You know what happens when you either drop your touchscreen smartphone or slips out of your hands.
The screen cracks.
Which is usually not a good thing because a cracked screen can mess up the touch of your smartphone.
In shopping for a smartphone, you will eventually come across terms like “Corning Gorilla Glass 6”, “Tempered Screen Protector Included”, and “Dragontrail”. Don’t let these names confuse you.
The purpose of gorilla glass, tempered screen protectors and dragontrail is to reduce or absorb damage that would have otherwise messed up your screen.
In addition, it also protects the phone from dust, scratches and bumps.
Knowing about them and what they do will give you an idea of whether a phone is worth it to buy or not.
Because you don’t want a smartphone screen that can easily get damaged and cost you in repairs.
Here’s what you need to know about gorilla glass vs tempered glass.
What Is Gorilla Glass?
Gorilla glass is a product unique to Corning Inc. It is a scratch-resistant and durable glass product for laptops, smartphones and tablets.
The secret to its strength and durability is that gorilla glass goes through a chemical strengthening process also known as an ion exchange process.
In the ion-exchange process, glass is dipped into a bath of molten salt for potassium ions in the salt bath to be exchanged with sodium ions in the glass.
The glass is then rapidly cooled which results in the potassium ions being tightly packed together.
The glass then gains a significant increase in strength, damage resistance, thinness and light making it great for everyday use. This is what gives Gorilla glass its “unbreakable strength”.
This makes Gorilla glass better than normal glass because it is harder, tougher, flexible, and can survive falls and impacts that would have caused damage to normal glass.
And is much favoured in using for smartphone screens.
Pros | Cons |
Resistant against falls, bumps and scratches | Smartphones with gorilla glass tend to be more expensive |
Thin and light | “Unbreakable” doesn’t mean it can’t be broken. A strong enough force can damage it. |
Gorilla Glass comes in generations for example Corning Gorilla Glass 4 means it is the 4th generation. The higher the generation the stronger the glass.
Eighty per cent of the time Corning Gorilla Glass 5 (5th Generation) is able to survive falls from a height of 1.6 meters.
What Is A Tempered Glass Screen Protector?
A tempered glass screen protector has also undergone thermal or chemical treatments to increase its strength.
According to this definition, you could say that Gorilla Glass is a type of tempered glass which has gone to chemical treatments.
Because of its strength tempered glass is used for different purposes. Although, the strength varies according to the purpose for which it is going to be used.
Purposes such as mobile screen protectors, refrigerator trays, bulletproof glass, diving masks, passenger vehicle windows etc.
A mobile screen protector can’t stop a bullet because of its low strength when compared to bulletproof glass.
Tempered glass meant for screen protection is durable and up to five times stronger than normal glass making it great if you are looking for extra screen protection for your smartphone.
Tempered glass screen protectors are multi-layered. The oleophobic coating which prevents it from being a fingerprint magnet lies on top followed by a PET film, and a bottom layer of absorbent silicon.
Also, when tempered glass is broken it doesn’t send shards flying around but rather breaks into small chunks kept in the same place.
Pros | Cons |
Very smooth | Thick |
Doesn’t scratch easily |
Six Differences between Gorilla Glass and Tempered Glass
Gorilla Glass | Tempered Glass |
Gorilla glass is manufactured by Corning Inc. | Tempered glass can be manufactured by any company |
Gorilla glass is inclusive in laptops, smartphones and tablet screens and not easily replaceable | Tempered glass screen protectors can be found everywhere and are easily replaceable. |
Gorilla glass screens are fingerprint magnet | Tempered glass screens are not fingerprint magnets |
Gorilla glass are named according to generations | Tempered glass screen protectors are not |
Gorilla glass has one layer | Tempered glass are multi-layered |
Which Is Better Gorilla Glass or Tempered Glass?
In devices with gorilla glass, the screen itself is the gorilla glass and not a screen protector.
In addition, gorilla glass is a type of tempered glass that has gone through the chemical process to make it stronger than normal glass and only unique to Corning Inc.
This kind of makes it difficult to directly compare gorilla glass and tempered glass screen protectors.
It all boils down to protecting your smartphone. Smartphones with gorilla glass have much better damage resistance than those without.
Does Gorilla Glass Need Tempered Glass?
Yes, having Gorilla glass doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get tempered glass for extra protection. Glass is glass and glass breaks.
Is Gorilla Glass Unbreakable?
No, Gorilla glass is not unbreakable. No matter how hard glass is with sufficient force. You are able to break it.
Final Thoughts
Fortunately, a lot of smartphones have Corning Gorilla Glass and it is not required to get a screen protector for it.
But, you can further increase the protection by putting a tempered glass screen protector on it.
