Aztechnology
Member
The first item on the Dock...et is screen protectors. If you're like me, you probably really don't like dealing with screen protectors. Traditionally, they're plastic and they're a pain in the ass to apply.
Screen Protectors
Unfortunately every single officially licensed screen protector I've seen is mode of cheap PET plastic, that to me isn't fit for the screen of my devices.
If you want an officially licensed product, you either get a simple one that comes with many cases. Or you get Hori Officially Licensed protector.
$9.99
The main differences? One is a thicker piece of plastic. Which makes it more resilient to scratches. Generally I recommend avoiding plastic screen protectors for a few reasons.
1. Application is nearly always a nightmare and almost always has bubbles of some kind that are a pain to work out.
2. It doesn't feel nearly as good as the actual screen. It's often softer or more "grippy" than intended. I bought a device with a premium screen, I want it to feel premium.
3. Plastics while oleophobic, don't hold up as well in the long term and oils tend to streak, smear and are harder to clean. They tend to discolor over time. Whether this is specifically from oils in your skin, sunlight/UV, degradation or a mix of all. They just get kind of nasty.
Best current alternatives? Basically, unvetted "tempered glass" protectors. As I cannot stand plastic protectors, I jumped on one of those unknown brand $9.99 screen protector packs. I ordered mine from amFilm on Amazon This is also where I need your guys help, if you've ordered a non licensed screen protector, let us know what you think. My belief is a lot of these tempered glass protectors are coming from the same supplier, and then just being bought and packaged through vendors, but I can't vouch for any of those I haven't tried.
I ordered amFilm and received on the third even though it was slated for the 10th. I imagine they are trying to bump up their Amazon reviews so they are the go to Switch protector. Seems to be working.
First question, are they actually glass? It felt a lot more flexible than my tempered glass protectors of the past and I was skeptical at the price. Many times these companies will try to pass off thicker plastic protectors as glass. So I tested it.
Yup they're glass.
Included items
Basically a nicer set for a screen protector, with most of what you need to make sure your screen is clean for application, wet wipe, dry wipe and microfiber cloth. Considering I played with my Switch the night before, it was nice. The application was a breeze, as most tempered glass screen protectors are, as they are one solid piece they usually settle on the screen and air is pushed out very easily. They don't tend to bubble so much as have small pockets, a benefit of the rigidity. Tempered glass protectors are the only times outside of things like Liquid armor I haven't been extremely annoyed by the process.
Speaking of process, application process is honestly as simple as it is laid out here.
After application
The tempered glass protector, at least for me checks out. It's as good as any other that I've used. And more importantly it feels good and offers better protection/longevity than plastic. Impressive that so many of these companies are selling them at $9.99 but, again I can only vouch for amFilm currently. I know several gaffers are planning to get Ozrly, so hopefully they leave impressions soon.
Well, now we have a better screen protector, so what else is there?
Carrying Cases
Carrying cases have been covered But any details people want to share about their chosen products as they use them, will be good!
The Dock conundrum...
As is being reported, Nintendo in their infinite wisdom decided they didn't need rubberized pads on the ridges that our consoles slide in and out on, and hold our console in place.
What can we do? Basically what Nintendo should have. Personally, I went looking for some foam or rubberized tape/pads to solve the issue. The only problem being, it's really tight, so we need some very thin padding.
I found some thin rubber pads for $3 at my local ACE hardware and went with that, at least as a temporary measure.
I measured the ridges within the console, and each is 1/2inch in width. I measured and cut each pad. They aren't all exactly the same size, but for our purposes that's fine.
Then applied
Nintendo actually did put a small rubberized plastic piece near the bottom, so we don't need an extra pad there.
Quickly it becomes clear, that there isn't room for more than a single side to have the pads.
So this is option one, it works, you have a pretty snug fit, and your screen is certainly protected.
Option two: Slightly less elegant, but a solution that fixes the problem with as little impact as possible. Additionally most people probably already have this item in their house. Electrical tape!
Given we want something that has a soft rubberized texture and also still allows the Switch to slide easily this is the best quick solution I can think of.
So those are the most pressing things in terms of protection I thought were necessary to cover. I'm not sure it really needed a whole thread. But I think people really need to be thinking about putting a screen protector on their Switches and I wanted to cover that and a simple solution to try and reduce the damage docks were causing.
Feel free to close the thread if deemed unecessary. But I'm hoping people will share their solutions and feedback so we can kind of suss out the best options right now. Thanks!
Screen Protectors
Unfortunately every single officially licensed screen protector I've seen is mode of cheap PET plastic, that to me isn't fit for the screen of my devices.
If you want an officially licensed product, you either get a simple one that comes with many cases. Or you get Hori Officially Licensed protector.
$9.99
$19.99
The main differences? One is a thicker piece of plastic. Which makes it more resilient to scratches. Generally I recommend avoiding plastic screen protectors for a few reasons.
1. Application is nearly always a nightmare and almost always has bubbles of some kind that are a pain to work out.
2. It doesn't feel nearly as good as the actual screen. It's often softer or more "grippy" than intended. I bought a device with a premium screen, I want it to feel premium.
3. Plastics while oleophobic, don't hold up as well in the long term and oils tend to streak, smear and are harder to clean. They tend to discolor over time. Whether this is specifically from oils in your skin, sunlight/UV, degradation or a mix of all. They just get kind of nasty.
Best current alternatives? Basically, unvetted "tempered glass" protectors. As I cannot stand plastic protectors, I jumped on one of those unknown brand $9.99 screen protector packs. I ordered mine from amFilm on Amazon This is also where I need your guys help, if you've ordered a non licensed screen protector, let us know what you think. My belief is a lot of these tempered glass protectors are coming from the same supplier, and then just being bought and packaged through vendors, but I can't vouch for any of those I haven't tried.
I ordered amFilm and received on the third even though it was slated for the 10th. I imagine they are trying to bump up their Amazon reviews so they are the go to Switch protector. Seems to be working.
First question, are they actually glass? It felt a lot more flexible than my tempered glass protectors of the past and I was skeptical at the price. Many times these companies will try to pass off thicker plastic protectors as glass. So I tested it.
Yup they're glass.
Included items
Basically a nicer set for a screen protector, with most of what you need to make sure your screen is clean for application, wet wipe, dry wipe and microfiber cloth. Considering I played with my Switch the night before, it was nice. The application was a breeze, as most tempered glass screen protectors are, as they are one solid piece they usually settle on the screen and air is pushed out very easily. They don't tend to bubble so much as have small pockets, a benefit of the rigidity. Tempered glass protectors are the only times outside of things like Liquid armor I haven't been extremely annoyed by the process.
Speaking of process, application process is honestly as simple as it is laid out here.
After application
The tempered glass protector, at least for me checks out. It's as good as any other that I've used. And more importantly it feels good and offers better protection/longevity than plastic. Impressive that so many of these companies are selling them at $9.99 but, again I can only vouch for amFilm currently. I know several gaffers are planning to get Ozrly, so hopefully they leave impressions soon.
Well, now we have a better screen protector, so what else is there?
Carrying Cases
Carrying cases have been covered But any details people want to share about their chosen products as they use them, will be good!
The Dock conundrum...
As is being reported, Nintendo in their infinite wisdom decided they didn't need rubberized pads on the ridges that our consoles slide in and out on, and hold our console in place.
That's not too conducive to screen health. It's a very rugged plastic material that is certainly abrasive.
What can we do? Basically what Nintendo should have. Personally, I went looking for some foam or rubberized tape/pads to solve the issue. The only problem being, it's really tight, so we need some very thin padding.
I found some thin rubber pads for $3 at my local ACE hardware and went with that, at least as a temporary measure.
I measured the ridges within the console, and each is 1/2inch in width. I measured and cut each pad. They aren't all exactly the same size, but for our purposes that's fine.
Then applied
Nintendo actually did put a small rubberized plastic piece near the bottom, so we don't need an extra pad there.
Quickly it becomes clear, that there isn't room for more than a single side to have the pads.
So this is option one, it works, you have a pretty snug fit, and your screen is certainly protected.
Option two: Slightly less elegant, but a solution that fixes the problem with as little impact as possible. Additionally most people probably already have this item in their house. Electrical tape!
Given we want something that has a soft rubberized texture and also still allows the Switch to slide easily this is the best quick solution I can think of.
So those are the most pressing things in terms of protection I thought were necessary to cover. I'm not sure it really needed a whole thread. But I think people really need to be thinking about putting a screen protector on their Switches and I wanted to cover that and a simple solution to try and reduce the damage docks were causing.
Feel free to close the thread if deemed unecessary. But I'm hoping people will share their solutions and feedback so we can kind of suss out the best options right now. Thanks!
