Gamer Advantage Blue Light Filtering Glasses
Gamer Advantage blue light filtering glasses are a surprisingly trendy controversy magnet. For one their magnetic, clip-on sunglasses overlay is excellent and has led me to wear these outdoors, getting much more utility out of them than I would otherwise. They also make me look so damned good. I’m taking sexy, contemplative writer good.
Stupid sexy glasses pic.twitter.com/6cy7eAD5Ch
— Phil Howard (@Gadgetoid) November 10, 2022
As someone who’s so far avoided the family curse of poor eyesight ( I got poor hearing instead ) I take entirely too much joy in cosplaying as a glasses guy. I’m not ashamed to admit I kept the glasses on, even after I’d remove the sunglasses clip-on when going indoors at a garden centre. Sue me. I’m stupid sexy Phil now.
But, wait-
I can’t really write about blue-light filtering without addressing the elephant in the room. Two of them. In fact. One large, round, grey elephant called “I don’t have the scientific knowledge to validate Gamer Advantage’s claims” and a second, smaller, patchwork elephant named Elm… I mean “the science on the effects of moderate blue light exposure is pretty divided.”
When I posted on the bird site about these glasses the inevitable response came- “these are a gimmick scam marketing invention.” But are they? I, and to an extent the science, remain conflicted.
The simple truth is that we know – with as much certainty as the scientific community can muster – that light plays an important role in the regulation of circadian rhythms and certainly has other biological interactions. We don’t really know to what extent this has upon limited, low-intensity blue light exposure from electronics devices such as phone displays and monitors. High intensity? Must do something, right? My newborn came out of neonatal ICU onto a blue-light therapy sunbed only recently, but that huge, fan-cooled, fibre-optic, blue light cannon is a wee bit brighter than your phone.
Shoulda got some blue light glasses ? pic.twitter.com/JdHrVTCZ6g
— Phil Howard (@Gadgetoid) October 24, 2022
There have been studies tugging gently in either direction and plenty of user testimony to suggest anything from better sleep to fewer headaches. But anecdotes don’t make anecdata and if you’re staying up ‘til 2AM playing Valorant it’s probably not the blue light affecting your sleep. Indeed their claim that 98.2% of people surveyed had “significant sleep improvement” is exactly that- a collection of anecdotes with no real substance or veracity as a marketing claim. However there seems to be enough substance to prompt some eye-care professionals to recommend – first and foremost – screen-time reduction and, failing that, blue-light filtering glasses.
I could use the spectrometers I wrote code for in my day job to try and contrive a test to validate their claims that a specific frequency of blue light is blocked- this is, I assume, all they are asserting with the claim ”Clinically Proven”. But this would only validate the marketing claims and not the health claims and would get me some amount of nowhere.
And so I realise that we can’t conclusively prove these glasses work and must take it upon faith that they have some effect. This doesn’t necessarily sit right with me. But on a scale of reckless medical claims from “dissolve your own skin” to “basically does nothing” I don’t for a moment believe these glasses land anywhere near the former. So should the lack of conclusive evidence stop us acting upon the relatively harmless conclusion that blue light filtering can have positive benefits? That’s really a question only you can answer for yourself. Gamers are notoriously price insensitive – just look at the prices of the darn games – and so I think the change they *might* work, may be justification enough. My Alienware m15’s screen makes bold claims about integrated blue light filtering. If Dell are on this bandwagon, maybe it has some substance? Ha! Additionally modern smartphones have the ability to shift their screen colours toward warmer tones, usually dubbed “Night Mode,” which would certainly suggest at least a preference toward reducing exposure to visible blue light in customers.
Tint matches my outfit. @GamerAdvantage pic.twitter.com/Dt7U4sPFuz
— Phil Howard (@Gadgetoid) November 12, 2022
What I really think blue light filtering glasses are is an enabler. We recognise that our relationship with technology is toxic and unhealthy. Spending enough time in front of screens to warrant blue light filtering quite probably has much more profound and fixable health effects. But do we really want to fix them? Or do we want to put on some glasses, tell ourselves we’ve done something and carry on? I must attest I’m erring on the latter. The Gamer Advantage glasses are – at best – an effective way to minimise the effects of blue light on your physiology and – at worst – a permission slip to continue indulging in bad, unhealthy habits.
It is, then, a saving grace that they grant permission with such panache. Whether they work or not, they are a good pair of glasses available in a range of styles and aimed at a variety of needs. If you already wear glasses you can get them with prescription lenses and add blue light protection without needing to accessorize further.
How would you like your coffee today? pic.twitter.com/6geWEkK2dw
— Phil Howard (@Gadgetoid) November 10, 2022
They block a very narrow band of blue light, claimed to be the most bio active. As a result they have no perceptible effect on colours or brightness. They’re pretty regular glasses, rather than some wrap-around ski-attire nonsense and should serve you pretty well with a VR headset.
My only – minor – complaint is, ironically, the tiny GA logo etched into the corner of the right lens. It lurks in my peripheral vision and can be quite distracting at times. Neurodivergence gon’ get ya’, I guess.
Overall? If you want some cool-looking glasses that might – either through some real effect or simply the good old power of placebo – dramatically improve your sleep then – aside from all the faulting I did above – I can’t really fault these.
Wat dis pic.twitter.com/gityn8syKv
— Phil Howard (@Gadgetoid) November 10, 2022
So. Is blue light filtering complete woo? I’m willing to suggest the jury is still out on that one. The verdict on these glasses looking darn good is guilty as charged, though.
I got a really nice press kit with some cleaning products, a case, and a pair of sexy, sexy glasses in exchange for publishing this quite scathing review. I have been using them mostly as sunglasses – due more to some continued misfortune with health preventing me from computing all that much – and I will continue to use them. Will they fix my sleep problems, incessant headaches, lethargy and unhealthy addiction to coffee? Probably not. Will I lose any sleep over this… oh wait, nevermind.