Gunnar Optiks Lays Out a Clear Future at CES 2024
Impressions of Upcoming Models and a Look at 2024’s Array of Options
Like many of my colleagues in the games media space, I’ve been writing about games and generally existing in the online-focused community for over a decade. I’ve seen companies and products come and go like long-forgotten sand sculptures swept up by the waves of time. I haven’t seen everything on these sands but I’ve seen a lot. During one of my rare instances of looking at the pile of emails in my inbox, a name stood out, GUNNAR Optiks. I audibly said to myself “GUNNAR is still around? What are they up to these days?” Reading that email led to a presentation and a collection of samples to answer that very question, allowing me a peek at what’s to come in 2024 and what will be on display at CES. While it’s nothing earth-shattering or anything that’ll fundamentally change the way I play games or work, it’s a confirmation that there are still product developers making strides in what they do. For starters, GUNNAR is finally adding more clear options after years of being immediately recognized by the amber-colored lenses on the faces of esports players, artists, and general office-goers. Outside of that, the company continues to treat partnerships with popular intellectual properties in a way that seems to be less common in this era of everything appearing in Fortnite or some engagement farming mobile game. There’s a lot of smart design on display at GUNNAR so let’s examine what was shared while providing some personal insight through the samples provided.
For those unaware, GUNNAR Optiks has been providing those telltale yellow-tinted glasses since 2007 as a way to combat eye fatigue by filtering out the blue light put out by screens. They’ve been used by computer-centric office workers, esports professionals, and pretty much anyone who wants to provide some level of relief to their eyes from the plethora of screens in the day-to-day lives of many. I’ve had knockoff “gaming glasses” in the past and I have a very light prescription set with a blue light coating applied, using them off and on through the past ten years or so. These types of glasses have reduced headaches for me personally but I always wondered if there was a better way to go about this. Turns out GUNNAR has been steadily improving their lenses and there might just be a better solution within their extensive catalog.
The biggest thing the representatives at GUNNAR stressed during our presentation was that they would soon offer Mineral Glass lenses in both amber in clear. This is a lens type found in cameras and telescopes with great scratch resistance and clarity but with low impact resistance so it’s not the type of thing you’d see on a construction worker's safety wraps. I was told that it was a fairly finicky material that is hard to work with but with worthwhile results. Mineral Glass is slated to appear in select models in early Spring 2024 in the Legendary and Mythic lines of glasses so this material will be for more premium models. GUNNAR also hopes to offer Mineral Glass lenses for prescription users in 2025. While the new material is a big deal, having a clear option is what most have been requesting of GUNNAR for most of their existence. Though they have had a clear lens option for a while, a clearer option was revealed.
A new tint called “Clear Pro” will be available in select styles in Q1 in 2024, a style requested heavily by animators and creative folks. An anecdote during the briefing recalled GUNNAR reportedly speaking with Pixar animators on the subject so the company is aiming to provide for those with the most scrutinious eyes. Granted, an amber lens still blocks more blue light by its very nature so it’s not a catch-all solution but for those who are looking for perfect color clarity, this is another great option to have available.
Users looking for even more extreme blue light protection also have SUN (GBLF 90) and AMBER MAX (GBLF 98) lens tints to consider with GBLF being a percentage of light filtering protection. This makes a total of five core lens coatings (Clear Pro GBLF 20, Clear GBLF 35, Amber GBLF 65, Sun GBLF 90, and Amber Max GBLF 98) available, from artists who want to see every minute shift in color but still have some blue light protection to those wanting to reduce their setting’s lighting as much as possible before bed.
Either way, it’s clear that GUNNAR Optiks glasses are for more than just gaming and gamers.
Of course, good screen habits are still recommended for extended users such as the 20/20/20 rule: for every 20 minutes looking at a screen, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. Most of our readers could probably benefit from a recap of best office practices, myself included. It seems like minor advice but a healthy work life (or gaming life) is important!
After highlighting some of the new features coming to GUNNAR Optiks’ products, we were shown a collection of new general models and collaborations with Marvel, Blizzard, and more.
General new models include the Cupertino which has a magnetized lens that enables interchangeable lenses with bundle options; Cupertino might be the perfect way to try out the lens coatings offered. Other styles lean more towards the classier side of glasses design such as the Plaid, Palomar, Pismo, and Pacifica, revealing a noticeable effort for the company to break expectations and offer models for a range of glasses wearers. In March, GUNNAR is tapping into styles that complement the use of wood in the Muir and Humboldt models.
Release dates are as follows:
Cupertino - January 10th, 2024
Plaid - January 31st, 2024
Strata Collection: Palomar, Pismo, Pacifica - February 14th, 2024
Arbor Collection: Muir, Humboldt - March 19th, 2024
For fans of Marvel, there were several exciting designs on display. From the broader temple arms of The Punisher pair to the sleekness of the Wolverine, Uncanny there are plenty of reasons to appreciate how GUNNAR has used these characters to create a unique, functional piece. Throughout the designs, there are hidden nods to the characters such as the little phrase on the temple tips on the Groot model, “I am Groot!”
Marvel x GUNNAR models and their release dates are listed below.
Marvel Comic’s Groot Edition as a part of the Arbor Collection will launch on March 19th, 2024.
Wolverine, Uncanny, Wolverine Adamantium, and Deadpool will launch on June 26th, 2024.
With their connection to Blizzard, GUNNAR is also extending their character-centric models to include a general homage to Overwatch and one dedicated to fan-favorite mech pilot D.Va. Overwatch D.Va Tokki Collector’s Edition and Overwatch Ultimate both launch on February 27th, 2024.
Also revealed was a set of collaborative items with the Italian brand tokidoki which utilizes a lot of Japanese iconography to create fashionable pieces, toys, clothing, and more. Launching on January 24th, 2024 the team-up kicks off with tokidoki: Year of the Dragon while character-focused items Sandy, Donutella, and Cotton Candy Carnival will launch on April 10th, 2024 to add a dollop of cuteness to the offerings at GUNNAR.
Out of all the new models revealed in our briefing, I find myself most excited about the flexibility of the Cupertino’s magnetic, swappable frames. If I had to choose a favorite collaboration, the Groot and Uncanny Wolverine models are both excellent fandom pieces that capture the characters well. However, I would love to see more collaborations with other games and brands such as Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, or even indies like ULTRAKILL, Undertale, and Shovel Knight. I can definitely see myself looking into the Mineral Glass option too as a way to have a more permanent tool on my desk as another item in my pursuit of the ultimate work-from-home desk.
Overall, I would say that this was a great look at what to expect of GUNNAR in the first half of 2024 and a little about what their aiming for in 2025.
As part of sharing this look into the future, GUNNAR provided several sample units of models currently available, primarily to get a look at their collaboration frames. We were sent: Diablo IV, Sanctuary Edition, World of Warcraft Horde and Alliance Editions, Loki Asgard Edition, Intercept Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Edition, Call of Duty Alpha and UAV Editions for a total of seven pairs of glasses. My partner and I have been trying out the various models since receiving them.
Overall, I would say that I’m impressed by the efforts put into each design to capture the characters or feelings of a game, movie, or show. I’ve been using a pair for the last few weeks while working my full-time job with Stride PR, reading books in low-light situations, and of course playing games in a variety of situations on PC, handhelds, and my living room console setup. The build quality is nice on each of these and I was particularly drawn to the Diablo IV set, less because of the connection to the monster slaying action RPG and more because of the shape of the frames.
The color of the Diablo frames looks great and I like the little details sprinkled throughout the item and the case it comes in. There’s a snazzy dust cloth, a carrying bag, and a hard case that makes traveling with these pretty simple, though I do love the tougher case provided for the Call of Duty collaborations. Granted, the metal inlay on the temples of our particular Sanctuary Edition pair flaked off and became a splinter so a nice resin top-coat would be appreciated on these elements in future iterations.
Funnily enough, I’m not a terribly big fan of any of the properties we received samples for. For example, it’s super cool to see the Alliance and Horde WoW pairs next to each other and I can see these making great gifts for WoW players but I just don’t have that connection. Although I am familiar enough with all of them to recognize shared design elements. I have been looking at each of these glasses primarily based on their shape, quality, and how well they capture the spirit of each property. The Loki pair look fantastic with their green and gold motif and I particularly like the Nordic runes on the inside of the carrying case. The Call of Duty models feel tactical with a cold gun metal feel to the frames. I found myself swapping between the Diablo IV glasses and the UAV CoD ones the most. I enjoy the straightforwardness of the CoD models. While I never quite clicked with Assassin’s Creed, the GUNNAR collaboration glasses are big and comfortable.
Do I feel like I’ve significantly improved my gameplay or my office capabilities by having used these GUNNAR glasses? Well no, not really but generally I find that wearing blue-light-blocking spectacles allows me to work longer or at least end the day without a throbbing headache so that’s pretty nice. It’s not a consistent solution and I would love to check out the new clear lenses but the overall concept works as far as I can tell and I’m impressed with the overall quality of the models we were sent.
Of course, I’m not an eye doctor or even a medical journalist. I am a video game enthusiast with a screen-focused day job that results in me looking at screens for 8-12 hours a day who sees a noticeable improvement with glasses of this type. Please do not take this information as medical advice but if you are struggling with eye strain from extended screen viewing, maybe talk to your eye doctor about blue light filtering lenses or coatings. Regardless, I think GUNNAR glasses are worth a try for most people.
All in all, I’m surprised to see so much going on at GUNNAR Optiks. I assumed that gaming glasses were more stagnant in their models but GUNNAR is keeping things fresh with their patented designs, fun collaborations with popular brands, and innovation. It’ll all come down to personal preference, availability, and cost like with any other product line but there are a lot of options that make it hard to be critical. The build quality seems solid as far as I can tell, though I assume some models have more merits for everyday glasses wearers than others; flexibility seems to be the aspect that varies the most though most of the temples seem fine.
That said, GUNNAR Optiks appear to be a core source for blue light-blocking optics and they seem committed to extending their offerings to more users. I’m looking forward to seeing more from this company.
To learn more about GUNNAR Optiks, check out their official website and their blog. For official updates on their time at CES, check out their Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. We also want to thank New Era Communications for the PR support and the GUNNAR Optiks staff for the information. While we were unable to attend CES 2024, it is handy to know what major moves are happening around the event.
The images featured in this article are a mix of official pre-production press materials and photographs taken by the author. There are currently no affiliate links on this article.
We spoke with Yuri Lowenthal, Nadji Jeter, and Tony Todd at Twin Cities Con 2023 shortly after the impressive release of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on PS5.