Are Gunnar Optiks Glasses Worth It For Gamers? I Put Them To The Test

I’ve been wearing glasses for almost twenty years, and I’ve been gaming for around thirty. Thanks to my hobbies and what I do to pay the bills, I spend an exorbitant amount of time in front of screens, so for the last decade, I’ve been wearing glasses with some form of blue light-blocking technology baked into them.

It wasn’t until around two months ago that I managed to find my way into a pair of Gunnar Optiks, though. Gunnar has been around for twenty years in 2026, and in that time, the company has managed to position itself as arguably the leading glasses manufacturer for gamers, but are they really worth the investment?

I’ve spent two months trying out a couple of pairs of Gunnar Optiks, both practical and stylish, to determine the truth of it all.

Pioneering the Solution For Digital Eye Strain Relief

Gunnar Optiks has spent two decades trying to finesse glasses for anyone spending a lot of time staring at screens. This means that anyone from office workers to esports pro players fits the bill, but the company’s incredible range of frames and lenses means that they’re also applicable for everyday glasses wearers.

To give a bit of backstory, Gunnar set out to combat a few key pillars of concern:

• Dry eyes
• Muscular eye strain
• High-energy blue light strain
• Glare and visual noise

Today, Gunnar Optiks holds multiple patents and has irrefutably cornered the gaming glasses market, and it always seemed to me that the company just refuses to stop expanding.

Two months ago, I was approached with an offer to try out a pair of Gunnar Optiks, and I happily accepted, curious to find out once and for all if they were worth the hype. I’ve always been an avid esports fan, and many of the players I actively follow have long promoted the brand, so I felt confident about joining those ranks.

My First Pair of Gunnar Optiks

My first pair of Gunnar Optiks arrived in a couple of weeks, all set up in my prescription. It was an all-new frame dubbed the ‘Novato’, a fresh entry into the Titanium Collection, which Gunnar describes as ‘modern style meets uncompromising performance.’

This pair of Gunnar Optiks was an all-singing, all-dancing affair, boasting the company’s patented lens technology, a G-Shield coating, and powerful blue light and UV blocking capabilities. I had the Amber BLPF 65 lenses, which offered a nice midpoint between protection and performance.

That G-Shield coating alone is worth writing home about. This ensures the glasses are oleophobic, hydrophobic, hard-coated, scratch-resistant, and robust, and it was applied to the company’s proprietary polyamid lenses. It all came wrapped in a hard, branded carry case, and as a package, the entire bundle felt premium, durable, and worth every penny.

Unfortunately…

… The Novato frames aren’t built for prescription lenses, and the ones I’d had installed didn’t fit the frames properly. The glasses’ lenses popped out quite easily, leaving me disappointed.

But that wasn’t the end of the road.

Hitting the Mark with Fallout Branding

Eventually, another offer popped up, and this time, it fit right into my wheelhouse. It was for a then-upcoming pair of Gunnar Optiks glasses, the Fallout Lucky 38 set, licensed and created in celebration of the ongoing Fallout television series. Being one of the world’s most dedicated Fallout fans, I jumped at the chance, as you could imagine.

It took a few weeks for the glasses to arrive, all the way from California, but once they turned up, I was blown away.

This is where Gunnar excels, truly. The company offers a staggering array of themed and licensed glasses, covering everything from Cyberpunk to Rainbow Six, and from The Witcher to Overwatch. There are Call of Duty glasses, Borderlands frames, and special partnerships with brands like Razer and Alienware, just waiting to be explored.

These Lucky 38 frames are bang on the mark, and what’s better, they’re perfect for my prescription lenses. Gone are the previous issues I had with the Novato frames. Again, I was equipped with the ’65 tint’ glasses, and while they don’t have as premium a coating as the Novato lenses, they still feel incredibly adept at blocking that pesky blue light.

They’re official glasses, and from the obvious effects that come in the box to the subtle details, everything is absolutely on point. The tips of the arms have Lucky 38 branding, the glasses come equipped with removable leather side shields, and in the box is a gorgeous snap case, a custom microfibre cleaning cloth, and a branded carry pouch.

I felt instantly comfortable wearing the Lucky 38 glasses, and my eyes adjusted in no time at all to what might feel like an unfamiliar material to some (as lots of glasses use plastic lenses these days). At 38 grams, the glasses are pretty light, but they still feel super durable and survived a very tentative and reluctant bend, shake, and drop test.

What I love about the Lucky 38 glasses is that they’re perfect for everyday wear. The amber tint might be a bit strong for some, but I’ve spent years wearing similar lenses, and it’s only a slight adjustment stepping into these glasses. They’re also super unique, which is Gunnar’s staple approach to glasses, and I’ve already had a few conversations start because of them.

What’s The Science All About?

Gunnar isn’t just about style and fancy eyewear; there’s also a stack of science under the hood of the average pair of glasses.

The lenses in a pair of Gunnar Optiks glasses use specially tuned spectral filters that reduce high-energy blue light to immediately minimize eye strain, which is perfect for anybody in this digital, technical age of ours. The amber and crystalline tints the company uses shift all colors to warmer tones, which reduces sharpness and glare, again perfect for those always using screens.

Whether you’re a prescription glasses-wearer or not, you’ll enjoy curved lens geometry, which effectively creates a ‘micro-climate’ between the lens and your eye, which reduces airflow and evaporation of the tear film. This is especially useful for esports pro players who might blink less often than the average gamer or worker.

There’s also something to be said about Gunnar’s anti-reflective coatings, which minimize glare from ambient light and other reflections, again helping the stability of your vision.

The company has published findings from studies, including one that saw 96% of 100 test subjects report ‘an easing of digital eye strain symptoms when using GUNNAR over a six-week period.’

And you know what’s even better? Gunnar Optiks glasses aren’t even that expensive. The stunning Lucky 38 glasses I have are just $99 before shipping (free on domestic orders over $59), and that includes the glasses, prescription lenses, the snap pouch, carry bag, and themed cleaning cloth.

In fact, I took a sprint around the site, and the most expensive pair I could find was just $250, and was described as being the ‘pinnacle of GUNNAR engineering and the finest optical materials available.’

At the other end of the spectrum, you’ve got the much more affordable glasses, which will set you back just $45 before add-ons and shipping.

The Verdict: Are Gunnar Optiks Worth It?

Having spent a couple of months using Gunnar Optiks, I’ll say they’re more than worth the money. This company has gone all-in over the last twenty years, producing frames to accommodate readers, esports pro players, athletes, everyday wearers, and gamers. You can get everything here from cheap, basic frames to high-end sunglasses, all without breaking the bank.

The technology works, and that’s something I can attest to with my hand on my heart. The Lucky 38 frames I have are so stylish and comfortable that they’ve become my daily drivers, and I can’t stop singing the praises of the build quality and finish of the glasses.

While I didn’t pay for my Optiks, I happily would, and probably will, given that there are so many different frames; it’s nuts. I could buy a pair for every day of the week, swapping them out to express my passion for various franchises by wearing them on my face.

And if you really want a cheap start in the Gunnar Optiks space, you can pay just $15, and you’ll be shipped a mystery box with a randomly selected pair of (non-prescription) Gunnars.

I’m a changed man now, and Gunnar Optiks are absolutely worth it.

Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server if you’d ever buy a pair of Gunnar Optiks.

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