protecting my new smart phone

If you're hard on a phone like I am, the Otterbox Defender may be what you need.

It has a screen cover that will protect from liquids and scratches. It is rugged and provides very good protection. It is bulky, but I don't think you can protect well and not be bulky.

Since you've already ordered a case, this advice might be too late. I would recommend a screen protector - any of them will provide some level of protection against scratches. Look for a clear one. In my experience the matte finishes are horrible and mute your nice screen resolution.

Short of a foam padded box made of 1/4 inch steel plates, with welded on hinges for the 1/4 inch steel plate that covers the screen when closed, there's only so much you can do.

I know nothing about that particular smart phone, as I don't have one. But I do have an iPod Touch with a similar screen to protect, and I found early on that Zagg shield film does a really excellent job of protecting from scratches. About a week after I bought my first iPod Touch, and before I put the film on it, I dropped it behind a pile of gym mats, so that it slid face first down the cinderblock wall behind the 4 foot high stack of mats. Guaranteed to scratch the screen, and it did. I was annoyed. I've had two other iPods after that one, both with the Zagg film on them, and their screens have benefitted greatly from being unscratched to this day. In spite of there being no improvement in my co-ordination or tendency toward the dropsies.

My new Nokia came with a "gorilla glass" screen, supposedly no extra protection required......I did put a body glove on it and then have a belt case it will fit into with the body glove.

You really don't need to worry about scratching the screen as they use gorilla glass. I find that the silicon rubber boot works as well as anything to protect it if dropped and they are available on eBay for a couple bucks.

We put the ZAGG invisible shield on our smart phones plus Janet's Kindle Fire. I am very hard on my equipment and there are already scratches on the shield. If it gets a bit more scratched they will install a new one for about $5. I have not seen any preformance issues on my G3 but on my wife's phone it seems to make the camera function a bit harder to operate but she is used to it and has no issues. I also installed a 2 piece case for the G3 that I got from Verizon like this: Hard Case This puts the screen inside the case at all times when not in my hand and it has saved it when I have dropped it but there's not really any sort of cushioning effect.

X2 on the Otterbox Defender.

Scratching the Gorilla Glass used on newer smartphone screens is very difficult to do. Shattering them with a drop is not difficult at all. An OtterBox Defender, as others have recommended, is a terrific choice.

I do remove the plastic screen protector from mine though as I find it to me more of a PITA than anything else. With or without the plastic screen protector, if the phone falls just right, the screen will shatter. The Defender will protect the phone from the vast majority of drops though.

For the same screen I prefer the standard protection sold by Verizon. I use a different product on my tablets.

I fix 20 to 30 phones a month , and known as the phone fixer around here, and i can tell you, they break with even the thick rubber cases, but they do offer more protection. I just finished one yesterday that was just in the guys pocket, with his keys. When he bend down, the keys must of applied to much pressure in one spot on the screen. Last week I did one where the girl had the Otterbox, but threw it at her boy friend, and it broke. My advice is, get an Iphone, the screens are 20% cost of the others. I've fixed some, and in two days, their back and I'm replacing them again.

Ditto on the Otterbox Defender. Great case. Have dropped my iPhone numerous times without any damage. It has a great belt clip too.