Smith Approach Sunglasses Review
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For the competitive athlete, runner, or cyclist that wants a dedicated sunglass for their sport, the Smith Approach or Approach Max is an excellent option. The Smith Approach and Approach Max caters to the athlete that values performance and function over style.
Smith Approach or Approach Max?
The only difference between the two sunglasses is that the Approach Max has a little larger lens for additional protection, so it’s time for you to be the boss and chose which is best for you.
Smith Approach Fit
Having a sport specific sunglass that fits correctly is almost as important as the features that go along with the sunglasses. If you don’t get a good fit, a pair of sunglasses could fit sloppy and fall off your face or they could be extremely tight and give you a headache after an hour or two of activity.
The Smith Approach best fits a medium sized head shape and also works well if you have a little smaller or little bigger than a medium sized head. Sunglasses that best fit my face and head tend to be a size medium and the Smith Approach is no different. They ended up fitting perfectly. For the ladies out there, one of our female testers also tested out a pair and she has a small/medium face/head and found her sunglasses to fit well.
Outside of the actual frame structure, there are a few things a sunglasses maker can to do provide a more customized fit, especially in sport specific sunglasses. First, it’s a must for me to have rubber grips along the arms of a pair of sunglasses. Since your head is often one of the first things that gets sweaty, it can be a real downer when your sunglasses slip off your head and land who knows where. No need to worry with the Smith Approach because these sunglasses come with hydrophilic temple pads as well as hydrophilic adjustable nose pads that help the frames adjust to your face.
Lens
While having the right fit in a pair of sunglasses is something I can’t live without, the lens on a pair of sunglasses is a close second. The Smith Approach comes with Smith’s Carbonic TLT Lens which is both extremely durable and polarized to reduce glare. If you’re getting into activities, you’re often exposing yourself to a certain level of risk, but when wearing Smith sunglasses with Carbonic lens, there is one less risk. Having tested out sunglasses for a number of years now, polarized lens are a must because wearing lens with no glare, you don’t want to go back.
Sunglasses in the field
Trail run outside Jackson, WY
I’ve tested the Smith Approach on dozens of runs in various types of climates while running. I’ve tested them in high altitude trail runs, long road runs, and speed/track workouts. We often don’t get a lot of humidity in Colorado, but with the moisture rich summer we’ve had, I’ve been able to test these sunglasses in both humid and non humid conditions. Out of all my training runs, I’ve only encountered the Smith Approach sunglasses to fog up once which is pretty good in my mind. What keeps the sunglasses from fogging up as much as regular sunglasses is that there is no bottom frame to the sunglasses and this lets air flow between your face and the lens fairly well.
Final thoughts
Overall, I am very happy with the performance and fit of the Smith Approach Sunglasses for sporting activities. For more information, please visit www.smithoptics.com or www.amazon.com/smith.
