Should You Buy a Matte Screen Protector for Your Phone? 8 Pros and Cons to Consider

March 05, 2024

Key Takeaways

Matte screen protectors hide fingerprints well, allowing your phone to stay cleaner for longer without frequent cleaning.
The slightly coarse surface of matte screen protectors enhances typing, scrolling, and mobile gaming experiences for smoother movement.
Matte screen protectors diffuse light to eliminate glare, improving your media viewing experience, but they also reduce contrast and color saturation.

Applying a screen protector on your phone is a pretty common practice, but unknown to many, different types of screen protectors are available with different properties.

One such type is a matte screen protector that offers benefits that your regular tempered glass can't. However, there are some cons that you should be aware of as well before you go ahead and buy one. Let's dig deeper and learn more.

Pros of Matte Screen Protectors

First, consider why you should buy a matte screen protector for your phone and why it's a much better investment than a tempered glass one.

1. No More Fingerprint Marks and Smudges

Modern flagship phones come with an oleophobic coating for smudge resistance, but it isn't permanent and usually wears off within a year. That means you'll have to clean it daily to eliminate those fingerprint marks and smudges.

A matte screen protector isn't oleophobic (unless advertised), but it hides fingerprints really well, so you won't have to clean your phone as often—once a week should be more than enough. And because fingerprints don't show easily, your phone continues to look new and premium for a long time.

However, you should note that although matte screen protectors don't show fingerprints easily, they are harder to clean than regular tempered glass screen protectors once they accumulate enough dirt and moisture, making maintaining your phone a bit trickier.

With the latter, a quick wipe using a damp microfiber cloth usually does the trick. But with the former, you might find that you have to wipe quite a bit before seeing any results. Simply put, you won't have to clean your screen often, but when you do, it won't be as quick.

2. Improved Typing and Scrolling Experience

Unlike tempered glass, which has an even surface, the surface of a matte screen is slightly coarse and resembles paper or canvas. Because of this, it's far easier for your finger to glide on a matte surface than on a glass surface, which introduces more resistance.

This is especially useful if you have sweaty or pruney fingers or have calluses on them. A matte screen protector will deliver a far superior typing and scrolling experience.

If you do a lot of texting or scrolling social media feeds, a matte screen protector is a must. Also, if you happen to use a stylus with your smartphone for sketching or signing documents, the papery texture of the matte surface will feel really satisfying.

3. Improved Mobile Gaming Experience

You might be aware that some mobile gamers buy thumb gloves (aka finger sleeves) to improve their gaming experience. The idea is that during the gameplay, your hands often get sweaty, which results in more friction and restricts your fingers' ease of movement on the screen. Thumb gloves are supposed to reduce this friction.

With a matte screen protector, you don't need to buy thumb gloves because the surface is already smooth enough that your thumb can easily glide with little to no friction. This allows for swifter movement and an improved mobile gaming experience.

4. Glare-Free Viewing Experience

A matte screen protector isn't just for improved typing, scrolling, or gaming; it also enhances your media consumption thanks to its ability to eliminate glare.

Unlike an even glass surface, which reflects incoming light from a given direction at the same angle (also called specular reflection), the course texture of a matte surface scatters light around the point of reflection—effectively diffusing it.

In other words, instead of seeing a sharp glare on your screen that renders the content unwatchable, you'll see a soft light on your screen, which, although still a bit interrupting, will still allow you to continue viewing your content.

Cons of Matte Screen Protectors

Matte screen protectors have their perks, but they also require you to make some compromises, some of which are big enough that you might prefer to stick with your regular tempered glass screen protector instead.

1. Weaker Than Tempered Glass

Unlike tempered glass, which is stiff and tough and made solely to protect your display from accidental drops and scratches, a matte screen protector is thin and flexible and does not offer any such protection.

So, if you're clumsy or don't use a case with your phone, it's probably better to opt against a matte screen protector and pick a regular tempered glass one instead.

2. Reduced Contrast and Color Saturation

One difference you'll notice almost immediately after applying a matte screen protector on your phone is slightly worse picture quality. This is because the same texture that gives a matte screen protector its anti-glare properties also, unfortunately, reduces contrast and color saturation.

The difference isn't too big, and you'll probably get used to it over time. However, if you care about those bright, punchy colors and having an immersive viewing experience, you're better off without a matte solution.

3. Reduced Sharpness and Hazy-Looking Text

You may get used to the slightly reduced contrast and color saturation, but one thing you'll probably not be able to look past is how a matte screen protector reduces the sharpness of text and makes it appear a bit hazy.

So, if you're someone who loves downloading and reading ebooks on your phone, you wouldn't have the best time with a matte screen protector and should probably stick to a tempered glass one instead.

4. Reduced Brightness

Unlike fully transparent tempered glass, a matte surface has a very slight tint that makes your screen appear a little dull and not as bright as it otherwise would.

Because of this, you might have to keep the brightness higher than you normally would like, consuming slightly more battery life.

Switch to Matte for Smooth Typing and Scrolling

Matte screen protectors have their own pros and cons, and depending on your priorities, they may or may not be suited to you. That said, we highly recommend that you try it out once if you've never done so to experience the buttery-smooth typing and scrolling experience it offers.

Matte screen protectors are quite cheap, so even if you don't like them, you can take off the one on your screen, toss it in the bin, and forget about it. But if you love it, you'll probably never want to switch to tempered glass.

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