GUNNAR Optiks Groot glasses review – I’m wearing Groot

Eye strain while gaming is likely something most of us have encountered, at least during long sessions or frequently for those more susceptible to dry eye or light sensitivity. GUNNAR Optiks offers a range of glasses to help with those problems, and they come in many styles.

The Groot glasses I had the chance to check out are, in a word, stunning. The wooden frames look amazing and feature a Guardians logo on one arm that doesn’t distract from the sleek design, but is a fun Easter egg behind your ear. There is the troubling implication that Groot is a tree… and these glasses are made of wood… Groot? Buddy? Are you still there?

Anyway, they look great, but they also feel great. The glasses are pretty light (I don’t normally wear glasses) and feel comfortable for long periods. The hinges allow for an outward flex to accommodate different head sizes and prevent pressure on your temples. As a bonus, the lenses offer some slight magnification on par with standard reading glasses (mine are not prescription lenses). 

Besides wanting to look amazing, why would you want these? There is quite a bit of science and technology involved here. The first, and most relevant to me, is Blink Rate. Staring at screens all day makes you blink less, and when you blink less, your eyes dry out. The simple act of putting a lens in front of your eye helps to preserve the humidity in your eyes by blocking airflow and, therefore, keeping your eyes moist. Sure, that really isn’t a proprietary benefit of GUNNAR, but their glasses are designed with this specifically in mind. The curve of the frames and lenses is intended to hug your face and minimize that distance between your eyes and the lens to block as much of that pesky air as possible. 

The second benefit is something about bending light before it hits your eye, and therefore reducing strain from staring at a fixed distance for too long. Listen, eye science isn’t my field of expertise, and eye strain isn’t something I really have a problem with, so I have to take their word for it here.

Third, and the reason you may be in the market for glasses like these in the first place, is Blue Light blocking. I think we all know intuitively that artificial light is bad for us, even if research isn’t conclusive. The amber-tinted lenses on GUNNAR glasses block 65% of blue light at 450nm, which is apparently the most common frequency of computer monitors. As I mentioned, eye strain hasn’t typically been a problem for me. However, several other members of the GamingTrend team do have to deal with that problem, and they swear by these glasses helping them.

The Groot glasses come in a hard magnetic case that feels like some kind of recycled wood product Groot would approve of. Inside, you’ll find the glasses, a Guardians-branded soft bag, and a Groot cleaning cloth. It’s a nice package and looks great sitting on my desk.

For me, the magnification, glare reduction, and air blocking are real benefits that are noticeable while gaming and working at my computer. The Groot glasses look amazing and feel great. I just pretend Groot made them instead of the other, more troubling explanation.

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