Posted in

Best Ski Goggles for 2024/2025 Winter Season

by thesnowauthority

1.  Detour — PowPow Hi-Fi

Detour’s PowPow goggle is our #1 pick this season, their high contrast lens and price point under $100 make PowPow the absolute best bang for your buck that we’ve tested. Their Hi-Fi™ lens is surprisingly well done. Colors pop and changes in terrain are easy to spot.

These definitely got the most use from us last season, and I have to say the magnetic lenses did not budge once (they also make another frame, the “Key” style which has a spherical lens).

The inner lens on the PowPow is Italian made and has an anti-fog coating built into the material. That means the anti-fog coating doesn’t wipe away over time with use. The combination of affordable price and reliable quality makes Detour Sunglasses our #1 ski goggle pick for the 2024-2025 season.

Fast Facts

  • Price: $85 ($95 if you build your own)
  • Pros: Best value, high contrast lenses, magnetic lens system, solid anti-fog tech, a lot of strap/lens options, build your own option, free hard case, OTG and Asian fit options available.
  • Cons: No spare lens included
  • Link: https://www.detoursunglasses.com/collections/powpow-snow-goggles

——

2.  Smith — I/O Mag ChromaPop

Smith has been around for a long time and they know what they’re doing when it comes to snow goggles. Their IO/ Mag collection only reinforces that reputation. The goggles use a magnetic lock system for swapping lenses quickly and high contrast ChromaPop™ lens technology.

The biggest downfall with these is the price. At $270-300 the quality and craftsmanship of the I/O Mags are superior in some areas, but in other regards they don’t feel much better than the lower price goggles.

The clarity of the IO/ Mag is only slightly better than Oakley’s Prizm lenses and honestly pretty dang close to Detour Hi-Fi which was surprising. The durability of the mirrored lenses was also close to many of the other goggles we reviewed. Overall, the Smith I/O Mag is good but unless you’re swimming in money there are better options.

 Fast Facts

——

3. Oakley Prizm — Flight Deck

Oakley’s Flight Deck snow goggles have been a staple in the boarding and skiing scene for years. The Flight Deck collection has a dual lens with F3 anti-fog coating and a Ridgelock system for changing lenses rather than magnetic lenses. Oakley’s Prizm™ lens technology provides great contrast and glare reduction.

The Flight Decks have a decent goggle that will get the job done but in my opinion you’re paying more for the Oakley name here than the tech. The Prizm lens is good but in my opinion Smith’s ChromaPop and even Detour’s Hi-Fi lenses have them beat. Overall though the Flight Deck collection is a very solid choice if you’re willing to invest a little more for extra quality.

Fast Facts

——

4. Anon — M4

Anon’s M4 toric lens goggles are a great choice but are at the higher end of our price range. The M4’s oversized toric lens provides a wider field of view for better visibility and peripheral vision. Anon also treats their goggles with the Perceive high-contrast coating, which improves clarity and increases contrast. The M4 uses Magna-Tech® magnetic locks to hold the lens in place, allowing you to quickly and easily switch between lenses.

Although the visibility on these is great, the M4 has a limited range of lens colors, which can make visibility worse in certain low light conditions. And it’s also not clear if the goggles have any anti-fog coating on the inside of the lens.

Fast Facts

——

5. Giro — Contour Vivid

Giro’s Contour Vivid goggles are another solid choice that ranks near the top end of our budget. Giro’s lenses are made with what they refer to as Expansion View Technology (EXV+) which means the lenses are even more spherical than a regular toric lens for increased visibility. Although this feature is great, the added size can sometimes make these a little uncomfortable for adults with bigger heads.

The Contours’ VIVID high-contrast coating gives you a high degree of visibility and the goggles’ reflective tint also helps by cutting down on glare. However, we should add that some people report having problems with fogging on these goggles over time, although the Contours are treated with an anti-fog coating.

Fast Facts

——

6. Glade — Adapt 2

Glade describes their Adapt 2 goggles as a “true one-lens solution”. That’s because these goggles use a photochromic lens that changes colors based on light and weather conditions so that you can put it on in the parking lot and wear it all day on the slopes.

The Adapt 2 achieves this with REVEAL™ Photochromic lens technology. It’s a nice feature but I personally don’t find photochromic lenses to be totally reliable. Depending on your altitude, cloudy days might not trigger the effect and your lenses will stay dark and not fully change. I prefer easy swap lenses that I know will stay true to the VLT they were made for.

Fast Facts

  • Price: $149
  • Pros: Fairly affordable at less than $200
  • Cons: Photochromic lenses aren’t always reliable
  • Link: https://www.shopglade.com/products/adapt-2-0

——

7. ShadyRays — Frontier

ShadyRays offer an adequate snow goggle that’s on the lower end of the price range at $90 to $115. The goggles feature a cylindrical lens and magnetic clips for easy swapping of lenses. Shady Rays offers a variety of colorful strap and lens colors but unfortunately their lenses don’t have any type of high contrast filter.

Overall, the goggles are decent but without high contrast tech like other brands, its hard to recommend them as a good choice. They will do their job as a goggle but just don’t have that optical pop we like to see.

Fast Facts

——

8. Blenders — Nebula

The Nebula collection from Blenders advertises a curved toric lens that claims to give you a wider field of view than most other snow goggles. Nebula goggles also use a magnetic locking system for easy swapping of lenses. Unfortunately, it feels like Blenders’ products have become more of a trendy brand rather than a quality brand. While Nebulas will get the job done, they lack quality goggle tech.

You won’t find any high contrast filters on the Nebula line and their care instructions online suggest that they’re still using an inner anti-fog coating that can be wiped away over time. In my opinion they also scratched the easiest out of all the goggles we tested. For the quality you get, there are many better options out there that are a lot less expensive.

Fast Facts