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Why Your Phone Doesn\u2019t Need a Screen ProtectorTrevor Raab<\/p>\n
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Smartphone screen protectors are a wildly popular way to make absolutely sure you don\u2019t scratch or crack your phone\u2019s<\/a> display. While not quite as popular as smartphone cases<\/a>, they are on the list of upsells that retailers will try to convince you to buy whenever you get a new handset. And we\u2019re buying them, too: According to multiple forecasts<\/a> from tech industry analysts<\/a>, the screen protector market eclipsed $50 billion in 2025, and will come close to doubling that number by 2032.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the thing. You don\u2019t need to put a screen protector on your phone. That isn\u2019t to say that they don\u2019t do anything. That extra layer of material will create a buffer and keep your phone safe. But using one is kind of like putting water wings on an Olympic swimmer: It\u2019s just kind of silly. Modern phone displays are made with extremely durable materials that can keep up with the rigors of daily life. While there may be extreme circumstances that might lend themselves to extra protection. But most people who buy them are wasting their money.<\/p>\n Modern Phones Have Gotten Seriously Tough<\/p>\n The sheer durability of smartphones has come a very long way from the original iPhone from 2007 and its Android counterpart, the HTC-made T-Mobile G1. Nearly 20 years later, even folding phones with bendable displays, which we often criticize for fragility, are far more rugged than their ancestors.<\/p>\n The difference comes down to one brand, and not the one you think. It\u2019s Corning, the company that has created the proprietary glass coverings for every iPhone and upscale Android display since the birth of the smartphone. Corning has been the biggest game in protective screen glass for a long time, and it stays that way because its product keeps evolving. The brand\u2019s latest materials, which you may know as \u201dCeramic Shield\u201d on the iPhone<\/a> or \u201dGorilla Glass\u201d and \u201cGorilla Armor\u201d on various Android phones<\/a>, are mind-bogglingly resilient to damage from scratches and accidental drops.<\/p>\n For example, the Corning Gorilla Armor 2<\/a> glass used in Samsung\u2019s Galaxy S25 phones<\/a> and this year\u2019s Galaxy S26 lineup<\/a> has been tested and shown to withstand scratches and damage after a one-meter drop. That theoretically means you aren\u2019t going to bust up your phone because it slips out of your pocket. And that\u2019s without a case, which will absorb most of the shock from a drop, and often features a small lip around the edge that keeps the screen from a full faceplant onto a hard surface.<\/p>\n Is there an extreme circumstance that might lead you to want extra screen protection? Maybe, but they aren\u2019t the everyday spills and fumbles you\u2019re likely to go through in your day-to-day.<\/p>\n What About Screen Protectors for Privacy?<\/p>\n There is an exception, of course. (Every rule has one.) There are high-end screen protectors that add screen privacy, preventing strangers from looking over your shoulder and checking out what you\u2019re doing. As a subway commuter in New York who deals with sensitive materials for work from time to time, I think there\u2019s a lot of value there.<\/p>\n At the same time, though, I wouldn\u2019t recommend using one unless you have information on your phone that people shouldn\u2019t be able to see for even one second. These screen protectors almost universally impact your screen\u2019s brightness and color accuracy, making your phone less effective for general use. It\u2019s a big tradeoff and, again, one that you probably shouldn\u2019t need to make. (Plus, if you are serious about screen security, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra<\/a> integrates this kind of protection directly into the display without an extra accessory. It works way better than a screen protector. Trust me.)<\/p>\n Putting on a screen protector is easy… unless you get a bubble between the glass and the display.Trevor Raab<\/p>\n Personally, I haven\u2019t used a screen protector on my phone since the late 2010s. The last time I had a faint, barely visible hairline mark on the screen of my go-to device after a significant tumble was in 2018, on an iPhone X. Since then, I have gone through dozens of phones and accidentally dropped many of them without consequence.<\/p>\n After all these years, I look at a screen protector and all I see is the extra cost and the problems they cause\u2014smoothing out bubbles between a screen and a screen protector is a serious chore. If you\u2019re worried about protecting your phone, I totally understand. But you\u2019re much better off putting the money you\u2019d spend on a screen protector to buy a better case, and investing in an extended protection plan from Apple<\/a>, Google<\/a>, Samsung<\/a>, or your wireless carrier.<\/p>\n You Might Also Like<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[85,46,321,189291,73703,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-399279","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-mobile","11":"tag-screen-protector","12":"tag-screen-protectors","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Applying](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/304defc89ccb6e277afc4b01cb21d676.jpeg\"\/)
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