You may recall my Review: Fairphone 4 with /e/OS privacy operating system from February 2024. Recently I purchased and received the new Murena Fairphone 6 with /e/OS and I will be publishing a deep review of it soon, including the few but important benefits compared with the Murena Fairphone 4 with /e/OS model I used to own and used (quite happily) in the United States. However, this article is not about that. This one is about a current unusual situation that makes it more difficult (but not impossible) to acquire a glass matte (aka «antiglare») screen protector for a Fairphone 6 if you reside in the United States. Until Fairphone (or some third party) offers a natively matte display for the Fairphone 6, we matte lovers will continue to seek our third-party protectors. Ahead I’ll explain why it has become harder to import the best ones from Germany or the UK to the United States due to a bureaucratic change made here, along with how I finally solved it.
For many years, I have imported certain electronic components and devices which have been otherwise unavailable in the United States. These have been brand-new internal Spanish ISO keyboards to transplant into ThinkPads, brand-new Chromebook computers with Spanish ISO keyboards, as well as matte glass screen protectors for smartphones when they are not not available in the US. Those glass matte screen protectors have been available so far from companies located in Germany or the UK, both directly and via eBay.
Recently, orders I have placed from these companies have been suspended by the particular vendors (not by eBay itself). Later on, they have removed the United States from their available destinations. This is not due to the new tariffs added by the US, but the sudden unexpected suspension of a long standing policy in US Customs called the de minimis exception. According to this BBC article from August 29, 2025:
De minimis is a Latin term that broadly translates to «about the smallest things», often used in legal contexts to describe matters too trivial to merit concern. The de minimis exemption was introduced in 1938 to avoid the expense of collecting only small amounts of import duties in the US.
Suddenly, none of my previous providers from Germany and the UK were able to send me the products I wanted to import, even when I told them that I was willing and able to pay any associated tariff, either in advance or upon receipt. As I continued to research about potential providers of glass matte screen protectors for the Fairphone 6, I discovered that several users had successfully tried using a glass matte protector designed for the Google Pixel 9A on their new Fairphone 6, since the dimensions are identical to a couple of millimeters.
Then, I discovered that there was a matte black screen protector (made for the Pixel 9A) from the brand name YKSPACE via the eBay vendor called Youx.cn.
The item is called 2X Matte Tempered Glass Screen Protector for Google Pixel 8 9 Pro XL 8A 7A 6 6A. I immediately ordered a few to test with my Fairphone 6. I am delighted with the general quality, packing quality and delivery time. Even though it was slow delivery, it was much faster than the time first estimated.
The only notable detail (in case you are ordering for resale, which was not my situation) is that they were not individually wrapped. That’s fine for me, since I had no intention of reselling these screen protectors.
For some reason, this vendor (which ships this product from China, not Europe or from the UK) was able to include the tariff in the price sold to me via eBay (US4.39 per pair, plus shipping). I purchased three pairs and my total with shipping (US$7.50) and tax (US$1.45) was US$22.12. I had no hassle with US customs. I hope soon the same thing will happen with the German and UK providers, both directly and via eBay.
Stand by for my upcoming review of the Murena Fairphone 6 with /e/OS and my upcoming book Get phone privacy (illustrated above).
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Fairphone 6: Resolví la situación de la importación de protectores mates de vidrio
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FTC disclosure
Neither Fairphone nor Murena has mentioned above has paid for this article. Allan Tépper has his Murena Fairphone devices from his own funds. Some of the manufacturers listed above have contracted Tépper and/or TecnoTur LLC to carry out consulting and/or translations/localizations/transcreations. So far, none of the manufacturers listed above is/are sponsors of the TecnoTur, BeyondPodcasting, CapicúaFM or TuSaludSecreta programs, although they are welcome to do so, and some are, may be (or may have been) sponsors of ProVideo Coalition magazine. Some links to third parties listed in this article and/or on this web page may indirectly benefit TecnoTur LLC via affiliate programs. Allan Tépper’s opinions are his own. Allan Tépper is not liable for misuse or misunderstanding of information he shares.