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Bye Bye PS ANTI GLARE - HELLO CRYSTAL

richxps

richxps

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 9, 2008
2,078
528
Hi all, after using a PS Anti Glare for all my iphones I made a decision yesterday to try out a crystal on my 3 GS since ive been using that on my ipod touch, well let me tell you its like night and day. I swear i thought i was going to need glasses using the anti glare. Now i see how clear the crystal is and how sweet it makes the phone look.
Yes i do see some finger marks now but its so easy to wipe, and now that i look at the anti glare you can see some finger marks but also the shield after a while also looks dirty, its hard to explain but if you have one look at it on a slant you can see that it actually looks dirty even with cleaning it.I suppose it from the matte finish. I say if your on the fence between anti and clear, i would say clear because its easy on your eyes, it makes the phone look like it should and you might as well enjoy the beauty of the screen.

Anyway this is just my opinion and wanted to share with my Macrumor friends.
 
Same here. I had a PS Anti glare on my 3G for a year and on my 3GS I put a PS Crystal film. There is no way I am going back to anti-glare, it's just too frosty and kills the image quality too much.

The PS crystal film feels and looks as good as glass, fingerprints aren't going to change my mind either.
 
Actually it does especially with white back rounds, but not even that it sort of dulls the colors. Dont get me wrong i use to live by the anti glare with all my iphones but after putting on a crystal yesterday i was amazed. See i never really used the iphone with out a screen sheild ( anti glare ) i use to take them right out of the box and first thing even before i put the phone on i put the screen shield, so i really did not know what i was missing, and with the crystal shield on i do see now. i was missing the beauty of the screen the colors and just so easy to look at. Yea still some finger prints but its not that bad... If you can try it out or compare it with a friends, i know its a hard decision but let your eyes deceide for you ;)
 
the only reason I ordered the anti glare was for my otterbox. the otterbox has a plastic screen already built into the case. with a screen film on the phone and one on the otterbox, they tend to stick together. I heard that the anti glare film would solve this.
 
trying to change my order now to crystal film instead of the anti glare.

meant to ask also. are these films easy to apply without bubbles? I have only use the ones with the adhesive backing like the ones switcheasy sends.
 
its very very easy, try to do it in the bathroom with alot of light on. Clean your screen and than start with the home button, they are cut exact to the size of the glass so keep a close eye that your edges line up. Once you start just let the rest slide down.. Ill try and post a video when i do my wifes phone if that would help.
 
How would you compare the crystal with the anti-glare as far as fingerprint resistance? I've always used the anti-glare because I can't stand smudges and fingerprints on my screen; however, the reduction in screen clarity is very noticeable. Do you find yourself having to constantly wipe the screen because the crystal shows every fingerprint and smudge just like a bare screen would? Does the crystal resist fingerprints and smudges at all?
 
you people are over exaggerating the frost of the anti-glare and think its wrong to steer people away from it. actually the frost is DEFINITELY a lot less on the 3gs over the past devices due to the new screen.

like the op, i used the anti-glare for the first 2 iphones and decided to go with the crystal film for the 3gs. i bought both crystal and anti though just in case. after a week of the crystal, it just looked gross with fingerprints and talking ear grease. i was ocd cleaning it every 30mins and it just got annoying.

so i ripped that right off and went back to the anti-glare. for those still deciding between the 2, the anti-glare glides on and installs MUCH easier. i never had a problem installing either of the 2, just saying.

i never have to clean the anti-glare and it DOES NOT make the clarity of the screen worse. its like having the matte screen on my MBP so i dont know what you people are saying. :rolleyes:

the anti-glare also makes flicking, pinching and scrolling through pages MUCH smoother to your finger.

looks great with my matte charcoal incase slider too :D

in conclusion, IMO, the anti-glare KILLS the crystal any day of the week
 
Not trying to steer anyone away because i my self loved anti glare and yea i would still use it if i got tired of the crystal but come on you have to admit that the crystal makes the screen look alot better, yea some finger prints but they clean off ...
 
The 3GS is my first iPhone. After hearing the majority pf people here were using anti-glare compared to crystal, I decided that I liked the clarity of the screen the way it was meant to be. Anyway, I went to the Apple Store to pick up a pack of Crystal. I had the Crystal in my hand and was about to check out when at the last second I changed my mind and went with anti-glare. The fact that there was a peg full of Crystal and only 3 packs of AG also swayed my opinion. Usually I go against the grain, but this time decided to go with the masses.

To make a long story short, I've had an iPhone for 12 days with 11 of them sporting the anti-glare. I guess I've gotten used to it, but the other day a friend of mine was showing me pics on his Touch and I couldn't believe how much the image just popped.

No matter how many people tell you which to choose, you just need to experience it yourself. Sure, you can tell them there's a "haze" with the anti-glare and that the Crystal leaves too many smudges, but it will never compare to hands on.

I like the way the AG feels and I like that it hides prints, but to be honest with you, I don't think it reduces glare at all. Maybe I don't know what the screen would look like under heavy light without it (I'm not about to waste $8 to find out), but when light hits the AG you still need to angle the phone just right in order to see it.

I'll just wait until this one gets all gunked up, then I'll try a Crystal next. Only then will I know which I prefer.
 
The bottom line is that anti glare will help reduce gunk on the screen but will totally kill your image quality. People who say it won't have had it on too long and have forgotten how good the screen looks without it.

I swore by anti glare prior to this, I will never put one of those frosty films on my screen again. Ugh...seriously, it feels chalky and looks terrible.
 
Ferris23 said:
The bottom line is that anti glare will help reduce gunk on the screen but will totally kill your image quality. People who say it won't have had it on too long and have forgotten how good the screen looks without it.

I swore by anti glare prior to this, I will never put one of those frosty films on my screen again. Ugh...seriously, it feels chalky and looks terrible.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with you. I used the anti-glare for the better part of a year with my 3G. When i got my 3GS, I was out of the anti-glare ones, but had a bunch of crystal protectors around from various cases I had purchased. Slapped one of those on and realized how much I had been missing. Yeah, I do have to wipe off a lot of smudges, but ohh the clarity of it. :D
 
How well does your Crystal and Anit glare line up on the phone ? My new crystal actually lines up pretty darn well. I had one in the past that was cut horribley.
 
I used the crystal film on my first generation iphone and loved the clarity but hated the fingerprints so i went with the anti-glare for my 3GS and love the lack of smudges...yes the clarity and colors do suffer a bit....but it depends on what ur willing to sacrifice....and id rather have the somewhat frosty look over the greasy look that has to be wiped constantly...for now at least :D
 
i3igsmooth5769 said:
I used the crystal film on my first generation iphone and loved the clarity but hated the fingerprints so i went with the anti-glare for my 3GS and love the lack of smudges...yes the clarity and colors do suffer a bit....but it depends on what ur willing to sacrifice....and id rather have the somewhat frosty look over the greasy look that has to be wiped constantly...for now at least :D
Click to expand...

quoted for the truth, if you're not paranoid about fingerprints, go for the crystal, but i'm personally OCD about my screen looking like crap with smudges/fingerprints/oils, so I'm still all for AG. I used crystal for a year before I put my AG on about a month ago, and I'm wondering why I didn't start using it from the start
 
richxps said:
Not trying to steer anyone away because i my self loved anti glare and yea i would still use it if i got tired of the crystal but come on you have to admit that the crystal makes the screen look alot better, yea some finger prints but they clean off ...
Click to expand...

no i know you werent saying "one is better than the other", its all good.

honestly, the crystal annoyed me during the day. the rainbow effect on the screen kinda annoyed me.

if i wasn't paranoid, i'd probably go with NO protector over the crystal.

like you, i liked it on my touch. probably because i didn't have it up to my ear...who knows

everyone has there own needs :D
 
I've used a Crystal Film on all 3 generations of iPhones. I did try the anti-glare one time but it came back of rather quickly as I couldn't stand the affect on the image. However, different people have different priorities, so it's all good!
 
You know, I do agree it's tempting to go back to clear from AG, because it's true, I do see a slight loss of detail and color with AG vs clear, but, you guys seem to be forgetting one important thing, in fact, it's right in the name of the product, GLARE. When I'm in my car, or outside, on a sunny day, without the AG on, it's VERY hard to see the screen at all. With AG on, MUCH better.

And as was mentioned, you don't see fingerprints nearly as much, and your finger tips glide over it much easier than clear, plus, the AG seems to be far more scratch resistant.

Believe me, I wish there were an AG that didn't slightly mask the impressive colors and detail of the screen, but, there isn't, and so, looks like I'm stuck with AG, until Apple releases an Iphone with a sapphire screen. :)

Hey, if Apple made like an Iphone 3Gs Elite, with a tungsten body, ceramic bezel and sapphire screen, (in other words virtually scratch proof, no need for cases or screen protectors) I'd pay a few bucks for that, and in the end, having saved a fortune on trying every case and protection product under the sun, would probably come out ahead...
 
if you want fingerprints/smudges, etc.,..then don't buy the anti glare....all I do is turn the brightness up a little bit and it's perfect.
 
A little off topic, but how often do you guys have to replace the PS films? In particular, the anti-glare? I just got mine yesterday and love it, but I'm wondering how long it lasts. Thanks!
 
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