Shields Up! New Protection For Our Androids
True to his offer last month, Ed Tyson of Expert Shield sent us a sample set of his companies protective garb for mobile devices. Last week we received a package with kits for each of our Nexus 4 cell phones and my Nexus 7 tablet. My devices are now cloaked in these new wares, but I have to to take Stella’s Nexus 4 captive for long enough to dress it in a similar fashion.
Applying any screen protector requires a certain amount of skill and care. There’s not much opportunity to lift and reposition the clear and somewhat wobbly layer once it’s been applied. One must take care that it’s not applied in a skewed manner.
In some regards application of the screen protector is easier on the larger tablet than the cell phone. First, the tablet is larger, making it easier to align the item to the face of the device. Secondly, the tablets doesn’t have as many little openings and sensors that must align with irregularities in the perimeter of the screen protector.
The instructions that come from Expert Shield had some novel advice that I had not previously encountered. They suggest that a steamy bathroom causes dust to settle from the air, making it a suitable place to install the goodies.
Like a typical customer, I ignored that wisdom. As a result I have one very small bubble that I could not eliminate. I’m not concerned since it’s in a non-illuminated portion of the front. It’s barely visible. I’ll certainly do better when applying the Expert Shield to Stella’s phone this coming weekend.
There are some screen protectors, like the T-Mobile branded ones that we had with our first Android phones, that are fairly rigid and come in packages of 6 or more. These I found were readily scratched and marked up, hence the need for a multi-pack. While they were stiff, so easier to apply…you were going to replace them every month or two.
Relative to my past experience with the Skinomi Techskin I can say that I like the Expert Shield screen protection better for one simple reason; it’s thinner. The Skinomi screen protector is notably thicker and feels more gelatinous to the touch. Both do a decent job at protecting the screen, but the Expert Shield gets out of the way. Being thinner, I think that I’m much less likely to catch the edge of the protective layer accidentally…or fiddle with it, as I so often do.
Expert Shield screen protection
Disclosure: The company sent us free samples. Even so, if they were in any way deficient I would say so. If they eventually go cloudy, catch fire, damage our devices, draw flies or impair my ability to have children I will most definitely report that as well.