Whether you're watching a personal livestream of a League of Legends match or something larger scale like the Tournament Finals, you've most likely noticed that a lot of the competitors are wearing yellow-tinted glasses. These relatively new pieces of eyewear increase contrast and reduce glare, which in turns helps your eyes be less fatigued from prolonged sessions in front of your monitor.
Gunnar have already solidified their name as the premiere company for gaming eyewear, and they also happen to be on the more expensive side of the spectrum. Enter Gamer's Edge eyewear from VC Eyewear, coming to you at a much lower price point. But are you getting what you're paying for? We received a pair of the Silver Bullet Aviators so we could test them out ourselves.
The build of the Gamer's Edge certainly reflects the price point. It doesn't feel cheap by any means, but when compared to the Gunnar Vaypers, for instance (which are Gunnar's most lightweight glasses), even then the aviators feel slightly lighter. This, of course, can be a positive for those that prefer their glasses to be super light. I actually prefer Gamer's Edge rubbery nose pads over Gunnar's hard plastic ones. That might be a personal preference though, so it really depends on the wearer.
My biggest issue is that I often feel like the Gamer's Edge can be broken rather easily, as they're extremely bendable. This might not be the case with the other models like the Neon Green and Vintage Camo, but this particular model is just a little too flexible for my taste.
There is also a slight difference in the yellow hue of the lenses. In the pictures below, you can see the difference between the Gamer's Edge lenses and the Gunnar Vayper lenses.
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If you look carefully, you can see that the Gunnar glasses have a slightly darker yellow hue than the Gamer's Edge glasses. What does this mean for you? Well for one, a lot of people initially dislike Gunnars for the way it makes everything on screen slightly more yellow-tinted. With Gamer's Edge, the change is not that drastic. However, the contrast seems slightly better thanks to the darker yellow on the Gunnar glasses.
Regardless of the slight difference of tint, they do work as advertised. Since I am quite familiar with Gunnar glasses, I knew what to look out for and what to expect when wearing Gamer's Edge glasses for a prolonged period of time. Eye strain was certainly kept to a complete minimum, meaning they deliver on what they advertise.
Unless you're craving after name brands, Gamer's Edge is an excellent solution for gaming eyewear, especially considering the retail price is $39.99, about $20 cheaper than the cheapest Gunnars. The build is overall slightly cheaper and the lenses might not provide the deepest amount of contrast, but after all, it's all about protecting our eyes, and they certainly deliver on that front.
