Andrew Melder

Ever since getting the Nexus 4, I’ve treated it with kid gloves. Mind you, I do this with all new gadgets for the first few weeks but the Nexus 4 amplifies this feeling with it’s glass back. Anyone who has owned, or knows an owner of, an iPhone 4/4S knows how easy it is to scratch/crack the glass on the back of a phone despite the Gorilla Glass coating.

While I have a TPU case to protect the phone, I’ve always been one to prefer the look and feel of any phone sans case. In doing so, I know I risk cracking the glass panels with an unfortunate drop, something I will have to live with if it happens. However, I wanted to find something to protect the back from scratches from grit/sand/dust when I place the phone down on a surface.

As a result, instead of buying a bumper case for the phone I decided to purchase Nillkin Crystal screen protector set for the Nexus 4. This set comes with both front and rear protectors however as I haven’t bothered to install the front protector, this article will focus on the rear protector.

Fitting the protector is the same as any other dry application screen protector: clean the surface of the phone, remove the plastic layer to reveal the adhesive backing then line up the protector to the screen while praying no dust particles sneak in underneath the protector while you’re applying it.

The Nillkin protector is of a nice thickness and the adhesive is very strong. Anyone who has applied a cheap, no-name brand screen protector will notice the difference in quality.

As you can see from the these pictures, the screen protector only has cutout holes to the camera flash, but not for the lens itself. In my brief experience, it hasn’t affected the picture quality at all and it’s nice to know the area around the sensor is protected from scratches.

The other cutout is for the speaker on the bottom right, which lines up quite nicely. I aligned this protector flush with the top of the glass back, which has left the tiniest of gaps at the bottom of the phone, however it’s nothing you wouldn’t find on any other protector and certainly not going to cause any issues for protection.

Two things to note: while the protector is not as slippery as the bare glass back, the phone will still slide off uneven with great ease. In addition, while the website I bought this from (neTimes.com) advertised this set as having a anti-fingerprint film, the rear protector at least is as fingerprint prone as the glass itself.

All up, I would highly recommend this protector to anyone looking to give a little scratch resistance to your glass-backed Nexus 4. If you want impact and cracking protection, this is not the product for you.