Ombraz Armless Sunglasses Review

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It’s always fun to test inventive products from companies who think outside the box. Ombraz sent me a pair of their unique armless sunglasses to try out while my family and I vacationed in the Galápagos Islands recently. It felt like the perfect environment to test them. We’d be on several boats during our trip where I knew I’d be prone to either set sunglasses down and forget them, break them by shoving them in my backpack and accidentally putting heavier stuff on them, or losing them to the sea. Maybe having them tethered to me at all times would help, I thought.

I immediately noticed how lightweight they are (0.8 ounces and 1.5 ounces with glasses and case). The Cammina style tortoise frame and brown lens are a nice color—dark but not too dark, but there are several styles with various colors and frame sizes to choose from (with a handy guide to help you choose the appropriate frame size for your face).

I’m picky about the aesthetics of sunglasses, and there are very few I try on and actually like. I genuinely like the way these frame my face, and I feel like they’d be flattering on a wide range of face shapes. Ombraz offers a 30-day no hassle return policy, if you’re not happy with them. They came with a nice neoprene case that provides great padding and an attached lens cloth, so it was easy to clean them if I smeared a sunscreen finger on the lens accidentally. They also lay flat in the case, which is a great feature when you store sunglasses in the top zippered pouch of a backpack that you’d prefer to lay flat.

Dialing in the perfect tension for the nylon cord (which is made from recycled fishing nets!) was easy. Initially, my tendency was to over tighten the cord, which works like a double fisherman’s knot, thinking they’d slide down my nose easily with sweat. It didn’t take long to discover they can be fairly loose and still stay put, even with a sweaty nose. Ombraz recommends adjusting the tension to be able to pull them about half an inch away from your face. Once I found that sweet spot, they felt great and I quickly forgot I had them on. I loved that I didn’t feel the nylon cord resting on my ears either—something I tend to notice after a long day of wearing traditional glasses with arms.

To wear them around my neck or on top of my head required loosening the cord tension at the back of my head, but it’s quick and easy to do. Initially, it annoyed me that I couldn’t take them on and off without the added step of loosening the cord, but once my hands didn’t automatically reach for the front of my face, it wasn’t a big deal. I also discovered that I can move the frames to the top of my head without adjusting the cord at all if I get the tension just right. I also love that I don’t have to worry about stretching out the arms of regular sunglasses by wearing them on top of my head (or that they’d fall off into the ocean if I leaned over to look at something).

They were absolutely perfect for our Galapagos trip. I received them the day before we left, and I almost took a second pair of sunglasses, worried I wouldn’t like the Ombraz. Within the first day, that worry was put to rest. Nearly every day I’d end up wearing them around my neck to dinner after it was dark, forgetting I still had them on. On the boat tours, they were great and the Zeiss polarized lenses allowed me to easily see everything from white tip reef sharks to sea turtles in the ocean. One day, I accidentally left them at the hotel and my son was kind enough to let me wear his sunglasses. I was aware of his glasses on my face the entire day and couldn’t see nearly as well in the water. That’s when I really knew how much I was enjoying the Ombraz. 

Of course nothing is perfect, and there are a couple of aspects about the design that bugged me. First, if I had my nearly shoulder length hair down, it was challenging to get the cord draped over my ears and the tension adjusted without my hair getting pulled into the process. If my hair was in a ponytail, this annoyance was completely resolved. Since my hair is pulled up nearly every time I’m active outdoors it won’t be a limitation, but it’s worth noting.

Also, these glasses wouldn’t be possible to safely take on and off while driving since they require both hands to loosen or tighten. This is barely a ding for my lifestyle though because I like to have a dedicated pair of sunglasses for adventuring. I’ll continue to use these glasses for that purpose and wear another pair for driving. 

Ombraz aren’t inexpensive, but there’s value in a quality pair of sunglasses that stand the test of time and are far less likely to let me down mid adventure by breaking. They also come with a lifetime warranty that covers pretty much anything that could happen to them. There’s definitely value in that. Of course you can buy traditional sunglasses and attach a cord to the end of the arms, but there are so many additional features and qualities with Ombraz that I think they’re totally worth the investment.

Here’s a recap of the pros and cons:

Pros

Cons

• Not easy to put on or take off while driving
• More difficult to put on with my hair down

For the past few years, I’ve cycled through a few different pairs of Good’r Sunglasses for my outdoor pursuits. I love how they stay put on my face, but they are far from durable, hence the reason I’ve had several pairs (but to be fair, they have a 1-year warranty). There’s nothing worse than glasses breaking in the midst of a multi-day backpacking trip though, so Ombraz are the clear winner since I suspect they’ll hold up better. Despite the cons, it won’t impact the way I use them and it’s not nearly enough to dissuade me from picking them up for my next adventure. They pass with flying colors, and I look forward to using them for years to come!

P.S. Put the Galapagos on your travel bucket list–100% worth it!

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