After using Gorilla Matte Pro, I dread any laptop that doesn’t have it

Matte versus shiny screens

There’s plenty of debate about what’s finest for show high quality. Some say {that a} shiny display screen permits the purest transmission of sunshine from the show to your eyeballs. I can’t argue with that. But having fun with that pure transmission requires a really perfect setting setup to reduce the glare and reflections that find yourself on such shiny shows. 

Anti-glare finishes on screens could make reflections darker, and matte finishes can diffuse gentle that’s hitting the display screen, so mirrored gentle sources are much less distracting. Traditionally, although, these anti-glare and matte choices have diminished distinction (undesirable on high-quality OLED shows) and launched sparkle to the sunshine emitting from the show.

Corning describes this sparkle as a “grainy or even greasy” look to the display screen. And having put matte display screen protectors on a bunch of gadgets from my telephone to my laptop computer, I can see precisely that form of graininess and greasiness generally. But the trade-off is that I don’t see my mirror picture or vibrant lights mirrored on my shows.

For a few of us, that trade-off is value it. It’s why my colleague Chris Hoffman now prefers matte over OLED in his laptop screens.

The Gorilla Matte Pro distinction

Here’s the factor concerning the Gorilla Matte Pro show therapy on the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI I reviewed: it had all of the glare-busting advantages with none of that sparkly grain or grease. In different phrases, it supplied the most effective of each worlds. A real win-win for laptop computer screens.

I like benefiting from high-resolution laptop computer shows to profit from smaller screens, by shrinking every little thing down as a lot as doable. This makes for very wonderful textual content and icons nearly in all places—but that ultra-fineness appears to be like crisp behind Gorilla Matte Pro.

To evaluate, I’ve two further laptops, every with a 14-inch 2880×1800 OLED show that’s nearly an identical to the one Acer’s Swift Edge 14 AI. One is a Lenovo laptop computer to which I’ve utilized a matte display screen protector (accomplished with nearly zero bubbles or trapped mud, a lot to my satisfaction). The different is an Asus laptop computer with a shiny show. These are all high-quality and worthwhile laptops, by the best way.

The Asus laptop computer’s show exhibits wonderful beautifully, however the second I flip my again to a vibrant window or gentle supply, I’m squinting to make out what I’m taking a look at more often than not. Meanwhile, the Lenovo laptop computer avoids the glare situation more often than not with modest brightness ranges because of the matte movie I placed on it, however wonderful particulars are awash within the grainy sparkle attributable to the matte display screen protector itself.

Mark Knapp / Foundry

The Gorilla Matte Pro display screen avoids each points. Fine textual content is splendidly clear with none noticeable sparkle at regular viewing distances, and the textual content stays clear even when I flip my again to a vibrant window or gentle supply. Sure, there’s nonetheless a vibrant spot on the show if it’s hit by one thing actually vibrant, however it’s nonetheless a night-and-day distinction.

With that vibrant window behind me, I’ve to show the shiny show as much as 100% brightness (a couple of 400-nit whitepoint) earlier than I can comfortably concentrate on the display screen and never the reflection. On the Gorilla Matte Pro display screen, I can readily concentrate on content material with the brightness at its lowest degree (a 23-nit whitepoint) and the font displaying at a smaller dimension. And in the case of efficiency at nighttime, all I can say is that the black pixels look as pitch as they do on the shiny display screen.

Mark Knapp / Foundry

Just to place some numbers to it, I grabbed a light-weight meter that I take advantage of for projector testing and a small LED fill gentle. I positioned the sunshine meter between the 2 laptops with each screens dealing with the sensor at an equal distance. I then shined the LED onto every show from alternating sides of the meter, this fashion it might choose up reflections from one show after which the opposite. In this check, the Gorilla Matte Pro show mirrored 20 lux from the LED whereas the shiny show mirrored 60 lux.

Why it issues

I love OLED displays on my laptops. Between their colour and distinction, they appear phenomenal—in the best circumstances. But I take laptops far and wide, and until I’m at house, I normally don’t have management over ambient lighting, overhead lights, environmental brightness, and so on.

When it’s too vibrant or there’s a powerful gentle hitting my display screen, I’ve to crank the brightness of that shiny OLED show to proceed utilizing it comfortably. It’s the same situation if I wish to sit in entrance of a window and have an honest view whereas I work. The gentle pouring in by means of the window will gentle me up after which all I see is my reflection on the display screen, until I crank up the show’s brightness in flip.

Chris Hoffman / Foundry

That elevated brightness comes with an enormous tax on the laptop computer’s energy utilization and battery life. A laptop computer which may’ve run all day might final only a few hours with its show brightness amped up. Good luck doing work on a stunning patio in the midst of summer time.

This Gorilla Matte Pro end sidesteps these points. I can work in entrance of home windows. I can go outdoors (although I’d nonetheless keep away from angling it up in the direction of the sky for the most effective expertise). And even in difficult circumstances, I can maintain the brightness degree low whereas nonetheless clearly seeing what’s on display screen, which helps lengthen battery life a lot farther. That’s big.

It’s little shock that extra high-end gadgets—for instance, Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra, Apple’s iPhone 17, and the MacBook Pro—are providing comparable glare-fighting options and that Corning’s Gorilla Matte Pro gained a CES innovation award this year.

This tech merely lets great shows look their finest extra of the time in wider circumstances. As somebody who loves a great-looking display screen, I now need Gorilla Matte Pro on all of them.

Further studying: The good, bad, and ugly of OLED laptops