The Best Blue Light Blocking Glasses
Find the best pair of frames to protect your eyes from blue light for less eye strain and better sleep at night.
May 14th, 2021 •
In an increasingly digitally-driven world, blue light blocking glasses have become an important accessory in our daily lives.
Whether after a long day at work on a computer, an extended scrolling session through social media feeds, or a late-night binge on TV, we’ve all felt the eye strain and headaches associated with staring at a screen. The damaging effects of staring at a screen can cause long-term health complications, but these pains can be mitigated with the use of blue light blocking glasses.
If you haven’t heard of blue light glasses before, we’ll catch you up on everything you’re missing. But if you’re already familiar with the glasses and you’re ready to find the best ones to buy, we can send you straight to our top picks by clicking the button below.
What Is Blue Light?
Blue light is a part of the range of different-colored light rays on the light spectrum.
To explain the light spectrum simply, it ranges from ultraviolet (UV) light, which is invisible and contains a high amount of energy, to a spectrum of visible light, which contains a low amount of energy. Blue light falls in the middle at the edge of the visible light spectrum.
Blue light rays are the portions of the spectrum with the shortest wavelengths and the highest energy. Everywhere you go, you will be exposed to blue light, whether it is naturally from the sun or from artificial sources like digital screens from technology.
How does blue light affect us?
The effects of blue light exposure includes both benefits and harms.
Blue light has been shown to be essential to our health. Exposure to high-energy visible light helps us in various ways including making us more alert, boosting our mood, regulating our circadian rhythm, and helping with proper memory and cognitive function. In fact, exposure to blue light is a part of light therapy, a method used to treat seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
As with most good things, too much exposure to blue light can be harmful to our health. While human eyes are very effective at blocking UV rays from reaching the retina, almost all blue light passes through the cornea and lens to the retina. This can damage the light-sensitive cells in the retina and lead to macular degeneration, which may lead to permanent vision loss.
Increased exposure to blue light from computer screens and other digital devices can contribute to this damage and risks of macular degeneration. Too much blue light exposure can also impact your sleep in a negative way.
How Does Blue Light Impact Sleep Quality?
Our circadian rhythms are regulated by light exposure. When our eyes take in light, the production of melatonin (the hormone that makes us feel tired) is suppressed. Then, when our eyes are not taking in light, the production of melatonin begins. This is why we are awake during daylight hours and asleep at night.
The blue light from our digital devices can trick our bodies into believing it is daylight or waking hours. Late night television, video games, social media scrolling, or exposure to other digital screens can make it more difficult to fall asleep at night due to stimulation and suppression of melatonin production.
Long-term exposure to blue light throughout the day can have the same effect. Filtering out blue light through blue light glasses can help you avoid this issue so you can sleep better at night.
When should I wear blue light blocking glasses?
Anytime you sit behind a digital screen is a great time to wear blue light blocking glasses. If you work long hours in front of a screen, blue light glasses can help you avoid eye strain and headaches.
Late at night, wearing blue light glasses will also help you avoid the stimulation from digital screens and fall asleep easier. Remember that blue light exposure is essential to our well-being, so it is not recommended to wear blue light blocking glasses all day without breaks.
What are Blue Light Blocking Glasses?
Blue light blocking glasses filter and block blue light to protect your eyes. They can help you avoid eye strain, macular degeneration, and sleeplessness.
When shopping for blue light blocking glasses, there are a few key considerations to make. These include:
- Blue-light blocking range: The best blue-light blocking glasses should block at least 90% of blue light.
- Prescription strength: Blue light blocking glasses can typically be purchased with or without a prescription. Consider if you need custom magnification and be sure the product you are looking at offers prescriptions in the lens.
- Lens color: Some lenses for blue light blocking glasses are transparent, but others range from yellow to dark red. Lighter lenses are better for daytime use, and darker lenses are better for nighttime uses.
- Style: Blue light glasses come in all frames and sizes so you can find one that suits your style preferences. You may also want to consider a fit-over style to layer on top of prescription glasses if necessary.
The Best Blue Light Blocking Glasses
We’ve done the grunt work and scoured tons of options to find the best blue light blocking glasses for you. Here’s what we found.
Best Overall
GAMMA RAY 003 Anti UV Glare Harmful Blue Light Computer Glasses
The GAMMA RAY 003 blue light glasses are highly praised by their customers. These lenses are lightly amber-tinted to help minimize eye strain from staring at digital screens and working under fluorescent lights. The GAMMA RAY glasses offer UV400 protection and glare reduction.
Along with being stylish for casual wear, the GAMMA RAY glasses are also comfortably lightweight, flexible, and durable for long-term wear. You can choose your preferred magnification level depending on usage. Best of all, you can try them absolutely risk-free with a 90-day money back satisfaction guarantee. They also come with a lifetime frame and lens breakage warranty cover.
Best for Nighttime Use
Night Swannies by Swanwick Sleep
The Night Swannies by Swanwick Sleep are darkly tinted and perfect for nighttime wear. They come in various shapes and sizes, ranging from kids’ fits to stylish aviator frames to fit-overs.
The Night Swannies are intended to give you the most protection from blue light exposure in the evening hours before bed. They even have the proof to back them up! An independent study by SleepScore Labs showed that Night Swannies significantly improved users’ sleep, including an average of 33 percent increased nighttime sleepiness and 11 minutes less time needed to fall asleep.
These glasses are also constructed naturally with BPA-free material, and offer lightweight comfort. Prescription lenses and anti-reflective coatings are also available.
Best for Daytime Use
Cyxus Blue Light Computer Glasses
The Cyxus Blue Light Filtering Computer Glasses offer all-day protection against blue light rays. These are casually comfortable with a completely transparent lens, so the people in your office won’t even notice a difference.
Cyxus blue light lenses are made with a special blue-light blocking polymer in the lens materials, along with HEV-absorbing technology designed to keep blue light from passing to your eye. With the Cyxus blue light glasses, you can prevent eye strain from long work days, minimize headaches, and sleep better at night.
One happy customer said, “I work on my computer 9+ hours a day and have to stare at my screen for long lengths of time reading. My head and eyes would hurt so bad every night, making it impossible to do anything after work. Now I feel so much less foggy and much more alert. They’re actually really cute on too!”
Best for All-Day Use
The J+S Vision Shield glasses are great for long computer usage, gaming, or tablet reading. These glasses come in four frame options, allowing you to choose which best fits your style.
With a slight yellow tint in the lens, these glasses are great for both daytime or evening usage. They also block 90% of blue light, offering great protection. Ranging from around $25-$30, the J+S computer glasses are a great high-quality, budget option.
Best Budget Options
Zenni Optical Blockz Blue Light Glasses
The Zenni Optical blue light glasses with Blockz lenses help prevent what they refer to as “Fry Eye.” The special blue light blocking polymer in the lenses stops blue light and UV from penetrating the lens. Once you pick your frames, you can add the Blockz lens to any style of glasses you choose. The Blockz lenses come in tinted or transparent coloring and you can also add your prescription.
Prospek Blue Light Blocking Glasses
Prospek blue light blocking glasses work well for any screen, including smartphone, tablet, computer, and TV. They block 50% of the blue light emitted, meaning your eyes don’t catch the high-energy blue light, which is harmful; they only display the low-energy blue light, which allows you to enjoy using your screen like you normally would without a harsh yellow tint.
These lightweight lenses also come with the option to add readers. This is especially great if you like to read e-books via tablet, Kindle, or Nook, but want to protect your eyes. Read our full Prospek review here.
Best Luxury Option
Start at $95, the Felix Gray blue light glasses are some of the most luxurious on the market. Their proprietary lens is embedded with blue light filtering material and a premium Anti-Reflecting (AR) coat to eliminate glare and reduce eyestrain. All of Felix Gray’s frames are made with premium materials such as Italian acetate and German Engineered Monel to offer long-term durability along with lightweight comfort.
Felix Gray proudly boasts to have their glasses protecting the eyes of workers at Google, Amazon, Facebook, and more! These blue light glasses come highly praised from many happy customers. If you want to try them out for yourself, it’s low risk as Felix Gray offers free returns and exchanges within 30 days after arrival.
Our eyes and our sleep are two things we care about protecting. If you’re ready to say goodbye to the days of eye strain, headaches, and trouble sleeping after long days behind a digital screen, blue light blocking glasses could be the answer for you.
For other accessories enhancing and protecting your sleep, Mattress Advisor has your back. Check out our reviews on sleep headphones, humidifiers, and more for your sleep needs!
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