Why you should trust me
I’m a staff writer covering travel and outdoor gear, including thermal underwear and trekking poles. I ski tour and resort ski about 60 days a year, mainly around Mammoth Lakes, California.
Having to fit in skiing between work and relationship priorities means that visibility and weather are rarely perfect, and high-quality goggles help me ski confidently regardless of the conditions.
To research ski goggles, I did the following:
- I consulted with Ed Zebrowski, a product information specialist at REI and a former ski racer, ski instructor, and pro skier.
- I interviewed SportRx CEO Rob Tavakoli, a snowboarder who has been an eyewear professional for 28 years.
- I watched a mass of online videos on what other professional and customer reviewers had to say about goggles.
- Like all Wirecutter journalists, I review and test products with complete editorial independence. I’m never made aware of any business implications of my editorial recommendations. Read more about our editorial standards.
Do you need goggles?
If you’re downhill skiing or snowboarding, high-quality ski goggles boost your vision and confidence.
While sunglasses may shield you from the sun and mild winds on warmer days, a dedicated pair of ski goggles blocks cold wind, keeps you drier from snow and rain, and protects your face in the case of a fall or if you run into a sneaky tree branch.
UV protection is important, too, and all goggles we tested protect against UV rays.
All of the goggles I tested are suitable for both skiing and snowboarding. I refer to them as “ski goggles” in this guide simply for brevity.
How we picked and tested
Here’s what I prioritized when deciding which ski goggles to test:
Lens optics: I looked for goggles that advertised color-contrast technologies intended to refine features on snow.
Good-quality goggles lenses incorporate dyes to manage color and light, and they help to create visual contrast when you look at snow. This makes subtle features easier to identify and avoid—or use to your advantage, as when skiing moguls or jumping off snow ramps.
Visibility is particularly important because even groomed ski runs develop imperfections as people ski on them. And, of course, many runs are ungroomed. Good lenses help you see bumps and ruts clearly.
Multiple lenses or a single versatile lens: Regular lenses have a fixed VLT (variable light transmission) rating. The lower the percentage number, the darker the lens will be. The higher the number, the more light it lets through, and the better it is for low-light days.
Because light conditions change, I looked for goggles with interchangeable lenses. Most of the goggles I tested used interchangeable lenses, coming with a low-light lens plus a regular lens of the buyer’s choice.
Some goggles instead come with one photochromic lens that can lighten or darken (within a set VLT range) depending on the conditions outside. I tested a few of these goggles, too. Most photochromic lenses cost more, though, and are not designed to be changed easily.
Prescription compatibility: People with prescription glasses and who can’t or prefer not to wear contacts in the cold or at higher altitudes may need goggles fitted with prescription inserts or goggles that fit over their glasses (these are called OTG goggles). Not all goggles work with inserts, and I took this into account when choosing which goggles to test. All of our picks work with prescription inserts.
OTG goggles are a more affordable option than inserts. Their lenses sit far from your face, making room for your glasses, and cutouts in the foam accommodate the glasses’ sidearms.
But many prescription glasses users find OTG goggles uncomfortable, and OTG goggles work best with smaller frames. Plus, if you fall wearing your glasses, you risk breaking them. For these reasons, I decided not to test them in this guide.
Anti-fog coatings: The lenses of all of the goggles I tested have an anti-fog coating. If you’re seeking prescription inserts, experts recommend that you have them coated as well.
Along with breathable foam, anti-fog coating helps prevent fog from forming when warm, wet air gets inside the lens, usually from body heat or your breath. These coatings eventually wear off, but most durable coatings should last four to five years if handled carefully.
This means no wiping the inner lens. Dab it if you must, but the coating has a gel-like texture, and wiping it may cause scratches and permanent smudges that make the lens more fog-prone.
Aftermarket anti-fog applications are available, but depending on the extent of lens damage, you may be better off purchasing a fresh lens after a few seasons if fogging becomes a regular problem.
Size availability: I looked for goggles that are available in multiple frame sizes, including low-bridge fits, which add extra foam around the top of the nose to prevent air gaps for people with low nose bridges.
Some manufacturers suggest matching your helmet size with your goggles size, which I found is a good place to start if a company does not provide helmet compatibility in more measurable specs.
Warranty: Most goggles’ warranties are restricted to manufacturer defects, and they’re often good for only a year. For this reason, I didn’t weigh warranties heavily in deciding what goggles to test. (Damage happens fast when goggles are neglected, and I recommend preventative maintenance to keep lenses, glues, and foam intact.) I did, however, prioritize goggles whose lenses could be replaced, if they’re damaged or destroyed.
I tested for the following:
Lens performance: Along with testing different lens optics head to head, I assessed how these technologies were further affected by lens shape and lens size; I looked for distortion in lenses with a lot of curvature, and I compared peripheral vision.
Ease of swapping lenses: The more likely you are to change the lens, the more likely you’ll be able to see well in different weather conditions. I practiced removing and installing lenses on goggles that offered this feature. The results varied from being an intuitive, quick task to bringing me to the verge of having a tantrum (I have been described as patient).
Some lenses were easy enough to change at the ski area—sometimes even when I stopped mid-run—without removing the goggles. Others I’d recommend doing at home or in a warm vehicle before skiing, or avoiding altogether.
Foam layers: All of our picks have triple-layer foam, as do most high-quality goggles.
Goggles have either a single, double, or triple layer of foam padding circling the lens. In goggles with three layers, the layer closest to the frame is the most dense and buffers the rigid plastic from the second layer of foam, which is softer. That second layer is the most porous and air-permeable. It promotes air circulation and prevents fogging. The third layer contacts your face and is the softest and most comfortable. It also wicks sweat into the second layer to dry. (Yes, we sweat when working hard sometimes—even on a cold ski hill!)
Goggles with two layers tend to omit the comfortable face foam so that your face contacts the coarser second foam directly.
Goggles with a single layer of foam omit the rigid foam that separates the plastic frame from the second layer, which can cause pressure points and fit issues if the goggle is not perfectly suited to your face.
Durability: The first part of a pair that gets damaged is usually the lens or foam. While I tried to care for each set of goggles I tested as if I owned them, I inevitably dropped some, or other pieces of gear ended up piled on top of them. Though I did not hit any trees during testing, I have caught several tree branches in the helmet and goggles in the past, and I’ve been whacked in the face by skis and snowboards while standing in gondola lines. It happens.
I checked for lens wear, especially in rimless goggles that had no frame to keep them from contacting the floor when put down lens first—which I did do intentionally, in the name of testing.
Fit: Getting the right size is a good start. But a pliable frame helps too, as it will be more likely to contour to the nuances of your unique face.
Bonus items: Some goggles come with accessories, such as cases and lens covers, which can be useful—though these didn’t become a big factor in making our picks. Some useful items included a Gogglesoc (a stretchy fabric lens cover) and soft and hard cases.
Top pick: Anon M5 Goggles
Top pick
The Anon M5 Goggles excelled in every condition I skied in, and they’re the easiest to use. These goggles come with one low-light lens, another regular lens for brighter days, and an integrated face mask. Anon offers four combinations of low and bright lenses ranging from a VLT of 59% to 6%. (The lower the variable light transmission percentage number, the darker the lens will be.)
Top pick
Anon offers four combinations of low and bright lenses ranging from a VLT of 59% to 6%. (The lower the variable light transmission percentage number, the darker the lens will be.)
They’re user-friendly. With so many buckles, zippers, and levers to fiddle with when you’re skiing and snowboarding, it helps to simplify any gear possible. Held on with nine magnets, the lenses come on and off easier—but are still secure—than those of any other goggles that I tested. The mountain forecast isn’t always accurate, cloud fronts come and go, and sometimes we ski longer into the evening than expected, so being able to swap the lens on the fly is a big plus.
They make the mountain more clear and beautiful. Anon’s lenses blew me away. Even in low light, I was able to see terrain features, and use them to my advantage, when making turns down the mountain.
They’re distortion-free. The Anon M5 Goggles use a lens with a “flat toric” shape, which has some slight rounding top to bottom—meant to mimic the way the human eye perceives objects but retain the classic cylindrical look of old-school goggles (picture a set of goggles cut out of a soda can). Some modern spherical goggles, such as the Smith 4D Mag I tested and dismissed, are designed with more aggressive rounding (picture a set of goggles cut out of a basketball) that can produce distortion or “blur.” This distortion is minor, at least to my eyes, but some people find it annoying or even a distraction. The Anon M5 produced no such distortion.
They don’t fog. None of our picks fogged up during testing. While the lenses’ inner anti-fog coating is one reason why, airflow through the foam vents of each also plays a part. The foam vent on these goggles isn’t as breathable as that on our budget pick, though this isn’t necessarily bad. It lets enough air in and out to keep fog from appearing, but it cuts the wind during those unfortunate, but inevitable, chair-lift delays.
As with our other picks, the foam on these goggles include a thin, next-to-skin layer that helps wick away moisture if you work up a sweat.
They’re the only goggles I considered with an integrated face mask. Putting a physical barrier between you and the sun is always a sure way of protecting your skin from harmful rays.
I’ve used neck gaiters in the past for sun, wind, and snow protection when skiing, but I now prefer the magnetic face mask that comes with the M5 goggles. To achieve a seal with a traditional neck gaiter, you have to tuck it inside the bottom of your goggles, which can let in your warm breath and, then, fogging. The magnets built into the frame of the M5’s mask allow it to sit flush with the bottom of the goggles—no fog!
Seriously, I can’t go back to traditional neck gaiters.
They come in two sizes, but each size offers a low-bridge option. In addition to the standard M5 Goggles, Anon offers the M5 Low Bridge Fit Goggles, the Anon M5S Goggles for smaller faces, plus the M5S Low Bridge Fit Goggles. If none of these work for you, our runner-up comes in three sizes—plus low-bridge fits for each—for a total of six options. (Our budget pick comes in two sizes plus low-bridge fits for each.)
Flaws but not dealbreakers
They cost a lot. The Anon M5 aren’t the most expensive goggles that I tested, but their price is above average.
The lens doesn’t lock into place. The lens on these goggles hasn’t ever come off while I was skiing, but it’s held on just by (strong) magnets. Unlike our runner-up, the Smith I/O Mag, which has a mechanical lens lock, these have nothing keeping the goggles from popping off in a violent fall.
The warranty is short. Anon goggles are covered by parent company Burton’s one-year warranty against manufacturer defects. This falls short of our runner-up’s limited lifetime warranty against defects. None of our picks carry warranties offering protection against normal wear and tear.
Runner-up: Smith I/O Mag
Runner-up
We recommend the Smith I/O Mag goggles for anyone who struggles to find a good-fitting goggle or who wants a lens that should never come loose.
Runner-up
These goggles come with one low-light lens and another regular lens for brighter days.
Runner-up
You have more options with Smith: Choose from 10 combinations of lenses that range in VLT rating from 65% to 12%. Smith also offers photochromic lenses for an extra cost, but I haven’t tested them.
They contour to your face. Most of the rigidity in a pair of goggles comes from the lens. This is especially true with the Smith I/O Mag goggles, because the frame is flexible. Don’t make this a practice, but once you remove the lens, you can roll these frames up into a ball.
The Smith I/O Mag mold well to your face, better even than the Anon M5 Goggles. This means that they are less likely to have gaps around the nose, for instance. This flexibility also helps mitigate pressure on the nose bridge, cheekbones, and forehead.
They offer the biggest size range of all the goggles I tested. These goggles come in six variations of the same goggle: small, medium, and large (even though the large frame is called XL), plus low-bridge options for each size.
They trade (a little) usability for more security. As with the Anon M5 pair, magnets secure the lens of the I/O Mag goggles to the frame. In addition to the magnets, though, two locking plastic tabs, one on each side, secure the lens; you have to release the tabs to remove the lens.
The tabs add one more step to the process—and you may have to clean off some fingerprints afterward—compared with the Anon M5, but they do provide extra security. But they are small pieces of plastic, and though I have not broken them nor seen any evidence in customer reviews that they tend to break, I recommend being careful when swapping the lenses.
They’re distortion-free. The I/O Mag goggles use a spherical shape lens, which is supposed to mimic how the human eye perceives light. These are similar to the flat toric style of our top pick, just with a more aggressive vertical curve. I couldn’t perceive a difference in distortion between either of them.
They don’t fog. Like the Anon M5, these goggles didn’t fog up on me during sunny and stormy days. They let enough air in and out to ventilate, but they protected me from the wind during chair-lift delays.
Like our top pick, these goggles use triple-layer foam with a thin, wicking next-to-skin layer.
They have a longer warranty than our top pick. Smith’s limited lifetime warranty is against manufacturing defects; it doesn’t protect against normal wear and tear.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
They don’t come with an integrated face mask. Nor do these goggles come with a hard case, but Smith does throw in a Gogglesoc to guard against scratches.
The color-contrast lens coating is good, but not quite as good as that of the Anon M5. Like Anon, Smith has its own proprietary lens coating of color-contrasting dyes. I found Anon’s to be better by a thin margin, but many skiers may not be able to tell the difference.
They provide less peripheral vision than our top pick. They have a slightly narrower field of view than the Anon M5, and people with larger faces may notice the goggles’ foam in their peripheral vision. (I did, but I found that my eyes adjusted within a ski run or two.)
Budget pick: Glade Adapt 2
Budget pick
The Glade Adapt 2 goggles are around half the price of our other picks, but offer much more than half of the quality. You make some compromises, but they nail the most important features.
Budget pick
You don’t have to swap lenses when the weather changes. Though other companies offer goggles with photochromic lenses—the Smith I/O Mag goggles have that option, in fact—they charge a lot more for them than Glade does.
The Adapt 2’s lens comes in six colors, but the difference among them is mostly aesthetic. All six lenses are photochromic and all have the same VLT range of 61% to 16%. This is enough range for everything except night skiing on the low-light end and glacier travel on the sunny end.
I haven’t tested the black lens yet—I tested the orange lens—but I’d recommend avoiding it, because black and gray lenses typically offer poor color contrast.
I’ve seen other, more-expensive lenses transition more quickly between light and dark than these do, but these transition fast enough for all practical purposes.
The advantage of using a photochromic lens is less about adapting to the light when skiing in and out of tree cover or shade, and more about eliminating any worry about bringing the wrong fixed-VLT lens if the weather forecast changes.
If the forecast says sun, but it’s cloudy when you arrive at the mountain, or if the weather changes mid-day, a photochromic lens will adapt to those new conditions over a few minutes.
You can still replace the lens if you need to. Rather than being magnetically attached, the lens sits in a channel in the frame. Swapping lenses on the Glade Adapt 2 is more difficult than on our top picks—ideally, it’s not something you’ll ever have to do—but it’s easier to do than some similarly priced options from Smith and Giro that I tested. The lens on our test pair is still in good shape, but if something does happen to it, I know I’d be able to replace it. (Glade has a video to help with removing and installing lenses.)
They fit pretty well. These goggles don’t have as wide a size range as the Smith I/O Mag goggles, or the oversized fit and field of view of the Anon M5 pair. Rather, they sit somewhere in the middle, with a firmly medium fit. (They have low-bridge, small, and small low-bridge options, though.) The Anon and Smith models fit larger faces better, but the Glade Adapt 2 goggles didn’t create any pressure points or gapping on my (large) face during testing.
They have the most breathable foam. Highly breathable foam can both hurt and help you on the mountain. If you tend to sweat heavily, its greater air circulation may help prevent fogging. It may also just make you cold—that happened to us while atop the notoriously windy Mammoth Mountain summit on colder days.
The warranty is a step above those of our other picks. The Glade website states, “We want you to be happy with any product that bears our Glade name—if at any time our products do not live up to your expectations, please send us a note to get a proper evaluation.” It’s not a “no-questions-asked” promise to replace your goggles, but this policy inspires more confidence than our other picks’ boilerplate “we only cover manufacturing defects” warranties.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
They aren’t good for night skiing or for people who ski in low light regularly. These goggles cover most conditions but not the most extreme (in either direction). I noticed the biggest difference in contrast between these goggles and our other picks in low light.
They aren’t as widely available as our top picks. Glade sells only direct-to-consumer, so you won’t find them at REI or your local ski shop. The company offers free shipping and free returns, as long as the goggles are unused, within 30 days of your receiving them. Since the most important part to get right with a pair of goggles is size, this is fortunately something you can check without taking the goggles out on the slopes.
Other goggles worth considering
For people who just want the basics: The Goodr Snow G goggles are half the price of our budget pick. These goggles even come with a hard case and a user-friendly interchangeable storm lens.
You don’t get the same lens quality or size options, but these goggles protect your face from the elements.
They also use a magnetic lens-change system similar to, but not as secure as, the Anon M5 Goggles. I haven’t lost a lens yet, but I have accidentally pulled the lens off the goggles when removing the goggles from my face.
The Snow G goggles have a stiffer frame, and they are especially rigid along the top portion that contacts the forehead, so try them on before committing.
I’ve found Goodr sunglasses scratch-prone in the past (true, I was being intentionally careless with them), but Goodr provides a one-year warranty on the Snow G pair, which even covers lens damage by the user, so these goggles should get you through at least one season if they fit you.
For people who want to maximize peripheral vision: Consider the Smith 4D Mag snow goggles, which have a bird’s eye lens that increases peripheral vision at the bottom of the goggles.
They’re similar to the Smith I/O Mag design, but incorporate an even more user-friendly locking magnetic lens. However, the shape of the lens does create some minor blurring in the lower lens. I was able to ski without eye strain, but I have seen some customer reviews from people who couldn’t tolerate the distortion.
The foam above the nose bridge is also thinner than the foam on the I/O Mag, and I experienced pressure on the bridge of my nose. This problem does not seem to be common among other 4D Mag wearers, at least according to reviews.
The 4D Mag goggles are the most expensive goggles I tested, but they come with most of the accessories that you’d ever need: the same Gogglesoc that the I/O Mag comes with, plus a two-compartment hard case with a dedicated second lens holder. Adding in the accessories purchased separately, both of our picks are similar in price to the 4D Mag.
The competition
The Julbo Razor Edge goggles have crisper optics and photochromic lenses with a wider range and a faster transition time than our budget pick. However, the Razor Edge goggles are almost twice the price.
The Oakley Flight Deck M Snow Goggles fit and perform well, but the lens isn’t photochromic nor is it meant to be swappable. (You can replace it if it’s damaged, but not easily if the weather changes.) Yet they cost nearly as much as our top picks.
The Glade Fathom goggles had a stiffer frame than our budget pick, the Glade Adapt 2 goggles, with less foam and more plastic, and they fit differently (they left a small gap near my cheekbones). Compared with our top pick, the Anon M5, which has a similar magnetic lens system, the Fathom goggles took too much finessing to get the lenses seated securely. (Glade has since replaced the Fathom with the Fathom+, which I’ll try this winter.)
The Giro Revolt Goggle and the Smith Squad are similar goggles that cost $20 to $25 less than our budget pick. They come with a single color-contrasting lens that you can swap for a dedicated storm lens—that lens has no contrast-enhancing coating, though. Also, these goggles don’t seem to have been designed with frequent lens-changing in mind. (The Smith Squad pair was particularly difficult.)
The Smith Frontier are attractively priced, but the Goodr Snow G goggles are a better value. The Frontier goggles have a single, basic lens that is fixed and non-replaceable—if it gets badly scratched, you’re stuck with it.
This article was edited by Christine Ryan and Ben Frumin.
Sources
-
Rob Tavakoli, CEO at SportRx, video interview, February 9, 2024
-
Ed Zebrowski, product information specialist at REI, phone interview, February 7, 2024
Why you should trust me
I’m a staff writer covering travel and outdoor gear, including thermal underwear and trekking poles. I ski tour and resort ski about 60 days a year, mainly around Mammoth Lakes, California.
Having to fit in skiing between work and relationship priorities means that visibility and weather are rarely perfect, and high-quality goggles help me ski confidently regardless of the conditions.
To research ski goggles, I did the following:
- I consulted with Ed Zebrowski, a product information specialist at REI and a former ski racer, ski instructor, and pro skier.
- I interviewed SportRx CEO Rob Tavakoli, a snowboarder who has been an eyewear professional for 28 years.
- I watched a mass of online videos on what other professional and customer reviewers had to say about goggles.
- Like all Wirecutter journalists, I review and test products with complete editorial independence. I’m never made aware of any business implications of my editorial recommendations. Read more about our editorial standards.
Do you need goggles?
If you’re downhill skiing or snowboarding, high-quality ski goggles boost your vision and confidence.
While sunglasses may shield you from the sun and mild winds on warmer days, a dedicated pair of ski goggles blocks cold wind, keeps you drier from snow and rain, and protects your face in the case of a fall or if you run into a sneaky tree branch.
UV protection is important, too, and all goggles we tested protect against UV rays.
All of the goggles I tested are suitable for both skiing and snowboarding. I refer to them as “ski goggles” in this guide simply for brevity.
How we picked and tested
Here’s what I prioritized when deciding which ski goggles to test:
Lens optics: I looked for goggles that advertised color-contrast technologies intended to refine features on snow.
Good-quality goggles lenses incorporate dyes to manage color and light, and they help to create visual contrast when you look at snow. This makes subtle features easier to identify and avoid—or use to your advantage, as when skiing moguls or jumping off snow ramps.
Visibility is particularly important because even groomed ski runs develop imperfections as people ski on them. And, of course, many runs are ungroomed. Good lenses help you see bumps and ruts clearly.
Multiple lenses or a single versatile lens: Regular lenses have a fixed VLT (variable light transmission) rating. The lower the percentage number, the darker the lens will be. The higher the number, the more light it lets through, and the better it is for low-light days.
Because light conditions change, I looked for goggles with interchangeable lenses. Most of the goggles I tested used interchangeable lenses, coming with a low-light lens plus a regular lens of the buyer’s choice.
Some goggles instead come with one photochromic lens that can lighten or darken (within a set VLT range) depending on the conditions outside. I tested a few of these goggles, too. Most photochromic lenses cost more, though, and are not designed to be changed easily.
Prescription compatibility: People with prescription glasses and who can’t or prefer not to wear contacts in the cold or at higher altitudes may need goggles fitted with prescription inserts or goggles that fit over their glasses (these are called OTG goggles). Not all goggles work with inserts, and I took this into account when choosing which goggles to test. All of our picks work with prescription inserts.
OTG goggles are a more affordable option than inserts. Their lenses sit far from your face, making room for your glasses, and cutouts in the foam accommodate the glasses’ sidearms.
But many prescription glasses users find OTG goggles uncomfortable, and OTG goggles work best with smaller frames. Plus, if you fall wearing your glasses, you risk breaking them. For these reasons, I decided not to test them in this guide.
Anti-fog coatings: The lenses of all of the goggles I tested have an anti-fog coating. If you’re seeking prescription inserts, experts recommend that you have them coated as well.
Along with breathable foam, anti-fog coating helps prevent fog from forming when warm, wet air gets inside the lens, usually from body heat or your breath. These coatings eventually wear off, but most durable coatings should last four to five years if handled carefully.
This means no wiping the inner lens. Dab it if you must, but the coating has a gel-like texture, and wiping it may cause scratches and permanent smudges that make the lens more fog-prone.
Aftermarket anti-fog applications are available, but depending on the extent of lens damage, you may be better off purchasing a fresh lens after a few seasons if fogging becomes a regular problem.
Size availability: I looked for goggles that are available in multiple frame sizes, including low-bridge fits, which add extra foam around the top of the nose to prevent air gaps for people with low nose bridges.
Some manufacturers suggest matching your helmet size with your goggles size, which I found is a good place to start if a company does not provide helmet compatibility in more measurable specs.
Warranty: Most goggles’ warranties are restricted to manufacturer defects, and they’re often good for only a year. For this reason, I didn’t weigh warranties heavily in deciding what goggles to test. (Damage happens fast when goggles are neglected, and I recommend preventative maintenance to keep lenses, glues, and foam intact.) I did, however, prioritize goggles whose lenses could be replaced, if they’re damaged or destroyed.
I tested for the following:
Lens performance: Along with testing different lens optics head to head, I assessed how these technologies were further affected by lens shape and lens size; I looked for distortion in lenses with a lot of curvature, and I compared peripheral vision.
Ease of swapping lenses: The more likely you are to change the lens, the more likely you’ll be able to see well in different weather conditions. I practiced removing and installing lenses on goggles that offered this feature. The results varied from being an intuitive, quick task to bringing me to the verge of having a tantrum (I have been described as patient).
Some lenses were easy enough to change at the ski area—sometimes even when I stopped mid-run—without removing the goggles. Others I’d recommend doing at home or in a warm vehicle before skiing, or avoiding altogether.
Foam layers: All of our picks have triple-layer foam, as do most high-quality goggles.
Goggles have either a single, double, or triple layer of foam padding circling the lens. In goggles with three layers, the layer closest to the frame is the most dense and buffers the rigid plastic from the second layer of foam, which is softer. That second layer is the most porous and air-permeable. It promotes air circulation and prevents fogging. The third layer contacts your face and is the softest and most comfortable. It also wicks sweat into the second layer to dry. (Yes, we sweat when working hard sometimes—even on a cold ski hill!)
Goggles with two layers tend to omit the comfortable face foam so that your face contacts the coarser second foam directly.
Goggles with a single layer of foam omit the rigid foam that separates the plastic frame from the second layer, which can cause pressure points and fit issues if the goggle is not perfectly suited to your face.
Durability: The first part of a pair that gets damaged is usually the lens or foam. While I tried to care for each set of goggles I tested as if I owned them, I inevitably dropped some, or other pieces of gear ended up piled on top of them. Though I did not hit any trees during testing, I have caught several tree branches in the helmet and goggles in the past, and I’ve been whacked in the face by skis and snowboards while standing in gondola lines. It happens.
I checked for lens wear, especially in rimless goggles that had no frame to keep them from contacting the floor when put down lens first—which I did do intentionally, in the name of testing.
Fit: Getting the right size is a good start. But a pliable frame helps too, as it will be more likely to contour to the nuances of your unique face.
Bonus items: Some goggles come with accessories, such as cases and lens covers, which can be useful—though these didn’t become a big factor in making our picks. Some useful items included a Gogglesoc (a stretchy fabric lens cover) and soft and hard cases.
Top pick: Anon M5 Goggles
Top pick
The Anon M5 Goggles excelled in every condition I skied in, and they’re the easiest to use. These goggles come with one low-light lens, another regular lens for brighter days, and an integrated face mask. Anon offers four combinations of low and bright lenses ranging from a VLT of 59% to 6%. (The lower the variable light transmission percentage number, the darker the lens will be.)
Top pick
Anon offers four combinations of low and bright lenses ranging from a VLT of 59% to 6%. (The lower the variable light transmission percentage number, the darker the lens will be.)
They’re user-friendly. With so many buckles, zippers, and levers to fiddle with when you’re skiing and snowboarding, it helps to simplify any gear possible. Held on with nine magnets, the lenses come on and off easier—but are still secure—than those of any other goggles that I tested. The mountain forecast isn’t always accurate, cloud fronts come and go, and sometimes we ski longer into the evening than expected, so being able to swap the lens on the fly is a big plus.
They make the mountain more clear and beautiful. Anon’s lenses blew me away. Even in low light, I was able to see terrain features, and use them to my advantage, when making turns down the mountain.
They’re distortion-free. The Anon M5 Goggles use a lens with a “flat toric” shape, which has some slight rounding top to bottom—meant to mimic the way the human eye perceives objects but retain the classic cylindrical look of old-school goggles (picture a set of goggles cut out of a soda can). Some modern spherical goggles, such as the Smith 4D Mag I tested and dismissed, are designed with more aggressive rounding (picture a set of goggles cut out of a basketball) that can produce distortion or “blur.” This distortion is minor, at least to my eyes, but some people find it annoying or even a distraction. The Anon M5 produced no such distortion.
They don’t fog. None of our picks fogged up during testing. While the lenses’ inner anti-fog coating is one reason why, airflow through the foam vents of each also plays a part. The foam vent on these goggles isn’t as breathable as that on our budget pick, though this isn’t necessarily bad. It lets enough air in and out to keep fog from appearing, but it cuts the wind during those unfortunate, but inevitable, chair-lift delays.
As with our other picks, the foam on these goggles include a thin, next-to-skin layer that helps wick away moisture if you work up a sweat.
They’re the only goggles I considered with an integrated face mask. Putting a physical barrier between you and the sun is always a sure way of protecting your skin from harmful rays.
I’ve used neck gaiters in the past for sun, wind, and snow protection when skiing, but I now prefer the magnetic face mask that comes with the M5 goggles. To achieve a seal with a traditional neck gaiter, you have to tuck it inside the bottom of your goggles, which can let in your warm breath and, then, fogging. The magnets built into the frame of the M5’s mask allow it to sit flush with the bottom of the goggles—no fog!
Seriously, I can’t go back to traditional neck gaiters.
They come in two sizes, but each size offers a low-bridge option. In addition to the standard M5 Goggles, Anon offers the M5 Low Bridge Fit Goggles, the Anon M5S Goggles for smaller faces, plus the M5S Low Bridge Fit Goggles. If none of these work for you, our runner-up comes in three sizes—plus low-bridge fits for each—for a total of six options. (Our budget pick comes in two sizes plus low-bridge fits for each.)
Flaws but not dealbreakers
They cost a lot. The Anon M5 aren’t the most expensive goggles that I tested, but their price is above average.
The lens doesn’t lock into place. The lens on these goggles hasn’t ever come off while I was skiing, but it’s held on just by (strong) magnets. Unlike our runner-up, the Smith I/O Mag, which has a mechanical lens lock, these have nothing keeping the goggles from popping off in a violent fall.
The warranty is short. Anon goggles are covered by parent company Burton’s one-year warranty against manufacturer defects. This falls short of our runner-up’s limited lifetime warranty against defects. None of our picks carry warranties offering protection against normal wear and tear.
Runner-up: Smith I/O Mag
Runner-up
We recommend the Smith I/O Mag goggles for anyone who struggles to find a good-fitting goggle or who wants a lens that should never come loose.
Runner-up
These goggles come with one low-light lens and another regular lens for brighter days.
Runner-up
You have more options with Smith: Choose from 10 combinations of lenses that range in VLT rating from 65% to 12%. Smith also offers photochromic lenses for an extra cost, but I haven’t tested them.
They contour to your face. Most of the rigidity in a pair of goggles comes from the lens. This is especially true with the Smith I/O Mag goggles, because the frame is flexible. Don’t make this a practice, but once you remove the lens, you can roll these frames up into a ball.
The Smith I/O Mag mold well to your face, better even than the Anon M5 Goggles. This means that they are less likely to have gaps around the nose, for instance. This flexibility also helps mitigate pressure on the nose bridge, cheekbones, and forehead.
They offer the biggest size range of all the goggles I tested. These goggles come in six variations of the same goggle: small, medium, and large (even though the large frame is called XL), plus low-bridge options for each size.
They trade (a little) usability for more security. As with the Anon M5 pair, magnets secure the lens of the I/O Mag goggles to the frame. In addition to the magnets, though, two locking plastic tabs, one on each side, secure the lens; you have to release the tabs to remove the lens.
The tabs add one more step to the process—and you may have to clean off some fingerprints afterward—compared with the Anon M5, but they do provide extra security. But they are small pieces of plastic, and though I have not broken them nor seen any evidence in customer reviews that they tend to break, I recommend being careful when swapping the lenses.
They’re distortion-free. The I/O Mag goggles use a spherical shape lens, which is supposed to mimic how the human eye perceives light. These are similar to the flat toric style of our top pick, just with a more aggressive vertical curve. I couldn’t perceive a difference in distortion between either of them.
They don’t fog. Like the Anon M5, these goggles didn’t fog up on me during sunny and stormy days. They let enough air in and out to ventilate, but they protected me from the wind during chair-lift delays.
Like our top pick, these goggles use triple-layer foam with a thin, wicking next-to-skin layer.
They have a longer warranty than our top pick. Smith’s limited lifetime warranty is against manufacturing defects; it doesn’t protect against normal wear and tear.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
They don’t come with an integrated face mask. Nor do these goggles come with a hard case, but Smith does throw in a Gogglesoc to guard against scratches.
The color-contrast lens coating is good, but not quite as good as that of the Anon M5. Like Anon, Smith has its own proprietary lens coating of color-contrasting dyes. I found Anon’s to be better by a thin margin, but many skiers may not be able to tell the difference.
They provide less peripheral vision than our top pick. They have a slightly narrower field of view than the Anon M5, and people with larger faces may notice the goggles’ foam in their peripheral vision. (I did, but I found that my eyes adjusted within a ski run or two.)
Budget pick: Glade Adapt 2
Budget pick
The Glade Adapt 2 goggles are around half the price of our other picks, but offer much more than half of the quality. You make some compromises, but they nail the most important features.
Budget pick
You don’t have to swap lenses when the weather changes. Though other companies offer goggles with photochromic lenses—the Smith I/O Mag goggles have that option, in fact—they charge a lot more for them than Glade does.
The Adapt 2’s lens comes in six colors, but the difference among them is mostly aesthetic. All six lenses are photochromic and all have the same VLT range of 61% to 16%. This is enough range for everything except night skiing on the low-light end and glacier travel on the sunny end.
I haven’t tested the black lens yet—I tested the orange lens—but I’d recommend avoiding it, because black and gray lenses typically offer poor color contrast.
I’ve seen other, more-expensive lenses transition more quickly between light and dark than these do, but these transition fast enough for all practical purposes.
The advantage of using a photochromic lens is less about adapting to the light when skiing in and out of tree cover or shade, and more about eliminating any worry about bringing the wrong fixed-VLT lens if the weather forecast changes.
If the forecast says sun, but it’s cloudy when you arrive at the mountain, or if the weather changes mid-day, a photochromic lens will adapt to those new conditions over a few minutes.
You can still replace the lens if you need to. Rather than being magnetically attached, the lens sits in a channel in the frame. Swapping lenses on the Glade Adapt 2 is more difficult than on our top picks—ideally, it’s not something you’ll ever have to do—but it’s easier to do than some similarly priced options from Smith and Giro that I tested. The lens on our test pair is still in good shape, but if something does happen to it, I know I’d be able to replace it. (Glade has a video to help with removing and installing lenses.)
They fit pretty well. These goggles don’t have as wide a size range as the Smith I/O Mag goggles, or the oversized fit and field of view of the Anon M5 pair. Rather, they sit somewhere in the middle, with a firmly medium fit. (They have low-bridge, small, and small low-bridge options, though.) The Anon and Smith models fit larger faces better, but the Glade Adapt 2 goggles didn’t create any pressure points or gapping on my (large) face during testing.
They have the most breathable foam. Highly breathable foam can both hurt and help you on the mountain. If you tend to sweat heavily, its greater air circulation may help prevent fogging. It may also just make you cold—that happened to us while atop the notoriously windy Mammoth Mountain summit on colder days.
The warranty is a step above those of our other picks. The Glade website states, “We want you to be happy with any product that bears our Glade name—if at any time our products do not live up to your expectations, please send us a note to get a proper evaluation.” It’s not a “no-questions-asked” promise to replace your goggles, but this policy inspires more confidence than our other picks’ boilerplate “we only cover manufacturing defects” warranties.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
They aren’t good for night skiing or for people who ski in low light regularly. These goggles cover most conditions but not the most extreme (in either direction). I noticed the biggest difference in contrast between these goggles and our other picks in low light.
They aren’t as widely available as our top picks. Glade sells only direct-to-consumer, so you won’t find them at REI or your local ski shop. The company offers free shipping and free returns, as long as the goggles are unused, within 30 days of your receiving them. Since the most important part to get right with a pair of goggles is size, this is fortunately something you can check without taking the goggles out on the slopes.
Other goggles worth considering
For people who just want the basics: The Goodr Snow G goggles are half the price of our budget pick. These goggles even come with a hard case and a user-friendly interchangeable storm lens.
You don’t get the same lens quality or size options, but these goggles protect your face from the elements.
They also use a magnetic lens-change system similar to, but not as secure as, the Anon M5 Goggles. I haven’t lost a lens yet, but I have accidentally pulled the lens off the goggles when removing the goggles from my face.
The Snow G goggles have a stiffer frame, and they are especially rigid along the top portion that contacts the forehead, so try them on before committing.
I’ve found Goodr sunglasses scratch-prone in the past (true, I was being intentionally careless with them), but Goodr provides a one-year warranty on the Snow G pair, which even covers lens damage by the user, so these goggles should get you through at least one season if they fit you.
For people who want to maximize peripheral vision: Consider the Smith 4D Mag snow goggles, which have a bird’s eye lens that increases peripheral vision at the bottom of the goggles.
They’re similar to the Smith I/O Mag design, but incorporate an even more user-friendly locking magnetic lens. However, the shape of the lens does create some minor blurring in the lower lens. I was able to ski without eye strain, but I have seen some customer reviews from people who couldn’t tolerate the distortion.
The foam above the nose bridge is also thinner than the foam on the I/O Mag, and I experienced pressure on the bridge of my nose. This problem does not seem to be common among other 4D Mag wearers, at least according to reviews.
The 4D Mag goggles are the most expensive goggles I tested, but they come with most of the accessories that you’d ever need: the same Gogglesoc that the I/O Mag comes with, plus a two-compartment hard case with a dedicated second lens holder. Adding in the accessories purchased separately, both of our picks are similar in price to the 4D Mag.
The competition
The Julbo Razor Edge goggles have crisper optics and photochromic lenses with a wider range and a faster transition time than our budget pick. However, the Razor Edge goggles are almost twice the price.
The Oakley Flight Deck M Snow Goggles fit and perform well, but the lens isn’t photochromic nor is it meant to be swappable. (You can replace it if it’s damaged, but not easily if the weather changes.) Yet they cost nearly as much as our top picks.
The Glade Fathom goggles had a stiffer frame than our budget pick, the Glade Adapt 2 goggles, with less foam and more plastic, and they fit differently (they left a small gap near my cheekbones). Compared with our top pick, the Anon M5, which has a similar magnetic lens system, the Fathom goggles took too much finessing to get the lenses seated securely. (Glade has since replaced the Fathom with the Fathom+, which I’ll try this winter.)
The Giro Revolt Goggle and the Smith Squad are similar goggles that cost $20 to $25 less than our budget pick. They come with a single color-contrasting lens that you can swap for a dedicated storm lens—that lens has no contrast-enhancing coating, though. Also, these goggles don’t seem to have been designed with frequent lens-changing in mind. (The Smith Squad pair was particularly difficult.)
The Smith Frontier are attractively priced, but the Goodr Snow G goggles are a better value. The Frontier goggles have a single, basic lens that is fixed and non-replaceable—if it gets badly scratched, you’re stuck with it.
This article was edited by Christine Ryan and Ben Frumin.
Sources
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Rob Tavakoli, CEO at SportRx, video interview, February 9, 2024
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Ed Zebrowski, product information specialist at REI, phone interview, February 7, 2024
