's junk.

I've also tried dozens of screen protectors on other phones. As far as I know I have tried every oleophobic protector on the market.

You seem to believe that just because something is rated highly one must be foolish not to think it is the best.

I think it can be widely agreed that oleophobic protectors are the way of the future. They came out recently but they are practically magical at keeping a glossy look without instantly developing a thick layer of nasty grease. Everyone I've shown my phone to is amazed at how it "keeps itself clean" and they would never go back to regular screen protectors. So yes while the power support may be great. It's like comparing the most highly rated steam car vs a gasoline internal combustion car. The technology is very different, and it doesn't matter how highly the older technology is rated, it doesn't do what the new stuff does.

The green onions protector is the best non glass protector if you consider resisting fingerprints a big advantage, which the majority of people do. (Which may disqualify slightly better but non oleophobic protectors).
 

bijju

macrumors member
Mar 23, 2012
34
0
i tried about 5 different brands of screen protectors but i was not happy... but my last screen protector for iphone 5 (Aduro MEMBRANE) is the best. Try it ...
 
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