Hands-on review: Kensington High Clarity Privacy Screen Filter

The Kensington High Clarity Privacy Screen Filter is designed to keep prying eyes from viewing sensitive documents. They come in a variety of sizes for desktop monitors and laptops. We tested the screen with a 14-inch Asus ZenBook, requiring a 16:10 screen filter.

The package includes everything you need to install the screen filter, no matter what display design you have. In addition to the screen filter, it includes a fixing kit with a cleaning cloth (to clean your device display), adhesive tabs, and strips of double-sided tape.

The idea seems to be that the screen filters are removable when not in use. But it doesn't seem to work that way. I was expecting something akin to a screen protector, but instead, the screen is held in place by the double-sided sticky tape and self-adhesive tabs. It doesn't look pretty and doesn't come off easily. Installation is cumbersome and looks a bit unsightly if you have a flush laptop monitor display.

To install, you peel off the protective film from the front and back and apply the double-sided sticky tape to the edges of the screen filter. You then stick the little tabs around your laptop display and slide the filter in place, sticking it down onto the laptop bezel. The installation is cumbersome, and it looks a bit unsightly if you have a flush laptop monitor display.

The screen filter has tiny, microscopic lines that work like a Venetian blind. Straight on, you can see a clear view of the display, but the greater the viewing angle, the more obscured the display becomes. The Kensington filter certainly does a good job; the display is impossible to make out at an angle greater than about 45 degrees.

The downside is that the filter will darken your display, even if you are looking at it straight on. For this reason, I wouldn't want to be using the screen all the time, but with sticky bits of tape, the Kensington High Clarity Privacy Screen Filter doesn't make removal easy. Kensington does offer magnetic privacy screen filters that seem to do a better job if you want to regularly remove the filter.

The Kensington Privacy Screen is something that you either need or don't. There is no doubt that it provides security from prying eyes glancing at your screen if you are prone to dealing with sensitive documents in public spaces. But even this screen, designed to provide a reasonable amount of clarity for the user, still darkens the screen.

Whilst it does its job, I can't say that I'd recommend the High Clarity Privacy Screen Filter. I think Kensington have better options available if you need to protect your display from prying eyes.