Ra Optics Blue Light Blocking Glasses Review
We tried out Ra Optics' range of premium quality blue light blocking glasses. Here's what we found
If you’re looking for a pair of stylish blue light blocking glasses to wear at night, then you’ve probably already heard of the Ra Optics brand.
Where to buy (click for a 10% discount): www.raoptics.com
They are one of the leading companies when it comes to providing high quality frames and lenses designed for use after dark.
We’d been hearing a lot about Ra Optics and blue light blocking glasses in general on lots of the health podcasts we listen to, so we were keen to try them out for ourselves. Our friends over at Ra Optics were kind enough to gift us some pairs to try out for ourselves.
The purpose of this review is for us to take a close look at the Ra Optics Daylight and Sunset glasses from all angles to see if they are worth the premium price tag or not.
Ra Optics Daylight Glasses (Photo: The Sport Review)
We’re going to be paying particularly close attention to the look, the build quality and the effect they had when we wore them at night before bed.
Blue light blocking glasses are becoming more and more popular in the western world as people look to try and reduce the effects of being exposed to artificial blue light late into the night, so we were keen to test out Ra Optics’ offering.
Editor's note: The content on this website is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. Our articles and the products featured in them are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. Always speak with a certified medical professional before making any changes to your lifestyle, diet, exercise routine, and/or taking any supplements.
So, with the introductions out of the way, let’s start taking a closer look at the Ra Optics brand and their premium blue light blocking glasses..
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Ra Optics – The Basics
The Ra Optics brand was set up by Matt Maruca a few years ago after he became frustrated at the lack of stylish blue blocker glasses on the market.
They offer two types of lenses – Daylight Lenses and Sunset Lenses – both of which are designed for use at different times of the day to minimize the effect of artificial lighting.
Ra Optics Sunset Glasses (Photo: The Sport Review)
The Sunset lenses are dark orange / red in color and they have been designed for use at night when you’re looking to reduce your exposure to blue light. Meanwhile, the Daylight lenses have a yellow hue and are designed to be used during the daytime when indoors and exposed to artificial light or looking at screens.
You probably already know this, but the science is starting to show that excessive exposure to blue light after dark is probably not great for us.
Indeed, many consumer electronic products such as the iPhone have begun incorporating additions such as ‘Night Shift’ mode to help tone down the blue light emitted from such devices.
Ra Optics Daylight Glasses (Photo: The Sport Review)
Simply put, blue light can mimic daylight and may signal to the brain that we should be awake and alert. This is fine during the day, but it’s probably not ideal to be exposed to a lot of blue light at night.
If you think about it, the only light that humans would have been exposed to after dark for most of history would have been from fire or moonlight.
That’s where blue blocker glasses come in. They have been specifically designed to help reduce the amount of blue light that gets into our eyes after dark by filtering out certain frequencies.
The problem with blue blocker glasses in recent times is that they have not been exactly stylish. Some of them resemble safety goggles which you probably wouldn’t want to wear out and about.
Ra Optics aim to solve this issue by providing a range of glasses that have stylish frames and also effectively block out important frequencies of blue light.
So, now that we’ve covered some of the basics, it’s time to start taking a closer look at Ra Optics and the styles and frames they provide.
Ra Optics Daylight Glasses (Photo: The Sport Review)
The Styles and Frames
At the time of writing, Ra Optics offer six different frame styles. They are all unisex and the website features photos of the frames being worn by the same two male and female models, so you can get a feel for the size and fit.
We tried out the the Popp and the Ott glasses with Sunset lenses.
Ra Optics Sunset Glasses (Photo: The Sport Review)
They arrived within about seven days as we live in the UK, but if you live in the US, you can expect to get them quicker than that.
The Popp frames are made from transparent plastic, which allow you to see the way the glasses have been put together. The hinges have a springiness to them which clicks the glasses open before you put them on.
The Ott frames, meanwhile, feature a stylish tortoiseshell pattern and circular lenses and feature equally as good of a build-quality.
Every pair of Ra Optics glasses come with a carrying case and cleaning cloth.
We were impressed by the choice of styles on offer, and you’ll probably be able to find a pair that suits you.
Let’s now move on to the next section of our review – the lenses and the effect!
Ra Optics Daylight Glasses (Photo: The Sport Review)
The Lenses and the Effect
As we mentioned above, the Sunset lenses are dark orange and the first thing you’ll notice when you put them on is that most blue colors are blocked out to look ‘black’.
Simply put, they give a fire/sunset tone to everything, and regardless of whether they’ll help with sleep or not, we certainly felt more relaxed soon after having put them on.
The official website says that the Sunset lenses have been specifically designed to block all light wavelengths up to 550 nanometers.
Ra Optics Sunset Glasses (Photo: The Sport Review)
The official website recommends that you wear them after dark, and not during the day – although some people may choose to wear them while being exposed to particularly bright artificial light.
We chose to wear the Sunset lenses around two to three hours before bed each night. Most of the time, that meant we were wearing them in the comfort of our own home, but sometimes we put them on while out and about – and got quite a few compliments and questions about them!
As well as the relaxing effect we felt, we also started to feel sleepy and tired about an hour after having put them on.
We certainly noticed a massive difference while wearing them consistently in the hours before bed, combined with starting our day with 15 minutes of natural sunlight exposure first thing in the morning.
From our experience, we found using these nighttime blue light glasses to be most effective when worn consistently.
In other words, it’s about putting them on at roughly the same time each night and wearing them for the same amount of time before going to sleep.
We also tested out the yellow Daylight lenses. We found these to be particularly useful while working at a computer screen during the daytime while indoors. Although they do add a yellow tint to everything, the colour distortion wasn’t extreme enough to affect our work. However, if colour perception is key to what you do, these glasses may not be the best option for you.
What Are Customers Saying?
We took a look online to see what real customers were saying about Ra Optics and get a feel as to how the product is being received by customers.
From what we could tell on social media, people seem to be generally happy with the product, and the brand has been endorsed by the likes of Luke Storey and Ben Greenfield.
As Ra Optics’ glasses are only currently available on the official website, we couldn’t check Amazon to see what people were saying.
We’ll update this part of our review as more verified customers share their experience with the Ra Optics range of glasses.
Ra Optics Sunset glasses (Photo: The Sport Review)
Any Negatives?
• You can currently only buy them directly from the Ra Optics website at the moment, meaning that you won’t find them in shops or elsewhere online at places like Amazon or eBay.
• They have a premium price tag, which means that they may not fit into everyone’s budget. That said, you can get a 10% discount off your order by clicking here.
• If you live in the UK or other country outside of the USA, you may have to pay a customs charge for delivery as the Ra Optics glasses are currently shipped from America.
Anything Else To Consider?
As well as their non-prescription lenses, Ra Optics also provide prescription and readers. These will require an additional fee and will take slightly longer to manufacture due to the custom nature of the product.
We’ve found that using blue light blocking glasses in the final few hours before bed has made a massive impact on our daily routine and overall feeling of wellbeing. However, you should not expect a pair of blue blockers to solve all of your problems.
Good health starts with making sure that you’re sticking to a healthy diet, exercising regularly and sleeping properly.
Blue light blocking glasses are a great tool which can help you to switch off at night, but they are not going to solve all of your health problems single handedly.
Wrapping Things Up – Our Final Thoughts
That brings us to the end of our review of the Ra Optics blue light blocking glasses.
Overall, we were highly impressed by the product. Most importantly, the lenses are designed to block out the important frequencies of blue light to produce the maximum effect.
But on top of that, the frames are stylish and are of high quality. So much so that we didn’t mind wearing them out and about (on the London Underground for example!).
Overall, we highly recommend the Ra Optics brand of blue blockers. If you’re looking for a quality pair of effective blue blockers that also look cool, then we think that the Ra Optics range is a great option.
