There are many reasons why you might struggle to justify starting yet another new Netflix series but strained eyes and an inability to sleep might be the nail on the coffin that stops you from pressing play once again.
The trick to not falling behind when the rest of your friends are arguing over the main character’s latest decisions? A pair of the best blue light-blocking glasses.
Widely regarded as being one of the crucial secret weapons for digital nomads, office workers, and gamers, a good pair of blue light glasses is the answer to staring at your screen for hours on end and still being able to drop off into a comfortable sleep when you’re finished.
The best part? Nowadays, there’s a pair of blue light filter glasses for everyone. It doesn’t matter whether you need blue light-blocking glasses that fit in with your current prescription, whether you’re looking for a pair with a strong enough filter to counteract hours of gaming or whether you just want a stylish pair that elevates your working wardrobe.
With the best pair of blue light filter glasses, the future looks bright. Just not blue bright.
The 13 best blue light-blocking glasses
# | Brand | Best for |
---|---|---|
1 | Yesglasses | Best overall |
2 | Gucci | Best designer for women |
3 | Cutler and Gross | Best designer for men |
4 | Tomahawk Shades | Best value |
5 | Vincero | Best clear |
6 | Warby Parker | Best for work |
7 | GlassesUSA | Best for reading |
8 | Pair Eyewear | Best for kids |
9 | Zenni Optical | Best for gaming |
10 | Felix Gray | Best for sleep |
11 | Yesglasses Sheldon | Best prescription |
12 | Gucci Acetate | Best sunglasses |
13 | TIJN | Best budget |
Check our special blue light-blocking glasses buying guide after the list to see exactly what you should pay attention to before your next pair of glasses online.
Yesglasses Xavier: Best overall blue light-blocking glasses
We’ve mentioned before how much we love Yesglasses for the brand’s affordable, stylish designs and premium-quality frames, and the Xavier blue light-blocking glasses are a perfect example of just that. The Acetate Oval Blue Light Glasses were designed in a universally pleasing frame shape, which means no matter the shape of your head, these glasses will likely suit you.
They’re made with Yesglasses’ renowned 100% UV400 (UVA & UVB) protection, high quality 1.61 Hi-Index lenses and come with added anti-reflective and anti-scratch coatings. This unisex style takes a leaf out of the classic Wayfarer eyewear style and comes available in a stylish black frame and tortoiseshell temples combo, or the same in reverse if you’re looking for a different yet equally fashion-forward look. Classy and affordable, they’re the sort of glasses that’ll make you say yes to that extra deadline, just so you can wear them a little longer.
Best for: Being universally flattering and therefore likely to be ‘borrowed’ by all your friends.
Gucci: Best blue light-blocking designer glasses for women
It really does feel all Gucci when you’ve got the glasses necessary for long days at the office and evening Netflix sessions without waving goodbye to sleep at the same time. Undoubtedly our favorite blue light-blocking designer glasses for women, Gucci’s tortoiseshell acetate blue light-blocking optical glasses are made in Italy and come with a sleek round frame. A protective case means these designer glasses are just as protected when they’re having a rest as they are when they’re on your face.
The latter is where you’ll usually find them, partially due to their impressive ability to stop your eyes from straining but also partially just due to how good they look. Understated and cool, they’re finished with the brand’s signature moniker in gold hardware and promise to blend in perfectly with the rest of your home office set up.
Best for: Meaning business while you’re doing business.
Cutler and Gross: Best blue light-blocking designer glasses for men
Cutler and Gross glasses are designed not just to look good, but also with wearability in mind. Sure, they’re glasses that look great, with their classic round black frames and handcrafted light Acetate, but they’re also designed to be comfortable, hour after hour, no matter how long that last-minute project threatens to take.
Perfect for the man who almost seems to sleep with a screen in hand (who needs a childhood teddy?), the keyhole bridge and signature five-barrel hinges combine on Cutler and Gross’s 1378 Blue Light-Blocking Optical Glasses to ensure the rest of your face will feel light and refreshed along with your newly comforted eyes. Lens expert Essilor was the genius behind the blue light-blocking technology of these glasses, which are subtle in their magic but truly effective, day after day, in preventing eye strain.
Best for: Trying out a new ‘glasses’ look and sleeping better at the same time.
Tomahawk Shades: Best value blue light-blocking glasses
The phrase “you have to spend money in order to make money” has never rung truer than in the world of blue light-blocking glasses. Even if you’re not someone who needs prescription glasses or claims they don’t feel the effects of eye strain or blue light, the addition of a pair of blue light-blocking glasses can make a subtle yet significant difference over time.
The best midpoint for compromising? Buying a pair of value-packed blue light-blocking glasses. The best ones? Tomahawk’s Neuralyzers BlueLight+ glasses. Budget-friendly at around $40 a pair, they’re made from matte black, durable frames that promise to keep you company for endless hours at your desk without taking too much attention. You might not think you need blue light-blocking glasses, but these ones promise to be the essential office addition you didn’t know you needed…until you try working without them.
Best for: Falling asleep dreaming about what you’ll spend your saved money on.
Vincero: Best clear blue light-blocking glasses
There are some clear-framed glasses that have the potential to make you look a little like you’ve just left the science lab and forgotten to take your safety glasses off. And then there are the clear-framed glasses at the other end of the spectrum that make even the smuggest anti-glass wearers look at the world from a fresh perspective – one that’s stylish, understated, comfortable, and cool.
Clear glasses also have the winning factor of automatically matching the rest of your outfit, no matter whether your workwear is black and grey or endlessly colorful. Vincero’s Midway Nightshift glasses are an all-around winner in the world of clear-frame blue light-blocking glasses. Easy and chilled, they’re a flattering shape and style, with a lightweight design that allows you to focus properly on your screen rather than any potential heaviness on your face. Maybe clear is the new black, after all.
Best for: Realising that the solution was pretty clear, all along.
Warby Parker: Best blue light-blocking glasses for work
Search “blue light blocking glasses” anywhere or mention them in conversation, and it’s almost inevitable that the name Warby Parker will come up pretty quickly. One of the big dogs in the world of impressive, budget-friendly frames, Warby Parker’s Durand blue light-blocking glasses are a firm favorite for anyone looking to upgrade their screen experience. Available in a huge range of colors for all and any fashion style (including jet black with polished gold accents, rose water, and whiskey tortoiseshell), they come with the brand’s signature hand-polished cellulose acetate frames and wraparound hinges for durability.
The Durand glasses are a winner if you’re someone who isn’t really sure where to start in the world of blue light-blocking glasses: their not quite square and not quite round style makes them suitable for a wide range of face shapes. They also come in extra narrow, narrow, medium, wide, and extra-wide, making them a great choice if you often struggle to find glasses that fit properly.
Best for: Meeting that usually drags on for hours which suddenly whip by.
GlassesUSA: Best blue light-blocking glasses for reading
A good book promises to take you into a new dimension…unless the glasses you’re using to assist your reading keep slipping off your nose or cause stress above your ears. So, if you’re looking to get lost in a new favorite book for hours on end, the best way to do so includes three things: a comfortingly well-worn copy of your latest read, an even more comfortable bed or sofa to get cozy on, and a pair of blue light blocking glasses designed to keep your eyes just as comfortable as the rest of your body while reading.
GlassesUSA is renowned for being one of the best online retailers when it comes to finding stylish and budget-friendly glasses, which means it’s an obvious go-to webstore no matter what sort of blue light-blocking glasses you’re after. Our top pick is the Annex style; laidback and black with an understated look that’s designed perfectly for reading.
Best for: Getting lost in your book and falling asleep, glasses still on.
Pair Eyewear: Best blue light-blocking glasses for kids
The great outdoors is all fun and games, but most children still love to spend most of their time looking at one screen or another. And, when you pair online homework with social media, TV watching, and gaming, the hours quickly add up along with the potential for eye strain. The solution? A pair of the best blue light-blocking glasses for kids. PairEyewear’s The Larkin is one of the most popular choices on the market, available at a budget-friendly price and with plenty of color options.
These glasses are a great option for children who wear prescription glasses but also those who might be initially opposed to the idea, thanks to the brand’s online choose-your-own style, which includes an almost endless variety of frame colors and top frames as well as different lenses for all types of activities. Lightweight and comfortable, they’re designed specifically for children thanks to their universal extended nose pads built to fit small nose bridges.
Best for: Not worrying so much about all that screen time.
Zenni Optical: Best blue light-blocking glasses for gaming
Nothing puts a downer on your afternoon of gaming quite like achy eyes and a persistent headache. And, when the only thing that promises to solve your woes includes looking away from the screen, you can say goodbye to your gaming lifestyle once and for all. Unless, of course, your gaming session includes not just your laptop or TV and headphones but also a pair of the best blue light-blocking glasses for gaming.
Enter: ZenniOptical’s Rectangle Glasses. A pair of optical lenses that let you focus on striking down your opponent or building up your empire without straining your eyes at the same time, these blue light-blocking glasses promise no distractions whatsoever. Straightforward and understated, these budget-friendly specs won’t set you back more than around $50, which is all the more money you can dedicate to the rest of your gaming setup instead.
Best for: Feeling like your main character has just leveled up.
Felix Gray: Best blue light-blocking glasses for sleep
If you’re someone who struggles with insomnia or finds it difficult to switch off before bed, you’re almost definitely familiar with blue light blocking glasses or at least the idea of them. If insomnia regularly gets in the way of your eight hours a night, you’ve almost definitely familiarised yourself with reading about the topic, extensively, too. An almost sure-fire fix when it comes to telling your brain it’s time to go to sleep, blue light glasses were partially created to fix this problem, and the right pair are set to become a bedtime staple.
Felix Gray’s Roebling glasses come with the brand’s proprietary Blue Light filtering solution, anti-glare coating, and grade A ophthalmic quality lenses. Available in a range of stylish shades including Sazerac Crystal, Champagne, and Amber Toffee, they’re the sort of glasses you’ll run to ahead of those long days of meetings to ensure a quick drop off and find yourself subconsciously wearing even on days when you don’t have any screen time planned.
Best for: Finally throwing out all of those essential oils and white noise generators.
Yesglasses Sheldon: Best prescription blue light-blocking glasses
If there’s one style that promises to never go out of fashion, it’s the oversized look. From jackets and t-shirts to college sweatshirts and now glasses, oversized style promises quality and quantity. You might be under the impression that prescription glasses don’t tend to come in oversized style but Yesglasses’ Sheldon specs offer something slightly outside the norm without waving goodbye to functionally.
The best blue light-blocking glasses for prescription glass wearers, these glasses are fully customizable from their frames to their lenses. They also come with all of the typical features that Yesglasses impresses its customers with: 100% UV400 UVA and UVB Protection, free anti-reflective and anti-scratch coatings and quality 1.61 hi-index blue light blocking lenses. They’re available in a range of colors, including tortoise, black and clear, which means you’ll almost definitely find a pair that suits your style.
Best for: Feeling like you’ve covered all bases in one pair.
Gucci Acetate: Best blue light-blocking sunglasses
If there’s one pair of glasses you need in your life, it’s a pair of blue light-blocking sunglasses. Heading out for a day by the pool? You’ll want a great pair of sunglasses. Want to mindlessly scroll through your phone while lying beside the previously mentioned pool? You’ll need a pair of premium blue light-blocking glasses.
The answer? A pair of stylish specs that incorporates both of the above. There aren’t many pairs on the market that do both of the above successfully, and there are even fewer on the market that also look good while you’re wearing them. But ever-stylish Gucci is the brand to opt for if you’re looking to keep your eyes comfortable outdoors. Gucci’s Acetate sunglasses with blue light protection do exactly what they say on the tin. These luxury lenses are designed to be durable and to minimize eye strain in a pair that can also be worn indoors.
Best for: Feeling suitably chilled, both inside and out.
TIJN: Best budget blue light-blocking glasses
TIJN is the brand to opt for if you’re on the hunt for classy blue light-blocking glasses in virtually any color. As a huge bonus, these glasses are also renowned for being especially budget-friendly, without waving goodbye to quality or style. Available in a huge 22 different colors (including transparent, sea green and wheat) these are the glasses that you won’t hold back from buying in multiple colors to match both your weekday working wardrobe but also your weekend relaxing wardrobe.
A fashionable contrast between a retro square shape and futuristic clear finish gives these blue light-blocking glasses an edge over other designs, and lightweight attention to detail ensures you almost forget you’re wearing these glasses as soon as you’ve placed them on your head. A low price means you won’t feel too upset if you happen to lose these glasses – but with the amount you’ll be wearing them, you’ll realize they’re just on your head 99% of the time rather than actually lost.
Best for: Keeping one pair at home, one pair at work, and a spare tucked away, all in different colors.
Buyers guide to blue light-blocking glasses
Blue light-blocking glasses are designed to do two things: block out harmful blue light that emits from screens and to reduce eye strain.
Blue light emits naturally in sunlight and regulates our circadian rhythm by telling us that it’s daytime. This is beneficial, unless you’re still absorbing blue light late into the evenings, when your body should start to wind down and ready itself for nighttime.
Digital screens emit even more blue light, which adds to the problem if you’re staring at screens all day long. Blue light glasses filter out this blue light, allowing our bodies to recognize that it’s nighttime so we can sleep properly.
Before choosing your blue light-blocking glasses, it’s important to weigh up a few different factors:
Style
If you’re wearing these glasses a lot, you’ll want them to match the rest of your wardrobe. Luckily, blue light-blocking glasses come in a huge range of styles to suit every personality.
Weight
If you’re not someone who wears glasses in everyday life, you’ll want lightweight frames that don’t add extra heaviness to your face. Choose frames made from plastic or light metal for best results.
Lenses
Many blue light glasses come with the ability to add prescription lenses. While this isn’t essential for everyone, life becomes a little easier if you can find one pair of glasses that do it all, rather than struggling with prescription glasses and blue light glasses.
Strength
There are different levels of blue light filter and anti-glare filter. If you’re someone who struggles a lot with headaches and eye strain, opt for a higher-strength anti-glare filter. If you don’t spend entire days looking at screens, a standard strength blue light blocker should be strong enough.
Frequently asked questions about blue light-blocking glasses
Blue light glasses are glasses specially designed to block or filter out blue light from screens. They’re known for their ability to reduce eye strain and encourage a better night’s sleep.
Blue light glasses are widely recognized for their benefits on counteracting eye strain from spending too much time in front of screens. They’re also known for having a positive effect on sleeping.
Some of the best blue light-blocking glasses come from Yesglasses, Warby Parker, and Cutler and Gross. Read our full guide to discover all of the best blue light-blocking glasses for your lifestyle.
Blue light-blocking glasses are beneficial for your eyes thanks to their ability to block harmful light and reduce eye strain.
Some blue light glasses have a yellow tint, but many modern designs have clear lenses with a blue filter.
It’s perfectly fine to wear blue light glasses all day and doing so can have a positive effect on your ability to sleep at night.