Oakley Polarized Half X Sunglasses: a review
Oakley Polarized Half X Sunglasses: a review. From back in the days of BMX racing, I remember when I got my first pair of Oakley handlebar grips. Oakley has come a long way since then, creating everything from active apparel to ski goggles, accessories, footwear, watches like the Elite Full Metal Jacket watch, hockey shields and some of the best sunglasses for athletes ever created.
Oakley brings a class of style but more importantly performance. I swear by them and have not worn any sunglasses other than Oakley’s for the past 20 years, I even still have my original pairs of, now vintage A-wire and E-wire Oakleys and I still love them just as much as when I bought them all those many years ago. The Oakley Half X’s are still one of the best sunglasses available on the market for the active individual.
The very X-Men esq packaging alone will make you want to open the box, but as you pick them up for the first time you will unquestionably know the quality that went into creating this work of art, Pinstripe Magazine had the opportunity to try out the Half X hands on and they did not disappoint. Epitomizing the balance between form and function, these x-metal framed sunglasses not only impress aesthetically, but they continue to impress functionally.
Snug fitting for sport with spring hinged arms for lasting durability, the Half-X’s also open up your range of view by clearing out the lower half of the frame obstruction, leaving you to focus on whats important below and in your peripheral. Whether your dealing with moguls in flat light, or changing your gear cycling, or hiking up a hairy trail, the Oakley Half X’s will become an extension of you and allow you to have the best possible vision you can while your hammering down that single track on your mountain bike.
The Oakley Half X sunglasses are made of an ultra-lightweight titanium alloy that was combined from 25 different metals to create the incredibly strong composite metal used in their x-metal line of sunglasses. The properties of the x-metal give aerospace strength tolerances, without weight and size penalties. So for Cycling, Skiing, Running, Hiking, whatever sport your into, the Half-x sunglasses provide a slick and contemporary style for your look and is virtually indestructible. Now if you have never worn a pair of Oakley’s for sport, you may not understand, but once you do, you will never go back. Oakley lenses provide some of the best clarity you can hope to get under any lighting condition.
The Plutonite® lenses provide 100% UV filtering to protect your most important asset, your eyes, also offering an optional IRIDIUM® lens coating that reduces glare and balances light transmission. This is achieved by Oakley’s liquid infusion process, bonding the “lens and polarizing filter at the molecular level” eliminating the haze and distortion from normal polarized lenses. The Half-x frames are designed with open-edge lens architecture, meaning there’s no bottom half of the frame. This enables athletes of all sorts to be able to get a more accurate field of view with less obstruction.
Just like the gorilla glass on the iPhone 4s or Samsung Galaxy SII, the Oakley Half X comes with standard oleophobic anti-smudge lens coating and in addition adds a hydrophobic property as well for any spray up of water or snow, oils from your skin, lotions etc.
Comfortable fit, beautiful view, lightweight, great field of vision, incredible balance of light and clarity of details in your environment and virtually indestructible. Whatever your sport these Half X Oakley’s will help you hone your skills and look darn good doing it to boot!
The Polarized Half X’s come in 2 frame/lens flavors;
1. Plasma/Ice Iridium
2. Carbon/Black Iridium
Retails for $400.00, Available through www.oakley.com
Features and specs:
- Oakley X-Metal®: the only 3-D sculpted, hypoallergenic, all metal frame on earth.
- Lightweight Titanium alloy with phenomenal strength-to-weight ratio and rugged durability
- Custom engineered spring hinge mechanisms for added comfort
- Comes standard with Oakley Hydrophobic/Oleophobic anti-smudge lens coating on all lens options
- Optimized peripheral vision and side protection of 8.75 base lens curvature
- Comfort and performance of Three-Point Fit that holds lenses in precise optical alignment
- Optical precision and performance that meets ANSI Z87.1 standards
- Impact resistance that meets ANSI Z87.1 Basic impact standards
- UV protection of Plutonite® lens material that filters out 100% of
UVA/UVB/UVC & harmful blue light up to 400nm - Glare reduction and tuned light transmission of Iridium® lens coating. Minimized glare via technology that produces the best polarized lenses on the planet
- Patented hydrophilic Unobtanium® earsocks ensure a snug, secure fit
- Includes X-Metal Collector’s Edition Coin
