Competing with the renowned flagship names such as Oakley and Smith in the snowboard gear industry, Spherion is primarily not a huge name but they have certainly stepped up their game when it comes to snowboard goggles. To our surprise, their Gear Ski Goggles instantly found a home on our ranking shelves when we scouted for the best snowboard goggles for beginners this season.
The company has made a name for itself among the snowboarders who hold back nothing when it comes to raving about the goggles.
We are, of course, adamant believers in the significance of a good and durable pair of snowboarding goggles.
Our Top 3 Picks:
On top of the blankets of snow, your snowboards are the standing out pieces and your outfits define your appearance but your goggles make or break your game or so is our belief, primarily because they are the one thing that offers the clarity of vision and stop you (as best as they can) from bounding down the snow in a heap of human mess. This is why choosing a pair of snowboarding goggles is about much more than just drooling over the most attractive pair.
Choosing snowboarding goggles needs to be largely focused on the field of view, the lenses, the lens padding, the clarity and depth the goggles offer, and the overall specifications that make the goggles durable and reliable.
Why Spherion Gear Ski Goggles the best choice to make?
Spherion with their Gear Ski Goggles offers almost a perfect deal on all those desired elements in a pair for all beginners particularly those looking for a low budget option, because well, who knows, some of us are just trying out our hands (or feet) at snowboarding as a one-time thing.
Even for a one-time thing, the best snowboard goggles for beginners, in our opinion, come to be the Gear Ski pair and Spherion has really outdone itself in terms of both design and protection.
The goggles come with six different styles to pick out from (for those of you who are picky when it comes to color and design) and the pair comes with interchangeable lenses as well.
The Gear Ski Goggles have somehow managed to snag almost all high-end features of acclaimed snowboarding goggles in an affordable and lovely package which quite frankly provides all the more reason to try snowboarding this winter. Let’s take a look at the Gear Ski pair in a little more depth and see if they are the pair for you to pine after this time around.
What makes these goggles stand out?
The lenses on the Gear Ski are designed to be spherical with multiple colors and tint options with additional ventilation spaces as well. The double lenses are not only mirrored, polarized and anti-scratch protected but also offer UV protection (UV400) and anti-fog coating. The pair comes in multiple frames in a durable TPU type.
These acclaimed to be the best beginners snowboard goggles (rightly so) weigh 1.45 pounds and pander to 5.2 x 6 x 9.6 inches in size. The package comes with a 47% VLT yellow lens which is near to perfect for low light conditions and nighttime snowboarding as well, although, we would not recommend nighttime adventures for beginners just yet.
The goggles are also designed to eliminate glare through the curvature of the lens offering a wide field of view as well with an enhanced peripheral vision. As aforementioned above, the pair has a double lens which is poly-carbonate in quality which essentially provides absolutely minimal distortion with clarity fit for snowboarding. The lenses also adhere to a super TLX A/R coating that garners an anti-reflective technology which is again, absolutely smashing for beginners.
What does Spherion offer other than the Specs?
When we claim these are the best beginner goggles, we have resigned to the fact that they are prescription glasses compatible as well among all the other notable features. The goggles fit over helmets with 22 inch adjustable straps connected to certain pivoting outriggers fitting helmets. The additional silicon beading makes it easier to exercise the prevention of the straps slipping off helmets. For beginners, minimizing risks and malfunctions is most likely the first step to enjoying snowboarding otherwise it would just be a back-to-back episode of horrors on the field and that is never a positive reinforcement for beginners.
Another notable feature worth mentioning is the premium facial padding. The triple layer thick foam padding protects from the wind and the cold while also offering an impact-resistant framing. Wouldn’t want accidents on the field now, would we? Testing out these goggles, the one thing we were consistently monitoring was the safety the goggles offer.
The primary reason for that monitoring factor was because we are adamant believers of the fact that the first experiences are characterized to be good for beginners as long as they are safe and fun. And safety, in activities such as snowboarding, is of the utmost importance for beginners and even experts.
The Zionor X4
Why Spherion is better than Zionor X4?
First and foremost, the lenses on the Zionor X4 are not polarized where the Gear Ski does have polarized lenses. The Zionor X4 does not offer any options for prescription glasses or the OTG (over the glasses) options which can be a heavily defining feature for those wearing prescription glasses to navigate through every day.
Unlike the Gear Ski Goggles that offer low light visibility and vision as well, the Zionor X4 does not offer navigation visibility in low light or night time and is suitable only for sunny hours and lightly cloudy times. The X4 goggles are also somewhat smaller in size with dimensions being 4.1 x 5.1 x 8.1 inches and weighing 0.66 pounds making the breakage much seemlier.
Even though we have both the Zionor X4 and the Gear Ski Goggles on the shelf of options for beginners but with even the slightest of differences, there can be quite an expansive influence on the performance of both pieces which makes it easier for us to rate the Gear Ski Goggles as the best snowboard goggles for beginners.
The differences can, however, prove to be measured differently by different people and can prefer the X4 over the Gear Ski and to illustrate that in a more defined manner, we have listed down the pros and cons of the Spherion Ski with possible alternatives as well for those looking for specifications that match their individual realities.
The pros and cons of Spherion Gear Ski:
The Spherion Gear Ski Goggles have come out on top after a thorough trial but that does not mean they are absolutely perfect in the way they are designed and function. For the budgeted price, it is frankly not easy to place faults on the piece but it would be unfair to not mention the size of the goggles.
Some users have found the goggles to be a bit larger than needed. If you are scouting for a pair for a teenager or someone with a smaller head, these might be a little bigger than your helmet and would honestly be ill-fitted and problematic. We, in our test of the gear, found it to be quite fitting and perfect for our heads but that is very subjective.
Hence, why we categorized the pair the best snowboard goggles for beginners.
Where Zionor X4 is better than Spherion
If you are looking for a smaller pair, the Zionor X4 is certainly smaller in size and might be more compatible if you can forego the non-polarization of the lenses and are going to be snowboarding in the day times only. Other than that, the interchangeable lenses were found to be a tad bit problematic since they are not entirely easy to interchange and require a bit of a force and technique. That might be a hurdle for some but with the price, we deem no complaints. The pros of the pair far outweighed the cons, in our attempt at the trial of the product. Finding the best snowboard goggles for beginners was not easy, to be fair.
The goggles are super comfortable and offer great padding to the face with none of that digging into the skin problem a lot of people face with some other pairs. The goggles offer great visibility even in harsher weather circumstances and provide exceptional peripheral vision as well. The Gear Ski offers polarized and mirrored lenses with little to no glare and UV400 protection as aforementioned and that is characteristic to good snowboarding goggles. Additionally, the lenses on the Gear Ski goggles are also anti-fog and impact resistant which reduces the risk of accidents and dangerous lack of visibility, quite fitting when it comes to having a pair as a snowboarding beginner.
Not sure if anyone else would call it a plus but the view from the amber lenses is absolutely gorgeous when you are cascading down a snow-covered mountain and relishing in the blanket of cold all around you. Gorgeous, indeed. And certainly, a plus for us. Snowboarding is not only a tad extreme in handling but is also primarily a resource to beautiful views and icy experiences that certainly define winters for us in a lot of ways. Snowboarding is supposed to be fun albeit all the pressure of not ending up in a mess of snow and high-end gear. Having a reliable pair of snowboard goggles certainly lessens that pressure.
Spherion Gear Ski Goggles VS Zionor X4
To test the validity and reliability of any gadget, it is also somewhat essential to draw upon a comparison with other gadgets of the same domain and landscape.
In terms of the snowboarding industry, it is aforementioned that there are big names such as Smith, Oakley and even Zionor. Where all of these companies and gear providers are big names, they are also primarily expensive and are a priority for individuals that have spent ample time snowboarding on the field. They offer high-end gear the industry as they are acclaimed to but in our trial of the goggles, they would not be the first option when a discourse for the best snowboard goggles for beginners occurs, the beginner part being the prominent factor here.
Companies like Oakley and Zionor offer gear with high-end features but with sky-rocketing prices as well and for someone who is trying out snowboarding for the first time and may not continue on the field consistently every year, it would be a tremendous waste of money to spend so much on a piece of gear that may not even come in handy for an extended time. This has been one of our primary reasons for placing Spherion Gear Ski Goggles high on our ranking list of snowboarding goggles.
One of the more popular comparisons drawn between beginner level snowboard goggles is the comparison between Spherion Gear Ski Goggles and the Zionor X4, both of which are incredibly attractive and trendy pieces with exceptional features but the Zionor X4 falls short of the Gear Ski in a few ways that when highlighted become a defining feature to choose Gear Ski Goggles over the X4.
Where to Buy:
Amazon at your service once again. To get the best deal on these beautiful goggles, Amazon is your go-to. The price on these is currently reasonable and with the free shipping offered by Amazon in certain areas, you really cannot ask for a better package. The pair is not only cheap but also offers the high-end features you might be looking for with really good quality and an even better style element. It cannot hurt to look good snowboarding while also retaining safety, comfort, and durability.
The Spherion Gear Ski offers essentially a lifetime warranty which certainly paints a better picture of how good they are in quality than anything I would ever say about this pair. They are not only providing all the quirks and features you would need on your first adventure around the hills but also actually make you look super cool while doing it.
Make the most of your winters this time, folks! Snowboarding is just one way to do it. There’s Skiing, ATV, Snow-crossing and even Snowmobiles as well! Good thing is, the Spherion Gear Ski Goggles are good for all of them!