The Ultimate Guide to Sunglass Tints!

With so many tints to choose from, how do you know which sunglasses tints are best for your lifestyle?

From biking to baseball and fishing, our guide to sunglass tints breaks down the benefits of each lens for your favorite outdoor and indoor activities.

Dark colors (brown/gray/green) are ideal for everyday use and outdoor activities. Darker tints cut through the glare and reduce eyestrain in moderate-to-bright conditions. Gray and green lenses won’t distort colors, while brown lenses cause minor distortion.

Light colors (yellow/gold/amber/rose/vermillion): These colors excel in moderate to low-level light conditions. They are great for skiing, snowboarding and other snow sports. They provide excellent depth perception, enhance contrasts in tricky, flat-light conditions, improve the visibility of objects and make your surroundings appear brighter.

Polarized lenses: Polarized lenses substantially reduce glare. Polarization is a great feature if you enjoy water sports or are especially sensitive to glare.

In some instances, polarized lenses react with the tints in windshields, creating blind spots and diminishing the visibility of LCD readouts. If this occurs, consider mirrored lenses as a glare-reducing alternative.

Here are the most common sunglass tints & their features

grey tinted sunglasses

Grey

A true sunglass lens

Darkest possible tint for bright conditions

Minimum color distortion

Reduces brightness, and protects against glare.

Good for driving and outdoor sports such as golf, running or cycling.

brown tinted sunglasses

Brown

A warmer, slightly brighter lens than the grey.

Good at blocking blue light such as on a cloudy day.

Improves contrast and depth perception

Great for tennis, golf, skiing & other sports

Best for lower light situations

blue tinted lenses

Blue


Blue is a contrast lens and reduces glare from visible white light (light reflected from mist, fog, snow, water).

Endorsed by the USPTA for tennis professionals

amber tinted lenses

Amber

Orange + Yellow = Amber

Good at blocking blue light such as on a cloudy day.

Improve contrast and depth perception

Great for tennis, golf, skiing or other sports requiring acute visual perception & contrast differentiation.

yellow tinted lenses

Yellow

Increases contrast in hazy, foggy or low-light conditions.

Makes objects appear sharper both indoors and outdoors but can also cause color distortion.

Best for snow activities and indoor ball sports.

pink tinted lenses

Rose

Help block blue light, thereby improving contrast.

Reputation of being soothing to the eyes and more comfortable than others for longer wear-times.

Favorite among computer users as they reduce glare and eyestrain.

green tinted lenses

Aviator tint G 15

A combination of both grey and green

Great option for sunglasses

reduce glare considerably, and reduce eyestrain in bright sunlight.

G-15 is the inspired RayBan tint