Should you be a regular follower of our content then you may remember a review that was posted in late March for Gunnar Optics “Vayper” Gaming Eyewear. It can be found right HERE. For those looking for a quick summary, the glasses were a product that was “Highly Recommended” by our reviewer, and he was shocked that the glasses did a good job of what they claimed. He even referenced that he found himself gaming more often then not with them as well as wearing them other activities such as PC use, iPad use, etc.
Over the past few weeks I have had the opportunity to evaluate a pair of Gunnar Eyewear myself. The trick though is that I require prescription lenses, and glasses are a part of my everyday life as I need them to see clearly. I have always been interested to see what the Gunnar experience was about, and now I feel that I can finally share what I think given my extended real world use with them. At the end of the day I have to say that I was indeed surprised with my time with them, and I mean this in a good way too.
For those who require prescription eyewear, Gunnar Optics offers up a few flavours of lenses for you to choose from. You can choose their in-house brand of Gunnar lenses or you can opt for the more expensive Premium Zeiss lens. The latter is a well-established name within the realm of glass and lens products, from camera lens glass to prescription eyewear lenses. These two choices are furthered by the fact that you can choose from amber coloured lenses (yellowish tint) or crystalline (clear) lenses. In regards to the lenses I chose, I went for the amber coloured premium Zeiss lens.
Not all frames that Gunnar makes are for use with prescription lenses, so make sure you head on to the “Prescription Eyewear” section of the their website to see what frames are offered and what prescription strength each frame can accommodate. Some frames also have different colours or colour combinations in their design, so make sure to check that out too. For review purposes I chose the Epoch frame, which is not a half rimmed frame and somewhat modern in its style. I also chose the “onyx” colour, which is basically black.
Once I received the glasses and took them out of the box, the first thing I noticed was the curvature of the lenses. I have a big noggin’, there is no denying that, so I was a bit nervous that the curvature, let alone size of the frame, would not fit comfortably. Well, much to my relief I was wrong about that. The glasses fit quite nice. They have a spring hinge in the arms and they hold the glasses on quite comfortably without being too tight. I was happy to see that there were no indents along my temples or above my ears. I guess what I am trying to say here is that should you be worried about the size of your head when using Gunnars, you really shouldn’t as they do fit nicely and don’t get uncomfortable when slightly pressing against the side of your head.
The curvature of the lenses does have a reason for being designed this way as it basically creates a “micro-climate” for your eyes (thank you to my local eye-glasses guy for the description). Here moisture tends to stay in your eyes more, and being that these are glasses are designed with gamers, like myself, in mind this is useful as those of us who like to game tend to blink a lot less during frantic on-screen actions. In real life I found that the Epoch’s worked well as my eyes did not feel as dry as they have in the past when using a computer all day and then gaming at night. I can’t explain it in technical terms, but the bottom line, they worked in this area and it was really noticeable during my late night gaming.
Another one of Gunnar’s claims is that by wearing their eyewear you can reduce eyestrain, as well as eye fatigue. This was one area that I really questioned whether their claim would come through; however, I have to say that they worked much better then anticipated here. I always find myself taking my regular prescription glasses off the rub my eyes during the day. Usually it is because my eyes are tired, or indeed strained, from using so many different forms of screens (console gaming, PC work, tablet use, smartphone use, etc.) as these screens are part of my daily routine. As I wore the Epochs I found that I was taking my glasses off a lot less when doing these tasks, and that my eyes didn’t have that tired feeling as often as they have in the past. Again, technically I can’t explain how or why, but in my real world use they proved strong in defending that they do what Gunnar claims here. Sure, if I were overtired from a late night, I would still have to rub my eyes now and then, as I was plain old exhausted, my eyes included, but this was not due to a lack of the Gunnar’s doing their job.
On a final note, I also found that after a long day my eyes were not nearly as red as they would usually be, and this accounts for something, as my eyes were not struggling towards the end of a long day as they would in the past. It was neat to see this in action as when I was getting ready to call it a night, I would look in the mirror and I could see more white then red in my eyes, and they were not scratchy or itchy as they would usually be.
So, now you know that the pair of Gunnar Prescription Glasses I used did their job for reducing eye strain, eye fatigue, and even kept my eyes less dry then in the past, but what about how they performed when I gaming, something that these glasses are truly designed for. Well, I can honestly say that they did make a difference. Sure, it was not monumental or a life changing experience, but they did help in many areas you would not think about.
I tend to game in my media room on an 80-inch screen with nary a light on. Console gaming is my passion. During my time with the Gunnar glasses and I found self playing COD: Black Ops 2, as it was a game that was in my back-log and I wanted to get through it, and I also started playing some Black Ops 2 multiplayer as well. When breaking from COD I played some Borderlands 2, and hit up my favourite driving game at this time, Forza Horizon. Well, each of these games seemed to have a slightly different experience then in the past. All of these games can sometimes seem punchy and a just a bit overly bright at times. Well the Epochs, with the amber colored lenses, took that punchiness (or edginess) away while making it look just as good, or better then you’d expect it. It almost calms the screen down in colours and increases the contrast somewhat. Sure, whites are not as white as you’d expect, given the amber colour, but the way that everything else looks is nice and not heavy on the eyes so to speak. Did it make me a better gamer, not really, but it made the overall experience of gaming better. This includes the aforementioned fact that my eyes did not feel nearly as bad as they have in the past, as well as improving some of the visuals I experienced. I have a better understanding of why you see some of those professional gamers wearing Gunnars on stage in various eSport tournaments as they engage in a heated battle of Black Ops 2 or League of Legends.
Given the nature of prescription lenses, it’s worth mentioning how they performed during a regular day, this includes when not in front of a screen or when not gaming, and just going about my daily business. I have to admit that the yellow lenses really do brighten up things outside, especially on a cloudy or rainy day. They were actually was able to enhance things for me and make it almost better to drive on those darker days. On the flipside, wear these glasses outside on a sunny day and look out, as things can almost be too bright, especially for those with light sensitive eyes like me. The latter is indeed worth noting for people in general though, as it is amazing how much brighter a sunny day is with the amber lenses and how you’re eyes will sense the extra brightness.
At the end of the day I am left with the question of whether or not to recommend these glasses to you. I can only speak from my personal use. Given all the advantages of the Gunnar prescription glasses that I have discovered over the past few weeks, it is hard not to highly recommend them. From everyday use, computer use, to gaming specific use, these glasses have so many benefits that I am pretty impressed about them indeed. I guess the only downside to them is the fact that on a bright and sunny day they can make things a little too bright. I have to say that before I had a pair on my face I doubted the claims I read from day one when started looking into them on their website. Boy how things change when you actually try them out. Heck, I am wearing them now as I write this review. At the end of the day go ahead and feel confident as these “gaming” glasses are for real and they do make the difference Gunnar claims they do.
