Hey folks,
As a lot of you know, I've made a thread a while back regarding disassembling the Arrive to replace the screen half of the phone. Well, after that surgery I was left with a new phone and an old screen that didn't work. However, the panel was flawless so I wanted to test the touchscreen's scratch resistance.
The arrive screen panel I used was absolutely flawless with no scratches. It doesn't actually work (water damage), but it had no scratches or any "sign" if damage.
Bottom line: Impressed.
Object one: keys
Tried three different car keys scratching the screen. I pushed down with some force and rubbed away on the screen with the keys and got absolutely no scratches or even questionable friction that would make me feel it would be sratched. It was like ice.
Results:
Passed
Object two: screwdrivers
Used a couple of different screwdrivers -- a small flat head and a medium phillip's head. The flat head I used the sharp corner and edge to rub vigorously on the screen with no negative results. Scratchless. The Phillip's head I used the point of the screwdriver and rubbed it with force to try to scratch -- nothing. I even "stabbed" the phone with the screwdriver using force resembling that one someone lightly pounding their fist onto a desk. Nothing. I am amazed from that.
Results: Passed
Object three: dropping it on the pavement
Not really an "object" but wanted to test ability to withstand impact from a drop. Tried it three times and nothing. Third time I made sure it dropped screen-side down and it had what I thought was a scratch on the touchscreen, but I was able to rub it away with my fingers. Holy cow.
Results: Passed
Object four: Wire cutters
I was determined to get this thing to break. Well, I did just that. I got some wire cutters to see if I were to clip down on the edge of the screen if it were to crack, which it did. It actually needed some force to do that, though not too much.
Results: Failed
Conclusion
Considering this is one of the WP7 HTC phones that is not using Gorilla Glass, it does a great job withstanding impact and scratches. I'm convinced that you could go without a screen protector and it would be scratch free for a long time unless you were rough with it.
If you're still worried about scratches anyway, I recommend using these from eBay. I have it on my phone right now and I like them a little better simply because they don't feel or appear visible, are static cling so you can easily reapply, and are very inexpensive.