Smith Optics Interlock Whisper Sunglass Review
Smith Optics Interlock Whisper sunglasses are perfect for just about any challenge. For starters, the Interlock Whisper’s, like their name suggests, feature Smiths’ INTERLOCK Interchange system, which allows you to quickly swap out lenses to meet your needs and changing lighting conditions. Each pair of Interlock Whisper’s come with a pair of clear and ignitor lenses, in addition to the lens color/style that you select. To swap the lenses out, simply twist the temple arm to open the frame a tiny bit, push out the old lens, insert the new lens, and twist back. Ta da, you are done!
The Interlock Whisper’s are designed for a smaller faces/heads. When my sunglasses arrived, they were a perfect fit across my face, felt secure when running-riding-or simply hanging my head out the window while riding in the car thanks to rubberized nose and temple padding. But after maybe 30 minutes of use I had a pounding headache from where the sunglasses hit just behind my ears. My problem was quickly solved by visiting my local eye shop, where they heated the plastic temple arm, which loosened the plastic a touch to make it more malleable. If done by a trained professional, I don’t believe that this should interrupt your warranty, as this process is common practice when it comes to standard eyeglasses (But please check with a customer service representative w/ Smith before doing so!) The optic technician praised my shades for having little play in the hinges and feeling sturdy, which required added heating time to mold the side arms.
The Interlock Whisper sunglasses feature an 8 base lens curvature; which means that they wrap around to provide greater sun protection. Your typical eyeglasses caring a 6 base lens curvature, while sporty shades are typically 8 or 9. These shades, in addition to fitting a smaller face, also feature smaller lens size. These are not like some of the enlarged frame shades that are quite popular these days. The shape is more standard and one that will be fashionable past this year. The Whisper has been around for the past few years and should stick around due to its’ no none-sense styling.
Smith Optics offers the opportunity to customize your lenses with with your current eye prescription. To order, simply get your numbers from your eye doctor and pass them along to Smith and your customized shades will be on their way. Countless times I will be out on a backpacking trip or long hike and wear contacts only because I know that I will be needed some shades to deal with the Colorado sun. Having the option of wearing sunglasses that are the exact same as my contact lens prescription is awesome. The lenses do take a little getting used to in the beginning because mentally I kept thinking I needed my contacts or glasses to see. When you specialize with a prescription, you do not receive additional swap out lenses because that would require 3 separate lens preparations. Not a big deal for me.
The lenses, whether prescription or regular are made from Polarized carbonate which helps cut down glare while allowing the lens to remain very clear. The lenses are available in polarized gray, gray green, brown, and copper. As for frame colors, you can mix and match your lenses with the following options: black, brown, tortoise, matte black, and matte tortoise. I tested out the matte tortoise frames and polarized brown lenses and have found them to be a great combo for me.
The MSRP starts at $139 and moves upwards depending on whether you add a prescription or not. For more information visit smithoptics.com
