Ombraz Armless Prescription Sunglasses Review

Ombraz armless sunglasses are a practical innovation for anyone who needs a pair of sunglasses that is designed for active outdoor activities. If you’ve ever owned a pair of sunglasses, you’ve probably experienced at least one of these frustrations: arms that break or bend out of shape (particularly when you step on them), or a pair that’s constantly sliding down your nose during activity. Ombraz Armless Sunglasses offer a simple yet surprisingly obvious solution to these issues by eliminating the traditional side arms altogether. Instead, they feature an adjustable cord that wraps comfortably around your head.

Prescription Ombraz Sunglasses

While Ombraz Armless Sunglasses are great for people with normal vision, they’re also suitable for those who require prescription sunglasses, including individuals who want progressive eyeglasses with a distance prescription stacked above a reading one. Ombraz doesn’t make these prescription glasses in-house; instead, it outsources all of its prescription lenses to Lens & Frame Co., where you select the pair of Ombraz frames you want, input your prescription, and choose the lens options you want to order. The customer support provided by Lens & Frame Co. is superb, and they’ll help you through the specification process if you are not sure what to do.

For example.

• If you have a printed version of your glasses prescription but don’t know what it means, you can send a photo of it to Len’s and Frame’s support, and they’ll enter the necessary information for you.
• If you don’t know what your PD (Pupillary Distance) is, they have an app that will scan your face and figure it out for you.

Low Expectations

I really hate getting new glasses, because it’s so hard to get a frame that fits properly and doesn’t slide off my nose, even when I buy them in person at an optical store. It’s at the point where I use glasses with slightly outdated prescriptions because they fit me better than the newer ones I own with up-to-date ones. 

Buying glasses online can be better than in person because they’re made to match your personal measurements, if you have them. However, that’s the rub: you need to have them, and the online glasses vendor must use them. Many don’t. For example, there’s a measurement that I only recently learned about called temple arm length, which measures the length of the side arms of your glasses. However, few online glasses vendors require it, despite its importance. There are other measurements, such as lens width, bridge width, lens height, and frame width, that can be helpful in fitting new glasses, but only if an online manufacturer uses them. 

So I had low expectations when Ombraz offered to make me a pair of prescription sunglasses to review. I decided to aim high and test a pair of sunglasses with progressive lenses, with a distance prescription and a reading prescription, like a bifocal without a visible line separating them. I’ve had terrible luck buying progressives in the past: the few times I’ve tried, I’ve been stuck with an expensive pair of glasses that I can’t use and which make me feel nauseous when I try to wear them.

The Ombraz Armless Frame

The first thing you’ll notice when you put on a pair of Ombraz frames is that they don’t have temple arms. Instead, they have the equivalent of an adjustable croakie that runs around the back of your head. I’ve used something similar, sold on Amazon, to hold my glasses with temple arms in place when fishing or paddleboarding. The Ombraz adjustable cord feels nicer, but it essentially does the same thing without temple arms. The only advantage of the Ombraz frames over regular frames is that they don’t have temple arms to break. But is that really worth paying extra for? I’ve been wearing glasses for nearly 60 years and have only broken my frames twice.

Prescription Lenses for Ombraz Frames

If you visit the Ombraz website and select ‘Shop RX‘, they’ll redirect you to the Lens and Frame Co website, where you can purchase Ombraz frames and specify the lenses you need.

I chose the Ombraz Teton Frame with grey polarized, high-index polycarbonate, progressive lenses. Ombraz gave me a coupon to buy these and review them. But without it, I’d have to pay $670 for the glasses I chose. That’s well over my normal price range for (non-progressive) prescription sunglasses by a factor of 2 or 3.

The Ombraz frames resold by Lens & Frame Co account for $520 of this purchase, while the remainder is their price for the lenses. The same frames, but for non-prescription sunglasses, cost $160, including lenses, if you buy them from Ombraz. That’s a hell of a markup $160->$520 for the same frame.

Once ordered, it took several weeks for the finished Ombraz prescription sunglasses to arrive, but they were well worth the wait. I put them on, and my eyes adapted to the progressive lenses almost instantly. I can now hike and read a trail map without having to remove my distance glasses to see the fine topographic detail. These sunglasses are the best I’ve ever had, hands down. The frames and the adjustable strap are really comfortable, and they’re great to wear when hiking, fly fishing, or strumming my ukulele. I suspect that the non-prescription customers who buy Ombraz’s sunglasses directly say the same thing.

Discussion

Ombraz claims that their armless sunglasses are better than sunglass frames with arms, because:

1. They don’t cause discomfort on the side of your head when worn for an extended period.
2. They’re less prone to breakage since they lack arms or hinges.
3. They lie flat, so you don’t need a hard protective case to carry them.
4. You can’t lose them if you jump into the water, since the cord prevents them from being lost.
5. They’re suitably stylish for outdoor recreation and summer business casual use.
6. The included neoprene carrying pouch provides ample protection for travel or everyday use.

I can see these reasons being enough to get someone to pay $160 for a pair of Ombraz sunglasses, when compared to other high-end sunglasses that cost $125-$150.  All those things are true. They are more comfortable than sunglasses that squeeze the sides of your head and are less prone to breakage because they have fewer moving parts. The adjustable cord that holds them on your head can prevent their loss if you jump in a pool or off a boat, and they’re perfectly suitable for casual business use.

However, if you require corrective lenses, such as progressives, which combine a distance and a reading prescription, a pair of Ombraz sunglasses (purchased through Lens & Frames Co.)will be nearly four times as expensive. That’s not something I’d ever consider buying with my own money.  I think Ombraz would do well to find another business partner other than Lens & Frames Co. that can provide prescription sunglasses at a price comparable to traditional prescription sunglasses. But I may be in the minority. Judging by the positive reviews on the Lens & Frame Co. website, it appears that many people are willing to pay their high prices. See for yourself.

Disclosure: Ombraz donated a pair of sunglasses for review.