In our testing, we found that full-metal hinges helped-the hinges made arms easier to fold and unfold-but we considered models that had plastic hinges, too.

Build quality: Even cheap sunglasses should feel solidly constructed and be able to withstand your throwing them into a backpack or onto the backseat of a car.Comfort: Although comfort is hard to evaluate because people’s faces and tolerance for glasses vary widely, we sought frames that were lightweight and pleasant to wear for long periods of time on a variety of face shapes and sizes.Some people are willing to take good care of their shades and pay more for style, excellent build quality, or other bonuses, so we also tested some higher-quality pairs, and for those we set our price cap at $70. Value: After speaking to people who tended to break or lose their sunglasses, we decided that a good pair of cheap sunglasses should meet all our other criteria for less than $30.When you shop for sunglasses, always make sure to choose lenses with 99% or 100% UV protection or UV400 labeling (“UV400” means that the glasses block all light rays with wavelengths shorter than 400 nanometers, which is the cutoff for UV light).

Goel, MD, told us, when you use lenses without UV protection, you end up allowing more damaging UV rays to enter your eyes than if you were wearing no sunglasses at all, and you leave your eyes vulnerable to a slew of nasty ailments (more on that in the UV protection section).

Best sunglasses for flats fishing