Polarized sunglasses are in trend at the moment, these sunglasses are specially made with a coating to reduce light glares and increase clarity when it’s sunny outside.
These sunglasses are loved by people who play sports or spend much time outside but often aren’t great in dim conditions. Our guide below will take you through everything you need to know about polarized sunglasses.
Understanding Polarized Sunglasses
Polarized sunglasses are regular glasses that are equipped with polarized lenses that reduce light glare from light-reflecting surfaces such as water or glass and protect your eyes from harmful UV rays.
How Do Polarized Lenses Work?
These specialized polarized lenses work by blocking horizontal light which is the type of light that causes glare in your eyes, enhancing visual clarity. The chemical filter on polarized glasses absorbs horizontal light and only allows vertical light to pass through which doesn’t cause light glare.
This chemical filter lens is especially useful in outdoor high-glare environments such as snowy conditions.
Polarized Vs Non Polarized Sunglasses
Both sunglasses have the main role of blocking out harmful UV rays to protect your eyes and correct vision. The difference between these two sunglasses is polarized sunglasses offer glare control while non-polarized sunglasses do not, and because of this, they tend to be a little more expensive.
How To Tell If Sunglasses Are Polarized
To tell if your new sunglasses are polarized you can check by holding them in front of a reflective surface and then looking through one of the lenses. Rotate the sunglasses 60 degrees left or right to see if the glare is reduced.
You can also do this in front of normal eyeglasses at the opticians. When rotating 60 degrees, check if the lenses turn dark or nearly black, then you know they are polarized.
Benefits Of Polarized Sunglasses
There are many benefits to owning a pair of polarized sunglasses if you're an outdoors person such as -
-
Glare reduction - By reducing light glare, you can enhance your vision and have better visual clarity doing outdoor activities.
-
Safer driving - During the day these glasses can be helpful when driving to reduce the glare from the sun and temporary blindness from reflections, making driving safer.
-
UV protection - Polarized sunglasses might not offer as much UV protection as standard sunglasses but the filter can reduce harmful sun rays from entering your eye.
-
Help to alleviate eye strain - Prevents you from squinting all the time in strong light, making your vision more accurate and reducing eye fatigue.
Disadvantages Of Polarized Sunglasses
Although polarized sunglasses are great, they don’t come without their downfalls such as cost and altered vision -
-
Cost - Due to the additional manufacturing process polarized sunglasses are more expensive than regular ones.
-
Difference in perception - Since polarized glasses work by reducing light glare and enhancing brightness and contrast, this can make colors more vibrant. One drawback of this is that it can alter your true visual perception of colors when mixing between polarized and non-polarized vision. This could cause discomfort in mixed lighting conditions.
-
Reflective interference - Screens like ATMs and LCDs are not easy to see when wearing polarized sunglasses as they are reflective. If you work with screens a lot of the time this can make wearing them unsuitable.
-
Poor visibility in low-light conditions - Polarized glasses are designed to work best in bright light, in low-light conditions this means it’s more difficult to see clearly. If you need a pair of glasses to drive at night, our night driving glasses will do you a favor. Those who need consistent visual clarity throughout the day no matter the lighting conditions may find this frustrating.
Choosing The Right Polarized Sunglasses At GlassesShop
Picking the right polarized sunglasses for yourself isn’t always easy with different frame types. We’ve broken down what to consider in a pair of new polarized glasses at GlassesShop below.
-
Frame - Pick a frame shape that fits your face shape and personal style, make sure they are comfortable and don’t put pressure on your face. Use our face shape detector tool to see what frames suit you best.
-
Lens - Ensure you have the right lens prescription and decide on the color. Blue lenses can be great for more contrast when playing sport while brown-tinted lenses are suitable for everyday use.
-
Lifestyle needs - Consider the type of polarized sunglasses you want, this could be sports polarized sunglasses for fishing and running or polarized driving glasses for safe driving. Instead of choosing polarized sunglasses for office work, we suggest blue-block pro glasses.
If you need more help choosing your sunglasses, take a look at our guide here.
At GlassesShop, we don’t just stock sunglasses, we have a variety of glasses for you to check out including single-vision, progressive, and bifocal glasses. There are also different lenses to choose from such as photochromic, mirrored, or blue light blocking.
If you don’t want to commit to your glasses before trying them on, we have a virtual try-on option, fit & quiz, and try before you buy service, allowing you to order glasses and try them on at home before buying.
We have a buy one get one free deal and free shipping over $69 if you want to stock up on your glasses collection. All our glasses have a 365-day guarantee and 30-day exchange and return to ensure you're 100% happy with your new polarized sunglasses.
Shop our polarized sunglasses range here.