Hydrogel VS Tempered Glass?

[Ya_Mi]

So my phone fell on accident and the screen broke (Gorilla glass my a**). Since the screen cost 40% of the price of the phone, i am looking for the best option to protect the it.

I am not a fan of screen protector because it reduce the overall image quality, but after the incident, i think i could tolerate that.

So, there are only 2 option atm that is TG and HydroGel, i've looked around for some information and i got a mixed review. Some say TG affect the image quality, some are not, some says the Hydrogel is not as strong as TG and vice versa.

 

So, i am wondering if one of you have actually used both screen protector and i would like you give your opinion.

Thank you in advance.

 

EDIT: Actually there's 3rd option called Hybrid Glass, but i haven't do any research on that

[Dubious]

Buy a proper phone... I'll just assume its an iPhone...

[Dr0idGh0sT]

Hydrogel is thin and protects phone from only scratches, Not from drops. I prefer hydrogel, Because it's so thin, You could not even notice it's there.

Buy normal quality tempered glass if u want to save screen from cracks.

p.s 5-10 USD glass from Amazon is good enough, Don't pay more if it isn't sapphire glass from trust worthy company, Like zagg. 

[GamerDude]

As an owner of a Sony Z5 Premium, from years ago, I darn near had a heart attack when I'd accidentally dropped my phone onto the corner of the T-stand of my desk.

 

The glass shattered and I was dumbstruck, thinking how much it'd cost me to replace the 4K display. I did a facepalm because I remembered installing a TG SP on it, and as I removed the shattered TG SP, I breathed a sigh of relief seeing the original screen in perfect condition.

 

Needless to say, after that incident, I'd install SP on all my devices (my S5e and Mi Pad 4 tablets have TG SP's, my Mi Max 3, Note 10+ and Z Fold 3 all have TG SPs). I don't need to tell you which I'd voted for, TG trumps hydrogel when it comes to protection.

 

@DubiousI have the phones listed, and believe me, they ARE proper phones. Dunno why some insist or believe that 'mighty' iPhones are the only proper phones. I do hope you're just being frivolous....

 

BTW, this reminds me of a thread in the local forums, a guy got a spanking new Z Fold 2, and he'd chosen to have dbrand skin applied. While I do admit the phone looks pretty nice with the skin applied, I'd stated it'd not protect against drops, even nicks and scratches on the edges as these are unprotected.

 

Even the camera notch is exposed, but he insisted he's really careful and has never dropped a phone before (apparently, he knows not the concept of 'accidents') and that the Fold 2 should not be covered with a case as it'd obscure its beauty. 

 

Well, that awesomeness and beauty of the phone would be void once the phone is dropped, but c'est la vie, it's his choice.

[v0id]

Tempered glass is fine. Image quality is hardly affected, at least on the ones I've used, and they come in packs of like 3+ so you just swap them if they chip or crack. I don't know what kind of phone you had, but Gorilla Glass is generally pretty tough but in the end, as a bald Youtuber always says, glass is glass and glass breaks. Save your money, don't spend more than $10 on a pack of tempered protectors.

 

As a side note, you could a film protector instead, those won't chip and they handle scratches pretty well. They also provide a buffer, transferring shock to the screen glass in a reduced state. I used to use them and found them pretty good all around. So there's that.

[GamerDude]

A nod to film protectors as well, but the one thing I dislike about 'em is, they're not as smooth as glass. I dunno about others, but I find glass way smoother and easier to use on my phones. I do use a film protector on the inner screen of my Fold 2, only because there's no foldable TG SP for it.