I've been enjoying my new tablet immensely on many fronts. Unfortunately keeping the front clean has been a hassle in itself. The downside of a Gorilla Glass touch surface is how easily you have to deal with glare and especially fingerprints. I was literally wiping my surface down every few hours.

The easy solution of course is a protective film, but after going through several sheets of these films on my iPhone, I was reluctant. The big problem is for all the attempts you make to align things perfectly and keep your area clean, you still end up seeing a few pesky pieces of dust somehow get in there. Might not seem much until you're reading and your eye can't focus anywhere else. Worse are when you get bubbles you can't remove.

Thankfully there is ArmorSuit's MilitaryShield brand of screen protectors seemingly removed all the pains and hassles of installation, and I'll admit I am highly impressed at the results.

A different way to apply

The secret of applying an ArmorSuit MilitaryShield is in the liquid spray utilized in the application process. Now I know some might cringe at the idea of putting any kind of a liquid on a smartphone or tablet, but this is how their film will seal itself up perfectly on the surface and you won't see any dust under the film.

Like for any film, you need to clean your hands and the touch surface thoroughly. You spray the screen, film, and your fingertips with their application spray, then place the film on the screen. Where the ArmorSuit MilitaryShield stands out is when you are not aligned, you can simply and easily move the film around on the thin layer of liquid you have. Once you're happy, you just take their application card and scrape out the bubbles and excess liquid, being careful not to send liquid towards openings on your device.

Let the unit sit for twenty-four hours and you'll be amazed how solid the film is. Even bubbles slowly disappear. I had about three bubbles that ended up under the film I could not scrap away. Two were your typical bubbles, but the third was a noticeable cluster of tiny bubbles under one spot. Now with the ArmorSuit MilitaryShield, you can remove it and reapply using the spray, but I decided to be patient. After one day the two normal bubbles were gone, and after a week the cluster disappeared. You look now and the surface is perfect. It's impressive because of how ArmorSuit basically removed all the pains many others had with competitors.

Performance

Since Lenovo's big push with their ThinkPad tablet has been on their touch surface, the usual worry is of course if performance will be inhibited, especially when using the ThinkPad's digitizer pen. I've been using the now protected tablet for a week, and haven't seen any problems. If anything, it think the pen writes better now that the surface isn't as slick as it was with just glass. It almost feels more like a surface reminiscent of paper.

In terms of visually, I didn't see any change in how things look. The screen doesn't look darker or anything like that, but I will say the glare hasn't been totally dealt with. Granted I don't see as much as I used to, these films will not 100% remove all the glare. Fingerprints are still an issue, but not as much as before. I find myself now wiping off my screen every other day as opposed to every few hours.

Like any film, scratches do appear, but the ArmorSuit MilitaryShield is self-healing, so you'll see them vanish anywhere from one to a few days. ArmorSuit even recommends spraying the surface with their application spray, wiping off the excess, and the scratches will heal faster. They're not lying.

Is it right for you?

I think this in my opinion is the ideal solution for those who want a protective film on their tablet or smartphone. The liquid application process gets rid of the dust, and the porous construction of the ArmorSuit MilitaryShield guarantees you won't be dealing with bubbles. The self-healing functionality makes these films a great inexpensive long-term investment, and the fact you can remove and reapply the film means you won't have to toss it out if you mess up. For roughly $8-$20 you can't go wrong, especially with a lifetime warranty.

You can purchase an ArmorSuit MilitaryShield off Amazon.com or their own website.