Gunnar Optiks Review

Gunnar Optiks Review




I just recently bought myself a pair of Gunnar Optiks glasses from gunnars.com. For me, this was half because of friends who have them and have said good things about them, and half because I'm studying computer engineering, so between school, home, work, and Xbox, I'm on video screens most of my waking day. To be completely honest, I was really skeptical that amber-tinted glasses were going to make any difference whatsoever, but I have to say that the Gunnars have blown me away with how awesome they are.


First off, taking a look at Gunnars.com, where it shows the technology used in the Gunnars:

Sounds like a gimmick, huh? It's not... trust me and the other people who use it and love it (which includes various MLG pros like Neighbor, Soulja Boy, 50 Cent, and Keith Arem, director of Modern Warfare 2).


Gunnars aren't just sunglasses with a yellowish tint. Gunnars are for those that are on computer screens or TV for 2, 3, 4, whatever, a good amount of hours watching a video screen, especially late at night for people like me. The idea is that the tint blocks out the harsh blue light that gives you eyestrain, with a bunch of neat features along with it. Sounds weird? It did to me, until I got a chance to actually wear one.


When I first got my prescription pair of Gunnars (I got the PPK), I first noticed the awesome box. It's basically got one large box with a slightly smaller box inside. The top box opens up and the second box flips up, and there's the Gunnars, in a kind of velvety foam thing. It's really a great box (I love boxes, haha). I tried them on and off for a bit and it felt kind of weird...however, after wearing them for a few hours, I decided to take them off in a game on Sandtrap (because it was too un-MLG to wear Gunnars ), and I realized how great my eyes felt in comparison to without them on and how the color had become completely natural. Your eyes really do feel much better; I normally go to sleep with a headache after gaming or working late at night, for the last few nights it's been great. No headaches, no twitchy or red eyes, I'm loving it. And the tint isn't intrusive at all on your gaming experience, after a little bit you won't notice it at all.



Here's my awesome Gunnars (eSPORT - PPK)!


The anti-reflective coating is also really cool, blocking out the distracting light off your screen and such. You can actually see blue light bouncing off the Gunnars, which is...well, it's good for showing off to your friends! Smudge and scratch resistance is another nice touch, for those who have used glasses before, you will realize how annoying these can be.


Unlike normal glasses also, the Gunnars curve in one semicircle instead of one in each. It claims to also have an "ocular microclimate trapping in humidity and blocking out evaporative air currents", I haven't noticed any significant differences, but it does look pretty awesome with the curve.



Here's the pair my sister got. She does some short story writing on the computer and is often up all night and is loving hers. It's an Attache - Metropole pair.


The construction is nice and high quality, along with being flexible enough that it won't break if you misplace them. Though my prescription lenses were thick, it's just my prescription, the normal lens is pretty thin and looks quite cool IMO. The yellow tint is pretty subtle from the outside, and you really get used to it after wearing them for 10 minutes. As mentioned before, there's a tiny color change, but it becomes natural really quickly, and to be honest it's more like the contrast is increased.


On some Gunnars, there is a small icon on the info pages () that indicate headset-compatible temples. This is really cool for people who have headsets that push against your ears (like the Tritton AX Pros or Astro A40s), because they won't put pressure directly on a small piece. Instead, it's spread out all along the sides of your head, making it feel much better against your ears with a headset. The way they've been done makes it much more comfortable if you use a headset, but yet look really good, too.


In that vein, the Gunnars are great for long gaming sessions, too. They keep your eyes from getting lazy and definitely help a ton on your eye endurance (believe it or not, that's actually important...that's probably why many people start to get worse and worse after a certain point in gaming sessions). Apparently they help reaction time as well, and though I didn't notice anything significant, I do feel like I play better overall with them.


The price wasn't anywhere near obscene for what you're getting. The frames go from anywhere from $60-$180 (the popular eSPORT line is all $60 other than the $100 Legend aviators), but if you wear glasses, you'll need to get a prescription pair. The lenses costed me a decent amount, but it was nothing too crazy (~$200). If you wear contact lenses or see fine without glasses, you're good with just a normal pair, and I can't imagine not buying one for just $60 (though some of the other frame styles are SWEET, they are a little more expensive). It's totally worth it if you ever go on gaming/TV watching/forging sprees, or in general have headaches or eyestrain after being on the computer. At that price, I think it makes a great holiday or birthday present for those on the computer all the time.


I'm wearing my Gunnars all the time now, using them at school, home, and on the go. They've thusfar served me extremely well, and I can see this already being totally worth the ~$200 I payed for the prescription lenses and PPK frames. My only complaint is that it was a little hard to get the prescriptions done (as it can only be sent in from select stores, none of which were close to where I live), it would be cool if you could just send in your prescription straight to Gunnar online and get it done that way. Regardless, if you're on video screens for more than 2 hours at a time, you should really consider getting yourself (or asking for) a pair of Gunnars. Your eyes deserve it.

10/10

You can check out the Gunnar Optiks products and info at www.gunnars.com.


Dedicated to Devinish and Black Theorem: "You know, sometimes people ask me...how'd I get so good at this game?! You know what I tell them? It's all the Gunnar[sup]TM[/sup] Optiks with iAMP[sup]TM[/sup] patented lenses and..."

 

At the bottom of my post in tiny letters

 

I'm pretty sure there isn't...they actually say that if you have a prescription you'll need to use contacts or get prescription lenses.

 

All the Gunnars come with the whole thing for 20/20 eyes or contacts, frames and lenses together.

 

Should be fine. I think it depends on the person in terms of eyestrain...that's not really true with the breaks, you may just have very good eyes with screens.

What's up, Matty/Alan. Gunnars should be 100% compatible with your Rubbars[sup](TM)[/sup], unless you are wearing them in front of your eyes. If you are doing so, slap yourself in the face repeatedly until your Rubbars[sup](TM)[/sup] fall off your eyes and you can see properly.

 

~$200 for me, but I have a pretty high prescription. Not too high compared to normal for prescrip lenses with all the nice stuff.

 

Depends on what you think, obviously. I'm loving mine and see the ~$200-250 totally worth it, but I'm a computer engineer major, so I'm on the computer practically all day. So it really depends on how much you value reduced eyestrain at. I think it makes a great holiday gift in general.

 

That was my only complaint. You've gotta buy the lenses off a retailer (you can find one close to you on their site) and then they'll buy them for you off Gunnar (?). Something like that, it was kind of inefficient.