Zagg Invisible Shield Review

There is nothing more annoying than having your newest electronic gadget’s display scratched. From that point onwards, you can’t bear looking at the screen without being reminded of your moment of negligence. Not only that, if the scratch is bad enough, you’re constantly frustrated by the hindered visibility of the display the scratch has left you with.

I’ve recently received a new sports watch; a Suunto heart rate monitor watch to be precise. After having reviewed another similar device, I knew that scratches on the display were going to be inevitable because of the activities you do whilst wearing a heart rate monitor. I therefore went on the ‘netz’ to see what solutions others had attempted in their quest to keep their display scratch-free, and that is how I found the Zagg InvisibleShield.

I ordered the Zagg InvisibleShield with a little bit of hesitation. One, because of the price ($10 for a little circular piece of plastic membrane), and two, because I had tried other similar products in the past for my iPhone (but from other brands), and was disappointed with their quality. I was usually left with a weird looking screen, sometimes with bubbles underneath the protector, and usually with poor visibility. I went ahead and ordered it anyway, mostly because others seems pleased by it, and also because I knew I needed a solution, period.

I received the Zagg two days after I had ordered it. Far faster than I expected, and it came in a little box. I thought: “all this bidness for just a plastic circle?” Well, turns out they send not only the protector, but a few tools to help you install it without the problems that typically plague this type of product.

First, there is a little liquid that comes with it. I have no idea what it is, so I’m going to call it ‘magic formula’. Second, there is a squeegee that also comes in the box. The combination of these two ‘assistance’ products is to reduce the likelihood of poor placement and ‘bubbles’.

I read the instructions carefully. Mostly because I was curious at what point I would have to use the magic formula. The instructions clearly state you need to turn off your device (I’m assuming this is for stuff like iPhones and other non-waterproof electronics). Being that I was dealing with a waterproof watch, I didn’t bother. I followed the instructions carefully, removing the film from the paper, squirting it with magic formula, and then trying to place it on the watch.

I screwed it up.

Not too much, but enough to bother me. I had placed the film too far left, leaving a gap in the far right of the display. The instructions implied you could move the shield whilst wet, but I couldn’t. It was stuck firmly (maybe not enough magic formula?). I had two choices, leave it as is and have my anal side bug me at the asymmetry of it for as long as I owned the watch, or peel it off, risk damaging the $10 piece of protector, and try and re-apply it symmetrically.

I went for it.

Amazingly, it came off relatively easily as it had not ‘cured’ (it apparently takes 24 hours for that to happen). I squirted more magic formula on it, and then proceeded to try again.

I got it right this time.

After centering it, I used the squeegee to remove most of the bubbles, but inevitably was left with some very small ones, and a fiber underneath the protector. ARGGGGh. Oh well, it was a very small fiber, but I know it’ll annoy me to some degree, thankfully, I have to look closely to see it.

As of this post, it has been 24 hours, and the protector has ‘cured’ on the display. It is pretty clean looking, the bubbles have dissipated, and unless you are really anal, it is a pretty good fit, so much so that you can’t really tell anything is on your display from a distance of a foot and further from your eyes. At an angle, the protector gives your display a weird texture, a quasi-organic texture, not smooth like glass, but still pretty smooth for a non-glass layer.

In conclusion, I’m pleased with the overall result. The $10 will be well spent if this InvisibleShield prevents my watch from getting scratched in the future, and will the tools they send you, I can see why it is worth the $10. Zagg makes many different sizes and shapes to fit your devices, and can all be bought online via their site below. I’m thinking of getting one for the display on my camera and for my GPS device.

http://www.zagg.com/

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