After having an InvisibleShield for my old HTC Touch Pro, I decided to get one for my Palm Pre as well. The InvisibleShield is a thin (1mm thick) silicone like skin which wraps around your phone. About 90-95% of the phone is covered, protecting it from scratches and light drops.
The first thing I did before installing was clean my work surface to make sure it’s free of dust and debris. Then, lay out everything you need. I added a pair of latex gloves and an alcohol rubbing pad to clean the phone.
Take the alcohol pad (or plain rubbing alcohol and a lint free cloth) and clean your phone. Make sure there are no fingerprints or dust left afterwards.
Now, get ready to apply the skin. Take off the rubber gloves (the skin’s adhesive sticks to the gloves easily) and open the application sponge package.
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Moisten your fingertips generously with the sponge. As you pull off the skin from its paper backing, be sure to apply some solution to the adhesive side to keep it from sticking. After you’ve completely removed the skin, it must be soaked with the sponge. Remember, moisten the adhesive side of the skin with the sponge, not your phone itself.
Once the skin is nice and wet, start the application. Work slowly and make sure the edges and openings line up. I did the back piece first and lined the speaker and camera holes up first before moving on. You’re supposed to use the squeegee to iron out air bubbles as you apply the skin, but it’s terribly difficult. I just waited until after I had the skin applied, then went over it with the squeegee card.
Make sure the skin is moist for easy application. If the adhesive side dries out, it will start to stick. Here’s what my back cover looked like immediately after application:
I’m not too worried about the air bubbles. What looks like dust are also just tiny air bubbles. In a few days, they’ll be gone – just like with my Touch Pro.
Keeping the edges stuck down is the hard part. Here’s a tip for that: use plastic wrap. After applying the skin, simply wrap the phone in plastic wrap and wait a few hours. The plastic wrap works wonderfully at keeping the edges down.
Then proceed with installing the front piece. Make sure your fingertips and skin are moist! I lined up the earpiece and center button cutout first, then proceeded to stick the rest of the skin down. Here’s what I ended up with:
Not too worried about the air bubbles because once again, they will go away with time. The edges were a pain to get down, however. One thing you don’t want to do while installing your skin is stretching to correct. If you’ve slightly misaligned the skin, remove the entire skin and start over. Don’t try to pull one side of the skin to correct because you’ll end up stretching the skin and possibly creating overhang on the edges.
Once you’re finished, wrap the phone in plastic wrap to help the edges stick and leave it alone for at least 12 hours. Don’t touch it, don’t put the battery in, and don’t use it. Just be patient and let it dry.
Installation was about 30-40 minutes going slowly. Make sure to be patient and take your time to line the skin up properly. If you don’t, you may find yourself removing some overhang from the edges.
If you’re really worried about the air bubbles, see one of my old articles with before and after pictures of another install.
I personally like the InvisibleShield. Some people don’t like the “tackiness” of the skin, but I love it. It helps keep the phone from sliding around and/or slipping out of my hand. The “tackiness” wears off in a few weeks, however.
Screen sensitivity is not affected as far as I can tell. There’s a little more resistance when sliding due to the “tackiness” of the skin, but all of my screen taps and swipes are registering just fine.
Another positive for having a skin is that it repels grease and oils much better than your phone would naked. Palm Pre owners know how greasy their phone gets after a few hours of use. The coverage is very good with only the plastic matte edges being exposed. I’m not too worried about the side edges as much as I’m worried about the screen.
As far as the protection goes, the InvisibleShield is superb. With my Touch Pro, the skin did its job very well, which I look forward to seeing in my Palm Pre as well.
Edit: Just got this in my email. There’s a 30% discount on Palm Pre skins through June 30, 2009. Just use the code: iphonepalm
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this is a great review, or more of a tutorial on how to install, either way thanks! can you update this post in a couple of days and let us know (with pics) how it’s working out..
I bought this product based on THIS REVIEW. I’m not inept. I can tint windows very well. The sponge does not allow you to adequately soak the material to float it. Also, it is sticky from the beginning. This makes it impossible to reposition or squeegee effectively.
THIS PRODUCT IS HARDLY INVISIBLE. It appears as though I’ve sprayed the surface with clear coat paint. It has an “orange peel” effect, rather than a clear glass surface.
I used my thumb to press the air bubbles out of the material during install. I wrapped the phone and waited a day. When I unwrapped, i found the material had a “fish scale” effect from my little thumb presses. It is EXTREMELY DISTRACTING, and the surface looks awful. For the same look, I could have covered the phone with clear packing tape.
I feel I wasted $30, and the site’s “lifetime guarantee” is misleading. Nowhere on the package does it say that it does not include installation flaws. So if you stretch it, as I apparently did, it’s your loss. I could try to make a warranty claim, it will cost me $4 to replace. I may as well go to best skins ever.com and get their product for $7 just for general principle.
if you have a black touch screen phone, BUYER BEWARE. THEY SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO USE THE WORD INVISIBLE, OR PORTRAY IT AS SUCH.
Tyler, I hear your concerns. I thought the sponge worked fine, although not as good as the spray bottle they include with other sets. The skin is sticky from the beginning because it’s not wet.
Also, you’ll find that most all skins have an orange peel effect. It bothers some people, but others don’t mind. I think the orange peel effect contributes to how “grippy” the phone will be. It’s normal for there to be marks where you tried to push the skin down. I say you should have used the card to push out the bubbles because while using the card, you basically push the bubble to the edge of the screen and out it goes.
You also might want to give it a little longer than a day to settle. I know you’ve seen my post install pictures, and in that case, it took 4 days for it to completely settle. My phone looked awful the day after as well.
I have a Best Skins Ever skin and while it does have less of an orange peel effect than the InvisibleShield, the orange peel is still there. It also is not as thick as the InvisibleShield, but it only runs 1/3 of the price. If you’re looking for something as close to smooth as possible, give the Phantom skins a try.
As for getting a replacement, you will be able to get one (I don’t think Zagg cares too much). The downside is that you have to pay for shipping, so it’s technically not 100% free.
But yeah, the InvisibleShield – some hate it, some love it.
wrapping it in clear wrap wasn’t a good idea considering it stuck all over the front of my phone. On top of that theres a whole in the front of the IS, so much for an indestructible, military used product.
DO NOT PURCHASE!
I cannot recommend strongly enough against purchasing this product. I bought it from a kiosk and had it installed by them, and the shield is peeling off the phone four days after I bought it. Between the charges from Zagg to get the replacement shield, and the charge from the kiosk to reapply it, I would have to pay nearly the full purchase price AGAIN to get my “free” replacement. Avoid this like the plague.
this product sucks! plain and simple! save yourself the 30 bucks! im thoroughly disgusted i wasted my money!
This is the wost product ever and at $30 plus tax is highway robbery.