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Looks very nice! Thanks. Could you tell me if it's a slippery type of plastic or more like a sticky orange peel type of protector?

You can see in the pictures that there's no orange peel.

The screen protector feels smooth, smoother than the original glass I think. The back feels a little grippier.
 
If anybody has ordered and installed the BSE matte back skin, how is the grip/feel on the back? Slippery? Grippy?

Thanks, Pat
 
You can see in the pictures that there's no orange peel.

The screen protector feels smooth, smoother than the original glass I think. The back feels a little grippier.


Thanks for the quick reply. Of it adds a little grip like u say I'll give it a try.
 
Got bestskinsever last year for my mini. The back. It never did stick well to the corners, and now all sides are sticking up.
Is there a clear skin - matte would be nice - that sticks better? Has bestskinsever improved over the last year? Otherwise, I may compromise and try a clear silicone/gel back and skin for front. I hate to cover up such a great looking device, but i do want to protect it.

A lot of how bestskinsever holds up is how well the installation is. Perhaps the one you got was a one off defect. I have installed best skins ever for over 5 years on everything from MacBook pros to Magic Mouse to dslr and have never had an issue. A lot of the durability at times is the skill in installing them.
 
A lot of how bestskinsever holds up is how well the installation is. Perhaps the one you got was a one off defect. I have installed best skins ever for over 5 years on everything from MacBook pros to Magic Mouse to dslr and have never had an issue. A lot of the durability at times is the skill in installing them.

Yeah, I'm normally good at that sort of thing; on reflection perhaps that time i was not expecting the need to work the sides so much faster because of the slope of the Mini's sides. So I went ahead and ordered from BSE, and will keep that in mind when installing. I've used Zagg before too which is so much more expensive for seemingly the same thing (plus much high shipping cost to boot because they box up their products). Anyway, I expect something that is actually a sticky/sticker would be much more difficult to apply.
So I'm looking forward to the matte back :) and even got 20% off 'cause of a short pre-order. BSE is a good business that never could be accused of gouging. I haven't checked if Zagg's brought their prices down due to the competition.
 
Yeah, I'm normally good at that sort of thing; on reflection perhaps that time i was not expecting the need to work the sides so much faster because of the slope of the Mini's sides. So I went ahead and ordered from BSE, and will keep that in mind when installing. I've used Zagg before too which is so much more expensive for seemingly the same thing (plus much high shipping cost to boot because they box up their products). Anyway, I expect something that is actually a sticky/sticker would be much more difficult to apply.
So I'm looking forward to the matte back :) and even got 20% off 'cause of a short pre-order. BSE is a good business that never could be accused of gouging. I haven't checked if Zagg's brought their prices down due to the competition.

Hopefully your experience will be much better this time. I felt that in the past year that their material is easier to work with than before and it looks better. Never tried their matte.

I wonder if anyone knows which clearer bra brand they use...venture shield or other stuff?
 
I've used www.bestskinsever.com on three iPads and my MacBook Air. Their prices are competitive and the quality is good.

They have recently started doing matte versions, so I've ordered one of those for the back and a glossy one for the screen. Their website says that "some screen clarity is sacrificed with matte screen film," which is why I went for a glossy one. The matte skins on the back are pretty much invisible.

I usually only buy skins for the back, as I don't like the feel of them on the front, but I thought I'd give it another try, I can always peel it off.

What do they mean by that exactly? Is it reduced brightness? Or does the screen look blurry or something?

I'm thinking about getting one of those BSE skins.. matte back, not sure which for the screen. Reducing glare would be nice, but not at the cost of image quality.

I'm also planning to use a Smart Cover though, so maybe I'll end up not even using the screen film..
 
Are these kind of skins removable? I'm particularly interested in the skinomi

I'd love some protection that doesn't interfere with the size of the ipad but if I didn't like it later I don't want to be stuck with it.

Thank you for the pics!
 
What do they mean by that exactly? Is it reduced brightness? Or does the screen look blurry or something?

I'm thinking about getting one of those BSE skins.. matte back, not sure which for the screen. Reducing glare would be nice, but not at the cost of image quality.

I'm also planning to use a Smart Cover though, so maybe I'll end up not even using the screen film..

According to BestSkinsEver "matte skins are not completely transparent like glossy skins, they slightly distort images on the screen". On their website there's a comparison between matte and glossy skins -
http://www.bestskinsever.com/blog/2013/06/matte-vs-glossy-skins/
 
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Are these kind of skins removable? I'm particularly interested in the skinomi

I'd love some protection that doesn't interfere with the size of the ipad but if I didn't like it later I don't want to be stuck with it.

Thank you for the pics!

Just installed the Skinomi back skin on my Air last night. The cutouts are perfect and how it looks is heavily installer dependent. For $5 shipped I gave it a shot since I wanted to keep the weight of the Air as low as possible. Mainly wanted something so when I put the Air down on the table it would not scratch the back.

Defn a high gloss to the finish and actually makes the back easier to hold and is more grippy than the slick bare aluminum. If you don't like the gloss finish look elsewhere or maybe Skinomi has a matte finish as well.

According to their website you can remove the Skinomi without it leaving any residue by using warm hair from a hair dryer and gently working it off. I'll let you know in about a year how it goes when I sell it for the iPad 6 :D
 
I'm looking for a rear skin that covers the chamfered edges. Doesn't have to be clear. I like the skins from digiskins and sticker boy, but they don't offer iPad Air skins or don't cover the chamfered edges. I'm not looking for a case.
 
Some pics of my BestSkinsEver matte body skin -
 

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Thanks for the pics - looks good.

Mine arrived today but I'm a bit wary of installing it. My main fear is the wet application technique and the worry of liquid getting into the speaker grilles or lightning port. How did you find the application process?
 
My main fear is the wet application technique and the worry of liquid getting into the speaker grilles or lightning port. How did you find the application process?

I've installed lots of wet films. The risk of getting liquid into the device is why you power it off during application. When you put on the film, the wetter the better. More water lets you smoothly slide the film around to get perfect alignment, and it also help ensure you won't have bubbles under the film at the end. All of the film makers have video instructions that are really great. But trust me, the wetter the better.
 
Yeah obviously you turn the device off, so at least if liquid gets inside the device via any of the ports or openings, you can allow it to evaporate before powering it on again, but you still run the risk of the moisture sensors installed inside the device being triggered by the liquid, which would then cause problems down the road if the device needed looking at for any reason and they discovered the "water damage".

Yeah I know I'm probably paranoid :p Maybe use some scotch tape to cover the speaker grilles and lightning/mic ports whilst installing, just to prevent the worst of any drips/spills from getting in?
 
Thanks for the pics - looks good.

Mine arrived today but I'm a bit wary of installing it. My main fear is the wet application technique and the worry of liquid getting into the speaker grilles or lightning port. How did you find the application process?

The installation took a bit longer than normal. The redesign made it more difficult getting the skin to adhere to the sides of the case.

I actually submerged the skin in a tray of warm water and washing up liquid, prior to installation. This ensured that all of it was covered in the solution, but may have lengthened the drying process. I made sure that any excess water had drained off the skin before I applied it.

Installation is really a three stage process.

The first stage was to make sure that the skin was in the correct position on the back. I used the camera and mic cut-outs etc to line it up. The matte skins don’t reflect the light, so it was quite difficult seeing how the skin would cover the sides. For this reason, I would suggest you do the installation in a well lit room. Once it was in the correct position, I squeegeed out the bubbles and solution.

I then left it to dry for about thirty minutes.

After this, I started trying to apply the sides. I did this by folding the skin over and applying constant pressure with the side of my hands and little fingers. This took a while as the sides were wet, having been covered by the solution I had squeegeed out of the back.

The final stage was the corners. I did this by holding them down with my fingers, then pushing the corner into the centre of my palm and applying constant pressure.

I also applied a glossy skin to the front, this was much easier, but I’d leave the back to dry for a bit before you do this, otherwise the corners might start peeling off.
 
Some pics of my BestSkinsEver matte body skin -

Great install job! you got the sides and corners perfect.

I installed my matte back skin a few days ago and the volume, mute switch were a little off. I love this skin and it looks like there is nothing on it. The feel is improved and has a but more grip.
 
Cheers for the write up!

Did you have any issues with excess fluid around the mic/lightning/speaker openings when squeegeeing it out?
 
Great install job! you got the sides and corners perfect.

I installed my matte back skin a few days ago and the volume, mute switch were a little off. I love this skin and it looks like there is nothing on it. The feel is improved and has a but more grip.

Thanks. I've had a bit of practice, so I knew what to expect.

This was the first matte skin I've tried, but I prefer it to the glossy ones. I think the best combination is matte on the back and glossy on the front.

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Cheers for the write up!

Did you have any issues with excess fluid around the mic/lightning/speaker openings when squeegeeing it out?

No problems.

In the past I've used a cloth to soak it up, but you've got to make sure no fibres come into contact with the skin. Just dab over the top of the skin, by pushing it over the iPad with the cloth.

There really shouldn't be that much liquid, if you let the excess drain off.
 
Ah ok thanks. I've not done a wet install before and I was worried that squeegeeing the back would cause liquid to drain out of the edges and down past/into the connectors etc.

Interesting about using a tray of liquid rather than spraying it on btw - I don't have a empty & clean spray bottle anywhere handy so that might be a better approach.

Also, regards the sides and corners, did you basically wait until these were dry before pressing them down as you described?
 
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Ah ok thanks. I've not done a wet install before and I was worried that squeegeeing the back would cause liquid to drain out of the edges and down past/into the connectors etc.

Interesting about using a tray of liquid rather than spraying it on btw - I don't have a empty & clean spray bottle anywhere handy so that might be a better approach.

I should have said that most of the installation was done when the iPad was flat on the table, so there's less chance of water getting into the various openings. In fact the iPad was on top of the BestSkinsEver cardboard packaging, for easy manoeuvrability and to protect the screen. I only lifted it up when I had to do the corners and by that time it was drying.

With the sides and corners, I waited until some of the solution had evaporated. It really will depend on how much liquid they have on them. I left them for about half an hour, but it probably took about another ten minutes of applying pressure before they started to adhere.

The best advice I can give you is take your time.
 
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Thanks - sorry I think I edited my post a bit just as you were replying :)
 
Thanks - sorry I think I edited my post a bit just as you were replying :)

If you also got a skin for the screen, then I would apply that first, it's much easier to apply than the one for the body and will give you an idea of how the process works. I would then leave it for a day and have a go at the body skin.

Post some pics of it when you're done.
 
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