6 hours ago
1
ARTICLE AD BOX
No matter how badly you want to be there, the top of a mountain is a harsh environment. Like the best sunglasses, a good pair of ski goggles will protect your eyes from UV rays, winds, and driving snow. On bluebird days, snow reflects 85 percent of the sunlight, and the intensity increases by 10 to 12 percent for every 3,281 feet (1,000 meters) you gain in altitude.
While we await genuinely “smart” ski goggles, the biggest development for the 2025-2026 ski season is incremental rather than revolutionary. This year, more brands have adopted spherical and particularly toric lenses, which is a newer lens shape that has slightly less curvature on the Y-axis of the goggle and expands peripheral vision without compromising distortion. We're also seeing that photochromic and contrast-enhancing optics are improving and becoming more widely available, while magnetic lens-swap systems are now almost mandatory past $200. Fit options are also diversifying, with small and low-bridge frames becoming more common, and there’s even a few more OTG designs for glasses wearers.
Thankfully, the best ski goggles come with interchangeable lenses with variable tints to help boost your ability to see in the worst conditions. Remember, you can’t ski if you can’t see. Don't forget to check out our other outdoor reviews, including the Best Ski Gear and Best Ski Gloves.
Updated January 2026: We added the impressive new Anon M6 goggles, Smith Preview, Pit Viper (yes, really!) BN5000, Salomon S/View Photochromatic and a new entry from Roka. We’ve also updated links and prices throughout.
Best Overall
Anon
M5 Goggles (With the MFI Face Mask and Spare Lens)
It's always a little disheartening when the best products are also the most expensive, but if you can afford the Anon M5 ski goggles, you won't be disappointed. Firstly, and most importantly, the flat toric lens is brilliant. It combines the widescreen field of view of a spherical lens with the low-profile, contrast-enhancing qualities of a a cylindrical lens, all without distortion. Add in Anon's proprietary Perceive lens technology that ramps up the contrast and enhances clarity (bumps and contours reveal themselves even in poor light), and your eyes are in for a treat.
As you'd hope for $300, you get a second lens included—there are eight options available, with spares costing $130—but you also get the fastest, easiest, and most glove-friendly magnetic lens swap system on the market, plus a superb MFI magnetic face mask that connects seamlessly to the underside of the goggle frame, eliminating drafts while preventing any fogging. The standard M5 are fairly large, but you can also get the Anon M5S, which is an identical design with a slightly smaller frame size.
Best Goggles for Glasses Wearers
I’ve been wearing Roka glasses for years (both sunglasses and spectacles) and was keen to see what the company's debut ski collection had to offer. It's a premium brand, so it faces stiff competition from Anon and Smith in particular. But these large, impressively featured cylindrical goggles easily hold their own.
Roka has all the flagship features covered, so you get the quick-change magnetic lens system; great low- and high-light optics; and an extremely grippy headband. They’re big, and the frameless design might not tick the boxes for the more fashion conscious—it’s all about a bezel these days—but I can’t argue with the view. The foam also fits neatly over my oval spectacles without pushing them onto my face. I wear contact lenses when I ski, but the flexibility is appreciated here.
My sample came with a Rose Mirror lens (S2, 24 percent VLT) that worked superbly in sunshine and cloud. I was fortunate enough not to need the spare lens, but with a 70 percent VLT, it will let a huge amount of light in. The yellow tint is great for picking out contours even in the worst conditions. The frame is very light, and I can’t emphasize enough how widescreen the view is, but you might need to try with your helmet before committing, as I found the fit a bit hit-or-miss.
Best Lenses
Smith Optics
Preview ChromaPop
I highly rate Smith’s flagship $378 4D Mag goggles, but for the money, I prefer the complete package offered with the Anon M5 goggles. Smith does make exceptionally good lenses, though. For a shade over $200, the Preview are brilliantly versatile and great value. My sample came with ChromaPop Everyday Blue Mirror lenses (Cat 2, 23 percent VLT), making them great for bright days with high cloud and sunshine. Like my favorite premium options, the lens has a spherical-style lens with a tight bottom curve that greatly improves the field of view compared to standard standard spherical lens. I love how much more piste you can see in them. Contrast is also great, and there’s noticeable definition to lumpy snow, even in overcast light.
Worn with the superb new Smith Vantage 2 helmet, the fit here is as flawless as you’d hope, and the ventilation works especially well. I can report that I also get that same snug, gapless fit with Salomon, Revi, and Sweet Protection lids. Smith only supplies one lens here, but there are 17 options starting from $50, so remember to budget for a decent snow day lens. You’re paying for the high-definition quality of the lenses here, so there’s no magnetic quick swapping. With that said, if the conditions are changing that fast, you can always duck for cover, have a coffee, and give things a minute to improve inside.
Best Widescreen Ski Goggles
Sweet Protection
Connor RIG Reflect
In some ways, I wish I'd never tried these Sweet Protection goggles. They’re over $300 and lack many of the extras you'll get with the brilliant Anon M5. But I have worn them, and I'm duty bound to report on just how good they are.
For a medium-size frame, they have a phenomenally wide field of view. The toric lens has more vertical curve than the Anon M5, which reveals the slope below your eye line brilliantly. The mountain opens up in all directions. If you haven't upgraded your goggles in a while, a few resort laps wearing the Connor Rig could well convince you to part with your cash.
The bold mirrored Topaz lens (shown) has 12 percent VLT and performed flawlessly skiing in brilliant sunshine but also didn't cause issues when I skied through shade from the mountain. I didn't test the supplied snow lens, but given my experience with the comfort, helmet fit, and great ventilation, I welcome the blizzards.
Best Spherical Lens Ski Goggles
I've been impressed by the technology Zeal Optics uses in its premium ski goggles, especially as prices remain lower than Anon and Smith. With Cloudfall, Zeal has taken a spherical lens shape and supersized it to, as one friend described it, “goldfish bowl proportions.” The brand calls it Observation Deck Tech and suggests you'll see 20 percent more than when using traditional goggles.
This sounds a little generous, but the goggles do offer up a huge field of view, eclipsing most cylindrical lenses, especially when looking down. I tested a pair with a 10 percent dark-gray VLT lens, which did well to minimize glare and squinting from a glacier on a sunny day. Also included was a 65 percent VLT Sky Blue lens for blizzard conditions. I didn't get to try this, but at $50, spare lenses are impressively affordable.
Despite looking large, the Cloudfall fit is medium, and while described as being OTG, my glasses didn't fit as seamlessly as with the Salomon Sentry Pro. Zeal has upgraded the traditional squeeze-and-pull lens swap method with a rail system and magnets, and while it's not as quick or as glove-friendly and fast as those just using magnets, they are more secure if you slam.
Most Robust Ski Goggles
The original Dragon DX3 OTG goggle has been hugely popular thanks to its bombproof build, cool colorways, and superb value. If you're on a very tight budget, you can currently grab them for a ridiculously low $53 at Evo.
Lens and frame technology has moved on, though, and while the new DX3 Plus retails the retro silhouette and cache of cool, they're a significantly better goggle all-round. They're more comfortable, thanks to three layers of foam padding around the face; they come with an extra lens, and, if you've a habit of ending up face first in the snow, the ventilation has been reinforced.
The Lumalens injection-molded lenses are also a treat, boosting detail and clarity especially when clouds play havoc with seeing contours on the trails. They also have a tough antifog coating that resists the build up of moisture well and can even tolerate clumsy fingers when changing lenses. As a medium-size frame they will fit a huge range of faces, including my 10-year-old. But, as is often the case, if you wear wide-framed glasses, you may struggle with fit despite them having OTG status.
Best Pit Vipers
Pit Viper
Night Rider BN5000
Known for their mulleted, moustachioed aesthetic and irreverent attitude, Pit Viper actually makes superb quality sunglasses. The company's first ski goggles are equally impressive, and—whisper it—actually look quite tame. Don’t get me wrong, you can choose zanier colorways, but the BN5000 is just an excellent goggle with one of the widest peripheral field of views I’ve ever seen. They’re a big goggle, and my sample came with a Cat 3, 15 percent VLT lens for sunny conditions and spare 44 percent Cat 1 for the lowest, flattest light. The magnetic lens swap is reliable and quick, and the shape fitted my Sweet Protection helmet flawlessly.
The 50mm strap stays in position nicely, too. Even when I was working hard with a Buff over my nose, they never once fogged up. The components are high-quality, which justifies the price, and the design, while steezy, didn't make this middle-aged skier look silly (I hope). The only real issue I had with them came from the neoprene collapsible hard case. It offered good protection once I managed to squeeze everything inside, but it’s a real fight and quite annoying to use.
Best Kids Goggles
-SOURCE-Giro.jpg)
Kid's don't mean to trash their gear, but it happens. If your children are too distracted to notice when their fingers are all over the inside of their goggles, or they sit on them, bash them with poles, and generally abuse them, you need Giro Stomp.
Designed for 8- to 13-year-olds, these superb-value ski goggles have cylindrical injection-molded lenses in a wide range of tints and VLT percentages. They're quite large for a kid's goggle, but this adds to the wide field of vision and certainly tops up the style points. They're built tough, too, and fit seamlessly with Giro's excellent youth helmet range. The triple layer of foam keeps the goggles away from the face, which helps with fogging. I didn't hear a word of complaint from the 10-year-old tester, which speaks volumes for their comfort.
Best Value Photochromic Lenses
Salomon
S/View Photochromic
Replacing the still excellent Salomon Sentry Pro goggles in this guide, on a recent family trip the Salomon S/View Photochromic goggles were loved by all ages (from 11-76 years old), with tweens, teens and adults all appreciating the universal medium fit and excellent do-it-all lens. They’re not hugely exciting, but the photochromic cylindrical lens adjusts quickly from light to dark (Cat. 1-3, 12-50 percent VLT). While they're not designed for very flat or snowy conditions, they worked really well with the transition between sunshine and cloud in the mountains.
The foam used is super soft on my face, the bridge shape worked with a range of nose and face sizes, and by not being oversized, they fitted a good selection of helmets with ease. At $125, they offer superb value for money and the raised frame helps protect the lenses from scratches. Even if your kids do steal them, they will stand a great chance surviving the season.
A Classic Do-It-All Ski Goggle
-SOURCE-Oakley.jpg)
Oakley was the original ski gear disruptor brand, making outlandish goggles I lusted after as a teenager. Other brands have since caught it, and every goggle now sports its signature oversize look-at-me styling, but the Californian brand still produces some of the best. The classic Line Miner range is hard to beat, offering great vision, durability, and price.
Firstly, there's a size for every face, with large, medium, and youth sizes, and there's always a huge range of colorways and signature styles available. I've been using the bold Rene Rinnekangas signature design (17 percent VLT), but there are 18 other lens and frame options, and you can even customize your own. The Oakley Prizm lens is a relatively low-profile cylindrical shape. While it lacks the Imax extended view of some toric designs, it remains a dependable choice across the conditions, and spare lenses cost from just $62. Shame they only ship with one lens, however.
The thick frames are also reassuringly durable, and while it is a bit irritating not to have magnets holding the lenses, Oakley's use of bigger notches in the lenses makes it by far the easiest of the dumb lens-swap systems to use.
.png)
Also Worth Considering
Anon
M6 (With MFI Face Mask and Bonus Lens)
Similarly-priced to the Anon M5, but with a slightly smaller design and cylindrical lens, the new M6 is a superb premium option for anyone with a smaller head but wants the build quality, brilliant magnetic lens swap, and ingenious MFI magnetic face mask (there’s also an even smaller M6S version). The field-of-view is vast, but I just prefer the extra depth from the flat toric lens. Still a great choice, and comes with spare low light lens, hard case and snood style face mask, so there is added value.
How We Tested Ski Goggles
I’ve been reviewing winter sports gear for decades, and in that time I think ski goggles have quietly changed more than almost any other piece of kit. To test the latest designs, I’ve worn and compared countless goggles at trade shows, and brand meetings, examining optics, fit, ventilation, and lens systems up close. I’ve also pooled feedback from skiers across the WIRED team, including senior writer Jeremy White and tech category director Martin Cizmar.
Office testing is useful for judging comfort, helmet compatibility, and lens swaps, but goggles only really prove themselves on the mountain, in variable conditions. All the models recommended here have been worn in skiing conditions, across a range of light and weather, to see how they perform when visibility actually matters.
All ski goggle lenses are categorized from 0 to 4, with 4 being for the brightest conditions possible. A 0 is a clear lens; a good all-around lens will usually cover categories 2–3. Another measure of lens application is the visual light transmission percentage (VLT). This figure shows you the amount of light the lens lets through to your eyes. The higher the percentage, the more light can pass through, which helps with visibility on cloudy days. For sunny days, you want to restrict the light reaching your eyes.
What color you pick is a matter of personal preference—lenses now come in a wide range of colors! In general, dark or mirrored lenses work best in sunny conditions, while colors like amber or rose increase contrast in lower-light conditions. Photochromic lenses automatically adjust to light levels in categories 1–3, although the speed with which the lens changes color differs between brands.
- When it's extremely sunny: Choose a category 3–4 (8–18 percent and 3–8 percent VLT).
- For bright conditions: Choose a category 3 (8–18 percent VLT).
- When conditions are mixed: Opt for an all-round lens with category 2–3 (18–43 percent and 8–18 percent VLT).
- When visibility is poor: Choose a yellow- or rose-colored lens tint with category 1–2 (43–80 percent and 18–43 percent VLT).
- Interchangeable lenses: These let you easily swap out different-colored lenses to suit changing light conditions. The best designs use strong magnets and enable you to change the lenses in seconds, even wearing gloves.
- Ventilation: Look closely and you'll see vents on the top, sides and bottom of your goggles. These are designed to keep a steady stream of air flowing, and minimize the chance of fogging. The larger the vents, the more air flow can get to the lenses.
- Antifog coating: Antifog lenses are treated on the inside with a hydrophilic chemical to prevent them from steaming up. The secret to maintaining the antifog properties of your goggles is to never touch the inside of your lenses, even if you feel you absolutely must wipe them. Do not!
- Mirrored lenses: These look cool but also reflect more light than standard lenses, reducing glare in bright conditions.
- Polarized lenses: These filter vertical light to reduce glare more effectively than standard mirrored goggles and offer increased clarity. Be warned, though—polarized lenses might make icy patches harder to see.
- Helmet compatibility: Given that most skiers are now sensible enough to wear helmets, look for a model that fits your lid seamlessly. This avoids any cold spots on your forehead and pressure points across the bridge of your nose. Buying the same brand of goggle and helmet is one way to ensure a seamless fit, or you could try one of the latest all-in-one helmets, which have goggles built in.
What Type of Ski Goggle Do I Need?
Choose a lens shape: Cylindrical lenses look flat and are curved around the face on the vertical axis. These are cheaper to manufacture than spherical lenses, and when used on a large pair of goggles can offer a vast field of view. Spherical lenses are curved both vertically and horizontally and give the goggles a bug-eyed look. Spherical lenses help to open up more of the view, especially the up and down aspects. You'll pay more for spherical lenses, but they can be truly impressive.
From an aesthetic point of view, cylindrical lenses are more popular, but the latest (and most expensive) toric lenses offer a compromise. This hybrid lens combines a sweeping widescreen cylindrical style with a tightly curved spherical section at he edges. These do a great job of increasing the amount of peripheral vision, especially when looking down the slopes in front of you.
Oversize goggles: Oversize goggles have been popular for a decade, and while there's been a shift back to a thick framed ’90s style for some, large goggles do offer bold looks and the biggest possible field of view. Don't worry, however, if you have a small head and face, as all our best-buy options also come in a smaller size boasting the same proportions and features.
Children’s goggles: 100 percent UV protection is obviously the most important factor when choosing goggles for your kids, but comfort is also key, so look for designs with soft fleecy padding around the face. Given how much abuse kids goggles tend to receive it can be tempting to buy the cheapest pair. But cheap goggles have poor antifog coating, which means a higher chance of your kids not being able to see properly—and complaining. Grumpy kids means less time for you on the mountain.
OTG (over-the-glasses) goggles: An essential for people who wear glasses, these ski goggles have extra space for your spectacles, with cut-out sections in the foam for the arms so they're not pressed uncomfortably against your face. Some OTG goggles won't fit large-framed glasses, so it's worth trying before you buy. If you can't wear contact lenses, another option is to invest in a prescription insert, which clips inside compatible goggles.
English (US) ·