▷ Hydrogel or tempered glass: what better protects the mobile screen
Table of contents:
- The hydrogel better protects the mobile against bumps, the glass from scratches
- Tempered glass protects less screen area
- Hydrogel is much more complex to install
- If you have a mobile with a fingerprint sensor on the screen, use hydrogel
- Price: cheaper tempered glass
Protecting the mobile screen is becoming increasingly important due to the difficulty and cost that spare parts for this component are increasingly considering. There are several forms of protection, although without a doubt the most effective are based on tempered glass and hydrogel. The latter, despite not being so well known, has a number of advantages over conventional tempered glass. The doubt lies, therefore, in the choice of hydrogel or tempered glass to protect the mobile. Differentiating the advantages and disadvantages of each one is the key to answering the question, and this time we will see the main differences between one and the other.
The hydrogel better protects the mobile against bumps, the glass from scratches
Due to the nature of the hydrogel, often made of silicone or liquid resin, its protection against shocks is superior to that of tempered glass. By having a soft surface, the percentage of shock absorption is much higher than that of conventional glass.
The latter transfers the impact to the glass of the screen, which can lead to the total or partial breakage of the panel. In contrast, glass is more resistant to scratches for the same reasons applied to protection against shocks. In general, any touch with the nail or pressure through a sharp object (keys, coins, toothpicks…) will cause a crack in the resin used in the hydrogel, even being removed from the screen if the puncture is made on any from the edges.
Tempered glass protects less screen area
Another disadvantage of conventional tempered glass is that it protects less useful screen area. With the current design of mobile phones, most manufacturers are forced to limit the size of the crystals to prevent them from interfering with the curve of the screen. And it is that although it is true that there are crystals with a '2D' curve at the ends, our experience tells us that they end up detaching from the sides of the mobile.
Protection through silicone hydrogel, on the other hand, allows a much greater adaptation to the surface of the screen, since at the time of installation the material is liquid (or soft), and therefore malleable.
Hydrogel is much more complex to install
There are a multitude of hydrogel formats: some as a protective sheet, others as liquids that require external drying using a UVA machine. In any case the installation process is much more cumbersome than that of a tempered glass.
In the latter, we will only have to guide ourselves through the notch in the screen or the position of the front camera to position it correctly with respect to the total surface of the device.
If you have a mobile with a fingerprint sensor on the screen, use hydrogel
Due to the thickness of the tempered glass, its installation in those mobiles that have a fingerprint sensor on the screen can interfere when it comes to recognizing the geography of the finger. Our experience in a OnePlus 6T tells us that the times are much longer than in a hydrogel protector, although this depends largely on the recognition technology (optical sensor, ultrasonic sensor…).
If we opt for a tempered glass, we can always use a protector of less thickness or opt for a projector with a hole for the fingerprint.
Price: cheaper tempered glass
Although the price difference in stores like Aliexpress is ridiculous, hydrogel is usually much more expensive if we resort to physical stores or official sales channels.
The value of the latter usually ranges between 9 and 10 euros, while the price of tempered glasses usually ranges between 3 and 5, with packs of several crystals.
