{"id":2149,"date":"2023-06-16T21:55:33","date_gmt":"2023-06-17T01:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/?p=2149"},"modified":"2023-06-16T21:55:33","modified_gmt":"2023-06-17T01:55:33","slug":"pixel-4a-screen-protector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/2023\/pixel-4a-screen-protector\/","title":{"rendered":"Pixel 4a Screen Protector"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/glass-pro.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2154\" src=\"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/glass-pro-288x500.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"288\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/glass-pro-288x500.jpg 288w, https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/glass-pro.jpg 579w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 288px) 85vw, 288px\" \/><\/a>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/2020\/google-pixel-4a\/\">Pixel 4a<\/a> continues to be my &#8220;daily driver&#8221;. I still mostly only need to charge it every 2 days, but by the second day the battery is well into the red and I&#8217;ve needed to top up to make it through. Using Android Auto in the car (wired) has also changed things a little, as my phone is getting charged while I drive. Still, on a full battery I can go all day.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, battery life is completely related to usage. I have a very modest number of apps, and I spend all day attached to a keyboard so I&#8217;m not using the phone very much at all.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve had a screen protector on the phone from day one. My preference, and it seems to be where the industry has gone too, is to have a &#8216;tempered glass&#8217; screen protector. This particular brand doesn&#8217;t even have a selfie camera hole &#8211; it&#8217;s just a rounded rectangle of glass. I bought these on eBay way back in October 2020 &#8211; the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebay.ca\/itm\/333722758792\">listing is still active<\/a>. I&#8217;d recommend this vendor as the product I got was very good, they also carry many other sizes for other phones.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve also got a bumper case on the phone which has saved it from many a drop. I finally got unlucky and dropped it 4 feet onto ceramic tile and the screen protector cracked.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/crack1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-2152\" src=\"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/crack1-388x500.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"388\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/crack1-388x500.jpg 388w, https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/crack1.jpg 647w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 388px) 85vw, 388px\" \/><\/a>This wasn&#8217;t the first tumble onto hard tile, but it finally landed the wrong way and cracked the screen protector. I will say that after being tossed around and living in my pocket for years, the screen protector itself was still in good shape.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/crack2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-2151\" src=\"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/crack2-500x296.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"296\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/crack2-500x296.jpg 500w, https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/crack2.jpg 761w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 85vw, 500px\" \/><\/a>As you can see, the damage to the screen protector was pretty obvious.<\/p>\n<p>Since this was a 2 pack of protectors, I had another one waiting to go. Peeling the old one off revealed the pristine 4a screen, exactly what I want to protect.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/wipes-screen.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-2153\" src=\"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/wipes-screen-500x294.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"294\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/wipes-screen-500x294.jpg 500w, https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/wipes-screen-1024x602.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/wipes-screen-768x452.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/wipes-screen.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 85vw, 500px\" \/><\/a>The protector ships with a couple of generic wipes. After sitting around for a couple of years the wet wipe had dried out. I didn&#8217;t need much cleaning power anyways so I just gave it a good wipe down with the dry one.<\/p>\n<p>The screen protector itself has a protective sticker only on one side. This is the screen side. I like to leave it in the foam sleeve until I&#8217;m about to install as that helps reduce dust. The install kit comes with a couple of stickers that you use as a &#8216;hinge&#8217; once you&#8217;ve placed the new screen on the phone (with protective sticker still on). Once the hinge is setup, you lift the screen and peel off the protective sticker.<\/p>\n<p>Let the clean screen flop down on the clean phone, and watch the magic &#8216;bonding&#8217; happen. If you&#8217;ve managed to stay dust free, it&#8217;ll be a nice clean match up and you&#8217;re good to go. I wasn&#8217;t so lucky this time.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/dust-blob.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-2150\" src=\"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/dust-blob-500x304.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"304\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/dust-blob-500x304.jpg 500w, https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/dust-blob-1024x623.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/dust-blob-768x468.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/dust-blob.jpg 1112w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 85vw, 500px\" \/><\/a>Yup, a dreaded dust blob between the screen protector and the phone screen. Along with the guide stickers (hinges) you get a dust remover sticker. Gently peel the new screen up, it&#8217;ll stay attached due to the sticker hinges. Then dab at the dust blob &#8211; in my case it was stuck to the new screen protector, but you can do both sides (gently). The dust remover sticker should pick up the dust and leave a clean surface behind. Re-flop the screen and if you&#8217;ve not introduce more dust it should be good to go. Carefully remove the hinge stickers and put the case back on.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a good <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=f5zU1KtBQB4\">youtube video<\/a> on the hinge method for screen installs.<\/p>\n<p>If you need to put a screen on without the stickers &#8211; just use scotch tape. It works exactly the same. You want to avoid touching anything directly with your fingers (which are slightly greasy). I&#8217;ve installed many screen protectors, and it does get easier &#8211; but even someone doing it the first time can succeed if you go slowly and try to be in a dust free location. One hint would be to do this in the bathroom just after you&#8217;ve had a shower &#8211; the moisture in the air tends to cut down on dust.<\/p>\n<p>For me, screen protectors work well. I&#8217;d rather scratch\/crack the screen protector than risk a ding in my phone screen. In the past, I&#8217;ve used screen protectors to cover up \/ mask scratches in the screen of a used phone I&#8217;ve bought &#8211; so even if you have a scratch, a screen protector can help make your phone seem new.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pixel 4a continues to be my &#8220;daily driver&#8221;. I still mostly only need to charge it every 2 days, but by the second day the battery is well into the red and I&#8217;ve needed to top up to make it through. Using Android Auto in the car (wired) has also changed things a little, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/2023\/pixel-4a-screen-protector\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Pixel 4a Screen Protector&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,12,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-android","category-how-to","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2149"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2157,"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2149\/revisions\/2157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}