Is a screen protector worth the touch sacrifice? Not for me

I am one of those overly cautious people. If I’m going on a trip, I’ll do my best to cover every scenario, no matter how difficult. Then I’ll leave for the airport an hour before I really need to. Some friends think it’s ridiculous, but I try to avoid all unnecessary risks. It’s just the way I’m wired.

So I took it Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus In the Black Friday sales, I obviously ordered the screen protector and the case at the same time. It was a no brainer to me and I assumed everyone would be the same – why not protect a $1000 smartphone with an $8 case? I’ve had phones with cracked screens before and that’s bad. Plus, a screen protector is cheaper than insurance.

If I put it on the phone right away, I wouldn’t know what I was missing until later. But it’s been a few weeks since I’ve had it and I’ve been enjoying it Android phone it was built to be livable when the fuse was gone. You can use the screen saver on your device without even realizing it’s there. I didn’t either at first. After all, there is a switch in the screen settings menu to increase touch sensitivity to accommodate screen saver users.

But then I noticed the effect it had on the touch sensitivity of the screen. At first it was almost imperceptible – a random tap not registering, which I attributed to careless use. But it quickly became clear that there was a difference. The touches could have been a little firmer, which affected some of the things I did with the device. One is a game where you have to match words quickly. Another would double-tap the screen to check the time or a notification when the phone was lying on the table next to me. It was hard to call it a problem, but it sure was annoying.

My first instinct was that it’s just a trade-off you’ll accept if you want to keep your screen in one piece, but then I got to thinking about it. I hardly put my phone down. I don’t have a child or an excited dog that could endanger him when my back is turned. Unlike me fellow skeptic MitjaI have a solid case with a slightly raised lip around the screen, so any drops face down or in the corners probably won’t touch it. I have to somehow drop the device into the corner of a curb or similar pointy edge to affect the screen. And these screens are not as thin as they used to be. The Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on this phone can withstand a one meter drop on concrete.

It seems even an overcautious person like me can recognize overkill. Having a screen protector on my phone has started to feel like wearing a helmet when I go out at the expense of my peripheral vision just in case. Maybe I still have a 1% chance of breaking my screen, but I’ll take the risk to regain the 2% functionality I feel I’ve lost. I removed the screen protector.

This is not a philosophical treatise on how the screen saver on my phone is a metaphor for my life. If that were the case, it would be the dullest and least inspiring Carpe Diem story ever. I’m still careful with my phone, but I also accept that it’s not a collector’s item that can be displayed on a wall or kept in a bubble box. These flagship devices are precisely designed and offer extraordinary functionality. Let’s throw off the plastic shackles and enjoy them.

Anyway, keep an eye out for my upcoming article, Screen Failure: Why I Should Have Sticked With a Screen Protector. But I will not regret – I will live a little.