Oakley Encoder sunglasses review

Excellent lens clarity and contrast, they’re a comfortable and secure option if the futuristic design is for you

Image shows the Oakley Encoder sunglasses
(Image credit: Charlotte Broughton)
Cycling Weekly Verdict

The Encoder glasses are a solid option for anyone in the market who’s after versatility coupled with a quirky design. The Prizm lens technology is as excellently contrast enhancing as ever, whilst the frameless design and jaunty cut of the lens plays nicely with helmets and high cheekbones. The downsides are the price and the inability to swap lenses.

Reasons to buy
  • +

    Produce a really good contrast

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    Enhance colours in the environment well

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    Great to use for cycling as well as other activities

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    Offer great coverage of the face and eyes

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    Very comfortable to wear

  • +

    High quality feel

Reasons to avoid
  • -

    Can’t change the lenses thus have to buy new glasses for different lens options

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    Finish on the side of the lens looks a little messy

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    More expensive than other competitors

You can trust Cycling Weekly. Our team of experts put in hard miles testing cycling tech and will always share honest, unbiased advice to help you choose. Find out more about how we test.

The Oakley Encoders are a set of futuristic-looking multi-sport sunglasses and share a few handful of design cues with the more head-turning Kato sunglasses – most notably the flared lens around the nose bridge.

Although this specific model of the Encoders is equipped with the Prizm Road lens (which is used across all of Oakley’s best cycling glasses), there are other lens options available which have been designed for usage across a range of sports – boosting the Encoders versatility.

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Charlotte Broughton

Charlotte Broughton is a British rider, racing for the KDM-Pack women’s cycling team. An accomplished writer, she is a regular on the pages of Cycling Weekly magazine.