Apply a screen protector, bubble-free
Apply a screen protector, bubble-free
4:37

Apply a screen protector, bubble-free

Phones
Hey, guys. I'm Sharon Vaknin. And today I'll show you how to purchase and apply a screen protector for your phone. Not everyone believes in screen protectors but after seeing how scratch prone Molly's iPhone 5 is, I'm pretty much a fan. Okay. So, let's get right to it. The screen protector you choose will vary depending on your phone. Protectors also come in matte finishes or as privacy screens but I would avoid those if you can. They tend to produce this unavoidable rainbow effect. With these clear protectors, you'll shield your phone without affecting the display. So, today I'll be using a clear protector for the iPhone 5 from Sir Lancelot's Armor and it's time to apply this thing. First things first. You wanna be a in a dust free environment. Pick a clean surface in a quite area where no one will bother you. It's really important that you get it right the first time. And one more thing, if you have lotion on your hands, you wanna remove it either by washing your hands with soap and water or wiping them down with some rubbing alcohol. Now, you'll need to clean your iPhone screen. First, remove any case you might have on it. Let's take this one off. And spray with just a little LCD cleaning solution. All right. Give it a good rub down with the micro fiber cloth, and take your time here. You don't want any dust. Okay. Let's double check to make sure. See a couple of flocks. I'm telling you, you wanna take your time here. Now, we can go to applying our protector. All right. So, take the protector, this is brand new, out of its packaging. And most times, these will come with a micro fiber cloth and even a card for pushing out the bubbles. All right. There it is. You can start from the top or the bottom but in my experience, you get the best alignment when you start with the home button. Okay, first, we'll peel the backing of the protector and make sure you're holding its sides. Do not touch the sticky part. If you need to, if you have fat fingers, you can use tweezers to hang onto it, but I'm gonna go ahead and just be really careful here. Okay, so we'll start by making sure that it's perfectly aligned around the home button. Again, you wanna take your time with this, it's not a race. Because if you do it right, it's going to last a long time. Okay. That looks pretty good. Okay, as soon as you found the sweet spot around the home button, grab a credit card and slowly use it to apply the protector. Again, really take your time here, that's the secret to not having any bubbles. So, I'm just pushing, pushing, pushing, keep going up. All right. If at any point you see a bubble, you can lift the protector a little bit and go back and push that bubble out. All right. So far so good. All right. When you have it all smoothed out and in place, it's time to peel back this tab which will expose the actual screen protector itself. It should look a lot shinier now. If there are any bubbles you can't quite get out, there's either a scratch or dust under there. If it's dust, lift the protector with a piece of tape and then use another piece of tape to remove the dust. Just like that. And there you have it. If you did it right, you should really hardly be able to tell that there's even a screen protector on your phone. And once you put your case back on, your phone will be totally protected. Remember, you should apply a screen protector soon after buying your phone. Otherwise, those scratches will give you unwanted bubbles. If you have any questions or just wanna tweet me a photo of your bang up job, hit me up on Twitter. For CNET, I'm Sharon Vaknin.

Up Next

Tips and Tricks for the AirPods Pro 2
airpods-pro-2

Up Next

Tips and Tricks for the AirPods Pro 2

How to Watch the Solar Eclipse Safely From Your Phone
screenshot-2024-04-03-at-15-47-11.png

How to Watch the Solar Eclipse Safely From Your Phone

Windows 11 Tips and Hidden Features
240311-site-windows-11-hidden-tips-and-tricks-v2

Windows 11 Tips and Hidden Features

Vision Pro App Walkthrough -- VisionOS 1.0.3
VisionOS 1.0.3

Vision Pro App Walkthrough -- VisionOS 1.0.3

Tips and Tricks for the Galaxy S24 Ultra
240216-site-galaxy-s24-ultra-tips-and-hidden-features-2

Tips and Tricks for the Galaxy S24 Ultra

TikTok Is Now on the Apple Vision Pro
tiktok-on-vision-pro-clean

TikTok Is Now on the Apple Vision Pro

Get Your TV Ready for the Big Game: Super Bowl Setup Tips
superbowl-tv-settings-thumb1

Get Your TV Ready for the Big Game: Super Bowl Setup Tips

How to Use a Quest 3 Like the Vision Pro
240202-site-spatial-computing-on-meta-quest-3

How to Use a Quest 3 Like the Vision Pro

How to Make a GPT in ChatGPT-4
howto-createyourowngpt-clean

How to Make a GPT in ChatGPT-4

Tips and Tricks for the Galaxy Watch 6
231120-site-tips-tricks-and-hidden-features-v2

Tips and Tricks for the Galaxy Watch 6

Tech Shows

The Apple Core
apple-core-w

The Apple Core

Alphabet City
alphabet-city-w

Alphabet City

CNET Top 5
cnet-top-5-w

CNET Top 5

The Daily Charge
dc-site-1color-logo.png

The Daily Charge

What the Future
what-the-future-w

What the Future

Tech Today
tech-today-w

Tech Today

Latest News All latest news

Robosen's Megatron Transformer Is Too Much Fun for an Evil Robot
240419-megatron-v04

Robosen's Megatron Transformer Is Too Much Fun for an Evil Robot

Apple May Give FineWoven Accessories One More Season
finewoven-240424-land-00-00-13-04-still003

Apple May Give FineWoven Accessories One More Season

US vs. TikTok: What Happens Next
240424-yt-tiktok-vs-us-v04

US vs. TikTok: What Happens Next

Battle of the Humanoid Robots: MenteeBot Is Ready
240423-yt-menteebot-ai-robot-v08

Battle of the Humanoid Robots: MenteeBot Is Ready

What to Expect at Apple's May 7 iPad Event
240423-yt-apple-ipad-ipad-pro-pencil-v02

What to Expect at Apple's May 7 iPad Event

Did a Week With the Apple Watch Make Me Use My iPhone Less?
240419-site-does-having-an-apple-watch-make-me-use-my-iphone-less-4

Did a Week With the Apple Watch Make Me Use My iPhone Less?

Most Popular All most popular

First Look at TSA's Self-Screening Tech (in VR!)
innovation

First Look at TSA's Self-Screening Tech (in VR!)

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Review: More AI at a Higher Cost
240123-site-samsung-galaxy-s24-ultra-review-4

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Review: More AI at a Higher Cost

'Circle to Search' Lets Users Google From Any Screen
circlesearchpic

'Circle to Search' Lets Users Google From Any Screen

Asus Put Two 14-inch OLEDs in a Laptop, Unleashes First OLED ROG Gaming Laptop
asus-preces-00-00-25-11-still003

Asus Put Two 14-inch OLEDs in a Laptop, Unleashes First OLED ROG Gaming Laptop

Samsung Galaxy Ring: First Impressions
samsung-galaxy-ring-clean

Samsung Galaxy Ring: First Impressions

Best of Show: The Coolest Gadgets of CES 2024
240111-site-best-of-ces-2024-1

Best of Show: The Coolest Gadgets of CES 2024

Latest Products All latest products

Robosen's Megatron Transformer Is Too Much Fun for an Evil Robot
240419-megatron-v04

Robosen's Megatron Transformer Is Too Much Fun for an Evil Robot

Battle of the Humanoid Robots: MenteeBot Is Ready
240423-yt-menteebot-ai-robot-v08

Battle of the Humanoid Robots: MenteeBot Is Ready

2025 Audi Q6, SQ6 E-Tron: Audi's Newest EV Is Its Most Compelling
cnet-audiq6

2025 Audi Q6, SQ6 E-Tron: Audi's Newest EV Is Its Most Compelling

Hands-On with Ford's Free Tesla Charging Adapter
pic3

Hands-On with Ford's Free Tesla Charging Adapter

Nuro R3 is an Adorable Self-Driving Snack Bar
240320-site-nuro-r3-first-look-v1

Nuro R3 is an Adorable Self-Driving Snack Bar

First Look: The $349 Nothing Phone 2A Aims to Brighten Your Day
240304-site-nothing-phone-2-first-look-v3

First Look: The $349 Nothing Phone 2A Aims to Brighten Your Day

Latest How To All how to videos

Tips and Tricks for the AirPods Pro 2
airpods-pro-2

Tips and Tricks for the AirPods Pro 2

How to Watch the Solar Eclipse Safely From Your Phone
screenshot-2024-04-03-at-15-47-11.png

How to Watch the Solar Eclipse Safely From Your Phone

Windows 11 Tips and Hidden Features
240311-site-windows-11-hidden-tips-and-tricks-v2

Windows 11 Tips and Hidden Features

Vision Pro App Walkthrough -- VisionOS 1.0.3
VisionOS 1.0.3

Vision Pro App Walkthrough -- VisionOS 1.0.3

Tips and Tricks for the Galaxy S24 Ultra
240216-site-galaxy-s24-ultra-tips-and-hidden-features-2

Tips and Tricks for the Galaxy S24 Ultra

TikTok Is Now on the Apple Vision Pro
tiktok-on-vision-pro-clean

TikTok Is Now on the Apple Vision Pro