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Even today, a lot of people in Japan still prefer flip phones over smartphones. Part of the reason is because smartphones screens–exposed as they are–are a lot more vulnerable and seem to break easily. Take myself for example: after purchasing a brand new Samsung Galaxy S4 last summer, I dropped it once and since then have had a giant crack across my screen.

But with the right case and protective film, your smartphone can, apparently, become practically invincible!

Even though many of us put protective films on our phones, we often do so without being entirely sure of their efficiency. The guys over at our Japanese sister site, however, recently found that these thin strips of film can actually be pretty effective; something they learned by driving over their film-coated smartphone with a 1.8-ton car.

▼ The protective film in question

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The Wrapsol series of smartphone screen protectors is known to be one of the strongest out there and is extremely popular among smartphone users in Japan. They don’t come cheap, though, with the iPhone 6 version selling for a hefty 3,218 yen (US$22) on Amazon Japan. Even so, the boys’ experiment showed that it was worth every yenny.

Finding a vacant lot to conduct their experiment in, the RocketNews24 Japan team prepped their extremely scientific implements.

▼ An Outlander PHEV SUV

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▼ A standard smartphone and a towel in case the screen does actually shatter.

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With the gear in place, they got to work running the phone over, first with the phone wrapped up in the towel. Even with this layer of protection, the chances of it surviving, and the screen escaping without a crack, were slim. Let’s see how they got on!

▼ And…action!

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▼ The result? Not so much as a scratch on the phone!

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We couldn’t believe our eyes either, but except for a little dust there wasn’t a single scratch on the screen of the Samsung Galaxy we had here. Now that is some real screen protection in action.

The rogue experimenters didn’t stop there, though. This time it was phone vs. car. No towels allowed! How did it fare?

▼ Tadaa! Screen perfectly intact!

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▼ The back of the phone was a little scratched but the front was totally fine!

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▼ Better yet, the phone still works perfectly.

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The Samsung Galaxy sure is one sturdy phone, but our reporters also concluded that it’s a very good idea to invest in a decent screen protector if you’re the kind of person who has a habit of dropping your stuff. Also, if you have your screen covered by a screen protector, it would be better to pair it with a good case too so that your smartphone can last past the next generation release.

If you ever had any doubts whether screen covers are worth the money, we think the boys have confirmed that they’re definitely no scam. Buy one, slap it on your phone and, you know, try not to drop it too often.

Photos: RocketNews24
[ Read in Japanese ]