Glossary:

1, Tempered glass: glass that treated so as to impart increased strength and the property of shattering into pellets when broken.

2, Light transmittance: the ratio of the light energy falling on a body to that transmitted through it.

3, Oleophobic:the physical property possessed by a material that is characterized by a lack of affinity to oils.

4, Blue-light filter: A filter which helps to decrease the amount of blue light that your eyes would be exposed to.

5, Privacy filter: A filter which prevent viewing other than directly in front of the screen.

Disclaimer: All comparisons are done between products that we have and they are observational and inconclusive. All results are only reflective to our products.

Screen protectors have become one of the essential accessories where  we put one on as soon as we receive the device. However, not all protectors are built the same. Is it true that the generic option is as good as the branded one, and you are just paying for the name? Or is it more expensive means better? Follow to find out.

First of all, we chose the classic clear protectors from 3 different manufacturer: Selected, Casper, and Pisen.

Light transmittance was the first item that we inspected due to the fact that it is the easiest for our eye to notice. We noted a 93%-95% transmittance for the Branded options throughout but only an average of 85% was reported on the Selected option. A transmittance lower than 90% would be causing a vague “haze” on your screen. You may not be able to notice it right away but it is possible that this makes your eye fatigue more severe.

Furthermore, both branded options are constructed with tempered glass and laced with an oleophobic coating which makes your swipe much smoother and leave minimum smudge on the protector. Selected option, due to price limitation, is not, or underwent a lesser process to be, tempered, and does not have any coating on the surface.

Last but not least, both branded options have a rounded edge/ bezel to minimize the chance where the protector got “chipped” by objects. However, again due to price limitation, Selected option offers only straight-cut edges because it save them time and resources.

To summarize, it is as clear as day that branded options, both Casper and Pisen, would be a better choice if you want a screen protector that is a breeze to swipe on and last as long as possible.

Bonus: We also tested the privacy and blue-light filter branded option and we are happy to report that no significant loss on light transmittance on both of them.

Feel free to check out our collection on screen protectors.