Does the screen scratch?

[digink#AC]

So I decided I would try my N5, as my first phone ever, to not apply a screen protector to. I work an office job, and my phone is always in its own pocket facing my leg with nothing else in it. Never dropped, and well handled.

Phone had smudges and what not, so I took my Diztronic TPU case off (only protection I have) and wiped off the dust etc with a Micro-fiber cloth.

After everything was nice and clean, I looked VERY HARD to try and find any scratches, and I noticed 2 very small and extremely light scratches on the screen. I mean you have to look EXTREMELY hard to find them, but I guess even with my use which I wouldn't deem at all rough the phone is still able to get light scratches with Gorilla Glass 3.

Doubt I can do anything about them, and they really aren't that bad for me to really care, but just a PSA for everyone out there. I still am not going to put a screen protector in it as I can live with scratches that are this light (I'll probably get whatever Nexus is released next year anyways) and I am still curious to see how well a screen holds up after a years use w/o a screen protector.

 

[marconess]

I have two small scratches after a couple weeks use. Kinda gutted but they cant be seen once the screen is on.

 

[digink#AC]

I have two small scratches after a couple weeks use. Kinda gutted but they cant be seen once the screen is on.

Same here, I used to be SO ANAL about things like this but lately I am starting to calm down. They are barely noticeable and at the end of the day, the phone still looks damn near brand new and works exactly as it should so no need to fret.

 

[JeffDenver]

So I decided I would try my N5, as my first phone ever, to not apply a screen protector to. I work an office job, and my phone is always in its own pocket facing my leg with nothing else in it. Never dropped, and well handled.

Phone had smudges and what not, so I took my Diztronic TPU case off (only protection I have) and wiped off the dust etc with a Micro-fiber cloth.

After everything was nice and clean, I looked VERY HARD to try and find any scratches, and I noticed 2 very small and extremely light scratches on the screen. I mean you have to look EXTREMELY hard to find them, but I guess even with my use which I wouldn't deem at all rough the phone is still able to get light scratches with Gorilla Glass 3.

Doubt I can do anything about them, and they really aren't that bad for me to really care, but just a PSA for everyone out there. I still am not going to put a screen protector in it as I can live with scratches that are this light (I'll probably get whatever Nexus is released next year anyways) and I am still curious to see how well a screen holds up after a years use w/o a screen protector.

Gorilla Glass is not a magic shield. The screen can still get scratched. It's just harder to scratch it. There is no phone made that is invulnerable to scratching.

All phones are hard to scratch nowadays because they all have glass screens now. And glass is a lot harder to scratch than plastic in general. You may have had sand or dirt in your pocket. One thing that will still scratch glass is rocks, even small ones.

I generally do not use screen protectors, because even if they are immaculate when you put them on, they quickly become less so. The cure is worse than the disease. The only way I'd use one is if I was very very concerned about resale value and did not care if my display quality was impacted.

 

[Robbie317]

Basically Sand (most rocks are made of sand) and Diamonds will EASILY scratch glass.... Metal is more likely to chip it than to actually scratch the surface any... I've had my Nexus 5 since the Monday after launch and the screen is still flawless... but my GS3 had a couple of hairline scratches you could only see with the screen off and it freshly cleaned spotless.... Heck you could only feel those scratches if you drug your finger nail across the screen with good pressure on it... outside that you'd never know it was scratched.... I just like the basic feel of the raw glass vs any screen protector.. Not to mention spending money on something that isn't 100% needed... I'd say if you are clumsy, work in a dusty dirty trade then yeah put one on there.. If you got an office job and rarely break a sweat your probably not going to scratch it.... or at least not bad enough that you'd really notice (Unless you have serious OCD... lol)

 

[Haalcyon]

(Unless you have serious OCD... lol)

Like me.

Nexuscillin V

 

[pseudoware]

I'm putting a screen protector only for an upcoming two-week trip to Hawaii. After that, back to naked.

 

[jschu22]

I have scratched two phone screens in the past several years. Those were the Nexus 4,and 5. This is the part of buying a Nexus that sucks- Accessories. Despite apparent sales success right out of the gate, these devices are barely blips on the average consumer's radar and thus receive zero accessory support in store. We all end up having to wait on ordering things like screen protectors.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[guitarizt]

I was debating getting a rhino glass screen protector for it, but I'm going to try to get away with a case with cover instead. I still might change my mind depending on how I feel about the case.

 

[clevin]

I have scratched two phone screens in the past several years. Those were the Nexus 4,and 5. This is the part of buying a Nexus that sucks- Accessories. Despite apparent sales success right out of the gate, these devices are barely blips on the average consumer's radar and thus receive zero accessory support in store. We all end up having to wait on ordering things like screen protectors.

Posted via Android Central App

i usually buy a large laptop screen protector and cut it myself for all my little screens.

glass, gorilla or not, has a mohs hardness of about 5-7, many thing can scratch it, especially our whole world is mostly made of silicates, most of them are just as hard, if not harder. Particles with small sizes are especially dangerous, because they have small contact area with the glass, so the pressure per area increases drastically, which lead to scratch.

 

[rws381]

I have a bunch of tiny scratches on the right side of my screen. No idea how they got there as my usage is similar to yours, digink#AC.

I did order a pack of Spigen screen protectors from Amazon that should arrive tomorrow. I haven't had a screen protector, or a scratch, on a phone screen for years. We'll see how they do but I have a feeling that I will not like having a protector.

 

[kingsway8605]

The metal near my jeans pockets always end up scratching my screens.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Nicksblackroush]

My tungsten wedding ring kills screens.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[flick0416]

None that I can see. Don't have a screen protector, don't plan to get one either.

 

[Jeremy8000]

I generally do not use screen protectors, because even if they are immaculate when you put them on, they quickly become less so. The cure is worse than the disease. The only way I'd use one is if I was very very concerned about resale value and did not care if my display quality was impacted.

Tempered glass screen protectors don't suffer the 'normal wear and tear' or display transmittance issues to the degree that 'normal' film SP's do. In truth, they feel just like the actual glass because they are glass, and hence also don't yellow or stretch, and allow a much higher% of light through.

glass, gorilla or not, has a mohs hardness of about 5-7, many thing can scratch it, especially our whole world is mostly made of silicates, most of them are just as hard, if not harder. Particles with small sizes are especially dangerous, because they have small contact area with the glass, so the pressure per area increases drastically, which lead to scratch.

There are tempered glass protectors rated at 9H, which are far more resistant to scratches. But as you said, nothing will be fully impervious (especially to something as simple as a grain of sand).

 

[clevin]

There are tempered glass protectors rated at 9H, which are far more resistant to scratches. But as you said, nothing will be fully impervious (especially to something as simple as a grain of sand).

...., actually those are not mohs scale hardness, those are pencil hardness and not really that much better than GG. The vendors are playing number games with consumers.

 

[chukka63]

Depends how you treat it,like anything else.Im a builder and i never use protection but not had any noticeable scratches on any of my phones.

 

[Jeremy8000]

...., actually those are not mohs scale hardness, those are pencil hardness and not really that much better than GG. The vendors are playing number games with consumers.

Never seen an OEM refer to it in terms of 'pencil hardness,' whereas some have been quite specific to Moh's...

Example: Amazon.com: Tesla 102 Intension Panel (The World's Strongest Protection Glass) for iPhone 4/4S: Cell Phones & Accessories

Mohs Hardness Scale measurements for the surface hardness of GLASSIL? in the Tesla 102 Intension Panel is 9H, which is more than two times the hardness of standard LCD Protection film (measured at 4H)

It's a pretty safe bet that any of the reputable manufacturers that list a _H rating are providing it in Moh's scale - otherwise.... they wouldn't keep that reputation (imagine if an auto manufacturer promised over 100 MPG fuel economy, and later said "well we meant 'meters per gallon'!).

So something like http://www.amazon.com/Spigen-Protec...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU3257916 would be worth considering (though they are not cheap) if you want equal-to-better finger-facing scratch resistance while providing full scratch protection for the actual screen with insignificant impact on brightness, color accuracy, and maintaining that performance over an extended period of time without wear-and-tear degradation, all while providing a more oleophobic display. (Or, the GLAS.tR model if you won't be using it in a case)

 

[Shilohcane]

Gorilla Glass 3 will scratch is you use a Diamond tip to scratch it.

 

[clevin]

Never seen an OEM refer to it in terms of 'pencil hardness,' whereas some have been quite specific to Moh's...

Example: Amazon.com: Tesla 102 Intension Panel (The World's Strongest Protection Glass) for iPhone 4/4S: Cell Phones & Accessories


It's a pretty safe bet that any of the reputable manufacturers that list a _H rating are providing it in Moh's scale - otherwise.... they wouldn't keep that reputation (imagine if an auto manufacturer promised over 100 MPG fuel economy, and later said "well we meant 'meters per gallon'!).

So something like Amazon.com: Spigen Google Nexus 5 Screen Protector Glass Slim [Crystal] (0.15mm) Thin Lightweight 9H Hardness Tempered Glass Screen Protector Clear for Nexus 5 - GLAS.t NANO SLIM (SGP10666): Cell Phones & Accessories would be worth considering (though they are not cheap) if you want equal-to-better finger-facing scratch resistance while providing full scratch protection for the actual screen with insignificant impact on brightness, color accuracy, and maintaining that performance over an extended period of time without wear-and-tear degradation, all while providing a more oleophobic display. (Or, the GLAS.tR model if you won't be using it in a case)

reputation is easy to keep if consumers know nothing about the science behind mohs scale hardness.

First of all, mohs hardness has no unit whatsoever, diamond has a hardness of 10, not 10H, limestone has a hardness of 3, not 3H.

The fact that the item description at amazon says something like "this is 9H, twice as hard as the normal one, which is 4H", already tells you its fake. On Mohs scale, scale 9 is 20 times harder than scale 4, not merely twice, the changes in absolute hardness between Mohs hardness numbers are not linear at all. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohs_scale_of_mineral_hardness

you know when they have that "H" attach to it? when they list pencil hardness scale, like this DNP Develops Surface Cover Sheet to Prevent Damage to Touch Panels | DNP [ Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. ]
or here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil#Grading_and_classification

DOn't get fooled!

Gorilla Glass 3 will scratch is you use a Diamond tip to scratch it.

if you read the posts in this thread, you know diamond is not needed to scratch this thing.