The Differences Between Polarized vs Non-Polarized Sunglasses – March 2021

Key Benefits

Benefits of Polarized Sunglasses

The key advantages of polarized lenses are their ability to filter out harsh glare and reflections. When sunlight enters our atmosphere, it scatters until it collects, or becomes concentrated on flat surfaces. This newly concentrated sunlight is also referred to as polarized light.

Polarized light is emitted as bright, horizontal glare that can pose significant vision issues including cataracts, macular degeneration, or photokeratitis (snow blindness).

However, polarized sunglasses filter out the glare which in turn enhances your field of vision by creating sharper images and allowing the pure color of your surroundings to reach your eyes. It’s these qualities that put them in a league of their own when compared to other sunglass lenses.

Benefits of Non-Polarized Sunglasses

Non-polarized sunglasses may not be able to compete with their high-performance counterparts, but they still offer many substantial benefits and solid protection. Sunglasses are fundamentally important to vision health as they help to block out bright sunlight and, more importantly, harmful UV light.

So long as regular tinted sunglasses have 100% UV protection rating, referred to as UV400, you will be no less protected compared to polarized sunglasses with the same level of UV protection.

Key Drawbacks

Neither lens type has any significant drawback when you consider their fundamental purpose of blocking bright sunlight and protecting your eyes from harmful UV rays. Again, assuming that each lens includes adequate UV Protection (UV400). That said, there are specific cost and performance drawbacks of each lens which doesn’t make either absolutely perfect.

Drawbacks of Polarized Sunglasses

The most obvious drawback here is the increased cost of polarized lenses. The manufacturing process is much more complicated than that of regular tinted lenses and this causes the sometimes drastic price increase ( more further down).

What we want to focus on specifically, is the potentially dangerous performance quirks associated with this polarized lenses. Simply put, polarized lenses and LCD displays don’t get along well. In fact, polarized sunglasses will make some screens found in cars, heavy machinery, and airplanes impossible to read. While the first two instances are mostly just annoying, the latter two can pose some obvious higher risks.

Polarized lenses will also block any reflections from icy surfaces which can make them a risky choice to wear while downhill skiing, snowboarding or driving in snow. This is due to the horizontal elements in the lenses blocking out reflections and glare from icy patches that could cause falls or accidents. We understand this might not be a big concern for many, but we feel it’s worth noting.

Drawbacks of Non-Polarized Sunglasses

Really, the only real drawback of non-polarized lenses remains the fact they can’t filter out harsh glare and reflections from surfaces like roads, water, snow, and cars. Because of this, you can indeed still experience eyestrain and develop headaches after enough exposure, even while wearing darkly tinted sunglasses.

Other negative effects of non-polarized lenses include muted colors and less vision clarity when compared to polarized lenses.

Lens Cost

Costs of Polarized Sunglasses

We alluded to the inflated price tag of polarized lenses above, but you may be wondering,’just how much more are we talking here?” The simplistic answer is most polarized sunglasses will run you an extra $40 – $90 more than the exact same pair of sunglasses without polarized lenses. To some, that cost simply isn’t justifiable and may even be unnecessary depending on what your primary need for sunglasses is.

Costs of Non-Polarized Sunglasses

The apparent winner for lowest cost would be non-polarized or regular tinted sunglasses as they are altogether easier and less expensive for manufacturers to produce. However, when you consider the additional benefits of polarized lenses, the pricing battle becomes considerably closer in our opinion. Regardless, if you merely want a nice pair of sunglasses that will block out the sun and provide adequate UV protection, non-polarized are more than capable of accomplishing this.

Choosing The Best For You

This mostly comes down to individual preferences and budget for most. If you want the best in performance we recommend you go with polarized sunglasses. If performance isn’t the most important factor, then you would probably be better suited looking at non-polarized sunglasses.

Whichever path you choose to investigate, check out our guides to the best sunglasses and best sunglasses retailers to start your search!

If you need help getting started, check out the lists of our favorite online eyewear retailers and brands to get you going. We break down some of the industries best brands and hottest upstarts to help you find the perfect pair of sunglasses that will make you and your wallet happy!