Posted by What is Gorilla Glass Screen Protector? This question comes to mind when we want to buy a new device and see it as a pros for that device.
We spend a lot of our time using electronic devices and they cover many of our needs. These devices are always at risk and can be easily damaged; in this case all our personal data can be lost forever. As their performance and lifetime are important for us, we do our best to protect them. For example, we use phone covers to protect the body of our smartphone. That’s why screen protectors like Gorilla Glass have turned into a necessary accessory for new smartphones like iPhone SE as well as tablets, monitors and other similar devices.
There are various types of screen protectors with different structure and quality in the market. There’s high competition between these glass protectors, but Gorilla Glass stands out as it is trusted by many users thanks to its high quality. I’m going to explain features and characteristics of Gorilla Glass in this post. Stay with me!
What is Gorilla Glass Screen Protector and Why Is It Used?
Gorilla Glass is a thin and light glass with excellent resistance and high flexibility.
Gorilla Glass is produced by Corning Inc. For the first time it was introduced at CES 2007 with the aim of making change in electronic life of people; and soon it caught attention of many people. Gorilla Glass provides perfect safety for your device with its super strength because its resistance is higher than a key, coin or any other metal device, so you can put in your pocket with complete peace of mind!
Gorilla Glass can be used in all types of smartphones, tablets, laptops and multimedia players. Also, it’s been used in HD and 3D screens because it’s clear and has great transparency what lets the device display images with the best quality on electronic devices. Now, you might be asking yourself what makes it that resistant.
Industrial processes and multiple chemicals used for creating Gorilla Glass which we’re going to briefly explain about here:
3 sources of materials have been used for creating these glasses that include: Silicon Dioxide, Limestone and Sodium Carbonate. Corning produces Gorilla Glass based on Silicon Dioxide. When it gets mixed with other chemicals alkali-aluminosilicate sheets are created. Then these sheets are placed on potassium melting at 400 degrees Celsius and ions of potassium replace sodium in alkali-aluminosilicate sheets.
Ionic radius of potassium is more than in sodium what results in higher compression of the sheets and as a result, higher resistance of gorilla glass. This product is manufactured in different areas like Taiwan, Kentucky, United States and Asan (South Korea). According to Corning stats, gorilla glass protects more than 4.5 billion electronic devices all around the world.
This glass received warm welcome from people and companies what encouraged Corning developers continue with next generations of this type of glass with better characteristics and better resistance. Till now, Corning have produced 5 generations of gorilla glass.
Gorilla Glass 2
Gorilla Glass 2 was released in January 2010. This generation was based on the same process, but it was thinner and had 20% more resistance compared to the first generation. Corning increased the amount of potassium uptake and compaction in this generation.
Gorilla Glass 3
The third generation of gorilla glass was released at CES 2013. This generation was more durable compared to all previous generations.
Gorilla Glass 3 was equipped to NDR (negative differential resistance) which made it 3 times more resistant than the second generation. Its specific design made it resistant to scratch and hard impact. Samsung Galaxy S4 was the first phone equipped to Gorilla Glass 3 and after that it was used for protection in different types of smartphones like iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy S5.
Gorilla Glass 4
But all these features were not satisfactory for scientists of Corning. They tested different ways to design and create glass with more resistance. They believed that they could create a product which wouldn`t let your device get broken even if a residential building collapses on it!!!
And thus, gorilla glass 4 entered the market in 2014 and pushed out other screen glass protectors with its amazing resistance.
This type of gorilla glass is two times more resistant than the previous generation (gorilla glass 3) and is only 0.4mm thick. To prove the strength of gorilla glass 4, Corning officials did a test. They threw devices with gorilla glass 4 screen protector from one meter height. You might ask what happened. 80% of the devices that were equipped to gorilla glass 4 did totally well and were not broken after falling. So this screen protector has appropriate resistance against impact and pressure in most cases.
Corning announced that although protection issue hadn’t been solved completely, but the company took an important step forward by creating and releasing the fourth generation of gorilla glass.
Gorilla Glass 5 – And it’s even more resistance now!
Finally in 2016, Corning released the newest generation of gorilla glass – the super glass with improved chemical formula – and got attention of gadget manufactures and will probably be used in a wide range of devices all around the world. These days all well-known companies like Apple and Samsung protect the display of their newest products with the latest version of gorilla glass to increase durability of their devices.
Corning tried to make gorilla glass 5 as resistant as possible and now, the chance for the device equipped to gorilla glass to break in case of falling from the height of man`s waist or shoulder has become much lower. Corning announced that 80% of devices that are equipped to gorilla glass 5 will be totally safe if they fall from 1.6 meter height on the ground or other hard surfaces.
Although the previous generation of gorilla glass is considered as a protector with high resistance, it doesn’t mean that your device will be 100% safe from all falling risks. Since the most damage to the display of electronic portable gadgets is done by hard surfaces and sharp objects, Corning has focused on increasing resistance of gorilla glass 5 against these particular types of surfaces. Corning also mentioned that performance of gorilla glass may be different for different devices according to their design. For example, smartphones with a wider screen border are better protected.
Gorilla glass is 4 times stronger compared to other competitors, so customers can use their smartphones without any worries about getting their device broken. Resistance to damage, high transparency and touch sensitivity of gorilla glass encouraged other companies in different areas to equip their touch devices to this type of glass and release their products with this screen protector.
Gorilla glass received warm welcome by electronic devices manufactures from the beginning. Steve Jobs was the first person who used gorilla glass protector in the first generations of iPhone, and Apple has continued using it till the latest versions like iPhone SE. When gorilla glass 2 was released, it was embedded on Galaxy S3, Nokia Lumia 920 and Galaxy Note II while, as time goes, more and more smartphones use gorilla glass screen protector. As we’ve mentioned above, many electronic devices manufactures release their products with gorilla glass protectors.
When Corning resistance glass was released for the first time, only 10% of mobile manufactures applied gorilla glass to their devices, but now, this number has reached 75% and according to Corning stats, more than 4.5 billion smartphones and devices in the market have gorilla glass.
>> Click Here to read the review for a new member of Apple family, iPhone SE which display is protected by gorilla glass <<
Final Word
Now you got familiar with gorilla glass, a high quality screen protector, and now you know that devices with longer lifetime and well-protected displays are those devices that come with gorilla glass screen protector. Apple is always one of the leading companies in using new technologies and as I’ve mentioned above, it was one of the first companies to use gorilla glass in their smartphones. Beware that gorilla glass is not embedded into every Apple device, so check the specs carefully before purchasing one. iPhone SE is one of those smartphones that come with gorilla glass protector, so you won`t have to worry if it falls from your hand.
If you have any experience of using devices with gorilla glass, feel free to share it in comments below.