The Best Snow Goggles of 2025: Smith, Oakley, Anon and More

It’s hard to imagine skiing and snowboarding before snow goggles. If you’ve ever forgotten yours at home, you know why: the blinding glare of the sun reflecting off the snow, a flurry pelting the face or, best case, winter air pulling tears from your eyes as you hit top speed. Thank Ullr for Dr. Bob Smith, who invented the modern snow goggle in 1965.

With foam for fit and seal and a double lens to prevent fog, Smith’s gogs were state of the art, despite his prototyping with dental tools. Winter eyewear tech has come a long way since — now the best snow goggles have magnets to make switching lenses a snap, built-in UV protection and lens treatments that bestow wearers with color-enhancing, high-definition eyesight.

Made in a variety of sizes and fits, goggles are more inclusive than ever, too. Storms, sun and vertigo-inducing flat light are no match for them — the only downside is you have one less thing to blame your shoddy turns on.

Gear Patrol

Best Overall Snow Goggles

Smith

Smith 4D Mag

Specs

Lens Shape	Spherical, BirdsEye
Bonus Lens?	Yep
Anti-Fog Treatment	Anti-fog coating

Pros

• Great fit
• Magnetic lens also locks
• Excellent field of view

Cons

• Pricey
• There is some distortion along the lens' bottom curve

• $348 at Smith

Smith long led in goggle innovation, but it was late to the game in utilizing magnets for faster lens swaps. That wait was worth it, though, as Smith’s magnetic frames also feature locks that prevent accidental release during the ski gear shuffle (or major wipeouts). It’s the best of both worlds, even if it adds an extra step to switching from sunny lenses to cloudy ones.

But the unique thing the 4D Mag has going for it is a spherical lens that also curves downward on its bottom edge, boosting peripheral vision by 25 percent over Smith’s more affordable I/O Mag.

Smith

The design can seem odd at first, and focusing on it does bring a touch of distortion into view, but it quickly goes unnoticed once you’re more attuned to bumps, trees and freewheeling ski schoolers.

Smith’s ChromaPop lens tech boosts colors and contrast and the frameless design is sleek, integrating seamlessly with Smith’s equally great helmets (they’ve also worked well with helmets we’ve tested from other brand).

Smith makes XL, small, and low bridge fits too — and each pair comes with a bonus lens, a handy lens cover and a high-quality hard case. We’ve found Smith’s warranty program to be responsive and reliable, should you have any issues, too.

Best Budget Snow Goggles

Glade

Glade Adapt 2

Specs

Lens Shape	Cylindrical
Bonus Lens?	No
Anti-Fog Treatment	Dual-lens, hydrophobic treatment

Pros

• Comes with a photochromic lens
• Very affordable for quality
• Removable strap

Cons

• Doesn't come with a spare lens
• Lens change system is somewhat rudimentary

• $149 at Glade

Goggles are expensive. It’s one of skiing and snowboarding’s unfortunate realities. Price tends to correspond directly to quality, too, which makes the Glade Adapt 2 a bit of an anomaly.

More affordable goggles exist, but they’re fairly basic, with a fixed lens that often lacks premium features (which, in our opinion, are really baseline for a good experience out in the snow). The Adapt 2 is more of a premium goggle disguised as an affordable one.

Glade

The trade-off the Adapt 2 makes is that it only comes with one lens. It does have a quick-change system that’s pretty basic, with the lens fitting into grooves in the frame (spare lenses are available for $40), but Glade’s pitch is that you won’t need to swap because the Adapt has a photochromic lens that reacts to light conditions and adjusts tint automatically.

The VLT range of these lenses is 61-16 percent, if you want to get specific, which covers everything but very dark, cloudy conditions and the super-bright light you might find on a glacier. Totally adequate for most days on the mountain, in other words. The Adapt 2 has a medium to large fit, but Glade also makes the Adapt 2S for smaller faces.

Wildcard Pick

Anon

Anon M5

Specs

Lens Shape	Flat toric lens
Bonus Lens?	Yes
Anti-Fog Treatment	Integral Clarity Technology (exceeds global certification standards)

Pros

• Super-wide field of view
• Best-in-class magnetic lens change system
• Integrates with magnetic face masks and accessories

Cons

• Expensive

• $315 at Burton

Magnetic lens change systems are an easy way to tell you’re in the top of the line, but not all are created equal. Anon was among the first to use them, and its system is still the best, providing a combo of security and speed when changing lenses.

The M5 has seven rare earth magnet contact points between lens and frame, and only the most severe wipeouts will knock a lens loose from them (this info does, unfortunately, come from firsthand experience).

But easy lens changes are just part of what makes the M5 a great goggle. Anon’s range of magnetic facemasks is another — the goggles come with one, and more are available separately.

Anon

Moreso, it’s the M5’s super premium fit and feel that make it feel like a worthwhile step into premium fare. The fit is close and comfy (there are small and low bridge versions), and the field of view appears vast enough to match the big sky landscapes you might take it into.

Every brand’s color and contrast lens tech is different and there’s some subjectivity in evaluating them but Anon’s Perceive is our favorite, providing a clear view without overly tinting and distorting colors. The M5 also comes with a nice case, and the microfiber storage bag has a handy key explaining what conditions each lens is made for.

Other Great Picks

Oakley

Oakley Line Miner Pro

Like Smith, Oakley has been in the goggle game for a long time, and the Line Miner Pros have the optics quality to prove it. They also have a lens change system combining magnets and sliding locks, solid helmet integration and full UV protection in a low-profile cylindrical form, extra lens included.

• $317 at Oakley

Julbo

Julbo Launcher

The Launcher has all the features a premium-tier goggle should, but it has an additional secret weapon that others don’t: a ventilation system called Superflow Pro. A quick (glove-compatible) squeeze pops the lens forward, allowing air up and behind it, which is ideal for days that include a hike up to zones that aren’t lift-accessible.

• $219 at Julbo

Shred

Shred Gratify

There are still those who prefer a set-it-and-forget-it approach to goggles, and the Gratify is a solid single-lens option for them. Shred teamed up with MIT to develop the brands Contrast Boosting Technology aka CBT, now in version 2.0, which increases contrast and clarity across lighting conditions. This goggle also works with most glasses for those who wear specs.

• $220 at Shred

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