XtremeGUARD Skin for Fascinate review

[Jellyman]

This is my first impression of the XtremeGUARD for Samsung Fascinate.
Order was placed from Amazon.com on 9/11 and arrived on 9/14, shipped from UT(I am in IL). The product was as described and was exact fit for my Fascinate. However, I had hard time removing the back skin as the cut did not go all the way through. I had to use a exacto knife on one of the thin part. Installation was fairly easy. I used 10:1 water:handsoap solution to wet the skin and it went on smoothly. I waited about 20 minutes for the sides to start sticking to the cover. Take off the battery cover first as it will make things easier and give you time to work on the front while the back part dries. Front skin went on very smoothly and is hardly noticeable and shows very little air bubbles. I see some soap residue on the back cover. I will have to wait the full 8 hours to 2 days to see if any of that disappears.

After drying for about 30 minutes and turn the phone on, I notice some rainbow effect. But, I am holding off my opinion on the clarity until I am done with my wait time. All in all, it is worth the five bucks shipped and would recommend the product.

Indoors

Outside Front

Outside Back

 

[dbdynsty25]

Looking forward to the pictures. Thanks for the heads up on what could be a nice product if it dries correctly.

 

[Jellyman]

Added pictures. I will do an update in 2 days to see if it improves.

 

[dbdynsty25]

Cool. Thanks. I'm going to order it, since it's only a 5 dollar gamble. I mostly just want it for the back battery cover since the damn thing is so slippery and is a scratch magnet. So we'll see how it goes. Luckily I don't look at the back of the phone all that often, but the grip part is bothersome.

 

[Jellyman]

Less than a day has passed. All of the rainbow effect has disappeared and about 95% of the soap residue disappeared. No air bubbles left what so ever. I am very happy with this skin.

 

[Remnant 14]

thanks for sharing your experience with us. i'm going to get it as well.

 

[geocomp]

Thanks for posting the review. Has the skin effected the sensitivity of the touch screen at all?

 

[Jellyman]

Not so much on sensitivity, but the film like material is not as smooth as the bare glass. I feel the difference but not enough to be an annoyance.

 

[mastamoon]

Does this skin make the back of the phone less slick? I really need to do something because it feels like its going to jump out of my hands every time I pick it up.

 

[dbdynsty25]

Does this skin make the back of the phone less slick? I really need to do something because it feels like its going to jump out of my hands every time I pick it up.

I ordered it for this reason alone. I'm not even going to put it on the front of the phone...only the backplate. Hoping it does just that...make it a lot less slick and to protect it from hairline scratches which are WAY too easy to get even when babying the thing.

 

[thetaylor310]

Isn't this the same as the InvisibleShield? Looks similar to me...?

Anyway, while i'm still waiting for my Realook Screen Protector to come in, i've been considering to getting one of these types of protectors for the back. The Realook doesn't cover the back, unfortunately... just only the front, and the camera lens area

 

[mastamoon]

There was a brand out there that is more "sticky" than others, just cant remember which it is. But I want something slippery for the front and grippy on the back. Guessing we'll have to mismatch to get that though.

 

[thetaylor310]

Oh... there's another one of these protectors where you can get for free (minus shipping/handling)

Go to www.stealthguards.com and they have one for the Fascinate

Just placed an order for one, so it's a good $3 gamble (for me) haha

 

[Jellyman]

Does this skin make the back of the phone less slick? I really need to do something because it feels like its going to jump out of my hands every time I pick it up.

Yes, the back feels really good in the hand, not slick at all.

 

[Jellyman]

I guess there are few choices in protectors/skins out there now. This was all I can find last week. I am pretty sure most of them are similar. The 3 dollar one sounds interesting.

 

[thetaylor310]

I guess there are few choices in protectors/skins out there now. This was all I can find last week. I am pretty sure most of them are similar. The 3 dollar one sounds interesting.

i'll give my review when the thing decides to come hehe

 

[ivorycruncher]

Hey guys, thanks to all for the reviews and info about these products. I'm also in search of a method to get rid of the glossy finish on the back of my Fascinate, which is the only real major downside of this phone so far (aside from lack of trackball/trackpad). It's just too dang slippery! Honestly, what were they thinking? Anyway, thanks for pointing out the StealthGuards option. With it being free, it only cost me $2.85 in shipping, so I've got one on order now, definitely a worthwhile gamble. I'll try to remember to report back here with the results once I get it.

Oh, btw, if you "Like" the StealthGuards Facebook page, you might win one of various random prizes (Stealth Guards, iTunes gift cards, or Best Buy gift cards) they're going to be giving away on their way to 1000 likes. After they top 1000, they'll do a drawing for a new 6th-gen iPod Nano. Seems like a worthwhile "like" to me.

 

[jamesnmandy]

i ordered and applied the stealthguards skin on my LG Ally. they work really well and are well worth the $5. a couple years ago when i purchased my LG enV Touch i bought the Zagg InvisibleShield and put it on from day one. best decision ever. that phone looks brand new to this day

looking back now i am thinking i am not going to put the screen piece on. with the newer phones like the Fascinate (mine gets here tomorrow) the screens are now hard glass, so as long as you use common sense you should be fine without a protector, but the back side is really where the phones need it

it will A. make the phone "tacky" so it is held easily, and also wont slide on a smooth surface (think about setting your phone on top of the car for a moment to do something), this will keep it from sliding

to anyone who is putting on any of these thin clear skins for the first time, it will look like crap at first with micro air bubbles all over, just make sure to squeegee out all the air bubbles you can and the rest will come out after a few days and it will just have a nice glossy finish to it

 

[ivorycruncher]

Okay, I must be missing something here. Stealth Guards boasts about "extremely detailed installation instructions" but I got nothing in the mailer except a website link, and that just links to a Youtube video that ever so briefly demonstrates half of an installation (front, no back) on the Incredible. What's worse is that they have a spray bottle that they refer to as "the solution" and don't say one word about what the solution actually is. I believe it's some kind of soapy water, but I have no idea what kind of soap to use, or how much, or anything. Anybody have a clue here?

 

[indie-android]

Ivorycruncher, they gave me a full page of instructions with mine. Too bad they missed on yours.

The first one they sent me did NOT have the cutout to hear the caller. I e-mailed them, and they promptly sent me one with a cutout. the installation went fine. It took a couple of days for the bubbles to leave (after having made sure that I squeegied as much of the water out as possible) and there's no rainbow effect. When I look at the screen sideways when the screen is not on, I see something that I guess people call the "orange peel effect", but when the phone is on, it's perfect.

Now, the solution is really just some liquid soap (dish detergent) in a glass of water. No spray bottle ... I just washed my hands with soap and water, and then made sure that my fingers were totally soaked with the soapy water. I wet the guard completely and it went on with no trouble at all.

Great product for not a lot of money.