# Anon vs Oakley



## Mike256 (Oct 13, 2013)

Has anybody owned both anon and oakley prizm goggles and can shed some light on if the anon lenses rate against oakley? I'm mostly interested in if there is anything equal in amazingness from anon to compare to the hi pink prizm lenses? I have an MFI face cover (i bought it not knowing what mfi was) and I just tuck it into into my goggles and it's the first face mask I've had that doesn't suck so I figured why not try using it how it's meant to be used. I don't want to fork out hundreds for new goggles and spare lenses if they are worse than oakley in low light though.
Cheers!


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## AC93 (May 1, 2020)

I have heard good things about anon sonar lenses. 
But, I havent tried them. I have tried the Prizm Hi Pink, Prizm Black Iridium, Prizm Torch and Prizm Jade.
Prizm is fantastic and Hi Pink is perfect for low light conditions.


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## Nivek (Jan 24, 2008)

The Sonar spectrum was laid out by Carl Zeiss. I would pick Anon over Oakley every day honestly.


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## AC93 (May 1, 2020)

Nivek said:


> The Sonar spectrum was laid out by Carl Zeiss. I would pick Anon over Oakley every day honestly.


I asked Angry on his recent live stream on best lens tech, he said that Prizm was number one. Is it not just, mostly personal preference?


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## Rip154 (Sep 23, 2017)

I'll take the frame that fits my face and helmet.


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

Whichever one is sitting unattended on the table works for me.


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## Manicmouse (Apr 7, 2014)

Anons are priced well and you get two lenses. But yeah fit is probably the most important factor!


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## Nivek (Jan 24, 2008)

Its dependent on the individual and their eye. Prizm does work really well for a lot of people. At the end of the day its a really fancy pink lens. I'm colorblind and pink is often just gray, so Prizm does dick all for me. Sonar and Wildlife have been best for me. My cirrent everyday lens is Wildlife Black.


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## Canuck (Feb 18, 2019)

I have a pair of line miners with prizm Sapphire and a pair of anon sync with sonar smoke and sonar blue. 
Both are great lenses. Can’t go wrong with either IMO can’t tell a huge difference in most light conditions. If your looking for best low light lens I still think smith chromapop storm lens is the best. 

But all I can say is everyone’s eyes are different. 
I can not wear a rose lens as it gives me vertigo for some reason so try a bunch of different pairs and see what fits your face and eyes the best. 
But the anon MFI integration is a huge plus. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Mike256 (Oct 13, 2013)

Thanks guys. If people arent finding a huge difference then I might give anon a go for the mfi. This year though they seems to have changed to a lens called perceive instead of the zeiss lenses. I wonder if it’s better/worse/same?


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## jstar (Sep 21, 2016)

Lens choice seem to be a personal preference thing. 

I've used the Anon M4's, and specifically compared them to Oakley, Dragon, and Smith lens tech. I'm not a fan of the Anon lenses, to me they are a huge step down from the rest I compared them to. 

But many swear by them, so it's always best to try them out yourself.

Right now I use Oakley (Flight Deck) and Dragon (PXV), based on the lens quality, impressive field of view, and comfort of each. Smiths (including the 4Dmag) don't make my cut mainly due to the reduced field of view.


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## Nivek (Jan 24, 2008)

Honestly while there was some clout behind the Zeiss name, Burton has never been fans of licensing anything when they don't have to. I'd bet they're agreement with Carl is up and now they have free reign of the spectrum so Percieve is likely the same thing as Sonar.


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## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

Can we all agree any top tier goggle company is solid, don't buy amazon goggles and you'll more than likely be fine.


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## Mike256 (Oct 13, 2013)

Figured I'd come back and do an update since I bought some Anon M4 goggles.

The MFI mask is fantastic. Utter BS that you need to buy a 25 dollar piece of plastic to get any MFI mask other than the included one to fit the goggles though. They are always sold out too. The mask that comes with the goggles doesn't breath very well but the lightweight one you can buy is good.

The Anon lenses just don't compare to Oakley Prizm at all. They work fine I guess in non-changing conditions if you have the perfect lens for that exact condition. Any changing conditions ie most mountains though and they are just not very good in comparison. Also, when I move my head side to side I can see a slight distortion in depth perception throughout the lens, it's pretty weird. I think the lenses must be poorly manufactured and have ripples in them. This is the case for both of the lenses I have. Hoping I can glue magnets to my flightdecks and use MFI with Oakley goggles.


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## jstar (Sep 21, 2016)

Mike256 said:


> Figured I'd come back and do an update since I bought some Anon M4 goggles.
> 
> The MFI mask is fantastic. Utter BS that you need to buy a 25 dollar piece of plastic to get any MFI mask other than the included one to fit the goggles though. They are always sold out too. The mask that comes with the goggles doesn't breath very well but the lightweight one you can buy is good.
> 
> The Anon lenses just don't compare to Oakley Prizm at all. They work fine I guess in non-changing conditions if you have the perfect lens for that exact condition. Any changing conditions ie most mountains though and they are just not very good in comparison. Also, when I move my head side to side I can see a slight distortion in depth perception throughout the lens, it's pretty weird. I think the lenses must be poorly manufactured and have ripples in them. This is the case for both of the lenses I have. Hoping I can glue magnets to my flightdecks and use MFI with Oakley goggles.



I actually gave the M4's another chance this year, and kinda feel the same way as you (aside from the distortion issue, I haven't noticed anything like that).

However, I did purchase extra lenses, so I have the Sunny Onyx, Variable Green, Variable Violet, and Cloudy Pink. All Cylindrical Perceive Lenses. I've only been on snow 11 times this season so far, but have had a chance to test them all out in their respective conditions.

Extra lens choices and the ability to change them out super quick anywhere on the hill makes all the difference. If I only had the 2 options that came with the goggle I'm not sure I would feel the same way. I just keep an extra lens in my inside jacket pocket (it naturally contours to my body in that pocket) and switch it out whenever.

The MFI interface is pretty awesome, especially this year. I haven't tried the mask that came with the goggles yet, but instead pulled out the plastic piece and use it in my AK Helium Power grid Pullover Fleece as it was MFI ready. Just a cleaner, less bulky preference of mine for around the neck area.


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

Just FYI, the fact that the magnets are reversed in the M4 was a design oversight, and I wouldn't be surprised if someone got fired for it. When the M4s came out, facemasks were billed as being compatible with the M2, M3, and M4. Then they abruptly pulled all their product from the website, and when the stuff came back on, it was M2+M3 _or _M4. The first year they made the M4 insert free if you requested it, but now it's a purchase.


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## Jazz (Dec 15, 2020)

AC93 said:


> I asked Angry on his recent live stream on best lens tech, he said that Prizm was number one. Is it not just, mostly personal preference?


I have both an M2 and the M4's. I purchased last year a Pair of Smith 4D Mags becuse I just wanted to try something new. I did compare the 4d's with the Oakley Prizims...which I do use oakley Prizm trail for MTbing and their panchromatic for both road and MTBing and I love them for that purpose. I went with the Smiths because the clarity of the lens was noticeably cleared than the Oakley.
Now having said that I skied the 4D Mags for half a day then I switched back to the M4's as a comparison. The M4's didn't leave my face all of last season...so if that says anything to you. Oakley nakes a good product NOT great but good..they just have much deeper pockets for marketing, sponsorship and thus brand recognition. If you ask anyone that knows optics like lets say a pro photographer...if a lenses sytem is using Zeiss that is almost as good as it gets in Poly lenses or a glass lenses. Just keep in mind that Poly lenses are inherently and noticably less sharp and clear than glass and that just a fact of chemistry and molecular makeup.


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## Mike256 (Oct 13, 2013)

did you compare the prizm lens actually riding or just at the storefront? As I mentioned, the anon lenses big downfall for me was variable conditions and thats where the prizm lens is supposed to shine and where I found it did. I forgot my goggles one day and bought a $19 pair of goggles that worked perfectly on a bluebird day. In saying all that im still using the m4 purely for the mfi. Super convenient with the face mask rules on the mountain.

I think you also fell into the trap you were referring to with oakley. Zeiss’s brand recognition in photography was used to sell goggles.


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## snow & pow adventures (Oct 28, 2020)

I'm still in the process of making lenses review. I've been doing initial testing on piste in low light conditions, riding with 4/5 pairs in backpack , changing them every run, and then in the middle of the same run, to compare differences. And there are differences.
Testing Prizm, Lumalens, SONAR, Vivid, Chromapop, and HCS+ (BornOnBoard goggles from polish optic manufacturer). I'm only testing S1 lenses as my main focus is how good the contrast is.

I can definitely say Chromapop gives the best contrast. Yellow Storm Flash is the best lens for lowlight / flat conditions i.e. when snowing and you riding in trees. They will help you there a lot.
Then we got Vivid, which seems better than Prizm in most cases
Then SONAR / Prizm
HCS+
?Lumalens 

But for now, I'm only sure of Chromapop being the best, and pretty sure Vivid in second place above Prizms / SONAR.
HCS+ seem ok for most ppl, but in extreme situations, they don't work as they should.

I'm still waiting for Lumalens goggles to arrive - will test them by comparing them to the final ranking later.

I also use my friends to verify my findings, to be sure that this ranking isn't only for my eyes, but is generic.
There are also different gaps between lenses.
Chromapop is noticeably better than Vivid, but Vivid just seems just barely better than Prizm.


Testing is very difficult, as conditions sometimes even between runs are totally different. Sometimes they hold for a few runs. I'm trying to be as scientific as possible, and eliminate outside factors.


Stay tuned if you are interested, I'll post results here for sure.


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## saiyamvora13 (Mar 21, 2021)

Nivek said:


> Its dependent on the individual and their eye. Prizm does work really well for a lot of people. At the end of the day its a really fancy pink lens. I'm colorblind and pink is often just gray, so Prizm does dick all for me. Sonar and Wildlife have been best for me. My cirrent everyday lens is Wildlife Black.


I am colorbling as well and I bought into the hype of oakley prizm lenses and honestly I cant see any difference. Now I am just stuck with expensive googles. I wish I had tried the anon cause I like the magnetic lens and the magnetic face mask as well


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## SESnow (Nov 29, 2021)

snow & pow adventures said:


> I'm still in the process of making lenses review. I've been doing initial testing on piste in low light conditions, riding with 4/5 pairs in backpack , changing them every run, and then in the middle of the same run, to compare differences. And there are differences.
> Testing Prizm, Lumalens, SONAR, Vivid, Chromapop, and HCS+ (BornOnBoard goggles from polish optic manufacturer). I'm only testing S1 lenses as my main focus is how good the contrast is.
> 
> I can definitely say Chromapop gives the best contrast. Yellow Storm Flash is the best lens for lowlight / flat conditions i.e. when snowing and you riding in trees. They will help you there a lot.
> ...


Did you ever get your hands on the Anon perceive lens to see how they compare?


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## refdog2400 (Mar 24, 2021)

Has anyone compared Anon/Burton Perceive lens to the Zeiss Sonar lens? 

Hard to believe that Burton's (snowboarding generalist) Perceive lens would be superior to Zeiss (lens specialist) Sonar.


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## Nivek (Jan 24, 2008)

refdog2400 said:


> Has anyone compared Anon/Burton Perceive lens to the Zeiss Sonar lens?
> 
> Hard to believe that Burton's (snowboarding generalist) Perceive lens would be superior to Zeiss (lens specialist) Sonar.


While Zeiss certainly carries his own clout, just cause Burton is a snowboard brand doesn’t mean they didn’t hire and optics expert to design Perceive.


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

Nivek said:


> While Zeiss certainly carries his own clout, just cause Burton is a snowboard brand doesn’t mean they didn’t hire and optics expert to design Perceive.


Or hired an optics company to make the lenses with the Burton name on them.


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