Varifocals or Bifocals?

[Smokin Joe]

I'm getting fed up with having to cart reading and distance glasses round with me all the time. I've just had an eye test and got the prescription so I thought of trying a pair of either bi or vari from one of the online retailers, cheap enough if I can't get on with them.

Which do fellow speccys find the easiest to get used to, bearing in mind I'm up and down steps quite a bit and worry about it all going horribly wrong.

 

[dellzeqq]

Bifocals..............not good when you're looking down. I've gone over to the two pair solution. Sorry.

 

[craigwend]

I went the varifocals route & can now look back ...

takes a bit of use to adapt - though once i persevered it was like seeing the world in HD - though noticed I now looked older than I thought !

 

[screenman]

I have to look up and down and all over the place, varifocals for me with a prism as well.

 

[PeteXXX]

I use varifocals. They take a bit of getting used to but worth persevering with.
If you do, buy the Premium ones as cheaper lenses have a narrower field of focus.

 

[Levo-Lon]

I hated vari But you can try for free at spec savers..
i love Bi focals and correctly fitted ones are no problem for MTB or anything else

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

I have varifocals and find they're good for long and middle distance but not so good at close up stuff.

 

[numbnuts]

Varifocals for me worked great straight out of the box go to Specsavers

And because we understand that some people may take a bit of time to get used to varifocal glasses, we’re giving you a special guarantee. If you can’t get on with them, bring them back within three months of the date of purchase and you can exchange them for either one pair of bifocals or two pairs of single-vision glasses (one for reading and one for distance). What's more, we'll refund any price difference. No quibble, no fuss.https://www.specsavers.co.uk/offers/three-month-varifocal-trial

 

[BlueFox]

Get varifocals and job done.

 

[T4tomo]

Varifocals, but make sure you get the best ones, spec savers do 2 or 3 grades, get the most expensive as you get best range of vision, and go with a decent size frame, as the more glass there is the better the vision for both distance and reading.

 

[guitarpete247]

I'm keen on anything folks say here as my close vision is worsening.

I tried varifocals a few years ago as I needed to be constantly taking glasses off to read. I leave my glasses all over the classroom then have to go looking for them.

GF has vari's and gets on with them great. When I tried them I found reading hard work moving my head to follow a line of text rather than moving eyes. Looking at car speedo meant finding the sweet spot, which took several seconds.

I need to know whether bi's are better for me than vari's.

 

[NorthernDave]

Varifocals here too - but I can't recommend Specsavers.
I had all sorts of problems last year, including the wrong lenses being prescribed and even when they sorted that they were never right. went to a different opticians for my eye test this year and the first thing he said was that the style of glasses I'd been sold previously wasn't suitable for varifocals...

 

[srw]

I have varifocals for everyday use, but if I've got a lot to read or need to spend time looking at a PC screen or with music on a music stand I'll use reading glasses. I'd solidly recommend varifocals, and can't imagine bifocals because the idea of having a line across my field of vision is horrible. For driving and cycling I have single vision sunglasses.

I've just stopped using Specsavers because I was fed up of not being treated like a person. Instead, I'm using crosseyes, which has just opened up in my town. The quality of the glasses is much higher, and by the time you've added on all of the upselling bits that Specsavers try and persuade you to have they're not much more expensive, even using Specsavers' two-for-one.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

I'm keen on anything folks say here as my close vision is worsening.

I tried varifocals a few years ago as I needed to be constantly taking glasses off to read. I leave my glasses all over the classroom then have to go looking for them.

GF has vari's and gets on with them great. When I tried them I found reading hard work moving my head to follow a line of text rather than moving eyes. Looking at car speedo meant finding the sweet spot, which took several seconds.

I need to know whether bi's are better for me than vari's.

You need more time to get used to them. Persevere, it'll come right.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Yeah, I've been persuaded by family to go to a proper opticians next time and get the job done properly to my specifications.