GUNNAR Lightning Bolt 360 Hardware Review

On its face, the GUNNAR Lightning Bolt 360 glasses system seems like a brilliant idea. An all-in-one set of indoor and outdoor glasses, featuring multiple temple and nose bridge options so that anyone can find their personal perfect fit without ever having to venture inside a sunglasses shop, or needing to try on some pair of gas station glasses which have already been tried on by who knows how many people. Unfortunately, this brilliant concept is marred by a flawed execution which embraces style over substance.

Unboxing the Lightning Bolt 360 glasses reveals a handsome carrying case (which GUNNAR refers to as the “Locker”) inside which live all the component parts of the Lightning Bolt 360 system. Foam cutouts keep the extra temple pieces, nose bridges, and lenses locked in place, while several pockets on the other side of the case provide ample storage for lens wipes, cleaning cloth, a manual, and sundry other flat items. A soft carrying case is also included for when the entire carrying case doesn’t need to be brought along.

Swapping out temple pieces is as simple as depressing a tab on the side of the glasses, removing the old piece, and pushing the new piece on until it clicks into place. The nose bridges also snap on and off easily, while still feeling firmly locked in place once in position.

Changing the lenses is a little more of a chore. The nose bridge has to be removed first, and while not absolutely required, removing the temple sides makes the job go a lot smoother. After that it’s a matter of pushing the old lenses until the pop out from the inside of the frames, then reversing the process to snap in the new lenses, and replace the temple and nose pieces. In all, it’s only a few minutes of work, but it’s still bothersome enough that most users will likely only do it once for the novelty, and then leave their Lightning Bolt 360s configured as either sunglasses or indoor computer glasses.

Finding a comfortable fit can be more challenging than it ought to have been. While the nose bridges come in small, medium, and large sizes, the three temple options are not so straightforward. The Classic option is blade shaped, with a textured piece to ensure that the glasses have a good grip when worn. They definitely don’t slip, as I found when testing them on a 10km run, but removing them too quickly can result in an unpleasant sensation as the rubber bits release their grip on bare skin.

The second pair of temple options, the posts, are similar to the blade-like temple pieces found on GUNNAR’s Torpedo glasses. Much like the Torpedo glasses, your review found these uncomfortably sharp and not good for long-term wear. The third temple option comprises a strap. I found these surprisingly comfortable, and the clear winner for my use. I did run into some durability issues with the strap, with one side popping out of its capture system while in the process of aggressively tightening things to fit my head.

The most significant question about the Lightning Bolt 360s is simply this: who were they designed for? With an MSRP of $129.99, they are approximately the same price as purchasing both a pair of GUNNAR gaming glasses and a pair of sunglasses, which would give a person two different pairs of glasses and save on space. The Locker is a great concept for keeping all the little pieces together, but a 7x7x2 square is a lot bulkier to carry around in a bag than a simple sunglasses case.

Possibly the best use-case for the Lightning Bolt 360s would be as part of an on-the-go travel gaming kit, for the gamer who never quite knows where he or she is going to be gaming while on the road. Swapping lenses would definitely make for a fun LAN party trick. However, the price of the system makes that an option for only the most well-heeled gamers.

A pair of GUNNAR Lightning Bolt 360 glasses were furnished for this review.