Polarised vs UV400 Sunglasses: What the Words Mean and Which You Need
Two words appear on almost every sunglasses listing in India, and they mean different things. UV400 is about protection. Polarised is about comfort. You need the first; you may want the second.
UV400: the one that matters
UV400 means the lens blocks ultraviolet light up to 400 nanometres, which covers both UVA and UVB. That is what protects the eye from the damage that builds up over years in bright sun. It has nothing to do with how dark the lens is: a pale lens can be UV400 and a very dark one can let UV straight through, which is worse than no sunglasses, because the dark tint opens your pupil. Every pair on this site is UV400, including the tinted, non-polarised ones.
Polarised: the one you feel
A polarised lens has a thin filter that blocks light bouncing off flat surfaces. Glare off a wet road, a car bonnet, a windscreen, water or glass drops out instead of just getting dimmer. The difference is obvious the first time you drive at 5 pm into the sun with a polarised pair on. It does not add any UV protection on its own; it is a comfort feature on top of UV400.
When polarised is worth it
- You drive or ride a lot, especially on wet roads or into a low sun.
- You spend time near water: coast, lakes, a pool.
- You get eye strain from bright, reflective days.
When a tinted lens is fine
- Everyday wear in the city, walking, commuting by train or metro.
- You read your phone a lot outdoors. Some screens go dark or show rainbow patterns through a polarised lens when you tilt them.
- You want a rimless or semi-rimless frame; those use a lighter tinted lens here.
How to tell if a lens is really polarised
Hold the glasses in front of a phone or laptop screen and rotate them slowly through 90 degrees. A polarised lens will go dark or black at some angle. A plain tint will not change. This works on any pair, whatever the sticker says.
Which of ours are which
Fifteen of our twenty-one men's frames are polarised: the double-bridge Aviator, Diplomat, Chairman, Marshal and Captain, the Broker, the Banker in silver and gold, the Envoy, the Scholar, the TR90 Architect and Renegade, and the Sprinter sport wrap with a yellow low-light lens. All are listed under men's polarised sunglasses, ₹1,199 to ₹1,499. The four rimless and semi-rimless frames, the Voyager, Ambassador, Skipper and Draft, and the oversized Commander, use a tinted UV400 lens. Every listing says which in the lens row of the spec table.