Zenni amber lenses: threat or menace?

June 11, 2020 6:57 AM

Are Zenni sunglasses amber lenses the nice kind or the vaguely gross kind?

Thinking about getting some prescription sunglasses this summer. Maybe. Gots to be cheap though so it would be Zenni (unless someone knows a cheaper source). Zenni only has amber for their lowest index lenses. So for people who've had them:

Are Zenni amber lenses the nice kind, where the color helps cut through a bit of haze and maybe makes colors pop a little bit? Or the nasty kind that are like looking through a filter of unhealthy piss?

If they're the nasty kind, do y'all recommend a different tint from them?

(cheaper sources than zenni also welcome)

posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace to Shopping (8 answers total)

Best answer: I have a pair of amber sunglasses from Zenni and have definitely had numerous occasions where I’ve been looking at the world through them and thought “wow, this is so beautiful! I have to take a picture!” And then I take them off and it turns out it was just the glasses making everything look beautiful. So I guess nice? Mine are also 5+ years old so I can’t speak to whether that’s changed.
posted by obfuscation at 7:08 AM on June 11, 2020 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I like mine, but I’ve never had amber glasses that I reacted negatively to so it’s possible our tastes just differ. Worth noting: I also got the green mirror coating, and the combined effect is that they make everything look rose-tinted. My brain compensates after a few minutes, but when I first got them it was not what I expected from amber lenses.
posted by jon1270 at 7:13 AM on June 11, 2020

Best answer: I don't love them, but I can live with them. I do feel like they make things look kind of gross at first but your eyes quickly adjust.
posted by lollusc at 7:16 AM on June 11, 2020

Best answer: I regularly get the 80% Dark Grey tint with the reflective coating from Zenni for my sunglasses (I tend to lose/break sunglasses quite frequently) and it's been perfectly acceptable. I'm just optimizing for brightness reduction however so I can drive without squinting, not to make anything look good.
posted by cgg at 8:23 AM on June 11, 2020

Best answer: I have the amber gradient lenses on my Zenni prescription sunglasses and in my opinion it’s the nice kind, not too aggressive, not too yellow/brown. I think it makes colours slightly pop?
posted by cabbage raccoon at 9:21 AM on June 11, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have both amber and gray tint prescription sunglasses from Zenni - I think that with the gray, colours are more true (you definitely get a warm/sepia tone with the amber) but I would call both "nice"? Not sure what "gross" means in this context though (I have a pretty bad eyes so every pair of prescription sunglasses I've owned elicits the reaction "OMG I can see! This is great!")
posted by btfreek at 10:57 AM on June 11, 2020

Best answer: I have both amber and grey from Zenni and I like the amber better. They give things a warm tone and it's very pleasant. Here's my view without and with the amber gradient lens.
posted by assenav at 12:18 PM on June 11, 2020 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks, y'all!
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 1:08 PM on June 11, 2020