Julbo Zulu Polarized Sunglasses

I ordered these glasses because they were supposed to be polarized. When I got them the only thing saying "polarized" was the sticker Sierra Trading Post put on them. I opened the box and they were labeled by Julbo as Spectron 3 lenses, which according to their website are not polarized. I conducted several tests comparing them to other sun glasses and they were definitely NOT polarized. I talked with customer service about this issue with their online chat feature and they were not very helpful and just told me I was welcome to return them.

The prior reviews on the Julbo Zulu are pretty spot on, collectively: The tint/hue of the lenses is very nice and relaxing to the eyes and the frame wraps around the face sufficiently. However, the arms of the frames do, indeed, inflict pain behind the ears. I have a fairly narrow width to my face, and I thought I could get away with not being affected by the behind-the-ear pain. I was wrong. While the pain is nowhere near unbearable, it is noticeable, especially when taking your sunglasses off.

Another potentially annoying thing about these sunglasses is that the lenses sit very close to your face. While some people may like this feature, for me it has become a bit of a pain. For some reason, my left eyelashes (and sometimes also my left eyelid) continually make contact with the lenses. While a couple of weeks of wear has made me accustomed to this, it is annoying that the inside of my lenses constantly need to be cleaned because my eyelashes transfer and smear oil onto the lenses. The ironic thing is that I don't believe I have longer eyelashes than most people. As an Asian American, I perhaps should have gone with a pair of Oakley's "Asian Fit" sunglasses (maybe I have a flatter face than most people?), but I couldn't justify paying the sticker price for those sunglasses -- especially compared to the $35 price tag (including shipping) for the Zulu on Sierra Trading Post.

As for the polarization, I bought the style with the brown lenses, as the grey lenses are cited as being "Spectron 3" lenses, which are NOT polarized (see Julbo's website if you don't believe me). The polarization on these lenses aren't terrible, but they seem to be a little off. The glare cut-out isn't particularly strong, and I can, many times, get stronger glare cut-out by tilting my head (with the glasses on). This isn't exactly ideal.

All in all, however, these lenses aren't terrible by any means. They are decently styled, designed well for wraparound protection, ship with a nice protective case and cleaning cloth, and come with Julbo's lifetime warranty. The Native Eyewear Solo sunglasses may have, perhaps, been a better alternative -- especially for guaranteed polarized grey lenses -- but let's just say that I'm not upset enough to initiate a product return.

My husband is neither a cyclist nor an outdoorsman, but he has always complained about eye coverage, comfort, and fit of just about every pair of sunglasses he has owned. I bought these thinking they would be a perfect solution and they were! They fit snug (he shook his head around like a crazy person and they did not budge! ), allow very little sunlight in around the edges, and are comfortable to wear on his 1.5 hr commute to work. We bought the level 3 tint. He loves them!

Love the lenses on these glasses, however, the arms are killing my ears! Not sure if they just don't fit properly or what, but they make the tops of my ears sore every time I wear them.

The polarized lenses have a nice relaxing hue, but the frame is a bit uncomfortable behind the ears.