Should I Put A Camera Protector On My iPhone (is it necessary?)

By | July 27, 2022

Introductory content.

As we all knew, the latest version of iPhone was designed with a bigger camera module, where it is more protruded from the phone surface at the back cover.

This design raised the concern of iPhone users if they accidentally drop the phone to the floor and cause scratches and cracking at the phone camera lens cover.

The market launches various types of camera protectors for the iPhone.

Here we are going to discuss whether you should put a camera protector on the iPhone or not.

Hope it helps you.

 

Should I Put A Camera Protector On My iPhone

The answer is not necessary. An iPhone already equipped with sapphire glass camera lens cover which is scratch proof (basically only diamond can scratch sapphire glass), and above average impact resistance level. A decent phone case is capable of minimizing the risk of iPhone damage when falling down. Camera protectors surely will degrade the quality of the photos that you captured.

 

What iPhone originally provided?

Originally, the iPhone camera lens is actually protected by a layer of protective glass, a lens cover (a built in protector).

That protective glass is made of synthetic sapphire glass, which is scratch resistant and able to prevent objects in the pocket like keys or coins from scratching it.

 

What is synthetic sapphire glass?

Synthetic sapphire glass looks like glass, but actually not a glass.

It is made of aluminum oxide(Al2O3) which undergoes a high temperature crystallization process, a hard and transparent material.

Synthetic sapphire glass is one of the hardest materials on earth.

By Mohs scale (a system that used to rate the hardness of various materials), diamonds stand at scale of 10 the highest, and sapphire glass stands at scale of 9.

Basically you can’t scratch sapphire glass unless you get a diamond to scratch it.

Sapphire glass which is regarded as scratched proof is used to make watch glass and phone camera built-in protective glass.

 

Is a camera protector necessary for the iPhone?

Let’s see below the reasons for not getting a camera protector.

 

The iPhone camera lens cover is scratch proof.

The phone camera lens is protected by a layer of sapphire glass which stands on Mohs hardness level of 9 out of 10.

Nothing is able to scratch the sapphire glass layer unless you use a diamond to scratch it.

Sapphire glass is highly scratch resistant but susceptible to cracking and shattering.

A test was conducted to examine the scratch resistance, impact resistance, and strength to compare sapphire glass with Gorilla glass(a material which used to make phone display screens).

The test result shows the sapphire glass is significantly scratch proof but susceptible to impact due to its brittleness.

The Gorilla glass has the advantage of impact resistance over sapphire glass.

 

The impact resistance of the iPhone is still considered above average level.

The impact resistance level of sapphire glass is still above the average.

Even though the sapphire glass impact resistance is lower than gorilla glass, the chance that the camera lens protective cover will crack is very low, unless the sapphire glass of the camera is accurately impacted with a hard object when falling down from significant height.

The phone case is able to lower down the chance of the iPhone camera hitting the hard object when falling down.

 

A decent phone case is able to lower the chance of an iPhone camera getting scratches and cracks.

Normally a decent phone case able to provide the phone camera a clearance from the surface.

Some phone cases even have protruding edges surrounding the camera.

When the phone with the case falls down to the floor, the case body protruding edges will hit the floor instead of the phone camera.

 

The photos quality will be affected by the camera protector.

The camera protector will affect the quality of the iPhone’s captured photo.
The extra transparent layer of plastic that is added on the back of the phone will affect the clarity of the photo, that transparent plastic actually made of 5 to 6 different layers like glass, coating, film, and glue. It is lowering the grade of the photos.

Another point is the camera light flash will be blocked by the protector wall (maybe about 1mm thickness) around the flash bulb, it means you will lose the flash at the edge of the photo.

The photo that is taken at night will have the reflection of light, causing the photo to be blurry.

Be careful of the adhesive type phone camera protector, after the protector is installed, it would become difficult for removing. The adhesive layer that remains at the camera would ruin your photos quality as well.

 

Final Thought

Based on the points I discussed above, you don’t really need a camera protector for your iPhone as the sapphire glass lens cover is already a durable material for scratch & impact resistance.

But if you really are not comfortable with your iPhone camera going unprotected, then just go get one for it, but I suggest getting a protector not an adhesive type and can easily install and uninstall, not easily trapping dust, and not badly affect the photos quality.

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