Screen & Lens Protectors

Two things live on this page. Tempered glass for the screen, cut to the curve of each model, and alloy rings that sit over the camera lenses. Use the device row above the grid to narrow it to your phone, and the type row to switch between the two.

The lens protectors matter more than most people expect on current phones. The camera glass sits proud of the back, so it is the first thing that touches a table and the most expensive part to have replaced.

Screen glass is the one most people buy first, and it is the one that matters least if you carry a folio, because the cover already sits over the screen. Lens rings are the opposite: nothing about a case protects the camera glass when you set the phone down on its back.

If you are buying one of the two, buy the lens rings.

• Clean the glass with the alcohol wipe first, then the dust sticker, then the dry cloth. Skipping the dust step is what causes bubbles.
• Do it in a bathroom a few minutes after a hot shower. The damp air pulls dust out of the room.
• Lay the protector down from one edge and let it fall rather than pressing it flat.
• Lens rings go on one lens at a time. They will not line up if you try to place all of them at once.

The screen glass here is cut to stop short of the edge, so a folio still closes flat over it. The lens rings add under a millimetre, which the camera cutouts on our cases already allow for.

If you are buying a case at the same time, the protector for your model is discounted in the cart. The saving shows up automatically once both are in there.

A cracked screen protector has done its job and should come off. It will not hold together under a second impact, and the cracks catch on a fingertip until they annoy you enough to deal with it.

Lens rings usually need replacing only if one lifts at the edge. A scratched ring is still doing what it was put there to do.

Protectors are the one product here that is consumable. They are meant to be replaced.

• Clean the screen twice, once with the alcohol wipe and once with the dry cloth. Dust under the glass is what causes bubbles, not the glass itself.
• Apply in a bathroom a few minutes after a hot shower. Damp air settles the dust that is floating around the room.
• A small bubble at the edge on day one usually works itself out. One in the middle means dust, and the protector needs lifting and cleaning.

Lens protectors sit on dry rings and are less forgiving, so line them up before they touch the glass. Once they are down, they stay down.