I spy, with my filtered eye, something that is…

Today, we are going to be reviewing something a little bit outside of the usual. Usually, we typically just review video games or even the occasional piece of hardware for TGN, but a review for glasses? Well, it's certainly a new one for us.

These are not any old pair of glasses though. These are the Ultralite DT from Eagle Eyes. What sets them apart from other glasses is the promise that they will protect your eyes from blue light that blasts your eyes from any number of digital screens. Eagle Eyes has a nice write-up that talks about some of the ways in which blocking out blue light can help ease the strain on your eyes.

The Science of Blue Light Filters

Naturally, you don't have to take their word for it. There have been a number of articles that talk about how staring at computer screens or phones can cause added strain. The American Academy of Ophthalmology notes that while blue light may not be directly damaging your eyes, it can contribute to added eyestrain. Additionally, the Canadian Association of Optometrists (CAO) found similar results with how the body reacts to too much blue light.

Again, while not directly harmful, excess blue light can actually cause additional eyestrain in people of all ages. In addition to the added eyestrain, the CAO says that blue light can lead to unnatural sleep cycles as blue light has been found to suppress the creation of melatonin and suppress the feeling of being tired. This is a big reason why software tends to have "night" modes on many new devices. I know that in particular, Windows 10 has a "Night Light" feature built in. Many Android phones have a similar feature. These "Night Light" features adjust the color temperature of the screen you look at. They typically lower the brightness and make the picture a bit "warmer," giving it a red or red-orange tint. This cuts out a lot of the harsh blue light that would otherwise hit your eyes at night and screw up your sleep cycles.

Even before being built into Windows, third-party programs such as f.lux were used by many to cut back on the blue light being shown on computer monitors. Of course, a lot of people simply brush aside these blue light software filters because they don't like how it makes the screen look "too red." I admit that once the effect kicks in it can be a bit jarring at first. However, what most people do not really realize here is that you quickly get used to the warmer tone after even just a few minutes of use.

The Glasses

So, with a bit of the science and the explanation of the "why" out of the way, it's now time to talk about whether or not these glasses from Eagle Eye are a worthy substitute for software solutions. In short: Yes, but with some caveats. I personally felt as though the software solutions were a much better solution for when I was using my desktop PC or when lying in bed and using my phone at night. I attribute this mainly to the fact that I do not wear glasses normally, so wearing the Ultralite DTs was a bit of an odd experience for me. I have a big head which means that most non-customized frames are either a bit too tight on me or, as is the case here, I end up bending out the temple components a bit to fit my melon.

I personally love cutting back on blue light. I have my phone automatically set to begin and end its own "Night Light" feature at specific times. I often manually enable it while using my desktop late at night. I even have my Philips Hue bulbs in my room go to an "Evening" setting that both lowers the brightness to 80% and sets the color to a more reddish hue (I prefer the "Peru" color) when compared to the typical "Soft White" color most people are used to seeing with light bulbs. So yeah, I am definitely a fan of cutting out blue light late at night when possible.

Thankfully, the Ultralites are, as their name implies, light and quite flexible. They have held up quite nicely over the past month or so of on and off use. However, if I wasn't a fan of them while on the computer, does that mean they are not worth it at all? No. In fact, I found that these were actually quite nice to have while out, especially during periods where there was snow on the ground. The glasses did a really damn good job at cutting down the glare from the sunlight reflecting off the snow. The fact that I no longer had to squint on days where the ground was covered in snow and the sun was out was more than enough to justify wearing these glasses.




Beyond that, I did find another great use for the glasses: Playing the PlayStation 4 on my TV. Neither the PS4 nor my TV has any sort of built-in blue light filter. I fully understand that I could manually adjust the color settings on my TV to mimic a filter, but that is far from an ideal solution. That means if I wanted to cut back on the amount of blue light hitting my eyes, I had to wear the glasses. They were great for cases like that because the only times I really played on the PS4 was late at night. This is when cutting back on blue light is perhaps most important to reducing eyestrain.

Another big plus in favor of the Ultralites DTs is the fact that they don't really look like some of the other blue light filtering glasses on the market. In fact, unless you are really looking hard, you would just think these were like any normal pair of reading glasses if you were to see someone else wearing them. There is no obvious tint to these like what you may see with other filtering glasses. I only notice the filtering because the glass is right near my eye and I can actually see the filter working. There are other pairs of glasses offered by Eagle Eyes that have a more intense color filter, but I cannot speak for how effective they are compared to the Ultralites.

Worth it?

This particular pair of glasses is priced at $59.95 (USD). For that price, you get the glasses, a microfiber cloth, a 10ml bottle of "anti-fog" cleaning solution, a "microfiber cleaning case," a zippered hard case, and a metal keychain that includes tiny screwdriver heads. The bonuses are nice and are certainly welcome. However, the screwdriver keychain seems useless for this pair of glasses since the flat screwdriver head is actually a bit too big for the two slot screws present on the Ultralites. Of course, I have not had a need to use the screwdriver but I did find that a bit odd. Maybe this bonus item is meant for use on some of Eagle Eyes' other offerings.




When it comes down to it, I would say that it's really up to you whether or not a pair of blue light filtering glasses are worth your money or not. I personally prefer software solutions where possible, but that is just my personal preference. That is not a knock against these glasses though, because they do exactly what they claim to do. They are an effective way to block out blue light from monitors, phones, TVs, and even when you are out getting some fresh air. My ideal use case for these glasses is when using a device that does not have any built in automatic filter, such as a PlayStation 4 or most modern television sets.



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Additional Information
Ultralite DT from Eagle Eyes
Starting at $59.95 (USD)
This product was provided to Total Gaming Network for review purposes.

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