It finally happened.
I was standing at the car, switching my coaching gear and removing my cover pants, and I heard the sickening crack that no smartphone owner wants to hear.
My HTC One M8 had fallen to the ground. Face down, even. Ouch.
To say I was nauseated is an understatement, but some backstory should help underscore this. Ever since I first saw a broken touchscreen — circa 2007 0r 2008 — the idea of a seeing my smartphone with a cracked display was a scary proposition. Even prior to that, back in my Palm and BlackBerry days, I used plastic stick screen protectors on ALL my devices. By the time I moved on to Android devices, I was even ordering screen protectors so that they arrived before the devices they were purchased to work with had arrived themselves.
I didn’t stop there. I always bought major case protection… I’m not joking. Three-piece cases. Forget about looks; I wanted to ensure that my investment is/was as physically protected as possible. When my son wanted to play on my phones, I used to make him sit in the middle of our bed for maximum safety. It’s not all vanity; I like to have the option of selling flawless devices when its time to upgrade.
But something about the M8’s unibody made me brave. All of a sudden, I decided to live a little. I went for a thin, clear case instead of the rugged options I usually preferred. No holster.
And then The Drop happened.
It took me a minute to pick up the phone, and longer still to turn it over to look at the screen. When I did, I actually gasped. The entire screen was shattered, with veined cracks across the entire front. Would I need a new wallpaper to help cope with this disaster? But as I looked a little closer, I made a discovery: the screen was coming off.
I was able to pull off the overlaying glass, and had an unblemished screen below. No, it isn’t magic. I had an XtremeGuard tempered glass screen protector that absorbed all force and saved the screen.
Compared to “regular” screen protectors, tempered glass ones tend to be a bit pricier, but, in my case, are worth the expense. So, if you were to ask me what my favorite accessory is, the answer would be easy:
Accessorizing the ultimate accessory (the smartphone) is a pastime for a lot f us. Speakers, headphones, cases… the whole nine. It’s fun, it’s healthy and above all, it extends usage.
What’s your favorite mobile device accessory?
[Image via Thorsten Hartmann via Flickr Creative Commons]
Rich Landosky says
I would agree with you 100%. Got my wife an iPhone 5s over the summer.. A friend had told us about InvisiShield’s new tempered glass screen protectors so I got one of those for my wife’s iPhone. About two weeks after having it, she dropped it, face down, on the brick walkway. I couldn’t bring myself to picking the phone up and looking at it. She picked it up and slowly turned it over. With my eyes closed I asked her if the screen had cracked. She said it looked like it had. I stretched out my hand to take the phone from her and looked at it. Took a fingernail under the edge and started to peel up the tempered glass protector and the crack peeled off with it leaving a perfect, not even scratched iPhone screen. Lifetime replacement warranty. Worth every penny spent. Only type of screen protector I’ll use of my phones now. Love these tempered glass protectors.
Tre Lawrence says
Rich: don’t know how it took me so long to stumble on tempered glass. Love them. I actually stock up on them now.
Eric Dye says
LOL! That’s awesome.
Melanie Fischer says
Hi there, I just came across your post and it got my attention. I guess I was expecting this to go into a bit of a lesson, but that is just where my mind was at 🙂 This is good to know that this type of iPhone protector exists. We are blessed to have such technology at our fingertips, and we are to be good stewards of all we have been given.
I wrote a short blog post a little while ago about “embracing your apps”. This is more of a personal growth lesson than a technology lesson :).
http://www.hungryforpurpose.com/2013/11/18/embrace-your-apps/
Blessings