Preinstalled screen protector?

Sigh,remember the pre-installed one is NOT a screen protector. You are supposed to put a screen protector on top of it. This is what Sony has to say about the confusion:

The scratch resistant screen is covered in a non-scratch resistant anti-shatter laminate sheet that will reduce the likelihood of the screen cracking or shattering. This is NOT the top layer intended as the laminate sheet is very easily scratched and attracts lots of dust and fingerprints. You are then supposed to put a screen protector over this laminate sheet which will do a much better job of resisting dirt, fingerprints and scratches than the laminate sheet. One is included in the Xperia packaging in unbranded models. The preinstalled laminate sheet is glued down. It can come off but it will leave a glue residue on the screen that is not easy to get off. The second layer screen protector included with unbranded models just bonds through natural static adhesion onto the laminate sheet rather than a glue.

The laminate sheet can not be replaced on its own after removal from the screen. The laminate sheet is bonded to the screen with heat as part of the production process in order to properly fuse to the glass and give it its anti-shatter properties. The laminate sheet is not sold on its own as a part and the only way to replace a damaged or removed laminate sheet is to replace the entire front screen glass panel assembly. As such Sony highly recommends you immediatly install the screen protector included with direct from Sony unbranded Xperia models or purchase a commercially available screen protector for carrier branded units.

viiv said:

Sigh,remember the pre-installed one is NOT a screen protector. You are supposed to put a screen protector on top of it. This is what Sony has to say about the confusion:

The scratch resistant screen is covered in a non-scratch resistant anti-shatter laminate sheet that will reduce the likelihood of the screen cracking or shattering. This is NOT the top layer intended as the laminate sheet is very easily scratched and attracts lots of dust and fingerprints. You are then supposed to put a screen protector over this laminate sheet which will do a much better job of resisting dirt, fingerprints and scratches than the laminate sheet. One is included in the Xperia packaging in unbranded models. The preinstalled laminate sheet is glued down. It can come off but it will leave a glue residue on the screen that is not easy to get off. The second layer screen protector included with unbranded models just bonds through natural static adhesion onto the laminate sheet rather than a glue.

The laminate sheet can not be replaced on its own after removal from the screen. The laminate sheet is bonded to the screen with heat as part of the production process in order to properly fuse to the glass and give it its anti-shatter properties. The laminate sheet is not sold on its own as a part and the only way to replace a damaged or removed laminate sheet is to replace the entire front screen glass panel assembly. As such Sony highly recommends you immediatly install the screen protector included with direct from Sony unbranded Xperia models or purchase a commercially available screen protector for carrier branded units.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

The factory installed piece is a shatter proof sheet, but it is not needed in my opinion. I have removed mine and compared it to the one supplied in the box and they are identical except the shatter proof shield is a tiny bit thicker.

Check this post out http://talk.sonymobile.com/message/194586

Secondly the shatter proof shield sucks for responsiveness. It is one of the main reasons the capacitive buttons aren't very responsive.

Also you can get replacement shatter proof sheets if you call Sony support

http://talk.sonymobile.com/message/197412

Basically I believe the shatter proof sheet to be worthless because even though it will protect the screen it gets scratched easily and reduces responsiveness.
Who in the right mind would want to install another screen protector on top of it and make it even less responsive. If you want a screen protector remove the shatter proof sheet and put it on. If you drop the phone and it lands on a hard surface on the edges chances are the shatter proof sheet wouldn't have done a damn thing to help anyways. Also the shatter proof sheet creates a hard sharp edge near the translucent strip that annoys me quite a lot. It makes the phone feel cheaper like there is non flush edges due to shoddy construction.

Just my two-cents but I did research this.

I also created a thread listing the pros and cons of removing it.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=26526024#post26526024


Here's another thread listing about the shatter proof sheet.
http://talk.sonymobile.com/message/175150

Shatterproof is a stretch because I have seen many Xperia S posts about how their screen has shattered. A little piece of laminate is not going to help. There is even a thread about a guy who had the screen facing outward in his pants and bumped into a table which shattered the screen. Another guy dropped his 2 feet onto concrete, it hit the edge and shattered the screen. So what is the Shatter Proof sheet even good for? Now you tell me if the Shatter-Proof sheet is really Shatter-Proof. I say marketing.

I have seen more shattered iPhones and HTC Evos than any other phones (I work at a university and see people struggling along using a shattered screen). Both are made out of Gorilla Glass which is another item claiming to be shatter proof.

If you replace your screen it comes glued to a new digitizer anyways, so what good is protecting the digitizer beyond being able to use your phone with a cracked screen. I've had old windows mobile screens crack and they didn't have a protector or gorilla glass and they still worked fine even with resistive tech which is more fragile than capacitive.

Yes, they come with a screen protector preinstalled No need to take it of.

Is this

A preinstalled screen protector(you can just make it out around the earpiece hole)... I don't wanna start picking at the edges, just incase it's not! :-S

The one in the box

Is w bit different...

Sent from my LT26i using XDA

Screen protector

I sent an e-mail to the Sony helpdesk to ask whether this is a screen protector or not.

This is the answer i got from them:

"With regards to your enquiry, I inform you that the Xperia S has a preinstalled protective layer that should not be removed."