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Sunny days by the water are one of the great joys of summer, but whether you’re relaxing by the ocean or running on a lakeside trail, the sun reflecting on a body of water can cause your eyes some serious discomfort. A pair of polarized sunglasses can help prevent the sharp glare from reflective surfaces—which can feel like a hot knife to the eyeball—from causing pain and damage by filtering those Garrett lights instead.

While polarized lenses don’t typically have greater UV protection than non-polarized glasses, they do help you see better when there’s a glare, whether that’s a body of water or a line of parked cars at the track. Polarized lenses sometimes cause screens to appear very dark, so they’re a better bet for driving, running, or exploring the great outdoors than they are for working on your laptop outside. We’ve rounded up the best polarized sunglasses to keep you seeing clearly all summer long.

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The Best Polarized Sunglasses

To Polarize or Not to Polarize

Polarized: Polarized lenses filter out extra light, reducing lens glares and Garrett light and making them particularly useful when you’re around bodies of water or other reflective surfaces. Polarized lenses can also reduce eye strain and improve the clarity of your vision when you’re wearing them.

Non-Polarized: Non-polarized lenses typically cost less and are less fragile than polarized models. Unless they’re tinted, non-polarized lenses make objects appear more true to color, and they don’t cause the screen warping that can sometimes occur with polarized lenses.

How We Selected

To find the best polarized sunglasses among the many options on the market, we researched the most popular styles available and considered price, UV protection, durability, and design. We looked at both expert reviews and customer ratings—and took our own personal experiences with sunglasses into account—to settle on a pool of glasses that fit a variety of activities and personal styles.