Review: Nillkin Tempered Glass Screen Protector

I figure plenty of rich folks, Wu Lao Er included, have already moved on to the OnePlus 7 Pro. Me, I’m still on a OnePlus 5.

Though my OnePlus 5 is really my backup phone. It’s fine, honestly. Performance holds up, no reason to replace it. Only the protector I’d stuck on it cracked, so I decided to get a new one.

The protector I had on the OnePlus 5 before was from Fangshao. The coating on that one felt weird to me, not smooth enough — probably some knockoff coating from a small factory. Since the Nillkin protector on my Pixel 3 XL feels great and the coating is great too, I decided to give the Nillkin one for the OnePlus 5 a shot.

Then I used it and cried.

Right after applying it, things actually felt pretty good. The big thing: no white edges! Then I turned the screen on…

Huh?

Huh??

Holy shit, it doesn’t even cover the displayed content! Sure, there’s no obvious rainbow effect, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one! It’s painful to look at!

I gave it two days, though, and if I’m not using it for long stretches, I’ve fucking adapted to it! It’s a backup phone, after all!

So it looks like Nillkin shrank the side margins by force to achieve “no white edges,” and this is how it turned out.

I don’t know if other people can put up with it. I can’t. But if you’re the type who absolutely refuses white edges and refuses white-edge liquid, this protector might be your only option.

In the end I lasted a week before switching back to the official soft film for the OnePlus 5.