Heading out for a long drive after the sun's gone down? You might find your usual glasses aren't quite up to the task.
Night driving can be challenging for many, especially when faced with the glare of oncoming headlights, street lights and signs. Glare can reduce your visibility, contrast and depth perception, making it harder to see the road and any potential hazards that might jump in your way.
If that wasn't enough, doing this for a prolonged period can also cause eye strain, fatigue and headaches. In short: without the right glasses, you'll likely arrive at your destination feeling rather run down.
While we can't quite promise you night vision akin to wolves or owls, we can point you in the right direction of anti-glare night glasses that offer the best substitution.
These glasses have yellow-tinted lenses that filter out blue light, which is the main source of glare. They also have anti-reflective coatings that reduce the amount of illumination bouncing off the lenses. The best options around should be polarised, which means they block horizontal light waves that cause glare from reflective surfaces.
What should you look for in a pair of anti-glare night driving glasses?
Some of the features that you should look out for when buying a pair of anti-glare night driving glasses include:
- Anti-reflective coating: This is a thin layer of material that reduces the amount of light bouncing off the lenses, which can cause glare and distort your vision. Anti-reflective coating can also protect your lenses from scratches and smudges - perfect if you're someone who doesn't tuck them away in the glovebox before stepping out of the car.
- Polarisation: This is a feature that blocks horizontal light waves that cause glare from reflective surfaces, like water, snow or metal. Polarisation can also improve colour perception and reduce eye fatigue - ideal if you'll be on the road for a few hours.
- Fit and comfort: If you spend a lot of time driving at night, it's worth looking for night glasses with a little more padding than your standard specs. Lightweight materials and flexible frames also go a long way in ensuring your comfort.
Best anti-glare night driving glasses at a glance
- Best for overall excellence: ZILLERATE Night Driving Glasses - £21.95, Amazon
- Best for cool, classic style: Ray Ban Clubmaster Classic Polarised Lenses - £202, Ray Ban
- Best for enhancing colour, contrast and detail: Oakley Radar EV Path sunglasses - £231, Oakley
- Best for glare-free vision: Bloomoak Night Driving Glasses - £14.98, Amazon
- Best for a wide scope of vision: I-Sential Anti Glare Polarised Night Driving Glasses - £15.99, Amazon
- Best for lightweight style: Serengeti Aviator Shiny Bold Gold Polarized Drivers Glasses - £169, Discounted Sunglasses
- Best for trend-led design: Tigerspecs Tortoiseshell wayfarer shape night driving glasses, £17, Tiger Specs
- Best for dark daytime use: GWAWG Sunglasses - £8.99, Amazon
- Best for alleviating visual fatigue: TJUTR Polarized Night-Vision Glasses - £23.99, Amazon
We've rounded up all of the best anti-glare night driving glasses below.
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ZILLERATE Night Driving Glasses
Best for: overall excellence
You may find with a lesser pair of glasses that your ears and nose bridge start aching after a while on the road. That’s not the case with ZILLERATE’s Night Driving Glasses. Designed specifically for longer drives, these versatile anti-glare lenses come with rubber-padded TR90 frames that promise to sit snug on your face and refuse to fall off while driving. They’re also renowned for their ability not to fog up, making them ideal if you’re driving through varied temperatures.
Buy now £21.95, Amazon
Ray Ban Clubmaster Classic Polarised Lenses
Best for: cool, classic style
You can’t go wrong with a pair of Ray Bans - and that applies to night driving, too. These Ray Ban Clubmaster Classics come with a polarised lens, offering all the protection you need and offering style in spades. The perfect combination of functionality and design, they can also be tailored to your prescription and come with anti-reflection and anti-scratch benefits, too.
Buy now £202.00, Ray Ban
Oakley Radar EV Path sunglasses
Best for: enhancing colour, contrast and detail
Oakley’s Radar EV Path sunglasses were designed with fast-paced movement and ease of use in mind, making them ideal not just for night driving but also for any other outdoor occasions when you may need a little extra help on the anti-glare front. With their Unobtainium ear socks and nose pads for increased comfort and performance, Lightweight O Matter frame material and Prizm lenses to enhance colour, contrast and detail, they bring together everything you need for an effortless drive.
Buy now £241.00, Oakley
Bloomoak Night Driving Glasses
Bets for: glare-free vision
It doesn’t matter whether you’re driving day or night, these Bloomoak Night Driving Glasses ensure the road is clear and glare-free, while protecting your eyes from harmful UV rays. These special lenses make colours and objects appear clearer, so you can see every detail of the open road. With anti-glare and UV400 protection to reduce surface reflections and block both UVA and UVB radiation, they offer protection against 99.9 per cent of harmful UV rays, keeping your eyes healthy when you go out.
Buy now £14.98, Amazon
I-Sential Anti Glare Polarised Night Driving Glasses
Best for: wide scope of vision
These I-Sential Anti Glare Polarised Night Driving Glasses come with classy tortoiseshell frames as well as a comfortable case to pack them away in - rather than just throwing them in the glove box. Their polarised, HD UV400 protection category one yellow lenses come with an anti-glare coating to greatly reduce the effects of dazzling headlights, reduce headaches and increase colour definition and visual clarity when you drive at night, dusk or during overcast low light conditions. They also have a larger wide-angle lens for greater all-round vision.
Buy now £15.99, Amazon
Serengeti Aviator Shiny Bold Gold Polarized Drivers Glasses
Best for: lightweight style
Looking for a premium option that keeps you looking suave on the road no matter what time of day it is? Invest in a pair of Serengeti’s Drivers Glasses and you’ll kiss goodbye to squinting or swerving. Photochromic lenses are this brand’s speciality and the lightweight lenses will darken or lighten exceptionally well in differing light conditions. With a classic aviator pilot style, iconic teardrop-shaped lenses and a double bridge, these night glasses promise to keep you looking and feeling good on the open road.
Buy now £169.00, Discounted Sunglasses
Just Glasses GMC | (Clip on) Driving Glasses
Best for: budget
Just Glasses is a great choice for budget-friendly specs that do the job no matter where you’re driving. And, if you’re heading out on the open road at night time, these Just Glasses GMC clip-ons offer an easy solution. If you’ve already got your preferred glasses to hand, you can simply clip these lenses on top to remove up to 99 per cent of headlight glare and surface reflection. Their durable yet lightweight plastic doesn’t feel like a heavy load on your face whilst you’re behind the wheel.
Buy now £15.00, Just Glasses
Tigerspecs Tortoiseshell wayfarer shape night driving glasses
Best for: trend-led design
Who said night-driving glasses had to be unfashionable? These budget-friendly Tiger Specs wayfarer-shaped night driving glasses look just like your day-to-day glasses but come with all of the features necessary to protect your eyes and enhance your visibility when driving against bright lights. These glasses have a soft touch finish, rivet details and come accompanied by a matching soft pouch. Bonus points for the tortoiseshell design.
Buy now £17.00, Tigerspecs
GWAWG Sunglasses
Best for: dark daytime use
If you’re mostly a daytime driver rather than an after-dark one, you probably don’t want to spend a fortune on your night-driving glasses. Instead, opt for a budget-friendly pair like these GWAWG Sunglasses. Designed for safe driving at night as well as in cloudy, rainy and foggy conditions, these glasses do the job with no unnecessary bells or whistles to distract from your goal: driving from A to B in one piece. Better yet, their wrap-around design takes into account your prescription glasses, allowing you to wear vision correction lenses and night driving glasses at the same time.
Buy now £8.99, Amazon
TJUTR Polarized Night-Vision Glasses
Best for: alleviating visual fatigue
With four different frame colours, these TJUTR Polarised Night-Vision Glasses suit pretty much everyone. Designed to help alleviate visual fatigue and brighten up things when driving in low light conditions, their polarised lens cut out some glares and haloing from headlights when driving at night time. Combined with their ultralight frame and classic integral nose pads, you’ll barely even notice you’re wearing glasses on the road.
Buy now £23.99, Amazon
Verdict
Budget-friendly, designed for longer journeys and equipped with all the essentials to keep you feeling comfortable, the ZILLERATE Night Driving Glasses may just be your best bet when it comes to anti-glare night driving glasses.
