Review w/ Pics: Phantom Skins, Best Skins Ever, Clear-Coat, Zagg, Vaja & Fortte

Screen Protectors

My preference:
This is all based of the Skins I have received. I believe that they are all somewhat made of the same material, but of different quality, making others thicker, thinner, smoother, and rougher than others, so it seems that material can vary and change throughout time. My review is purely based of my preference and should be used to help make your purchase easier. I wish I have seen a guide like this, would have made my purchase a lot easier.

The only other skins that I would have loved to try out would have been Bodyguards, Ghost Armor, and Amzer (Though it looks like Amzer doesn’t provide the best corner coverage from what I’ve seen). I believe that these also have a smoother than others, orange peel type deal. But hopefully, I have helped make decision buying a little easier.

Map:

5 Best (Easiest of Installation, Best of Quality, Response, Fitment, and Close to None or No Orange Peel)
4 Above Average
3 Average
2 Below Average
1 Failing (Worst of Installation, Worst of Quality, Response, Fitment, and Large Amounts of Orange Peel)

1st Phantom Skins (Pics Shown after 24 Hours):
-   The orange peeling is not as noticeable as the others, but has this somewhat odd lines that runs across the screen (can be seen in the photos). The feel out of all four is absolute best which makes it the top pick; the smoothest feel and the lines are really not too bad. I’ve installed countless screen protectors and I can see where people have problems with fitment, which makes this skin somewhat the hardest to install. Tip for all installations: When installing and PROPERLY ALIGNED, install with the middle first, work your way out to the edges, IMPORTANT-When you get to the outer edges, INSTALL the edges FIRST, ALIGN the edges PERFECTLY (the breaks on the corner of the Skin) “then SOMEWHAT work to the center side of the phone.” Meaning, you can start a quarter of the way from the top and bottom and then go to the center – as long as you get the curved edges first.
a.   Installation          3
b.   Quality               5
c.   Feel                   5
d.   Fitment              5
e.   Orange Peel        4

2nd Best Skins Ever (Pics Shown after 24 Hours):
-   This has Thee best fitment of the bunch, covering to the very edge. If you are looking for absolute coverage, then look no further. This has to be PROPERLY aligned, if not, you will get excess film on the side of your phone. The orange peel is very noticeable, but the feel is definitely smoother than the Zagg Invisible Shield. Due to its design, this is one the easiest of the bunch to install.
a.   Installation         5
b.   Quality              5
c.   Feel                  4
d.   Fitment             5
e.   Orange Peel       2

3rd Clear Coat (Pics Shown after 48 Hours):
-   The feel on this skin is fairly nice, slightly better than Best Skins Ever. The quality on this skin, like the others is superb. The only problem with this skin is the lack of coverage on its edges. Because of its design and lack of edge coverage, this skin is the easiest to install.
a.   Installation         5
b.   Quality               5
c.   Feel                   4
d.   Fitment              5
e.   Orange Peel        3

4th Zagg Invisible Shield (Pics Shown after 48 Hours):
-   The reason this is last on my list is because the material “feels” to be the thickest of the bunch. I liked its uber tacky GEL-rubberish feel, but the response was definitely goofy. This skin for some odd reason would at many times not be as responsive as the other skins. I would consistently miss hitting apps, icons, keys, etc. Compared to the top 2 on the list, this edge coverage is mediocre, but still provides edge coverage. Another downer is that, on mine was, if this skin is centered there was extra material on one side, if you correct for the side edges, the ear hole, center gesture button and speaker hole were off aligned. Tip: For those that have this same problem, I have thrown a couple coats of Maguire’s Car Wax on the skin – very SMALL applications. This also helps smooth out its Tacky Feel as well as all the finger prints that imbeds on the skin. Response also increases with this method.
a.   Installation         4
b.   Quality               5
c.   Feel                   3
d.   Fitment              3
e.   Orange Peel        3

Pics:

Left- Clear Coat
Right- Zagg

Clear Coat

Zagg

Left- Clear Coat
Right- Zagg

Left- Clear Coat
Right- Zagg

Left- Clear Coat
Right- Zagg

Left- Clear Coat
Right- Zagg

Left- Clear Coat
Right- Zagg

Left- Phantom Skinz
Right- Best Skins Ever

Left- Phantom Skinz
Right- Best Skins Ever

Left- Phantom Skinz
Right- Best Skins Ever

Phantom Skinz

Best Skins Ever

Left- Phantom Skinz
Right- Best Skins Ever

Left- Phantom Skinz
Right- Best Skins Ever

Left- Phantom Skinz
Right- Best Skins Ever

Left- Phantom Skinz
Right- Best Skins Ever



After 2 & 1/2 Weeks


Left- Best Skins Ever
Right- Phantom Skinz

Left- Best Skins Ever
Right- Phantom Skinz

Left- Best Skins Ever
Right- Phantom Skinz

Left- Best Skins Ever
Right- Phantom Skinz

Wow, thank you very much for this review and the nice pictures! Really helpful, keep it up Cookie.

I like the pictures the way they are.. you have to scroll a little bit, but you also have the full detail. Ah well, a little smaller wouldn't hurt I guess

thanks for the review!  clear-coat just opened a kiosk in my mall, and for $25 and free installation anytime i need a new coat, i think i might go with that one.  i am disappointed in the corners, though.  i'll have 30 days to take it back and get a full refund.  do you think invisishield is worth the extra $ to have the corners covered?  IS also has a kiosk in my mall.  do they offer the same lifetime installation for free?  THANKS!!!

I personally think the I.S. is ok and still recommend others on using it. The person you quoted was on his/her way to I.S. and appeared not to be complaining. I would say its worth it for the edge coverage, for it is one of the main parts of the phone that people drop their phones on. I currently have B.S.E. on my phone and don't mind the orange peel which i think is worse than that of the I.S. The fitment was one of my biggest issues, but I solved it. My main issue was editing text which was difficult to do. I been using my phone for a few weeks and didnt really think anything of it. But once I got the Clear Coat on my wife's, it was a different story, I was able to edit text slightly easier (her's was a little less tacky which i thought to be the source of the problem, so i applied some car wax, that appeared to help with the response issue I was having). Which made me curious, a hunt for the better skin. So I started reading reviews on others and wanted to give them a try. So I did, and to make things easier for people, I decided to do my own reviews of the 4 skins I received.

I don't mean to be baggin on I.S. if it seems that I am. Its a high quality product by all means.

Great job!