By Rob Woods

Since introducing its first pair of sunglasses in 1984, Oakley has carved out a reputation as one of the world’s top sports performance brands. Known today as a leader in innovative eyewear, the California-based brand is beloved by world-class athletes for its groundbreaking engineering, creative range of styles and unrivaled lens technology. 

Oakley’s eyewear offerings run the gamut from everyday glasses to polarized sunglasses designed for specific outdoor sports, such as fishing and cycling. Oakley also makes a range of prescription lenses using proprietary technology customized to suit a broad range of vision and lifestyle needs. 

As for price, you’ll find affordable mid-range options that don’t skimp on quality, as well as more expensive alternatives favored by famous athletes that feature highly specific technology and customizable elements. 

If you’re looking to buy Oakley sunglasses without spending a lot of money, you’ll be happy to know that even a pair of used Oakley sunglasses can prove a better purchase than a brand new pair of sunglasses by a competitor. Oakley’s products are all built to function well even after years of use under extreme conditions.

Knowing a bit more about the brand and its technology can help you determine which Oakley glasses are best for you. 

Choosing Oakley sports glasses

These days, Oakley makes all kinds of bestselling accessories and apparel. But the brand is best-known for its sports and performance sunglasses. 

Oakley’s been praised internationally for the design, innovation and durability of its lenses and frames. The company has also sponsored top-tier athletes, including:

• Professional snowboarder and Olympic gold medalist Jamie Anderson

• World-class skier Henrik Harlaut 

• Masters champion and PGA Tour icon Bubba Watson 

• World-renowned surfer Jordy Smith

Track superstar Ato Boldon also sported Oakley sunglasses at the 2000 Summer Olympics, while Tiger Woods is frequently seen wearing Oakley shades both on and off the golf course. 

In keeping with the brand’s reputation as a leader in performance eyewear, you’ll find specific Oakley sunglasses for nearly every kind of sport or activity. Oakley’s website lets you easily shop models by grouping them into the following categories: 

In addition to sports-specific glasses, the brand has also collaborated with trendsetting emerging artists and elite athletes to create limited-edition eyewear. Most recently, Oakley designed a signature series of Oakley Sutro glasses with American football quarterback Patrick Mahomes.   

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Oakley glasses technology  

What makes Oakley sports glasses so effective is their cutting-edge technology and design, engineered to maximize performance during specific activities. Most Oakley fishing glasses, for example, are built with impact protection technology, which makes them better suited to extreme conditions when compared to most competitor brands. 

This technology is also used in Oakley sunglasses and goggles designed for other high-impact sports and activities, including football, mountain biking, skiing and snowboarding. 

Oakley PRIZM glasses

Oakley’s proprietary PRIZM lens technology is based on the human eye’s ability to perceive light in natural conditions. It was in development for nearly two decades before going to market and is now one of the brand’s best-known features. 

Engineered using hyper-spectral imaging to analyze light, PRIZM lens technology helps the wearer see more clearly by improving depth perception and enhancing contrast and colors. PRIZM lenses achieve these results by filtering different light wavelengths, causing details to appear sharper and allowing the eye to see more no matter the light conditions. 

Oakley PRIZM glasses are so useful that the NFL partnered with the brand to develop PRIZM Clear Shields that could be attached to players’ helmets, enhancing their visibility during games. 

A pair of Oakley PRIZM glasses is a must if you’re looking for performance sunglasses for a particular sport or outdoor environment. You’ll find tinted, treated lenses optimized for snowscapes, trails and the road that can be incorporated into the frame model of your choice. That said, the brand also offers the option to purchase everyday sunglasses with the same advanced lens technology, so you can enjoy enhanced visibility no matter where you are or what you’re doing. 

Oakley HDO glasses

In addition to its PRIZM technology, Oakley is also well known for its HDO lenses. These lenses optimize performance and safety by filtering light to improve vision accuracy without distorting perception or sacrificing contrast. This makes them an ideal choice if you’re considering Oakley safety glasses for driving, leisure activities or sports. 

Polarized Oakley sunglasses 

When selecting sunglasses for outdoor sports and activities, looking for a pair with polarized lenses is crucial. Oakley takes this a step further, imbuing its famous HDO and PRIZM lenses with high-grade polarization to cut through light glare, which can help improve both your performance and the quality of your vision in any light conditions. 

The best part? Polarized Oakley sunglasses don’t just leverage one specific lens technology — you can choose the lens type that’s right for you to create a fully customized pair that fits your needs. 

Impact and UV protection 

If you lead an active lifestyle, you know that the durability of your lenses is just as important as their ability to enhance your vision and protect your eyes. 

Because Oakley glasses are engineered with sports in mind, the brand tests its lenses under extreme conditions to ensure unmatched durability and protection. Oakley’s patented Plutonite lenses are made of resilient, purified polycarbonate that is lighter than plastic and will not shatter when struck by most projectiles. 

Oakley Plutonite glasses also block all wavelengths of ultraviolet (UV) radiation, protecting your eyes from harmful rays that can cause severe eye damage and conditions like cataracts and photokeratitis (snow blindness). 

Shop Oakley polarized glasses: Men| Women

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Oakley prescription glasses

While Oakley may have risen to fame for its sports-inspired engineering and unparalleled lens technology, Oakley sports glasses aren’t the brand’s only best-selling products. Oakley prescription glasses are also popular worldwide and include the following types: 

• Sports prescription glasses — Oakley True Digital prescription lenses come in a wide variety of options, including different colors that can enhance your performance across a range of conditions. The brand’s progressive prescription sun lenses are custom-engineered to optimize zones of focus and depth perception for specific sports. That means Oakley prescription baseball glasses are different from Oakley prescription cycling glasses and so on. 

• Everyday prescription glasses — Most of Oakley’s everyday glasses feature the brand’s Authentic Prescription lenses, which are customized to fit your particular vision needs. The lenses are made using Oakley’s anti-reflective Stealth coating, which battles glare while also keeping your lenses smudge-free. A special youth collection of anti-scratch Oakley prescription glasses extends the brand’s high standards and quality to younger users. 

• Oakley gaming glasses — The brand’s PRIZM gaming glasses are equipped with an unparalleled blue-light filtration capacity of 40% between 380 and 500 nanometers (nm) — this helps to improve color contrast and significantly reduce eye strain. They are also optimized with both PRIZM and Authentic Prescription lens technology. The collection even comes in a broad assortment of headset-compatible frames designed with form and function in mind so that you can play comfortably for hours. 

Even if your prescription is “out of range” for Oakley prescription sunglasses, you should look into the brand’s proprietary True Digital Edge technology — it boosts the prescription range to -6.00 on high-wrap Oakley sunglasses up to +4.00.   

RELATED READING: Guide to Sports Vision and Eyewear

Shopping for Oakley glasses

Trusting a brand’s technology and feeling comfortable with its pricing aren’t the only factors to consider when shopping for a pair of sunglasses or prescription glasses. To make sure you purchase the right pair of Oakley glasses, you’ll want to think about a few things, including: 

• Choice of activity — Do you need polarized Oakley sunglasses for your next fishing or hiking trip? Are you a gamer hoping to improve your experience by reducing eye strain related to blue light? Perhaps you need a sturdy model that will hold up to unpredictable weather conditions and rugged environments. No matter your choice of activity, Oakley has something for you.

• Style preference — Once you’ve determined your specific eyewear needs, Oakley makes it easy to filter products by style and type. Simply choose the collection best suited for your needs, then select a style you like. Many of Oakley’s models are customizable, and the brand’s website offers guidance on choosing the right color, technology and treatment for your lenses based on your preferences. 

• Prescription add-on — If you need to add a prescription to your Oakley glasses, that’s no trouble either. Whether you’re shopping for sunglasses or everyday eyeglasses, the “Prescription” tab on Oakley’s website lets you customize them, starting with your preferred frame, lens type and color. Once you check out, just submit your prescription and Oakley will take care of the rest — it’s as easy as that. 

When shopping for your new glasses, you can even opt to fully customize a pair of Oakleys from the ground up with the Oakley Custom feature. This allows you to choose a frame style and lens color (and lens technology), add original features and design touches and even personalize your glasses with custom lens etching. Each custom order is uniquely crafted based on your preferences and specifications, ensuring no two orders are the same. 

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Page published on Tuesday, February 2, 2021