[EVO 4G Accessories] nhutpham:
So I have gone through quite a few screen protectors, as I am on a family plan with 3 of my friends, all of which have Evos. Being the one to get all of them on these phones, I naturally went ahead and got the screen protectors for all of us. All the ones I have used before today have been the cheap kind, albeit from different sources. In a rush to collect my $25 from AMEX for small business Saturday, I hastily bought some screen protectors online on new years eve (turns out it had to be a local small business, so I won't be getting any money from AMEX).

So I bought a Steinheil Ultra Crystal pack, a Steinheil Anti Fingerprint pack, and a 3 pack of handhelditem.com generic clears.

Installation was quite easy for me, as I had practice installing cheapies on three phones, which can sometimes be hard due to bad cutouts. The Ultra Crystal is cut a bit small to the screen, leaving about a half millimeter all the way around. I'm used to laying these down so you don't have any bubbles, although there was a small bubble by my buttons due to lint underneath. The included sticker "lint removers" were great because they had strong enough adhesive to easily pull up the screen protector from the corner, although I'm sure some tape would have done the same thing. Pulled out the lint, relaid the bottom quarter, and everything was perfect.

The last screen protectors I had been using I bought from an Ebay vendor, and they were quite cheap, something like $1.35 each. Holding one next to the Ultra Crystal, you can tell the Steinheil is slightly thicker, and the cutout for the top was different (the ebay ones were cut in a rectangle shape up top as to not cover the camera/sensors, the Steinheil covers all of these).

Clarity wise, I can barely tell the difference. I am inclined to say the ebay one had the tiniest bit more white hue to it, but I'm not even so sure that is the case. All the cheap clear protectors I have used have had excellent clarity, in a way that no one can tell you are using a screen protector and the screen looks brilliant.

So really, what are you getting? People swear by Steinheil, and looking at the anti-fingerprint one I can see why. The AF one looks a lot better than the cheap AF ones, but the cheap AF protectors are pretty much unusable for me.

You do get a nicer cutout, but no one noticed with the last ones I had anyways. The ebay one was cut closer to the side edges and the top/bottom, and the edge never bothered me, so I'd say the fit was better in those respects. I've had the DC Mugen ones, which were an identical fit to the Steinheil up top, but were cut short of the soft buttons on the bottom. I have a feeling the handhelditem.com ones will be almost the same cutout if not closer to the outside edges. I'll wait to see when I get them, they shipped those separately to me.

So do I recommend it? Well, only if the cutout is particularly important to you. They do come in nicer packaging, the included microfiber cloth is bigger then some of the ones I've gotten with other protectors, not to mention the ebay purchase which came with cloths that almost feel like wax paper.

A little time and I'll know if this protector is more scratch resistant than the others I've had, but most of those held up pretty well so it's tough to say that will happen.

I don't see why you wouldn't want to save the money and get the cheap ones. I got 5 for $7.50, shipped, handheld items charged me 6 dollars for shipping alone. Five protectors means you can always replace yours when any scratches on it actually bother you, and you get plenty of tries if you mess up install.

I'm debating whether I should try out the Anti-Fingerprint ones or just try to sell them, they do look quality and holding them up to my phone/monitor makes for a reasonable tradeoff between clarity and glare, and that's with a protective film on it.

For reference, I bought the ones off ebay from seller spshop88, here's a recent auction he put up here, they're quite cheap now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/5x-Clear-LCD-Sc...189206?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item43a3febb96

Note, these do have a rectangular cutout for the top that leaves your camera and sensors exposed.