Full Body Scratch Protection
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.
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.
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