Michael Hession/NYT Wirecutter

By Trey French

Trey French is a writer focused on outdoor gear. He has tested thermoses and ice cleats everywhere from hot deserts to frigid mountaintops.

A great pair of sports sunglasses provides more than just style. It’ll protect your eyes from UV rays, wind, and debris while giving the outdoors a sharper, crisper look.

After more than 210 hours spent hiking, running, and cycling in 57 different pairs of shades, we have two top picks.

The Roka SR-1x sunglasses are the best choice for people who prefer shield-style shades, and the Rudy Project Rydon sunglasses are best for people who prefer the traditional double-lens style. Both are versatile, provide great eye coverage, and are highly adjustable.

Everything we recommend

Top pick

Top pick

Top pick

Top pick

Runner-up

Budget pick

Best for...

Top pick

Our recommendation for almost all outdoor sports, the Roka SR-1x sunglasses use a wide single lens to protect against sun, wind, and debris.

In testing, these sunglasses were comfortable for all-day wear. The temples—that is, the parts that rest on your ears—adjust to match your head shape. They’re also our lightest pick. Incorporating lenses that ranked among the best we tested, they let you focus less on your eyewear and more on what you’re doing.

Roka sunglasses are available only through the company’s site, though, so you can’t try them on before ordering, and the frames come in only one size. (If they don’t fit your face, consider our runner-up pick, which comes in two sizes.)

You can order the SR-1x sunglasses with corrective lenses, but the range of prescription strengths isn’t great. If you have a prescription stronger than +3.00 to -4.00, try our top pick for double-lens sunglasses.

Top pick

If you prefer a traditional double-lens design or need strong corrective lenses, try the Rudy Project Rydon sunglasses.

Top pick

They come in three sizes, making them a better fit for a wider range of faces. As with our other top pick, the temples adjust to fit your head shape. These sunglasses have great lenses that come in the most options, covering every need we can dream up.

Top pick

While the lenses are smaller than those on some of our other picks, they’re curved to provide good peripheral protection while still allowing plenty of airflow.

However, these are our most expensive pick. If you want to try them on, they’re distributed through opticians—not sporting-goods stores—and the Rudy Project website.

Runner-up

If our top pick doesn’t fit you—or if, when you say you want a shield style, you really mean shield—we recommend the Oakley Sutro sunglasses.

They come in two sizes, while our top pick comes in only one, and the Sutros have the tallest lens of any of our picks, which means they offer the most protection from the front. Their lenses compete in optical quality with those of our other picks yet cost less.

They’re not our top pick, though, because the temples aren’t permanently adjustable, even though they’re flexible. These are the only pick that have a plastic hinge (rather than a screw) connecting the temples to the frame, which means they may snap off under pressure. (They do go back on.) They’re also the heaviest of our picks.

Budget pick

If you value eye protection and comfort and don’t mind trading lens quality for affordability, we recommend trying the Tifosi Vero sunglasses.

The temples are adjustable, though they don’t stay put as well as those on our top picks. The Veros comes in one size, which fits smaller than our other picks, so these may not work as well for people with wider faces.

Their curved frame and lenses provide similar coverage as our top double-lens pick, at less than half the price. While the lenses don’t enhance shadows and contrast like our other picks, they don’t cause eye fatigue or noticeable distortion, which can be a problem with cheap sunglasses.

These are the least expensive sunglasses we tested that can come with photochromic or prescription lenses. They’re also the most widely available, sold in many outdoor-recreation stores.

Best for...

If you often struggle with sunglasses that chafe behind your ears—or simply find that they bounce annoyingly—we recommend the Ombraz Refugio sunglasses. Just know you’ll need two hands to take them on and off.

Ombraz sunglasses do away with the temples (or sidearms) altogether. Instead, a nylon cord holds the sunglasses on. This model, the Refugio, provides similar coverage as our top shield style and runner-up pick; it uses a brown high-contrast lens (it’s also available in gray).

Ombraz covers all components against damage under a lifetime warranty except for the lenses; you can buy replacement lenses should you need them. The company doesn’t cover loss.

The Refugio sunglasses come in two sizes, regular and XL, but not a narrow size like some of our picks. Ombraz sells a nosepiece as an add-on to improve fit for people with lower-bridge noses. The sunglasses are not prescription compatible.

The research

Why you should trust us


I wore the Oakley Sutro sunglasses while hiking in to ski the Wineglass Couloir in California’s Eastern Sierra. (I skied in them, too.) Andrew Weitz

I’m a staff writer covering travel and outdoor gear, including trekking poles and ice cleats. I regularly wear sports sunglasses while hiking, backpacking, trail running, ski touring, and biking.

For this guide, I’ve done the following:

• I combed through online forums to filter through seemingly endless sunglasses options; I decoded the different types of lens materials; and I read studies examining how sunglass shape affects eye protection from UV rays.
• I spent over 190 hours hiking, running, cycling, and skiing in 13 pairs of sunglasses in California’s Eastern Sierra.
• In 2016 and 2017, contributor Bob Howells tested 40 pairs of sunglasses and spoke with three experts. His reporting appears throughout this guide.
• Like all Wirecutter journalists, I review and test products with complete editorial independence. I’m never made aware of any business implications of my editorial recommendations. Read more about our editorial standards.

Who this is for

You’ll benefit from sports sunglasses if you do anything active outside during daylight hours. Sports sunglasses offer more eye protection than casual sunglasses do: They are more curved, which means they wrap around your eyes, acting like a car windshield or motorcycle fairing to protect them from wind, dust, mud, and flying objects.

For this review, I focused on shades that work well for hiking, biking, and running, since they’re common activities that place clear demands on eyewear. However, they’ll suit most outdoor activities, including cross-country skiing, ski touring, golf, tennis, and softball. (Around-water activities, such as fishing or stand-up paddleboarding, have different requirements that we don’t cover in this guide.)

How we picked and tested


Michael Hession/NYT Wirecutter

Here’s what I prioritized when deciding which sunglasses to test and what I looked for during our testing:

Coverage: The more curvature that sports sunglasses have, the more protection they provide. “Base curve,” “wrap,” and “bend” are all terms used to describe lens curvature. I tested models advertised as having base curves ranging from 6 to 10; I preferred models with a 7 or 8, for their balance of protection, versatile styling, and prescription compatibility.

Fog resistance: Some sunglasses value protection over breathability, which may make them more prone to fogging during vigorous activities—especially when you stop moving, which reduces airflow. Most high-quality sunglasses have an anti-fog coating, but it’s hard to prevent fogging if the sunglasses are very close to your face. I looked for sunglasses that balance coverage with airflow.

Fit: I looked for sunglasses that come in more than one size. I also looked for adjustable sunglasses, meaning that I could alter the temples permanently by bending them or swap the nosepieces to change how the bridge fits. If the temples weren’t adjustable, I tested their flexibility—looking for temples that’d spread enough to fit comfortably.

Weight: Unless you’re a professional athlete, the weight of your gear usually shouldn’t be a huge concern. However, while testing sunglasses—often for 12 hours at a time—I did notice which pairs were lighter and which were heavier. (Our picks range in weight from 24 to 33 grams.)

Durability: I sat on each of the sunglasses I tested, pressed their nosepieces to the temples, flexed the temples in opposite directions, and threw them across my office at the wall or onto a hard floor. I also accidentally dropped several pairs while running (when removing them to wipe away sweat) and while ski touring (when changing from sunglasses to goggles). All of our picks came through these tests admirably. Still, I also prioritized sunglasses with replaceable parts—including lenses, temples, and nose pads.

Lens quality: When moving fast, you want sharp optical quality; that is, no eyestrain and the ability to see details clearly while in motion. Most sport sunglasses lenses are made of polycarbonate, a strong plastic resistant to shattering that also has great optics, especially when lenses are preshaped in a mold, which most high-quality lenses are. Our runner-up pick and our budget pick both use polycarbonate lenses; our top double-lens pick uses polycarbonate lenses in its cheaper lens options.

Trivex is an even stronger material with an edge in optic quality over polycarbonate; it’s sold under a few other brand names as well (NXT, Phoenix, and Trilogy). The Rudy Project Rydon’s pricier lenses are made of Trivex (the company’s proprietary name for it is ImpactX). The material is typically more expensive than polycarbonate.

Nylon (sometimes referred to as polyamide) also provides excellent optics—better than polycarbonate and close in quality to Trivex. Our top shield-style pick has nylon lenses. Very lightweight and flexible, nylon isn’t rated as being as impact-resistant as polycarbonate and Trivex, but it’s tough enough for sport use.

The cheapest lenses we’ve seen are often made of basic plastic or acetate plastic, which is cut from a sheet, then bent to shape. Such lenses are almost sure to cause eyestrain over time. “They might seem fuzzy, dirty, or foggy, but they’re not,” said SportRx’s Rob Tavakoli. “They’re just not good lenses.”


Michael Hession/NYT Wirecutter

Lens darkness and tint: I looked for sunglasses that come in a wide-enough variety of darknesses and tints that most people will be able to find a lens that’ll work for them.

Lens darkness is measured in variable light transmission, or VLT. A higher VLT means less light for bright days, and a lower number means more light for darker days. By tint, I mean base tint—what you see from the inside of the lens. Coatings and mirrors can alter a lens’s exterior look, but it’s the inside that counts.

Since you might need different lenses for different conditions, I also looked for sunglasses with lenses you could swap out (and tested to see how easy it was to do so).

Prescription compatibility: Not every pair of sports sunglasses is prescription-ready. It’s challenging to build a prescription into lenses as curved as those you find on sports sunglasses. “A heavy wrap in even a low Rx is going to cause some problems,” said John Seegers, optician and founder of OpticianWorks, who is also a recreational cyclist and mountain climber. “As the Rx power goes up, so will the distortion.”

Shield sunglasses are even less well suited than double-lens sports sunglasses for people who need correction. This is because prescriptions are made for each eye, and building in two prescriptions into one lens is difficult, especially as the prescription gets stronger.

If you have a strong prescription—generally, this means prescriptions of +/- 4 power or more—you’ll likely need double-lens style sunglasses, whose lenses can be individually dialed in to fit your prescription.

Availability and return policy: Some of the sunglasses we tested are available only online, while others are available in stores. For those that are available only online, we prioritized those with good return policies.

Why you probably don’t want polarized sport sunglasses

High-quality polarized sunglasses use an embedded filter—it works like a built-in Venetian blind—to block horizontal rays, thereby subduing the piercing glare of sunlight reflecting off water or ice.

That’s fine if you’re a sailor or an ice climber. But that glare transmits important information for mountain bikers or trail runners: Don’t step here. Or: Avoid this icy patch. Polarization also flattens your field of view, affecting depth perception—not helpful when you’re picking your way across rocky terrain.

Also, the screens of some bike computers, phones, or satellite devices use a polarization filter, which clashes with polarized sunglasses. Depending on the angle at which you view the screen, you may see a “rainbow” effect, or the entire screen may appear black—you’ll have to remove the sunglasses to read it.

Top pick for shield-style sunglasses: Roka SR-1x

Michael Hession/NYT Wirecutter

Top pick

We recommend the Roka SR-1x sunglasses for most outdoor sports, as long as you’re okay with a shield-style (that is, single-lens) pair of sunglasses.

They balance coverage and breathability the best. Though some other sunglasses I tested offered more protection—and others offered better breathability—the SR-1x sunglasses provided protection for a wide range of activities, from high-altitude hikes to fast road-bike rides, all without fogging up.

The SR-1x has a lower base curve than our other picks, which means its lens shape is flatter and provides inherently less coverage. However, the lens is wider than that of most other sunglasses we tested, which means a better wrap around your face than the spec sheet might suggest.

They’re highly adjustable. Roka uses a proprietary elastomer on the temples and on the nosepiece that becomes tacky when you sweat. This is meant to deter slipping or bouncing, and the sunglasses never moved, even when I was bounding down mountain trails. But this tackiness is useful only if the glasses fit well in the first place, and these sunglasses have a titanium wire inside each temple that bends and holds its shape well. You can widen them to avoid pinching the sides of your head, or bend them inward if the temples are set too wide for your face. While the nosepiece isn’t adjustable, the sunglasses come with four different-sized pads—these are soft and can conform to different nose shapes.

The Roka SR-1x sunglasses come with two sets of spare nose pads, so you can choose the ones that suit your nose bridge. Michael Hession/NYT Wirecutter

They’re our lightest pick. The SR-1x sunglasses have thin, semi-rimless nylon frames and nylon lenses, and they weigh 24 grams, according to our scale.

The lenses are among the best we tested. These are the only sunglasses in our testing pool with lenses made of nylon, which (along with the Trivex lenses on our top double-lens pick) offered the sharpest vision.

These sunglasses are durable. In addition to the intended torture I subjected these glasses to, I also inadvertently dropped them on the pavement and watched my bike helmet roll over them. All this abuse led to one shallow scratch.

These lenses are the easiest to swap—with a catch. These are the easiest lenses to swap, but only if you purchase a $15 nosepiece to keep on each lens in your collection. Otherwise, you must remove the nosepiece each time you swap a lens, which is common on semi-rimless-style sunglasses.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

They’re available in only one size. Though we believe that the SR-1x will fit a wide range of faces, we’d like to see smaller and wider versions of these sunglasses. If these don’t fit you, check out our runner-up pick.

There’s no high-contrast photochromic option. The SR-1x is available in a photochromic lens, but it’s a clear-to-gray lens, which won’t provide as good a contrast as other photochromic sunglasses we tested. These also come in fewer lens options than our other top pick.

These sunglasses won’t work for strong prescriptions. You can order these with a prescription insert, but some stronger prescriptions may not work (this is true, in general, for all shield-style lenses). Roka claims that the SR-1x accommodates +3.00 to -4.00 prescriptions. Also, you can see the insert inside the lens, which some people may not like. If you need a stronger prescription, consider our top pick for a double-lens style.

You can buy them only through Roka. You can’t try these on in stores; Roka does offer free returns via a prepaid shipping label, but only within 30 days. Roka’s warranty lasts 1,000 days, but it doesn’t cover wear and tear like scratches and damaged lens coatings.

Top pick for double-lens sunglasses: Rudy Project Rydon

Michael Hession/NYT Wirecutter

Top pick

If you prefer a traditional double-lens style or have a strong prescription, we recommend the Rudy Project Rydon sunglasses for most outdoor sports.

Top pick

The sunglasses also come in Rydon Slim and Rydon Slim Curva versions, for people with smaller faces.

Top pick

These sunglasses are more adjustable than our top shield-style pick. The Roka SR-1x sunglasses do have adjustable temples and nosepieces, but the Rydons have a greater range of adjustment for both, especially in the nosepiece, which stays in place better than the nosepieces on other sunglasses we tested.

The nosepiece of the Rudy Project Rydon sunglasses is more adjustable than the nosepieces of our other picks. Michael Hession/NYT Wirecutter

They provide good coverage and breathability. Though these lenses are smaller than our shield-style top pick, they’re more curved and provide a similar amount of peripheral coverage from the sun. They don’t provide as much protection from the front against debris and cold wind, but we noticed only a small difference. Like our other top pick, these sunglasses didn’t fog up.

They’re available in the most sizes. The Rydons come in three different frame and lens sizes, though each provides the same level of lens coverage. The Rydon Slims are scaled down to suit smaller faces better. The Rydon Slim Curva fits like the standard Slim, but its lenses are more rounded. Rudy Project’s website says the style “compliments a woman’s face perfectly.” Though I didn’t test the Curvas, I like the look of their rounded lenses, which could work for anyone with a small face, regardless of gender.

You have more lenses to choose from. At the time of writing, the standard Rydons are available in 15 lens options, some with multiple frame choices. (There are fewer options for the Slim style, and fewer still for the Slim Curva.)

These options include multiple shades of high-contrast photochromic lenses, static lenses of varying levels of VLT, and polarized lenses, so you should be able to find what you need for most sports.

The optics are crisp. The pair of sunglasses we tested had ImpactX lenses, which are made of Trivex, and the lens quality is excellent.

The lenses are really easy to swap. The Rydon lenses were the easiest double-lens style to remove and install. And since the nosepiece is integrated into the frame, you don’t have to remove it when changing lenses—you do with our shield-style top pick.

They work with more prescription strengths. Rudy Project says these sunglasses can accommodate prescriptions ranging from -9.00 to +5.00 diopters—a wider range than the Rokas can (double-lens glasses are usually more prescription-friendly than shield-style glasses).

They’re durable and easily repairable. At the end of testing, these sunglasses looked like new, and the temples and nosepieces remained responsive. Rudy Project does sell replacement parts, however, including nosepieces (which are available in a handful of colors), temples, and even the correct screws.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

They’re expensive. The Rydons vary in price depending on the type of lens you get, but they are all costly.

The photochromic lenses aren’t guaranteed. Some photochromic applications become less reactive after about three years, so you may need to replace those lenses at some point. Unlike Julbo, which specializes in photochromic sunglasses, Rudy Project does not guarantee its photochromic-style lenses for life. That said, Rudy Project claims they don’t become less reactive over time—we’ll continue testing the pair we have and will report back.

They’re available only through opticians and the Rudy Project website. Rudy Project doesn’t sell its glasses at outdoors-gear stores, so you’ll have to find an optician’s store that carries them if you want to try them on before buying. Rudy Project does have a 90-day return policy, and return shipping is free if the sunglasses cost more than $200 (as these do). The Rudy Project warranty on sunglasses is two years, which doesn’t cover wear and tear. Prescription lenses carry a one-year scratch replacement policy; for its non-prescription lenses, Rudy Project offers a discounted lens replacement for damage under warranty.

Runner-up: Oakley Sutro

Michael Hession/NYT Wirecutter

Runner-up

We recommend the Oakley Sutro sunglasses (they also come in a smaller version, called Sutro S) for most outdoor sports if you prefer shield-style sunglasses and our top pick isn’t available or doesn’t fit your face.

They provide the best protection from direct sunlight. These sunglasses have the tallest lens—they’re almost goggle-like. Last season, I even used a pair as a substitute for ski goggles for spring ski-touring days when I needed less wind and snow protection. They also work well for cycling, when you tend to need more protection from the front.

With a base curve of 8, they also provide great peripheral coverage, though the lenses are actually narrower than those on our top pick for shield sunglasses, and they left a bigger gap between the side of our face and the edge of the lens. The gap enhances airflow, though.

The lenses are among the best we tested. We’re not sure what dyes and methods Oakley uses to achieve these results—like all sunglass manufacturers, Oakley has its own proprietary formulas—but the lenses are consistently excellent.

They’re polycarbonate, though, and not quite as sharp as the nylon or Trivex lenses we’ve tested. The marginal optical gains you’d get from those pricier materials would probably not be worth the added expense on such a large lens.

They have a resilient frame and lens. This is our only pick with a full-rim frame, meaning that the frame completely circles the lens. A full-rim frame adds weight to the sunglasses, but it also protects the lens’s bottom edge. It also eliminates any chance of the lens falling out (we have had this happen with other sunglasses).

For those who want a semi-rimless design to cut weight, Oakley offers the Sutro Lite. We’ll be testing them in the future.

I’ve owned a pair of these for about two years, and the lenses remain in remarkably good condition after hours of cycling, skiing, running, and hiking.

The Sutros are our only pick that uses a plastic hinge instead of a metal screw to connect the temples to the rest of the frame. So far, the hinges on our test pair have fared neither better nor worse than a screw. The temples did pop off once, when I fell on a pair that happened to be in my pocket; I was able to snap them back into place easily.

The Oakley Sutro sunglasses have a plastic hinge with no screw—our other picks all have metal hinges. Michael Hession/NYT Wirecutter

They’re widely available. Many sunglass companies try to help you figure out which frame would be best for you—providing dimensions, offering virtual “try-on” engines, and the like. Still, nothing beats trying on a pair of shades in person, and Oakley Sutros are sold in many outdoors-gear and sporting-goods stores. If you do order directly from Oakley, you have 60 days to return them (and shipping is covered); the warranty is two years, but it doesn’t cover wear and tear or accidental damage like scratches.

The lenses are easy to swap. The lenses sit in a channel all the way around the frame, and you just need to do some slight frame-stretching to pop the lens in and out. (And unlike our budget pick, this frame doesn’t make any scary popping noises.)

They’re repairable. Oakley offers replacement parts; you have to register your sunglasses to see the parts list.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

They’re heavy. These have the tallest lens and, not coincidentally, weigh the most out of all our picks. I could feel the weight of them on my face, but they didn’t hurt the bridge of my nose.

They don’t permanently adjust. You can’t bend the temples permanently to fit your head, but the temples do flex when you’re wearing them. (After you take them off, they spring back into their original shape.) They’re forgiving, and they play well with such accessories as bike helmets, hats, and headbands. Still, some reviewers with larger heads have reported developing pressure points over time. The nosepieces are tacky and conform to your nose (like those on the Roka SR-1x sunglasses), but they are not adjustable like the ones on the Rudy Project Rydon.

There’s no high-contrast photochromic option. The Sutros sunglasses are available in a photochromic lens, but it’s a clear-to-gray lens—much like the Roka SR-1x’s photochromic lens.

They’re not prescription-compatible. This is typical for large single-lens shield style sunglasses.

Budget pick: Tifosi Vero

Michael Hession/NYT Wirecutter

Budget pick

We recommend the Tifosi Vero sunglasses if you want great eye coverage and don’t need the fanciest lenses or shield-style sunglasses.

They balance affordability with lens quality. Any of the Vero lens options will cost less than half the price of either of our top picks. The Tifosi lenses aren’t as sharp as those of our other picks, but they do protect from UV light and have no visible distortion. We haven’t experienced eyestrain like we have with some cheaper sunglasses. I’ve seen happy Tifosi hikers, runners, cyclists, and people walking around town in the sunny high desert and high-altitude mountains that I live in. The customer reviews for Tifosi sunglasses were some of the most passionate (in a good way) that we saw in our research.

They’re the most affordable prescription-compatible sunglasses that we tested. These won’t accommodate as strong prescriptions as the Rudy Project Rydons can, though.

They offer very good coverage. They have the same base curve as our top double-lens pick and our runner-up pick, and they have lens shape similar to that of the Rydon sunglasses. This means excellent peripheral coverage from sun, wind, and debris, and yet I noticed no fogging.

They’re a few millimeters narrower than the Rydon, but I found that they also sit a little closer to my face (partly due to the frame being smaller)—you very well might not notice the difference in coverage. They’re not as heavy as the Sutros, weighing just a single gram more than the Rydons.


You can get the Tifosi Vero sunglasses with three different lenses (shown here) or one photochromic lens. Michael Hession/NYT Wirecutter

They’re versatile. Each pair of the regular Veros comes with three different lenses: a dark lens for bright sun, a lighter lens for more-overcast days, and a clear lens for morning or night use.

The photochromic version of the Veros costs the same as the three-lens version. It’s even available in a red, contrasty tint, unlike some of our other picks that come in only a gray tint.

They’re repairable. The Vero sunglasses make more noise than our other picks when I change the lenses and make adjustments, but I haven’t yet broken anything. If something does break, you can buy replacement lenses, ear pads, and nose pads.

They’re adjustable. Like the Rudy Project Rydons, they’re permanently adjustable in the temples and the nose pads. The nose pads don’t flare out as much as those of the Rydons, though, so they’re not as accommodating to wider noses. As the Veros are smaller than our other picks, I had to bend the temples outward. Over time, they tended to creep back inward, but not so much that they caused me pain.

The nosepieces of the Tifosi Vero sunglasses are adjustable, though not as adjustable as those on our top picks. Michael Hession/NYT Wirecutter

They’re widely available. Like Oakleys, Tifosi sunglasses are sold in sports and outdoors-gear stores. If you do end up ordering directly from Tifosi, you have 30 days to return them. Returns are free, but the tags must still be on the glasses.

They have a lifetime warranty. Tifosi offers a lifetime warranty against defects, but it doesn’t cover scratches, and you have to pay a $15 processing fee.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

They come in only one size. I found that the Veros run just slightly smaller than all of our other picks in their standard sizes, so they may not fit larger heads.

Their lenses require more force to swap. Though removing a lens produces an alarming “pop,” I have yet to actually break anything (lens or frame). With practice, this procedure becomes more about losing the fear of breaking the frame.

The lenses don’t provide good definition. Though these lenses provide some contrast, they don’t highlight shadows or define lines as well as our other picks.

Best sports sunglasses for hard-to-fit heads: Ombraz Refugio


Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter

If sunglasses usually hurt behind your ears or slip off your head too easily, we recommend the Ombraz Refugio sunglasses. Provided, that is, that you don’t mind having to use two hands to put them on and take them off, and you’re not going to want to swap the shield lens.

These are the most comfortable and secure sports sunglasses we’ve tested. Wearing a pair of Refugios is like wearing your favorite relaxed fit t-shirt—everything settles comfortably without pulling or creating pressure. Instead of traditional temples that rest on your ears, they use an adjustable nylon cord with two sliders, letting you achieve a secure, bounce-free fit. We experienced no pressure points even after long days outside.

They aren’t meant to be pulled tight like goggles, and they don’t need to be. The sweet spot for us allows the cord to droop just slightly, to avoid touching the side of our face, or pulling the frames against our eyebrows. The only major contact point is on the nose.

There are no hinges to break. The cord ties into the frame without using screws or pivoting hardware that can wear out over time.

A nylon cord replaces the usual hinge-plus-temple combo, so there’s no pivoting hardware to wear out or break. Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter

The warranty is unmatched. Ombraz covers all components against damage under a lifetime warranty except for lens scratches. You’ll need to go through a third party to buy replacement lenses if you damage yours. Ombraz will repair components, if possible, or replace the whole pair. The company doesn’t cover loss.

Our other picks only have warranties that cover manufacturer defects.

The frames offer great coverage. In terms of size, the Refugio frames fall between our top and runner-up picks for shield-style sunglasses, providing great frontal protection. They’re just as curved as our top pick for double-lens style sunglasses, giving them great peripheral protection as well. Ombraz sells side shields and a nose cover separately, but they’re expensive add-ons, and the side shields will reduce peripheral vision and air flow.

The lenses have excellent contrast. Ombraz offers two lenses, gray and brown—both mirrored and non-polarized.

We tested the brown, and they provided excellent contrast in the shadows, plus good color pop, especially with green objects. On sunny days, they are just as contrasty as some of the rose-colored lenses that are available from our top and runner up picks, but we give the edge to rose lenses on darker, more overcast or hazy days. The brown lenses are pleasant to look through, and are versatile enough to use as daily non-sports-specific lenses.

Like some of our other picks, the Refugios use polycarbonate lenses. Polycarbonate lenses usually have sharp but not the sharpest optics—nylon and Trivex are the best—but we were surprised how clear the Refugios were.

We have not had any issues with scratches or fogging.


The shield-style Refugios provided great front coverage from wind and bugs when cycling, and the nylon cord didn’t interfere with my helmet. Trey French/NYT Wirecutter

They come in two sizes. The Refugios come in two sizes, Regular and XL.The nose pad is a single, tacky piece of rubber—much like the nosepiece on our top shield-style pick. It’s flexible but not as adjustable as the nosepiece on our favorite double-lens sunglasses.

You may be able to try them on in person. The Refugios are carried at outdoors-gear stores and outfitters across the country, mostly (though not solely) in mountain or resort areas.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

You need two hands to put them on and remove them. Once we got the motion down, it was almost as fast as handling any pair of sunglasses, but you’ll still need both hands. Driving, for example, isn’t the safest time to put them on.