Staring at text all day can strain your eyes, making things appear blurry as well as hurting your eyes. If you want to reduce eye strain and make reading feel easier, you can grab yourself a pair of reading glasses. These glasses focus on magnifying closeup items like text. Some reading glasses, like the Gaoye blue light blocking computer reading glasses have UV protection and blue light protection to protect your eyes from damaging light sources. Reading glasses come in several varieties. You can get full frame glasses in which the lens has a uniform magnification, half-frame glasses built specifically for looking down to read something, and progressive lenses that provide three different magnification levels. You can also get trifocal reading glasses, but those are like progressive lenses but with noticeable lines.
Best Overall: SUGLSS Photochromic Progressive Reading Glasses
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These progressive glasses from SUGLSS have three different magnification levels. The bottom of the glasses is for reading, the top is for distance, and the middle is a transition layer. This means you don't have to take your glasses off to see things across the room or a ways away. They're also photochromic, which means they transition into sunglasses when in bright light.
In addition to having three different levels of magnification, they offer UV400 protection, blue light protection, and feature anti-glare protection. With all these protections, you're less likely to get a headache from extended reading, and your eyes are protected from damaging rays.
They also fold up so you can easily take them with you wherever you go.
Also Great: Gaoye Blue Light Blocking Computer Reading Glasses
These reading glasses from Gaoye come in a range of magnification. You can go for a 0.0x magnifier to just reduce blue light damage on your eyes, all the way up to a 4.0x magnification. The lenses on these glasses are 52 millimeters and have UV400 protect. They reflect 100 percent of blue light and reflect UVA and UVB rays to protect your eyes.
These glasses are durable thanks to their "explosion-proof" Polycarbonate lenses and their lightweight resin frame. They feature a spring-hinge design that allows the glasses to fit a variety of face shapes and sizes.
One of the best things about these glasses is their price. Reading glasses range from around $15 to $45, so these are on the lower end of the spectrum. Despite their cost, they have a lot going for them and earn positive reviews.
Best Half Frames: Optix 55 Half Frame Reading Glasses
Half frame reading glasses are for when you only want part of your vision to be affected by glasses. They cover the bottom portion of your eye, so you look through them by keeping your head generally forward and looking down. These half-frame glasses feature metal frames and plastic lenses, so they should be relatively durable.
These are great for keeping in a pocket, popping out to do some reading, and then putting them away. They're available in a magnification of 1.0x up to 4.0x, so you can pick a pair to meet your needs. They don't have blue light or UV protection, though, so they're just for magnification.
These glasses come in at a low price, and an order gets you three pairs of glasses. That means you can keep one pair on you, one on at your bedside, and one at your office. They also come with carrying cases to keep your lenses scratch-free.
Best Affordable Foldable Frames: DOUBLETAKE Reading Glasses
Sometimes you want a pair of glasses that takes up as little room as possible. These folding glasses from DOUBLETAKE feature telescoping temples for easy folding and compact storage. They have spring hinges for a comfortable fit and a 90-day money-back guarantee if you don't like them.
They come with a hard, flip top carrying case to keep your lenses safe and prevent your frames from bending. An order of these glasses comes with two pairs, so you can have a backup pair or keep on at home and one in your car.
They come in a range of magnifications from 1.0x to 4.5x.
Best for Blue Light: PROSPEK Blue Light Blocking Glasses
These glasses are built with blue light in mind. They reduce eye strain by blocking out blue light and don't come with the amber tint that some glasses have when filtering out blue light.
This is the priciest pair of glasses in this list, so you're going to have to spend some extra money to get extra protection. While many glasses offer blue light protection, PROSPEK gets these lenses tested by a third party to make sure they protect your eyes and reduce eye strain.
You can grab these with no magnification at all to just reduce blue light or get them with up to 3.0x magnification. They also have a sturdier frame that looks like a more traditional pair of glasses. You can grab them in gray or red and black.
Best for Gaming: Tifosi Swank Gaming Glasses
Maybe the majority of the text you're reading is on a screen while you're playing video games. If that sounds like you, you should check out these glasses from Tifosi. They feature a sporty design and are designed to filter out blue light. The blue light filtration is thanks to the glasses' Enliven lenses. They don't feature any magnification, so they're just there to keep your eyes protected.
They're available in a variety of colors, including a wacky crystal sky blue variant, and are have TR-90 frames that are built to be lightweight and durable. These glasses have an integrated hinge as well, meaning you won't get your hair caught in their hinges.
We recently reviewed these glasses, and they earned a solid rating. They're great for long gaming sessions and come at a relatively affordable price.
Bottom line
Reading glasses are a great tool to reduce eye strain and protect your eyes. They can help prevent headaches that you get from staring at a screen all day. On top of all that, they can help you complete a look thanks to their stylish designs. The SUGLSS Photochromic Progressive Reading Glasses earn our top recommendation thanks to their versatility. They have progressive lenses, and transition to sunglasses when in bright light, and offer UV and blue light protection. They also fold up so you can take them anywhere.
If you're looking for something a little more affordable, you should check out the Gaoye Blue Light Blocking Computer Reading Glasses. They offer UV400 protection, blue light protection, and can fold up nicely for convenient carrying.
