I have used many different screen protectors on my phones, watches and digital camera screens over the years. The majority have been the peel and stick type that you apply with a water base. I have used tempered glass screen protectors and a couple of phones and currently on my Garmin Fenix 5s. I do not, however, have a screen protector on my current phone which is a Samsung Galaxy S9. I have been hesitant to put one on because I figured that curved screen would give me issues. Does the new InvisibleShield Glass Curve Elite from ZAGG make this an easy task? Let’s find out!
What is it?
The ZAGG Glass Curve Elite is a tempered glass screen protector. The one I have was made specifically for the Samsung Galaxy S9. They make it for the S9 Plus and several other models of Samsung including the S8, S8 plus and the Note 8.
Hardware Specs
- It has a custom curved fit to specifically fit the model of phone it was made for.
- It has a built-in shock absorbent layer that helps prevent the impact of an unexpected drop from shattering your phone.
- Smooth tempered glass that does not impact the clarity of the screen.
- Provides impact and scratch protection
- Provides for precision touch sensitivity (you do have to increase the touch sensitivity in your phone settings before installing the protector)
- It has a smudge-resistant finish
What is in the box?
- The screen protector
- A micro fiber cloth
- An alcohol wet wipe
- Instruction book
- Plastic template to help install the protector on your phone
- Dust removal sticker
- A stiff card with cloth on one end to help set the glass to the phone.
Installation process
First off, and I cannot say how important this is, please be sure you are in the most dust free area in your home. Unlike the peel and stick type protectors, if you get a dust particle under the middle of the protector you will have little to no chance to get it off without breaking the protector. You can pull back the edges pretty easily to fix bubble and remove dust, but to pull it back all the way to the middle really risks cracking the glass. That is essentially what happened to me on the first time I tried to install it. The next time I used the tried and true method of using the bathroom. I ran the hot shower for a few minutes to steam up the room and remove the dust particles from the air. I then followed the next steps of shutting the phone off, wiping it down with the alcohol wipe and then wiping with the micro fiber cloth. I finally used the dust removal sticker and went over the entire screen with it.
The next step was to place the red plastic template over the phone. In the picture above it goes over the top of the phone exactly in that layout. It really does help you to position the protector exactly where it should be on the phone. I then peeled the back sticker off the protector and used the two tabs on the top and bottom of the front of the protector to position the protector. Once in place, I pulled the top sticker off the top of the template holding it in place on the bottom of the screen.
At this point, you take the hard card and using four fingers, slowly slide the cloth side of the protector towards the top of the phone. Once the middle of the protector is set, you flip the hard card over and use the non-cloth covered side to slide up the edges. Watch the video below to see how the installation should work. They certainly make it seem easy!
What I like
I love the idea of having a tempered glass screen that will fit the curve of the newer Galaxy phones. I often find that the peel and stick type protectors leave the screen feeling slightly ‘funny’ and it was really noticeable on my Note phones when I used the stylus. Glass protectors also tend to be much clearer and less susceptible to scratches and ‘dents’ that the plastic type protectors would often get.
What needs to be improved
Unfortunately for me, even with three different tries on installing this protector it just did not work for me. The first time I will totally blame myself. In my excitement, I tried to install the protector in my breakfast area. We have a Shetland sheepdog in our home and he is a walking dust magnet. Even going through the whole alcohol wipe, microfiber wipe, and dust sticker, I still had a ton of dust under the protector. The sides also failed to seat at all and that could have been due to the amount of dust. My second attempt I used the bathroom process described above. I was getting bubbles under the corners and having some difficulty again trying to get the sides of the protector to seat on the phone. Somehow in the process of trying to seal it the screen cracked on the side. You can see a picture of it below.
Third time is a charm, right? Well NO, darn it. Things were really going well this time. I was still having issues trying to get the sides to seal on the phone. I had flipped the card around to the non-cloth covered side and was repeatedly trying to push down and get those sides to de-bubble. I guess I must have been too firm and I got a crack again. You can see where I had bubbles on the sides of the phone on the top right and just above the other crack on the left. For a protector that costs $50 you want to get it right the first time.
Final thoughts
I really wanted this screen protector to work. Even with three attempts, I could not make it work. This screen protector is extremely expensive at $50 and I would have spent $150 and still had no protection on the screen of my phone. The video makes it seem effortless, but I did not find it to be that way at all. I just can’t recommend this protector unless you feel like you have that special touch and really want to try it yourself.
Price: $49.99
Where to buy: ZAGG and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by ZAGG.
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I bought a Zagg Invisible Shield for my Samsung S7 is it S7 or S7 and when you cracked and I went to go have it replaced I had to pay and another 20 or $30 shipping so it’s just an absolutely just no good there warranty is junk and I don’t know shipping costs more than that’s phone almost I highly recommend you don’t buy an invisible shield
I bought one cracked in a week, zagg sent new one out at a cost of 10$ for shipping it USPS what a joke, then in a dust free environment I put the new one on…..it never stuck completely, I wiped with all there supplies so it was making a popping noise because it never stuck…that was 2 screen protector later 60$ later should I give them 10$ for one more lmao no garbage
I have tried 3 different Zagg shields for my s7. All have cracked. I complained enough they never charged shipping. Zagg just can’t get one right.
I purchased 3 that cracked on the s8 they probably just dont work
I have put 2 Zagg shields on my phone. The first one lifted on the sides and looked horrible. I got a second one and it too started lifting. I dropped my phone from a sitting position and now my screen is cracked. When I called the company they informed me that their warranty is not to protect the phone but the Zagg product. I went round and round with the representative and she promised to have a manager call me within 25 minutes. 3 days later still no call. I called again and they wanted to send me a new screen protector. For a broken phone, RIGHT.
Their claim to have your phone protected and not crack is a scam.
I am writing to a manager in the Utah office, and I’m sure I’ll never hear from them.
Zagg is a joke and I will never purchase anything from them again.
I shared my experience with Verizon, and they are very unhappy that they claim to protect your phone, but won’t do anything when it’s not protected. The gal I spoke with was sending an e-mail about my experience to the CEO at Verizon.
Don’t buy this product, it’s just money in their pockets and no protection for your phone.
I have had my Galaxy S9 for a month now. Our Verizon Rep. talked us into the Invisible Shield for the four phones we purchased. (Note 8, S9, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus = $130 for protectors.) Within a few days, my protector chipped in the right side. A few days later, I had two very large cracks on the shield.
Thinking this was a fluke, and having registered the shields, I submitted a warranty replacement. I was surprised to have to pay $5.99 for shipping, but I did.
A week later, I took my replacement protector to my Verizon guy and had him install; voicing my concern that it hadn’t lasted very long. That was two weeks ago.
Earlier this week, my new protector cracked and I promptly emailed Zagg. They are sending a new one for free, but now my daughter’s iPhone 8 Plus protector has the same issue.
Here we go again.
My recommendation is think twice before purchasing this product.
When I upgraded my Galaxy S9 at Sprint on 6/1/18 I got this product and an Otter Box case. On 7/28/18 my phone fell out of my pocket about 7″ off the floor. Cracked screen. ZAGG will send a replacement but according to customer service “we do not guaranty no cracking”. Otter Box says they don’t cover basically anything. What is the point of spending all this money? Could have gone to Walmart or eBay and got for about 1/10th the price.
I must say that the S9 has to have some kind of protection. I have owned 10 different phones over the years and never broke a screen. My “luck” ran out within a week of owning the Samsung S9. I find it hard to believe the little jolt it took would cause a crack, never the less a looping fracture around 3/4 of the screen. Best bet for anyone that already purchased an S9… Buy some sort of secondary protection that will at least bring the S9 up to the standard of surviving reasonable usage. I have to believe the eggshell tempering of the factory S9 glass does not meet the UCC warranty standards that apply to any product, that is, fitness of merchantability. For those thinking of buying an S9, pay heed, you are now carrying the most fragile piece of technology that I’ve ever experienced. I am an automation and robotics maintenance technician, I hoped spending 750.00 on a phone would reliably assist me in capturing discrepancy data during my workday. It stays in my locker.
I so agree, and I do wonder if it’s the S9 design.. I purchased minefrom AT & T. $40. Plus for the screen saver.
My S9 fell from my hand less than 10″ to powdery clay and cracked. The salesperson at the store told me I had to show proof of online purchase of an EXTENDEd warranty for my less than 10 week ownership. SO AGAIN PURCHASED the same screen saver which loosened and fell over within 2 weeks. I give up! It would seem like they would stand by the product they sell at theIR store at great cost to the consumer.
In last 20 years, I’ve replaced one glass. My new glass from Walmart failed in my near empty pocketbook. .is it the S9? I’M SEARCHING Amazon for a deal.
I bought the Glass Curve Elite for a whopping $50 & it is an absolute piece of crap. First one I bought I installed myself with the provided platic installation tray and no matter what I did it had bubbles so I went to Verizon to tell them that with a $50 screen protector it should fit perfect so they reinstalled and even they couldn’t eliminate the bubble halos. They then said that with this protector it was inevitable that there would be some bubbles. This blew my mind to think that a $50 screen protector wouldn’t fit properly even with proper installation. I then called Zagg to tell them about the issue and they made me pay $10 for shipping and mailed me another protector. I watched numerous videos on how to properly install this protector and followed to a T and still have bubble halos. I am so disappointed. I will never in my life buy another Zagg product for the remainder of my life. When you pay over $1000 for a new phone you want it to look good and yet now $60 in and my phone still looks like crap. They need to change the price point and even with a cheaper price it should fit. Samsung is partially to blame with there curved edge but it’s not ok to charge people for a product that people expect to work and it not. I’m not the first to have issues with this thing and I will not be the last. Hope this review saves someone some money and aggravation. Thanks.
My shield for my Samsung S9 cracked and chipped all over within 1 week of installation. I registered it and sent for a new replacement and it took 9 weeks and $9.99. I installed the replacement and it chipped while trying to get the bubbles out. I am going to invest in a Lifeproof cover. All my friends have them and love them with no problems.
My biggest issue is that for how amazing the camera is on my phone, the screen protector dulls the sensitivity on the screen, even after I changed the settings, and so many of my pictures turn out blurry because you have to tap the screen so hard to take a picture.