That's interesting. I've always preferred the feel of the of the tempered glass ones. Feels more like the original screen to me.I'm a fan of 'hydrogel' film ones from Aliexpress. Like $1.25 each. So much easier to install compared to glass. And they feel a lot nicer. I generally replace them every few months.
And I did go protector-less on one of my phones, as @sswilson said, but even as careful as I was, it still had very fine scratches that made their way into the screen, most noticeable when the sun or light hits the screen at a certain angle. Bugged me. So once I found glass ones that worked, I've used them ever since, just in case. I did try more expensive ones in the past but in the end they weren't worth the money in my experience. Not enough difference than decent cheap ones.