I just received a new pair of Oakley Straightlink sunglasses with Rx Prizm polarized lenses a few days ago. My prescription is as follows:
Right eye: -1.75 (Sphere), -0.50 (Cylinder), 130 (Axis)
Left eye: -2.00 (Sphere), 0 (Cylinder), 180 (Axis)
The second I put them on, I noticed that something was "off". After wearing them a little bit, I notice that whenever I look off the center of the lens, the image is not particularly clear. When I look straight ahead in the middle of the lenses, things look fine. But otherwise not. Let me give a couple of examples:
Whenever I look slightly to the right, I don't see clearly on my left eye, as my left eye is now looking through the inner corner of the lens. And vice versa when I look slightly to the left - then I don't see clearly on my right eye. Wearing these glasses reminds me a little bit of the feeling you get when you put one contact lens in - the image is clear on one eye, but not the other. When I wear these glasses, then, my peripheral vision on either side is always blurry.
Also when I look slightly up, the image is not clear on both eyes. When I ride my bicycle, for instance, my upper body is tilted a bit forward, so my gaze is pointed a bit upwards. With these glasses, I cannot read the road signs when biking. I need to lift my head so that I see through the middle of the lenses.
I took my glasses back to the dealer. I knew what they would say and claim. What I experience is perfectly normal and expected, because the lenses are curved, and one cannot have clear vision throughout curved lenses.
For one, this doesn't make much sense to me with respect to my vision being unclear when looking slightly up, since the lenses are curved in exactly the same way along the top part as they are along the middle.
But more importantly, I know that their claim cannot be true. I had a pair of Oakley sunglasses with polarized Rx lenses from 2009 until a few weeks ago, and they appear to have been the model Fives 3.0 (Need Help Identifying What Model Oakley Sunglasses Thread). From my memory and from the pictures I see online, those lenses were just as curved as the Straightlink lenses. Yet I never experienced anything like this with my Fives 3.0 lenses. I absolutely loved those glasses and wore them a lot, and my vision was stellar with them. I can honestly say that I never remember experiencing any kind of blurred vision when looking off center. Clearly if Oakley could make curved lenses like that in 2009, they could in 2021.
My experience resembles somewhat what I read in another thread about Straightlink (Help! buyers remorse with brand new RX Oakley Straightlink frames/lenses), but in that case, the person points out that (s)he didn't have curved sunglasses earlier. But I did.
My worry is that Oakley is cutting corners now, compared to 2009, as it is probably cheaper to make curved lenses with a small "focal area" in the middle than making lenses with the ability to have clear vision throughout. I'd ideally want my dealer to get in touch with Oakley and have them remake better lenses, but my assumption is that Oakley simply makes the lenses in just one default way, and there is nothing I can do.
Any suggestions or tips?
Right eye: -1.75 (Sphere), -0.50 (Cylinder), 130 (Axis)
Left eye: -2.00 (Sphere), 0 (Cylinder), 180 (Axis)
The second I put them on, I noticed that something was "off". After wearing them a little bit, I notice that whenever I look off the center of the lens, the image is not particularly clear. When I look straight ahead in the middle of the lenses, things look fine. But otherwise not. Let me give a couple of examples:
Whenever I look slightly to the right, I don't see clearly on my left eye, as my left eye is now looking through the inner corner of the lens. And vice versa when I look slightly to the left - then I don't see clearly on my right eye. Wearing these glasses reminds me a little bit of the feeling you get when you put one contact lens in - the image is clear on one eye, but not the other. When I wear these glasses, then, my peripheral vision on either side is always blurry.
Also when I look slightly up, the image is not clear on both eyes. When I ride my bicycle, for instance, my upper body is tilted a bit forward, so my gaze is pointed a bit upwards. With these glasses, I cannot read the road signs when biking. I need to lift my head so that I see through the middle of the lenses.
I took my glasses back to the dealer. I knew what they would say and claim. What I experience is perfectly normal and expected, because the lenses are curved, and one cannot have clear vision throughout curved lenses.
For one, this doesn't make much sense to me with respect to my vision being unclear when looking slightly up, since the lenses are curved in exactly the same way along the top part as they are along the middle.
But more importantly, I know that their claim cannot be true. I had a pair of Oakley sunglasses with polarized Rx lenses from 2009 until a few weeks ago, and they appear to have been the model Fives 3.0 (Need Help Identifying What Model Oakley Sunglasses Thread). From my memory and from the pictures I see online, those lenses were just as curved as the Straightlink lenses. Yet I never experienced anything like this with my Fives 3.0 lenses. I absolutely loved those glasses and wore them a lot, and my vision was stellar with them. I can honestly say that I never remember experiencing any kind of blurred vision when looking off center. Clearly if Oakley could make curved lenses like that in 2009, they could in 2021.
My experience resembles somewhat what I read in another thread about Straightlink (Help! buyers remorse with brand new RX Oakley Straightlink frames/lenses), but in that case, the person points out that (s)he didn't have curved sunglasses earlier. But I did.
My worry is that Oakley is cutting corners now, compared to 2009, as it is probably cheaper to make curved lenses with a small "focal area" in the middle than making lenses with the ability to have clear vision throughout. I'd ideally want my dealer to get in touch with Oakley and have them remake better lenses, but my assumption is that Oakley simply makes the lenses in just one default way, and there is nothing I can do.
Any suggestions or tips?
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