Ghost Armor Review for Iphone 3G!!

[adigitalcure]

Ok,so after lot's of searching on the boards for the best "film" style case for the 3G I ended up going with Ghost Armor, due to not wanting any "texture" on my screen.(read some brands look like a orange peel)

Well First off, shipping was fast! 2-3days for standard BUT it also should be because they make you pay for it!($4.00)

So, The product arrives in pretty much no type of packaging. Just a padded envelope with a folded piece of paper with my "stickers" in between it. So, im kind of thinking "ohh geez what did i just waste my money on", since I heard so much about how great IS does on their packaging and product work.

The kit includes, your "case"(full body or just screen protector) a weird rubber looking squeegee, instructions(video guide online also) and a small unmarked bottom of solution. Which i believe is just soap and water?

So,Followed the directions and ended up using a bit to much solution on the film and had it slide around alot before it started to dry alittle. Screen went on with no problems. Looked funky for a couple of hours while it was dying,so I just left it along till morning.

Woke up this morning and the screen was crystal clear, really just had to push out one small bubble. Everything lined up great on the front and really shows no texture. The best part is that it actually really cuts down on the "grease/slim" from your face or fingers leave behind. I guess the "film" absorbs it better than straight glass. No problems with any of the touch function, might even be alittle smoother when "flicking" the screen to scroll.

Now Iv only had it on for a day,so can't comment on the protection yet but it it is clear!Overall Im happy, so far!

Ill try and stay updated on its condition and post a follow up when i add the sides and back. The sides to worry me alittle bit since their just so small and skinny BUT i have read thats by IS and BG is so hard to put on!

I mean who really cares about packaging? it just ends up in the trash. Just with the prices were alittle lower for the full body but it doesn't have the grain then im happy to pay for it.

Also i should not that iv never seen any other brands in person to compare!

Updated Pictures Below!!

 

[edtorious]

so where is your iphone with ghost armour?

 

[bab23]

I would just like to add for anyone that is interested that I as well purchased ghost armor. Actually, I ordered Invisible Shield first (Pre-ordered before I got my iphone), and I tried to cancel my order before it was shipped, but I was too late. They were great about giving me a return number, but I decided to go with Ghost Armor for the same exact reasons as mentioned above.

The ghost armor has been installed for 2 days now and is working flawlessly, and the installation was not near as bad as I have been reading with other screens (not saying ghost armor is easier, but) it's just that you should take your time with the installation. Be patient, and it will come out great in the end.

I have not shipped out the Invisible shield yet because another family member is planning on getting an iphone as well, so he may use the IS so we can see whose is better. I can say that i couldn't really ask for more than what my ghost armor has been offering so far. I also plan on adding a nice case for travel, but now that I have added the Ghost armor, I am in no rish to purchase a case, so I can make sure I pick the right one.

Hope that helps!

 

[edtorious]

I would just like to add for anyone that is interested that I as well purchased ghost armor. Actually, I ordered Invisible Shield first (Pre-ordered before I got my iphone), and I tried to cancel my order before it was shipped, but I was too late. They were great about giving me a return number, but I decided to go with Ghost Armor for the same exact reasons as mentioned above.

The ghost armor has been installed for 2 days now and is working flawlessly, and the installation was not near as bad as I have been reading with other screens (not saying ghost armor is easier, but) it's just that you should take your time with the installation. Be patient, and it will come out great in the end.

I have not shipped out the Invisible shield yet because another family member is planning on getting an iphone as well, so he may use the IS so we can see whose is better. I can say that i couldn't really ask for more than what my ghost armor has been offering so far. I also plan on adding a nice case for travel, but now that I have added the Ghost armor, I am in no rish to purchase a case, so I can make sure I pick the right one.

Hope that helps!

all this good reviews but I have yet to see pics! it will help me decide if I should buy this or not. if posting pics, I'd like to see the front with the shield and with the iphone on and off.

 

[ScubaCinci]

I posted plenty of photos here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/524831/

 

[adigitalcure]

all this good reviews but I have yet to see pics! it will help me decide if I should buy this or not. if posting pics, I'd like to see the front with the shield and with the iphone on and off.

These pics below were shot in direct sunlight in extreme macro(upclose) mode. So this is the BEST condition to show any kind of texture. So if you THINK you see something, now you know why. Day to day, it looks crystal clear to me AND it pretty much stops all smudges!!

PS- Don't mind the funky clear case around it...and the dust is ABOVE the screen. I just forgot to clean it first.

 

[higgalls]

How had was it to install?
Did you put it on the bevel aswell? Do you have any photos of the rest of the phone with it on?

Thanks.

 

[qwik3r]

I just put my ghost armor on last night, I am split on whether or not i like it. The edges come up a bit, but that may be my fault since I was going nuts with some bubbles and peeled the skin up a few times after putting it down.

The back looks good, its on a white phone however the front has some really noticeable orange peel and damage that may not be due to me. I even contacted the company to send me another front piece. You can only see the damage where it over laps the black. I will post a review after its been about 24 hours.

P.S. installation wasn't that hard, although probably 45-60 minutes for the back as I had to keep palming the edges. There is some noticeable texture, especially evident over the chrome part of the apple on the back. If you want pics you can find my ghost armor review (when i make one) or PM me.

 

[pj rage]

Here's my take on it that I posted in another thread:

-Condition: All of my pieces came in great condition, no bumps or scratches.

-Orange Peel: Yes, when viewed at just the right angle, in just the right light, you can see some orange peeling, but I'm VERY sensitive to orange peeling and it doesn't bother me at all. It looks much better than the invisible shield orange peel.

-Install: I definitely took my time with the install as much as I could. I didn't find the front or back pieces too slippery, but I did find that when I did the home button I added way too much solution and it was very slippery. Maybe you added too much solution? I literally used like 2 sprays from ~8-10 inches away for both front and back, like the guy on their video install instructions does. It seemed to be just the right amount and made the application pretty straight forward. Once I got it lined up OK and pressed, it just stuck and I was able to work out the bubbles without it sliding around. But if you end up putting too much solution on, you can let it dry for a minute before you try getting the bubbles out, so it doesn't move around while using the squeegee. For reference, my solution bottle literally looks unused. That's how much I have left over, and I installed every single piece it came with.

-Edges/Corners: The edges and corners did take me a little while to get them to stay down, but it looked as if it took as long as the guy in the video did and looked about the same as the videos of installs I've seen of other skins. I think it's the nature of the beast.

-Problem with my install: I didn't need to stretch my corners at all, and they stuck OK and fit / looked great. But now, they started to come up a little in the middle. Basically they are coming up into a V ridge between the split. If that makes sense. I think any of the skins could do this and I know why it happened to me. It's installation error. Basically, the corners branch off into two round pieces that wrap around the corners and leave like a U shape in between them (similar to the other skins I think). What happened is that I set the circle round pieces too close, so when they dried, they forced up the middle part in between them into a little ridge. If I were to install another one, I would know to keep the two round pieces straight. Anyway, I could probably get another set from GA, and I might try to, but first I'm going to cut the ridge with a razor very carefully and I have a feeling it will be perfect then.

-Chrome bevel pieces: I was actually very pleased with the bevel strips at first. I liked that they were there to protect the chrome, and I actually had no real problems putting them on. I do agree that they leave a small gap between where the pieces meet up, but they are invisible and that gap doesn't hinder the protection of the chrome at all. A funny story during my install, I actually installed the top strip over the bottom strip because I didn't realize which way the phone was! I literally couldn't even see the bottom strip there and then I was looking at it later and like WTF? Had to peel it off and put it on the top lol. But the reason I said "happy at first" with the chrome protection is that, although it is invisible and protecting the chrome great right now (IMO), it is definitely raised up off the chrome so when you hold it, your hand can feel that they are there (catches the edges), and it is kind of annoying. But worse than that, is that since your hand (and everything else, ie cloth case) catches them all the time, they will inevitably get peeled off sooner than later. Also, I do agree that the pieces could have been a hair wider such that they go edge to edge on the chrome, but I think they would have been a little bit harder to install. If I could have them either way, I would definitely want them wider, but it's not like they are offering less chrome protection (IMO) being narrower as they are.

-Back piece: I haven't felt the edge of the back piece to my knowledge, but that is probably because of the edges of the bevel pieces on mine that I feel instead. I wouldn't be surprised if you are right, though, that you can feel them. Hopefully it doesn't start to peel off. I can mention that I REALLY like the look of the back with the GA on. I can't tell it's there except for one very small spot that I let a bubble get in and when it dried, it looked better, but you can still see it a very little bit. I also really like the feel of the back, it gives me a great grip and it definitely feels like it will never scratch and I can just set it down wherever, which I really like.

-Front piece: Yeah, I totally agree about the screen piece. Not only is it invisible, but it feels great. My fingers glide smooth and I haven't noticed any decrease in touchscreen performance yet. It also feels very well protected. I couldn't be less worried about scratches to it now. The only problem I can see here is that it *might* get a little grabbier than the glass was when in a high humidity environment. But so far it's been great.

-Overall: I'm very happy with the ghost armor and my installation of it. I feel like it is invisible, which was important to me, and I also feel like the phone is very well protected which was also important to me. As I mentioned, there were some issues with my personal installation of it that led to a very small bubble on the back (I bet 9/10 people wouldn't even see it, or notice that there is any covering on the phone anywhere, for that matter) but that was my fault, not GA's. I also made an install error that led to the corners coming to a ridge after it dried. But, the biggest overall problem is definitely the pieces that cover the chrome. They are easy to put on and definitely protect the chrome, but they catch on everything, like your hand and case. As small as they are, there is little doubt that they will eventually start to peel off. Hopefully GA will warranty them with little issue when they do. (If I decide to put them back on). I honestly can't think of any possible way that any skin can effectively cover the chrome without having edges that you can feel that catch. Even if it was part of the front screen cover or the back cover, you would still feel the edges wherever they ended. The only way would be to have a cover that does the front and back simultaneously with one continuous piece, but the back of the phone would be hideous where all of the edges finally meet up. I think GA did the best they could with the chrome protection, but maybe someday a company will figure something out that is much better. Maybe the thickness of the material can taper at the edges to make a smooth transition that you can't feel?

-Drying: One thing to note is that the "drying" or "settling in" process made a big difference for me. Like 45 minutes after the install there were all sorts of little bubbles/dust/bits of spray? looking things under the screen on the front and even worse on the back. I was REALLY worried it would dry like that. I had even used the hairdryer for 2 minutes like the video said, so I figured it wouldn't look much different when it settled. Even after 3 hours it was better but still pretty bad. Anyway, I held my tongue until the next morning and lo and behold, it was perfect by then.

-Final thoughts: I would definitely recommend this product to a friend or and I will definitely buy their products in the future. Based on the other skins I've seen, I think this one is among the best. I know I wouldn't want the IS based on the orange peel, and I wouldn't want the BSE based on the line on the back of the phone. I would definitely try the bodyguardz though, as it appears to be very similar in design and texture to the GA.

 

[higgalls]

I posted this in another thread, but thought I would post it here too. I also purchased the Ghost Armor and was unhappy with it.

A few impressions are here:

- It came and already had a few scratches and bumps (so some small ammount of damage) on the material. I installed it anyway though.
- I do see a bit of orange pealing when I get a light to reflect off it, but the LCD looks fine (from what I have seen so far).
- Installation was much harder and took much longer than expected. It was very slippery (even though I didn't put heaps of the applicator liquid on), and so I had to hold it down for a very long time before it would hold so that I could work on the edges and corners
- Corner application wasn't great. It took AGES to actually stick, and it needs to be stretched a bit as it doesn't wrap around properly (I am still really unhappy with the corners)
- I thought I had gotten rid of ALL air bubbles (I was VERY careful when putting it on, and spent a lot of time holding it down and ensuring all bubbles were out) - however, as of tonight I have found there are some air bubbles on the back that I cant get out now.
- I tried to install the bevel strips, but they were extremely hard and don't fit properly (they leave some gaps, and don't fit the whole thickness of the bevel) - I ended up giving up on installing the bevel pieces
- I really really really don't like the back piece at all - the feel of the phone on the edges and corners where the back piece stops feels terrible and I can imagine it peeling off quickly
- I DO really like the front piece for the screen - it went on well and feels good on (from the use of it I have had this afternoon), except for the scratch/defect that was already on it when I got it. You can't tell that there is anything on the screen. It will still take a while to see whether the touchscreen is as responsive though.

So my recommendation would be to try some of the other products to see how their back pieces fit. I am definately not happy with the quality of this product and I will now be emailing them to advise them of my problems with it. All in all, there are many things that make me not like the product, and I ended up paying $US36.94 for it to be delivered to me in Australia (when I think one of the competitors ship it internationally for free).

Update: I contacted the Ghost Armor people with these problems, and they very promptly got back to me appologising and saying that they would refund my money. Then several hours later I got an email from Paypal saying that the money was refunded (minus the postage cost).

So the company at least is very good on customer service, but unfortunately I wasn't happy with their product.

Hope everyone else has better experience.

 

[junebug1]

Everything about installation is pretty much already posted but I will add that the people here are not lying when they say PUT ASIDE A LOT OF TIME! The front screen went on with no hassle, it was cut perfectly and lined up the first time. No creases or bubbles...looked great. Got to the back and all hell broke loose. The corners didn't fold over correctly so 2 of them looked great and two just never stuck down properly. I even tried to rubberband over them to hold them down overnight but when i took them off in the morning it pretty much went right back. I was so furious that they don't include 2 backs like a lot of the other similar products!

Good news though is that I sent them a nice email explaining that everything looked great on the front (the bezel, screen, and home button looked perfect by the next morning) but that the back was totally miscut and within a few hours I received an email from their Customer Care people and they apologized for the issue and were already sending me another one for free and I didn't have to pay shipping or anything. They said it would arrive in 1 to 2 days. Not bad at all I just wish they would have included it from the get go. I HATE having a half-naked phone!

 

[martinmartin]

Does the phone fit in the apple dock when the ghost armor is on it?