Accessories: 1 wipe, 2 alcohol wipes, 1 large dust removal sticker, 2 small dust removal stickers, 1 product specification sheet, and 1 tempered glass screen protector. Overall, the accessories are quite complete and well-designed. Compared to cheaper options that cost around $15, these are full-screen covering types, which don't produce foil artifacts and are more advanced in design. The tempered film I have here isn't 100% or 50%, so I don't need it. It fits perfectly for me.
This is a white version of the iPhone 8, intended for my girlfriend since her phone is white, while mine is a black iPhone 7. Even with full-screen stickers, it feels a bit awkward. I took it out just to feel it, and it felt like I had killed the film I was using (which was only 1.9 yuan and came with some artifacts). She gave it to me without any issues, but she couldn’t touch it anyway. This is the result after applying it.
I mentioned earlier that this is the ancestor of the bridge. Now, here's a picture of the car. Can you tell? Okay, let's look at the macro shot.
Even with a macro lens, it's still not very clear when shot from the front. So I took a side shot. The design logic of the tempered film doesn't allow for much tolerance, so the HOME key hole is larger than the actual one on the phone. I forgot about this when I installed it, and it got stuck on the left side. It ended up being slightly off by about 0.5mm. Visually, it's barely noticeable, but as someone with obsessive tendencies, it drove me crazy.
This is the left side, and it looks like a knife. It's not dirty, but even with a macro lens, you can't see it clearly. And it's still scratched, so your HOME key probably has similar marks.
Talking about the feel of the HOME key. Previously, I used some cheaper full-screen tempered films. They didn’t have rounded edges, so pressing the HOME key felt uncomfortable. Unlike Samsung’s protruding design, the iPhone’s HOME key is depressed. Adding a layer of tempered glass makes it feel like you have to push down harder, and without 2.5D rounding, it feels harsh.
This one has a nice rounded edge, and it feels smooth—like sugar candy. That word always sounds familiar in ads, right?
However, even with this improvement, the "deep press" experience is still not great, especially for women. If you have nail art or long nails, pressing the HOME key might get stuck on the film, which is really uncomfortable. For me, since I have a black phone, the HOME key looked like a black hole after the film was applied. I found it hard to see, so I bought a fingerprint key stick.
The size of the key stick is almost the same as the HOME key. The black ring left after installation is the area where the tempered film opening is larger than the HOME key itself. It’s not very obvious.
This is the front opening. The iPhone 8 must be fully matched. Compared to the iPhone 7, the camera and receiver are fine, but the distance sensor is somewhat blocked. It took almost a week to adjust. The main issue is that when you're close to your ear during a call, the speaker doesn’t work. The screen stays black, and you have to manually press the HOME button. So even though Apple hasn’t changed the front panel design for four years, I wouldn’t recommend trying full-screen tempered films.
For reference, all the photos were taken over nearly a week. Here’s the side view. You can see that even high-end full-screen tempered films can't avoid side dirt. Don’t expect them to be clean forever—some are like this. Maybe there are higher-end ones I haven’t seen yet, but I won’t comment on them.
This is the horn.
This is the overall look. In the end, I want to talk about the hand feel: it's super smooth, like rock candy, but it's not too different from the $15 full-screen steel film I've used before. However, I’ve used several models of cheaper full-screen films, and they often create a significant gap. So, it's true—“a penny, a dollar, a dollar, two points.†Don’t have illusions.
To summarize: Going back to the title, is a dozens-of-dollar tempered film worth buying? We all know high price means good quality, but even a $1.9 film comes with some issues. Do we really need to spend tens of dollars for that feeling?
In my personal opinion, yes—it's worth it. I recommend trying a higher-priced tempered film; sometimes it can really improve your phone usage experience. After all, high-end tempered films can cost up to $100, which is really expensive. However, if you prefer the feel of the screen itself, like me, then you might not need a film at all. I can safely say that I used the oleophobic coating on my iPhone 7 for less than a year without any wear. It felt great and stayed clean. I also tried a nano-liquid tempered film, but I don’t recommend it. If you’re interested, feel free to discuss in the comments.
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