Review: Antec Cleaning Spray Kit

Face it, your Android smartphone and tablet get smudged a lot.  And no matter what display technology is used nor how clean you try to keep your fingers, at some point you look down at your device and see fingerprints and smudges.  What do you normally do to clean your screen?  Breath hot air on it and wipe on your leg or arm?  Yeah, I see you doing that.  Want to know what I’m doing now?  I’m using Antec’s 3X Strength Cleaner Spray.

Going in I was not expecting to see this miracle solution work any better than water, a microfiber cloth, or chamois.  Boy was I wrong.  I couldn’t believe how easily I was able to remove smudges and prints on my tablet.  Then it was off to try the phones.  And the television.  Then the PC monitor.  Every single time out, it was incredible simple and effective.

The kit is essentially two parts – a bottle of solution and a microfiber cloth.  Speaking honestly, I was not all the impressed with the cloth upon seeing it in the packaging.  It appears to be rougher than most and had the appearance of being “cheap”.  Well whatever the blend of fabric or materials they are using, it works.  I’ve not tried any other cloths or wipes with the solution so I cannot say for certain that it makes the difference.

The 240ml bottle of spray runs $18.99 online and seems like it will last me a long time.  All it really takes is one pump for a phone and maybe two for a 10-inch tablet.  Anything beyond that is wasted.  For a 55-inch television, I used around 6-7 pumps and came away pleased.  The alcohol & ammonia free solution has virtually no smell and could pass for water at a glance.

I keep the bottle in the office next to my desk so that I can wipe my tablet down and keep my phones looking clean.  Unfortunately the bottle is too big to take with me on trips as it won’t pass airport security.  For those cases I would recommend the travel kit which comes in a 60ml bottle and smaller cloth.  At $12.99 it’s a bit on the expensive side  but definitely worth it if you use your devices (laptops, tablets, etc) in a setting where others are close at hand.  Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you that the larger bottle actually comes with the smaller sized, travel companion!  In a situation where you are demonstrating a new app or game?  Wipe your device down in a flash.

I’d love to hear about some of your favorite ways to clean your Android displays. Are you using a spray or particular cloth?  Leave a comment below with your preferred way to stay smudge-free.  In the meanwhile I will be polishing off a slab of baby back ribs and playing with my Xoom.