4S ≠ S4

I overheard the following conversation somewhere in a hipster-filled restaurant. It went something like this:

Hipster 1: Hey, you got a new phone.

Hipster 2: Yeah, but I’m going to get the S4 as soon as it’s out.

Hipster 1: Why?

Hipster 2: I want to be the first to get it.

Hipster 1: The 4S has been out for years. A lot of people got it.

Hipster 2: (roll eyes) I said S4, not 4S.

Hipster 1: Yeah, a 4S.

Hipster 2: Too many people got 4S. I want an S4.

……. conversation went on and on.

No I didn’t make that up.

4s-is-not-s4

Great Shield Matte Screen Protector for Nexus 4

UPDATED 2013-03-09

One little pet peeve of mine about smart phone is the glare on the glass screen. All of the iPhones and Nexus-series phone I own have matte/anti-glare screen protector installed. With the iPhones, I recommend getting Power Support brand. When I got a Nexus 4, I looked into several different brands of screen protectors. I decided to try one out, GreatShield Matte Screen Protector.

Nexus-4-Great-Shield

It comes in a 3-pack for under $10 at Amazon.com.

Nexus-4-GreatShield-1

It took me about 5 minutes to apply the screen protector with no noticeable dust bubbles, and it took me only one try. I have been applying screen protectors on numerous iPhones, iPad and other smart phones for the past 5 years. I can’t do it with my eyes closed though.

The current revision of GreatShield Matte Screen Protector has the necessary cutout for the front-facing camera and the proximity sensor. During the course of my research, different brands of screen protector for Nexus 4 do not have the said cutout.

One thing that you should know that GreatShield Matte Screen Protector size. While it fully covers the screen area, it is smaller than the glass-face of Nexus 4. It leaves 2 mm on the sides and bottom and 1 mm on the top. The gaps prevent the film from bubbling due to friction from certain Nexus 4 cases. The case I have on this Nexus 4 certainly does not fall in that category.

Nexus-4-GreatShield-Front-Camera

Nexus-4-GreatShield-Proximity-Sensor

A few days in, I am pretty satisfied with GreatShield Matte Screen Protector. In case anyone wants to know, it is a Rearth Ringke SLIM Case one the Nexus 4. I’ll post more details about it on a different post.

Nexus-4-GreatShield-2

Personal Note: iPhone 4S screen replacement

I spent a good 2 hours on Wednesday evening replacing a cracked iPhone 4S screen. I actually labeled every little thing that I took off the iPhone 4S and took pictures of each major steps. I won’t bother posting any of the instructions since apparently someone else such as iFixit has done so.

iPhone-4S-broken-screen

iPhone-4S-screen-replaced

Those bubbles on the replacement screen is courtesy of the shipping cover of the screen.