So, I got around to trying out one of those lens covers for my iPhone. Been thinking about it for a while.
You know how the cameras on the newer iPhones stick way out? Yeah, that was starting to bug me. Felt like every time I put my phone down, I was risking scratching those lenses. Saw a buddy’s phone with a tiny nick on one, and that kinda sealed the deal for me. Decided I needed some protection.
Started looking around online. Man, there are a lot of options. You got individual rings for each lens, you got the full square or rectangle glass piece that covers everything. Some are super thin, some look like tank armor. Read a bunch of mixed reviews – some people swear by them, others say they ruin photos.
Picking One Out
Didn’t want to spend a ton. Found a multi-pack of the simple tempered glass square ones. Figured that covered the whole camera bump, seemed easiest. Reviews were decent enough, price was right. Added it to my cart and checked out.
Putting It On
When it arrived, the installation was pretty straightforward, mostly. Came with the usual cleaning wipes, dust stickers. Cleaned the phone lenses really well, maybe three times just to be sure. Then peeled the back off the protector, lined it up – which took a bit of fiddling to get it perfectly centered over the lenses – and pressed it down firmly. It stuck on there pretty good, seemed secure.
Living With It
First impressions? Looked okay. Definitely added some bulk to the camera bump, which was already big. You could tell something extra was on there. My phone case still fit, thankfully, but it was a tighter squeeze around the camera opening.
Here’s what I found after using it for a bit:
- Protection: Yeah, I felt less worried about setting my phone down. That was the main goal, and it seemed to do that job. No scratches appeared on the cover itself while I used it.
- Photo Quality: This is where it got tricky. Most daytime shots looked totally fine, couldn’t tell a difference. But sometimes, especially at night or with bright lights pointing at the camera, I started noticing weird lens flare or a slight haze. Not always, but enough to make me wonder. The flash performance also seemed… off. Pictures with flash looked a bit washed out compared to before.
- Dust Magnet: This was annoying. The edges of the glass cover seemed to trap dust and lint like crazy. Had to constantly wipe around it. It wasn’t getting under the glass, just stuck around the perimeter.
- Fingerprints: The cover seemed to pick up fingerprints maybe a little easier than the original lenses, but not drastically so.
So, after a few weeks, I actually ended up taking it off. The little annoyances – the occasional weird photo glare, the constant dust wiping – started to outweigh the peace of mind about scratches for me personally. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t seamless either.
My take? If you’re super worried about scratches and mostly take simple photos in good lighting, maybe it’s worth it for you. But for me, the potential impact on photos and the dust issue just made it not quite right. Think I’ll just try to be more careful putting my phone down from now on.