We’ve shown you how to apply a screen protector on your iPhone, but perhaps a question you should ask yourself before you even buy a screen protector is whether or not you actually need one.
The iPhone 6s comes with ion-strengthened Gorilla Glass, which is to say that it’s scratch-resistant and less prone to shatter if you accidentally drop your iPhone than regular glass.
So essentially, your iPhone 6s’s display already comes with a screen protector of sorts, but many users feel that they need that extra protection for added piece-of-mind. And while Gorilla Glass is scratch-resistant, there comes a point where it can no longer withstand certain scratches. For instance, if you constantly keep your iPhone in the same pocket as your keys, the device will no doubt form scratches over a period of time.
Read: Best iPhone 6s Screen Protectors
On the other hand, if you’re always cautious about what your iPhone 6s’s screen touches, do you really need to worry about getting a screen protector?
Here are a few reasons as to why and why not it’s a good idea to opt for a screen protector on your iPhone 6s.
The iPhone 6s Is Already Scratch-Resistant
As already mentioned, the iPhone 6s comes with Gorilla Glass, meaning that the screen is already toughened up and ready to take whatever scratches that come its way.
Of course, it won’t stand up to anything, as a knife to the display would easily kill it, but most common household items like keys wouldn’t do much damage initially. However, like I said, if you constantly expose your iPhone to your keys and other sharper objects, you’ll most likely end up with a scratched display eventually.
In most cases, you’ll be just fine without a screen protector, especially if you’re always careful about how you handle your iPhone in the first place. For instance, I never let my iPhone touch my keys or any other sharp object, and I’m even concerned that my nails will scratch the display, so a screen protector probably isn’t necessary for me.
However, accidentally dropping your iPhone is about the worst-case scenario there is, and most likely your screen will crack if it’s dropped. This is where some screen protectors can actually be useful.
Some Screen Protectors Can Actually Save the Day
All screen protectors are not created equally, and there are many different kinds. Most of them, however,are usually made out of a thin and flexible plastic sheet that sticks onto your device’s screen using some kind of adhesive or just static electricity.
More expensive screen protectors are made out of tempered glass, which are essentially just really thin sheets of glass that you stick on top of your iPhone’s display. This makes it so that you’ll still get that natural glass feel to the device, but it does add a bit of thickness, since glass screen protectors are a bit thicker than regular plastic ones.
There are also more rugged screen protectors from companies like Zagg who specialize in military-grade screen protection. These screen protectors are made out of an incredible material that’s insanely scratch proof. They’re overkill most of the time and are fairly expensive, but they can be good for users who work in construction that would have an iPhone exposed to extreme conditions.
However, when it comes to the best protection for accidental drops, we’ve had the best luck with glass screen protectors. As seen in the video above, an LG G3 was accidentally dropped, but the glass protector took the hit and cracked, while the phone’s actual display was left intact.
Of course, some commenters weren’t so lucky, so your mileage may vary depending on what phone you have, what type of glass protector is installed, and how it’s installed in the first place. Which brings us to…
Not All Screen Protectors Can Save the Day
While we’ve found that the glass screen protectors usually do a better job at actually protecting a display, other types of screen protectors will only offer a minimal amount of protection.
More specifically, those cheap plastic screen protectors will do absolutely nothing when it comes to accidental drops. They’ll offer a little bit of added scratch protection, but not much else.
This is why you want to be careful as far as what screen protector you get for your iPhone, as there are different kinds of protectors for different purposes.
Screen Protectors Decrease Responsiveness
This could be quite subjective, but I believe that a lot of screen protectors can negatively impact the clarity of the iPhone’s display, as well as reduce touch responsiveness while using the device.
Furthermore, I’ve never liked using plastic screen protectors or even the options offered by Zagg, simply because they eliminated the natural glass feel of the iPhone’s touch screen, and there’s nothing quite like the feeling of smooth glass on your fingertips when it comes to a high-quality touch screen.
It Never Hurts to Use a Screen Protector Anyway
In the end, if you’re debating whether or not to get a screen protector for your iPhone 6s, you don’t need to spend a lot of money to buy one in the first place, so it doesn’t hurt to get one and install it on your iPhone.
You can buy basic screen protectors for really cheap. This 3-pack is only $5.99, so you’re hardly spending any money to get some added protection, and some protection is better than no protection, especially when it comes to scratches.
