The Best Reading Glasses: How to Find Your Perfect Pair

As any bodybuilder or life coach worth their salt will tell you, the key to success lies in knowing your strength. This holds true for reading glasses, too. In their case, strength means the amount of magnification you need in your lenses to better allow you to focus on up-close activities, like reading the wine list or writing Whitman-worthy prose in your Notes app.

We measure strength in diopters, units of measurement from +1.00 to +4.00 that tell you how strong the magnification in your lenses are. Generally speaking, if in-front-of-your-face things are just looking a tad hazy, you probably only need +1.00 strength glasses. If you’re squinting and sweating trying to read the takeout menu and it still looks like Greek to you, you might be closer to a +4.00.

Take a peek at our cheaters cheat sheet to level up your knowledge and impress your friends by using words like “presbyopia.” (Spoiler alert: it’s the common condition behind the need for readers).

Okay, so how do I actually go about finding my reader strength, you might ask? Well, you probably recall the ubiquitous eye test poster in most optometrists’ and doctors’ offices that helps pinpoint your prescription. We have something similar to help you find your reader strength, and the best part is you don’t have to schedule a doctor’s visit to do it. All you need is a printer and your eyeballs, and you’re well on your way to easy reading.

Especially if you’re in the market for your first pair of readers, finding your perfect pair can give you flashbacks to dating in your 20s and 30s. There are just so many things to look out for, and they pretty much all come down to your personal preferences. Above all, though, quality matters.

We’re all for leaving your comfort zone, but when it comes to the fit of your readers, that’s precisely where you want to be. Readers that slide down your nose or squeeze your temples aren’t exactly easy on the eyes. Depending on your face shape and personal preferences, some frame types and bridge styles will be comfier than others.

First thing’s first: make sure to choose readers that match up with your head size. For the 411 on determining your face’s width, check out our Fit Guide. Once you have that, you can start nailing down the features that make your frames feel the most comfortable to you.

One thing that can determine whether or not your frames are soulmate material is their literal material. We offer acetate and metal frames, and these two options have some key differences in look and feel. Acetate is a higher-quality and thicker material compared to plastic, which makes it easier to incorporate groovy patterns and eye-catching colors into the frame. If boldness is your numero uno goal, acetate frames may be for you. We use luxury, Italian-designed acetate – only the best for you, our fearless readers. On the other hand, metal frames can often be lighter weight and are super strong, so they might be a good match for anyone who prefers a barely-there feel or is a bit tougher on their glasses. We use stainless steel, which is far more metal than other metals. You heard it here first, folks.

The bridge, or part of the frame that sits on your nose, is another consideration. Some people prefer adjustable nose pads for maximum comfiness, since the frame can be adjusted to fit your nose flawlessly. Others find that nose pads aggravate the pressure points on the sides of their schnozzes, and might prefer a molded nose bridge that distributes the weight of your frame evenly. Our frames have two types of bridges: a keyhole bridge is shaped like an old-fashioned keyhole and, since it rests on the sides of the upper part of the nose, is best for those with small or flat-topped noses. A saddle bridge is also shaped just like it sounds, and distributes the weight of the frame across the sides and top of the nose, meaning it might suit those with sensitive schnozzes a bit better.

As any veteran of the Rite-Aid vision aisle can tell you, drugstore readers tend to be cheap in more ways than one. Sure, they’re inexpensive, but they tend to come apart after a few months to a year, and certainly won’t last as long as a well-made, high-quality pair like those we offer. We use premium, Italian-designed acetate that feels sturdy and expensive (without actually being pricey). An added bonus is that it looks just as good as it feels, and gives us room to really go all out with color and patterns. Our frames also use flexible spring hinges that keep your frames from stretching and bending at the temples as dramatically as glasses that don’t have them. We’ll pause for applause now.

If you’re someone who likes to whip their glasses off mid-plot-twist for dramatic effect, you’ll be pleased to know that all of our readers are scratch-resistant. We make our reader lenses with the highly hardy CR-39 material and a scratch-resistant and smudge-proof coating, meaning you can indulge your bibliophilic tendencies without fear of small children, pets, or general klutziness damaging your readers.

For those with petite noggins, finding readers that fit can be a struggle. They can be of no help if they can’t stay on your face, right? Luckily for near-sighted folks with compact craniums, we have a range of readers made just for you. When swiping on a new pair of specs, make sure you filter your search to only show narrow-sized frames. Say hello to our little friends!