Polarized lenses, explained
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Walk down to the water on a bright day and the first thing you notice is glare: the sun bouncing off the surface and straight into your eyes. Polarized lenses exist to deal with exactly that.
What polarization does
Light that reflects off a flat surface — water, snow, a wet road, the bonnet of a car — becomes mostly horizontal. A polarized lens has a filter that blocks that horizontal light and lets the rest through. The result is less glare, less squinting and colours that look cleaner, not just darker.
Where it makes the biggest difference
- On the water. Windsurfing, kitesurfing, paddlesurfing, wingfoiling and foiling all put you next to a mirror. Cutting the reflection makes it easier to read the surface: chop, gusts and the line of your board.
- On snow. Bright, flat light and white ground tire your eyes quickly. A polarized lens takes the harshest reflections out of the picture.
- On the road and in the city. Wet tarmac, shop windows and car bonnets stop flashing at you.
Polarized is not the same as dark
Tint and polarization are two different things. The tint — smoke, brown, green — sets how dark the lens is. The polarizing filter deals with glare. Darkness is described by the lens category, and Category 3 lenses are made for bright sun: the usual choice for beach, sea and mountain days.
UV protection is a third, separate property. It comes from the lens itself, not from how dark it looks, so always check the product page. All nine models in our Sport range have Category 3 polarized lenses with 100% UV protection.
One thing to know
Polarized lenses can make some LCD screens — a phone, a bike computer, a car display — look dim or striped at certain angles. Tilting the screen or your head usually brings it back.
A ten-second test
Look at a phone or laptop screen through the lens and rotate the glasses a quarter turn. If the screen goes dark, the lens is polarized.