PeakVision is trying to take the glare out of your golf game and keep your game looking good, even if it’s only between swings. In for review, we received Peak Vision styles AV1 and DG1 and they are certainly different from the typical sunglasses you might see on the course. After a few weeks of testing and receiving a few opinions from other people, I quickly realized that this review would prove very difficult because sunglasses can be such a personal purchase. What you want and need in a pair of golf sunglasses varies person to person and, based on forum responses, people have a favorite brand and tend to stick with it. However, options are always good and today I want to give you a rundown of some golf sunglasses options from PeakVision.
I cannot say it more clearly: PeakVision is unique and deserves attention for good reason – they incorporate “proprietary Zero-Distortion optics featuring patented Dual-Zone lens technology.” While the Zero-Distortion optics piece may be a little bit of marketing jargon (presumably based on their Abbe value), the Dual-Zone lenses are the real deal selling point. As detailed more below, the Dual-Zones blend together well and perform great on the brightest of days.
The Dual-Zone lens technology is precisely what it sounds like – a lens that incorporates a transition from a 20% transmission Neutral-Gray Upper Zone, aimed to block glare and the brightest lights, to a 60% transmission Amber Lower Zone, that is intended to increase contrast in what you see on the course. Both zones work as advertised and the transition area in the “middle” goes essentially unnoticed when you are wearing them.
On the course, I absolutely loved the Dual-Zone technology on full shots. The transition between zones in the middle is not something you actively notice throughout the round and the glare reducing upper zone works wonders when you look up to track a full shot as the ball flies through the air. When looking up, the amber lower zone allows you to track the ball while the neutral-gray upper zone blocks out the glare from the sun. While it works well, please note it likely won’t be a cure all if you have real difficulty tracking the ball at driver distances.
Moving to the short game, which is where the amber zone is supposed to really shine by providing better contrast and illuminating the subtleties of the course, I found the Dual-Zone lens technology didn’t fit my game. I tend to look at things with my head level or slightly down, which hid the amber lower zone. Once I made the change to look at things with my head slightly raised more than normal (with my chin slightly up to look at things through the lower zone) I found that the amber lower zone really does provide some nice contrast and makes the color of the course pop. Going back to the overarching theme, golf sunglasses can be highly personal and just because the Dual-Zone lenses didn’t immediately mesh with my short game doesn’t mean it won’t immediately mesh with yours.
The other major features of the PeakVision lenses are the “Super-Hydrophobic Liquid Repellent Coating” that is intended to bead water off the lens and the “Oleophobic Smudge-Resistant Coating” that is designed to reduce oily smudges, like fingerprints. I found the hydrophobic coating to work great while the smudge-resistant coating performed about the same as other sunglasses in my collection. If you happen to grab the lens with your finger, a clear fingerprint will be present, much like nearly all sunglasses.
The frames with both the AV1 and DG1 are also quite durable despite being very light. The AV1 sports a metallic alloy front with plastic-like temples and temple tips. The DG1, on the other hand, has frames made of an incredibly light polymer all the way around. While exposing the frames to a mild stress test, I found each component of the AV1 and DG1 withstood twisting and bending in a way that should meet or exceed normal wear and tear on the course. The one disappointing omission from both the AV1 and DG1 was some type of rubber or rubber-adjacent piece on the temple tips that will keep the sunglasses on your head or hat when you aren’t wearing the glasses. On more than one occasion the AV1 would fly off my hat when I turned my head quickly. Other PeakVision models incorporate this type of feature, for example the GX5, but it is not incorporated uniformly in all options.
The PeakVision sunglasses are very durable, good-looking, and very comfortable to wear. However, most likely your opinion of the Dual-Zone lens technology will dictate whether you would add PeakVision into your rotation. PeakVision sunglasses, and in particular the Dual-Zone lenses, work really well and definitely have a niche in the marketplace. If you like the idea of the Dual-Zone lenses, I’d bet you will love them and there will be a frame design that you will like. You can check out more about PeakVision here: www.peakvision.com.
