Prescription Glasses Review and Comparison

Zenni Optical, Goggles4u, Walmart Vision Center, Eye Buy Direct, and Coastal

I know that I normally post about photography, but where I live the weather hasn't been great and I'm just finishing up my last semester of grad school. I don't have a lot of time to get ready for and take pictures. I have, however, had a great need for prescription eyeglasses lately.  I bought my glasses for very low prices (the cheapest was $12 after being tinted).  I thought I would compare the glasses I received from these companies and share with you the good, bad, and the ugly of ordering glasses online.  My prescription is -5.25 and -5.50 with very little astigmatism. *Note: the glasses from Walmart Vision Center were purchased in store and were not very affordable. I am using them as a tool by which to compare the rest. 

I'll begin with my Walmart glasses. They have Zeiss high-index lenses. The brand is Covergirl. They have anti-scratch and anti-reflective coatings. I bought them about four years ago. Here's how they look on me.  

I like them. They're a bronze-ish color and half rim. They're metal, light weight, and comfortable.  They're simple and I can wear them with anything.  I have had a few problems. The lenses are discolored.  They've turned a yellowish color and it is somewhat noticeable when I'm wearing them. BUT, I've had them for four years and I still wear them.  I also noticed that the high index lenses weren't really that thin.  I'm impressed that despite my rough treatment of these glasses, they have almost no scratches. I don't remember the exact cost of these glasses, but it was somewhere around $400 for everything. 

Next I'll review the two pairs of glasses that I've bought from goggles4u.com. I didn't really like these. I didn't like their website. Part of it was my fault because I ignored the size of the glasses (even though I knew what size I should be getting) so they fell off of my face.  But I wouldn't have liked them anyway.  Here they are.

The first ones are black on the front and blue on the sides. While they did not come with those nose pads, I added them to keep them on my face long enough to take the photo.  It was that bad.  They're a cheap plastic with a wood-grain texture. I didn't get the anti-reflective coating.  The prescription was correct, but not as sharp as my other glasses (maybe because of the lack of anti-reflective, or because they're polycarbonite). They shipped quickly and I could see out of them....that's about all that I like about it. 

The second pair are also from goggles4u.com, but they belong to my husband. They seem to be better quality than the ones that I chose, but he has a mild prescription and I can't see out of them to tell you about how sharp my vision would be. They have spring hinges and are half rim. These also do not have the anti-reflective coating.  I like the way that they look on him, but the temple arms are so short that the cannot wear them.  Luckily both of these pairs were so cheap that we did not lost much since we can't wear them.

Next up are the glasses from eyebuydirect.com.  My parents have bought several pairs from them in the past so I decided to try them. I picked one of the $6 pairs and only added UV protection. I don't care much for the frames, but here they are. 

Looking back, I really don't know why I wanted these.  I don't care for oval shapes on my face, but I guess I thought I'd like to try something different.  They're super light weight, comfortable, seem to be of decent quality. I wear them sometimes, but I think that I would wear them more often if I had gotten the anti-reflective coating. I'm pretty cheap, because the AR coating is only $5. The shape of the arms is very comfortable on my ears (I'm pretty sensitive).  They're tortoise shell, and I like the color.  If you like this style, I'd recommend these.  If not, the website has many more options.  They weren't my favorite website (as far as the simplicity of the web design), but I do enjoy the glasses, and so do my parents.  We've only received quality pairs with sharp lenses.  And the 1.57 mid index lenses in these glasses was at least as thin as the high index lenses in my Walmart glasses. 

Coastal is next.  I have only bought one pair here and they are my husband's glasses.  We bought them during the first pair free promotion and only had to pay shipping.  The brand is Dakota Smith.  The style is Freedom in Gun Metal.  Here they are.

I really like these glasses.  I would have gotten a pair of my own, but since my prescription was strong, I would have had to have payed extra for the lenses. Mid- to high- index lenses were not cheap with this company.  My husband has two pairs of glasses that he actually wears, but since these are somewhat heavy, they get worn the least of the two.  I can't compare the thickness of the lenses, because his are going to be thinner than mine with his mild prescription.  They arrived quickly and the customer service was friendly and helpful when I put of ordering them until after the sale had ended on these glasses.  Everything was great, but these glasses are not as cheap as the other websites. They start at around $50 and go up from there.  It is still a great deal compared to the brick and mortar stores that I've seen. 

Now for my growing Zenni Optical eyeglass collection.  I order so many glasses from here because I like their website and because mid-index lenses are free.  Here we go:

One at a time might be less complicated. I love these cat-eye ones.  I'm thinking of getting these in sunglasses too!  They're a little tight behind my ears, but the quality is great.  I love the AR coating.  The style number is #283621.  I do think they look better when I'm wearing makeup...I'm not sure why.  I chose the mid-index lenses and they are super thin even though the lenses are pretty large. 

 I didn't like these at first.  They looked like they would wing up on the outside, but they sort of turned down instead. They were only $9.95 so I kept wearing them and I like them now.  They look great when I wear red and navy.  I also chose 1.57 mid-index lenses for these.  They are tiny and super thin for my prescription.  My only complaint is that they don't look exactly like the picture on the website.  The style number is #339718.

 I thought I would like these more than I do.  They're probably the most comfortable glasses that I've ever worn, but they don't frame my face at all.  Maybe I'm used to dark frames, but I want to see these more.  I wear them all the time, and I can see great out of them.  They're great quality.  I chose transitions lenses and they change quickly.  They're very convenient.  The sides are a really really flexible plastic that I don't think I could break if I tried.  The bridge is a thick, solid metal.  The style number is #143711.  My only real problem with these is that they're thicker than the rest, maybe because they're transitions?

 I love these!  They're a little small for me, but I just adjusted them until they were comfortable.  They're so simple.  They're 1.57 mid-index lenses and they're very thin (about like the Walmart ones).  They're a very sturdy metal and they look expensive when they're only $15.95.  The style number is #552421.  I'm just disappointed that they are no longer making these in brown.

 These are the only ones that I got high-index lenses in.  I really like these.  They're bigger than the numbers say they are on the website (I measured them).  They slid down my nose at first, but after bending the ear pieces down, they stay put.  They're very thin and I can see great out of them.  They're heavy, so I can't wear them too many days in a row.  They style number is #604625.

 These were my most recent order and I think they are my favorites ever!  They weigh next to nothing and are soooo comfortable to wear.  They look good and didn't need to be adjusted.  I got the mid-index 1.57 lenses.  They're thin and sharp.  They're a pretty tortoise shell color and they go with everything.  They're currently out of stock, but when they come back, I'm ordering another pair.  They also come in an ombre black to clear color, but I want  these just in case they ever break.  The style number is #246525.

I don't like these.  The front is black and wayfarer style.  The sides are a wood-grain look.  They look funny on me.  I'm really not sure what I don't like, but I just don't.  I didn't get the AR coating, and I'm kind of glad that I didn't spend the extra money because I'll never wear these.  They'll stay in my car as an emergency pair.  I can see good out of them, and the quality is fine.  It's the style that I don't like.  

These glasses are also my husband's.  He wears these the most.  They're made of memory titanium and are super light weight.  Again, I cannot comment on the clarity of vision because the prescription is way to weak for me.  These are transitions lenses and they get very dark in the sunlight.  They're pretty simple in design. They're just rectangular, half-rim frames with thin metal temple arms.  The lenses are very thin, but his prescription is only around -1.75.  The lenses are 1.57 mid-index photochromic.    

Here are the same glasses. I'm demonstrating how bendable these glasses are! They seem like they cannot break. The bridge is exactly the same way.  You could just fold them in half.  I wouldn't recommend doing that very often, but it certainly makes them more comfortable to wear.  And the can handle quite a bit of abuse.  I think I'll get some of these with polycarbonate lenses to wear when I'm working out or playing sports.

I have two pairs of prescription sunglasses that I'll add soon.  I'll also add a video or several photos of the transitions lenses actually changing color.  As far as the lenses go, none of them have scratched or have caused my any difficulty, but the goggles4u ones just aren't sharp.  I hope this helped someone decide about ordering glasses online.  For me, it was really worth the risk.  I now have several pairs of glasses to choose from and I still haven't spent (on all of the online orders combined) as much as I did on the one pair from Walmart.  

*Note: If I didn't say that I did not get the AR coating, I did :)

Affordable Eyeglasses

Fashion Options on a Grad School Budget

Affording Eyeglasses

I have been entirely obsessed with buying new glasses since I got my new prescription (it only changed by a quarter). Since that day, I have done a lot of research about buying glasses and settled on making an online purchase...then I made three more online purchases. Before I get started with a review of these websites, I should mention that I bought single vision distance lenses and my prescription was -5.25 with a slight astigmatism in my right eye and -5.50 with a slight astigmatism in my left eye.  This is a fairly strong prescription, but some people have much worse.  

The first site that I visited to make an eyeglasses purchase was goggles4u.com. I chose a very cheap frames and polycarbonate lenses. When I ordered these frames, I did not measure the size of my old glasses, so I didn't know how large or small the glasses should be. I chose a large frame and when they arrived they were too large. When I look down while wearing them, they literally fall off of my face. I can wear them. Luckily I only spent $24.90 including the polycarbonate lenses. Shipping was $9.95, but I also ordered a pair for my husband so it wasn't completely wasted. These glasses are shown in the pictures below (yes, I added nose pads to try to keep them in place...it didn't work). It took a little less than two weeks to receive my glasses after I placed my order.  

 

 

Since I could see out of the glasses from goggles4u.com, I felt more comfortable ordering glasses online. I decided to give eyebuydirect.com a try. I chose a $6.00 frame and spent an extra $10 on the 1.57 lenses . Before I ordered these glasses, I went to optical stores in my town to try on glasses. When I found pairs that fit well, I remembered the numbers. Most of these glasses will have three numbers (there are more than that on the websites). It'll look something like 53[] 16 -140. The first number, before the square, is the width of the lens. The middle number is the width of the bridge (the part that goes across the nose) and the last number is the length of the temple arms. When I ordered my glasses from eyebuydirect.com, the dimensions were listed as 52[] 18 -143. I expected that they would fit because the full length of the front of the glasses was listed as 129mm (all of these numbers are in millimeters). When I got them, they were slightly too large for my taste, but did not slide down my nose. But when I measured them, they were closer to 135mm than 129mm in length. I was still happy with my purchase and I wear these glasses sometimes. They took about two weeks to arrive.

 

 

These are Medford in tortoiseshell from eyebuydirect.com 

 

The lenses are thin for my prescription. I chose 1.57 mid-index lenses.

 

Finally, I ordered from zennioptical.com. I placed two orders. First, I ordered a pair of sunglasses. They were exactly the size that was listed on the website and they were a perfect fit! When they started their buy 2 get 1 sale, I had to buy more. I bought two pairs of glasses and one pair of prescription sunglasses. Two of them were the size listed on the website and one was a little larger. For all but one of the glasses, I got the free 1.57 plastic lenses. For the other pair, I got the 1.61 high index lenses and an anti-reflective (AR) coating. The AR coating is now necessary. I NEED it. My first order took almost two weeks to arrive and the second order took a little over a week.    

 

Here I'm wearing the sunglasses in my first order

 

A close-up view of those sunglasses. They're an 80% tint. The style number is 270416.

 

 

Yep, no makeup. These are 1.57 mid-index. I didn't get anti-reflective coating.

 

The style number is 282221.

 

Love the wood-grain look on the temple arms.

 

Bad picture, but I like these. They're frame #604625. These have spring hinges.

 

These did arrive with a small chip, but it is not very noticeable. I could return them, but I don't feel that it is worth the return shipping cost and extra wait time for such a small flaw. The frames still feel sturdy.

 

The lenses in these glasses (with high index 1.61 was very thin, thinner than the ones from the eye doctor with 1.74 high index lenses).

 

These may just be my favorites. They're frame #419011. I thought that they would be too big, but they fit perfect. They were only $6.95 on Zenni Optical. The tint it gray and 80% which was an extra $4.95. They also have spring hinges.

 

These are definitely thicker than the others, but they are larger (larger frames tend to have thicker lenses...plus these had mid-index 1.57 lenses).

 

 

 

Over all, I am very happy with my purchases. I like being able to change my look and that was not possible for me when I was paying ~$400 a pair. I had been wearing my glasses from my Walmart Vision Center for about three years and they were beginning to get scratched, and the glass was turning a sort-of yellow color. The only experience I had with customer service with these online companies was with goggles4u.com. After being shipped, it took several days to get a tracking number. I did eventually get the tracking number and got the glasses without a problem. The customer service representatives were friendly, but did not seem to be able to help much. They could only tell me that it could take a few more days. I took the last two pairs of glasses pictured above to an optician to make sure that the lenses matched the prescription. They were both perfect. I have another order on the way of my first cat-eye glasses. I added them to my mom's order. She needs bifocals and chose progressive lenses. My dad also ordered some glasses for his very weak prescription, and he got photochromic lenses. When our order arrives, I'll make sure to update.