First, I must give it to Kenyans, they’ll give you all sorts of reasons to buy their products even when they are blatantly far from truth. Being such determined and aggressive can unfortunately lead to misrepresenting facts and end up hurting innocent consumers. With every season, you’re bound to find something new that Kenyans would most likely be pitching to new customers like it’s the end of the world. This happened when the so-called liquid screen protector found its way to our local market and somehow intrigued some customers with promise of making their phone screens unbreakable.
There are so many reasons why someone would want a phone that doesn’t easily break, and one of the most delicate parts to take care is the display panel. That explains why someone would easily fall for a pitch that promises to make their screens unbreakable, but as we’re going to learn, some of these decisions are extremely costly in the long run. Take a walk down to any shopping center within Nairobi city, and you’ll almost likely see someone selling the “unbreakable” liquid screen protector. Personally, I’ve seen many along populated streets such as Tom Mboya, Ronald Ngala and even River road.
In most cases, they’ll be carrying a briefcase that contains high-tech looking tools and since it’s a new technique here in Kenya, you’ll most probably witness some kind of a crowd lining to be offered with the service. The whole idea is to put a liquid screen protector on your phone which is very different from traditional hardened glass protectors and you’ll hear them saying how superior it is from normal protectors.
There was a time when I was amazed seeing one of the sales guys attempting to crack one with a drill, often used to attract more customers. But something consumers don’t know is that most of these moves are practiced prior, under normal circumstance your phone will break in seconds if put under those circumstances. From several reports we have and even witnessed our friends fall for the pitch, these liquid screen protectors aren’t really what you hear them saying and they’ll end up ruining your valuable device rather than protecting it. Unfortunately, you’ll also hear them referring to these protectors as nano screen protectors which is also not true.
Made from Silicon Dioxide (SiO2), which is basically a liquid glass that’s applied on your device and dries up to create a coat over your phone’s display that somehow should make your phone unbreakable. Before you submit your phone for the liquid screen guard, here are a couple of reasons why you shouldn’t.
Reasons why you shouldn’t go for the liquid screen guards
- They do not guarantee protection against breakage
From reports we’ve received and even witnessed from our friends; these protectors don’t offer any extra-ordinary protection to your device. A simple fall from a few heights will most certainly break your device’s screen. Just head over to social media and you’ll see a lot of complains from victims who discovered the scam while it was already too late.
- Not immune to water damage
Now this should have raised eyebrows even for the common citizen, for us the tech guys who are a bit keen on what we do, we’d have most probably Googled about it looking for any sort of water-resistant certification. If unfortunately, you’ve already bought the protector, keep your device far away from water unless you have a certification from the manufacturer. They don’t protect against water damage period!
- They are permanent.
This is the most bizarre of them all. Once the protector is applied, you won’t be able to remove it, it kind of defeats the whole Idea of protecting the original screen from scratches and maybe breakages. As it ages, it loses some visibility and that’s why normal screen protectors are preferred. You can easily swap for a new one whenever you want, the same cannot be said for the liquid ones.
- There’re no genuine ones, it’s just a matter of chance
So, some friends kept saying there could be genuine ones that might meet of the marketing gimmicks we’re hearing, well the truth is they’re all the same probably different quality but not any better than traditional protectors.
- Preserve your original screen
If you don’t want to end up with replacement screens or the so called after market parts, then you’d probably take good care of your original scree. This substance is permanent – meaning there’s no way of removing it. You’ll be better off with a glass protector that costs around the same and can be swapped for a new one easily.
