Do You Need Anti-Glare Glasses? The Answer Is Likely Yes

Ever been on a Zoom call and all you can see are your shiny lenses reflecting back at you? Or perhaps you’ve been driving at night and struggled to see the road ahead through all the reflections bouncing around in your glasses?

In our modern world, we’re surrounded by glare. Overhead lights, digital devices, and car headlights all give off light, which can also reflect off bright surfaces like roads or snow.

If you wear eyeglasses, light reflection from the outer or inner surfaces of your lenses can make it difficult to see clearly — and for others to see you. Luckily there’s a solution: anti-glare glasses.

Let’s look at what anti-glare glasses are and how they can help you see more clearly and look better. After all, when you wear glasses, you want your eyes to shine — not your lenses.

What Are Anti-Glare Glasses?

Anti-glare glasses, also known as anti-reflective glasses, have a special anti-glare coating. Anti-reflective lens coating (or AR coating) is made up of extremely thin layers of metal oxides that block various frequencies of light.

This prevents light from bouncing off your lenses, instead allowing almost all of it — around 99.5% — through the lenses. Compare that with regular, uncoated lenses, which only allow about 92% through. It may not seem like much, but that extra 7.5% makes a big difference to your ability to see clearly.

Benefits of Anti-Reflective Coating

Anti-reflective lenses can make all the difference during the day and at night, improving your eyeglasses' performance and aesthetics. These are just some of their many benefits:

Improved Vision

With less reflected light bouncing off the outside of your glasses, the amount of light reaching your eyes increases. This improves your visual acuity (your ability to see clearly) and reduces eye strain and fatigue, whether you’re working on a computer or doing something else entirely.

Fewer Distracting Reflections at Night

If you do a lot of night driving, you may have noticed that the lights behind you tend to reflect onto the inside of your glasses. This can be very distracting and sometimes even dangerous. Anti-glare lenses help reduce this reflection, allowing your eyes to relax as you focus on the road.

Less Glare in the Sun

The same applies when you’re wearing sunglasses and the sun is behind you, again reflecting on the inside of your glasses. Anti-reflective lenses cut this glare for you. You might also consider getting polarized sunglasses to reduce the glare even further.

Better High-Index Performance

If your prescription is very strong, you may need high-index lenses. This type of eyeglass lens is flatter and tends to reflect even more light than normal lenses. Your optician might then recommend anti-reflective glasses to help to address this problem.

More Eye Contact

While regular glasses can create a shiny mirror effect when others look at you, anti-glare lenses are almost invisible. This allows others to see your eyes clearly, whether IRL, in a flash photo, or on a Zoom call. And there’s plenty of research to show that eye contact is essential to building relationships.

Smudge Resistance

As a bonus, anti-reflective coatings often repel water and natural oils from your skin, so you’re less likely to end up with smudges on your lenses. If you do though, make sure you clean them correctly so you don't damage the anti-reflective coating or the lenses themselves.

Are Anti-Glare Glasses the Same as Blue-Light Glasses?

Digital devices often give off a lot of glare and anti-reflective glasses can certainly help to reduce that — but they’re not the same thing as blue-light glasses.

Blue-light-blocking glasses are designed to do something else entirely. They protect the wearer from a specific wavelength of visible light known as blue light. This high-energy light is emitted by digital screens and can interfere with your sleep patterns, leaving you feeling groggy and tired in the morning, even if you got your standard eight hours. Blue-light filters block most of that blue light, helping you sleep better.

On a side note, digital eye strain is caused by glare and focusing too long on the screen. To combat the glare, wear your anti-reflective glasses — with blue-light filters if you choose. You might consider investing in an anti-glare screen too.

Basic eye-care practices can also make a big difference during a long day of work. Try blinking more often and looking up every 20 minutes or so to focus on something on the other side of the room.

If you’re still struggling, check with your optician whether you may need computer glasses.

Where to Get Your Anti-Glare Glasses

At Pair Eyewear, all our glasses have an anti-reflective coating built in. So whether you need reading glasses, single-vision prescription glasses, or progressive lenses (the latest evolution of bifocals), we’ve got you covered.

We also offer other types of lens options as add-ons. For example, if you often find yourself in front of a computer screen late at night, blue light filters can help ensure you still get good quality sleep.

And if you often move from indoors to outdoors during the day (or vice versa), you’ll love our transition lenses. These respond automatically to changes in brightness, adjusting their tint to give you the exact amount of sun protection you need at that time.

Pair Eyewear lenses are made from hard-wearing polycarbonate. They’re scratch-resistant and provide UV protection, blocking 100% of harmful UV rays — which can otherwise cause some serious damage to your eyes. They’re also superhydrophobic, repelling water and making it easy to keep them clean.

Order Your Pair Anti-Glare Glasses Today

Start by choosing the Base Frame that best suits you from our ranges for men, women, and children. If you need help with this, our Virtual Try-On feature allows you to take a photo of your face and then try on any style you like.

Also, pay attention to the sizes of the different styles. Feel free to go ahead and consult our size guide.

You can then choose your lens type along with any optional extras like blue-light filters or transition lenses.

Then add as many Top Frames as you like. Top Frames attach magnetically to your Base Frame, allowing you to change your look as you choose.

You can even add Sun Tops, instantly turning your regular specs into sunglasses — without the need to tote around multiple pairs. Or, if you know you’ll be wearing them outdoors, just choose sunglasses from the get-go.

For on-the-move style changes, carry a couple of ultralight pairs of Top Frames with you in our Top Frame Case. It'll keep your Top Frames safe and smudge-free for when you need them.

Once you’ve added your prescription details and checked out, all you need to do is wait for your gorgeous new Pair to arrive.

Improve Your Vision and Your Relationships With Anti-Glare Glasses

As you go about your day, you’re surrounded by glare from multiple different sources. That light can reflect on the inside or outside of your lenses, making it difficult to see clearly. It can also prevent others from seeing your eyes, which are so important when we’re communicating at work or in our personal lives.

Anti-glare glasses have a special coating that dramatically reduces reflections, improving your visual acuity and your connection with others.

When you order your specs from Pair Eyewear, they automatically come with anti-reflective lenses — at no extra cost. Pair glasses are also trendy and beautifully designed, and our unique Base Frame and Top Frame combinations allow you to change your style at a moment’s notice. What more can you look for?