Review: Spigen Glas.tr And Aluminum Home Buttons

The iPhone 5 is Apple’s best iPhone yet. (Shocker, we know.) While the software, to some, has stagnated a bit, the hardware team at Apple continues to push the envelope in terms of engineering feats as well as make gadgets that are pure eye candy. And as much as we don’t want to cover this Apple eye candy in any way, some things (like the screen) need something. Nothing is worse than a gorgeous display full of scratches – deep, image destroying scratches.

Various solutions from screen protector manufacturers such as Zagg, BodyGuardz and many others offer film style covers that are super thin, protective against scratches and also keep the display quality in check. And then there’s Spigen’s Glas.t and Glas.tr real glass screen protectors. We’ve already covered the Glas.t a couple weeks back and found it to be the best screen protector we’d ever used. And today, we’ve got the next iteration, the Glas.tr.

Glas.tr on top, original Glas.t on bottom

The “r” stands for “rounded edges”. Besides that, Spigen says the .tr is stronger and clear than the original Glas.t. From what we saw, the differences in quality between the Glas.t and Glas.tr weren’t immediately discernible with the naked eye. What was immediately noticeable was just how nice the rounded edges felt and how much more natural the Glas.tr felt. Where as you always felt the rough edges of the Glas.t using your phone, the Glas.tr’s rounded edges allow it to blend into the edges of the display and the phone’s body, making it almost feel completely stock.

$34.99 might still seem like a lot for a simple screen protector that doesn’t come with any other perks. But when you actually install it and use it, you’ll see what the Glas.tr rocks. It’s crystal clear so that beautiful Retina Display shines right through. But best of all, it doesn’t feature that annoying grippy feeling that many plastic based screen protectors have. It’s just as smooth as the original iPhone’s glass display.

Yet again Spigen has hit one out of the park; a “must buy” for sure.

More: Spigen Glas.tr $34.99

Aluminum Home Buttons

For $9.99 Spigen has one unique accessory you won’t find anywhere else – aluminum home button covers. While they’ve already had non-aluminum, rubbery stickers available for some time now, these new aluminum ones are a nice upgrade as they simply feel and look much higher quality. Installation is pretty simple, though, can be incredibly difficult depending on how much of a perfectionist you are. We got super lucky when we installed ours and managed to get the square completely level and the sticker itself centered. We had a bit of help though; we installed the aluminum sticker with the Glas.tr already installed.

Are they worth $9.99? It’s one of those things you either want or you don’t. There’s no real protection benefit to be had. It’s all bling at this point. That said, we like how the aluminum home button stickers make the button itself flush with the Glas.tr. One of the complaints we hear from people regarding the Glas.t and Glas.tr is that it makes the home button recessed into its little hole. On the flip side, without a Glas.t or Glas.tr, we’re not sure we’d like the aluminum home buttons long term. Being a hardened metal they do feature more abrupt edges, unlike the non-aluminum rubber version which has much more rounded sides that roll into the screen of your phone. The aluminum buttons by themselves or with a simple thin screen protector might be too much for some. Call them a Glas.t/r accessory if you will.

If raw aluminum isn’t your forte, Spigen all packs in a black and pink aluminum button into the 3-pack.

More: Spigen Aluminum Home Button Sticker – $9.99