The Pros and Cons of Progressive Lenses

Progressive lenses, also known as multifocals or varifocals, and sometimes "three layer can see far and near lenses", comes with both advantages and disadvantages for the wearer, which we will explore in this post.

Presbyopia is a condition whereby the eye loses the ability to focus at near. This usually sets in at about 40 years old, with the presbyopic power increasing slowly in the next two decades or so. This cannot be reversed, and is a natural phenomenon.

In some situations, such as when the wearer's current myopic prescription is overcorrected, presbyopic symptoms can present earlier, i.e. before 40 years old, although this can be easily resolved by reducing the myopic prescription to the appropriate power.

You can read more about presbyopia and progressive lenses here.

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Advantage 1 - Convenience

With progressive lenses, you can go from distant to near vision in a split second. No more taking out your reading glasses to reply a text, or changing into distant glasses when standing up from your desk. You only need to use the appropriate zones within the progressive lenses to switch between seeing far and near.

Advantage 2 - Comfort over Bifocals

Unlike bifocals that have a prescription 'jump' from the distance power to the near power, the presbyopic (reading) power gradually increases towards the bottom of the lenses, resulting in a smooth transition from the distance portion to the near portion of the lenses.

Advantage 3 - Aesthetics

Unlike the older bifocals or trifocals, progressive lenses seamlessly blend in the presbyopic (reading) power, which means the absence of a line or lines. This is more aesthetically appealing, which is a plus point for many wearers, who may not like to be seen as requiring a presbyopic power or reading glasses.

Advantage 4 - You have all the Powers

Since the presbyopic (reading) power comes in as you look from the top to the bottom of the lenses, with the maximum presbyopic power right at the bottom, this means you actually have lesser (and varying) amounts of presbyopia in between the distance and near zones on the lenses. These intermediate powers can be used for viewing objects that are at intermediate distance, e.g. at the hotpot in the centre of the dining table. Nom nom.

Disadvantage 1 - Learning and Adaptation

Like learning how to ride a bicycle, we don't immediately get the hang of progressives. This is why it is important to control your expectations (it's not a "magic pill") and fully understand how progressives and the different zones within the progressives work. When dispensing progressive lenses, even for more experienced users, we like to ensure that the wearer knows how to use the lenses appropriately, and to take a little bit of time to walk and look around to adapt to the lenses.

Disadvantage 2 - Smaller Usable Areas

While you have various zones that you are able to use for objects at different distances, having multiple zones also means that each zone is smaller. Hence, for prolonged work at a certain distance, e.g. if you need to be on the laptop for hours on end, you may find that having a single vision lens (reading glasses in this case) is more comfortable as it will allow you to have more flexibility in head and eye positioning and hence your posture.

Disadvantage 3 - Price

Progressive lenses are relatively more expensive than single vision lenses, although with the popularity in recent times the prices have fallen to where it has become attractive enough for many users to want to give it a try, even for those who previously were concerned about adapting to progressive lenses. The cost of progressive spectacles these days is approximately the cost of doing two or three pairs of single vision glasses - minus the inconvenience of carrying two pairs of glasses around!

Disadvantage 4 - Sensitivity and Perfection

Progressive lenses may be more sensitive to frame fitting, i.e. how the frame sits on your face. This is a potential issue if you abuse your glasses, since a frame that is out of shape will mean that the zones are in different positions than intended. So stop frame abuse today; use both hands to remove your glasses! Also, with multiple powers within the lenses, we never believe things can be 100% perfect, no matter what the advertisements say; so if you're a perfectionist, you might want to proceed with caution.

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Conclusion

With the above pros and cons, you may realise that progressive lenses may not be as straight-foward as we would expect it to be, both for the wearer as well as the eyecare practitioner fitting the lenses.

It is important to know more about the lifestyle of the user and how the lenses will be used, i.e. the environment of the user. We tend to also try gather information about the motivation or reason for progressives, or for some users, the reasons behind why they feel uncomfortable with their current progressive glasses.

Through this, we are able to suggest a suitable solution for the spectacles wearer - and don't be surprised, sometimes the solution may be to not use progressives at all. Indeed we have advised a handful of customers that the ideal solution for them is to have two pairs of glasses, one for far and one for reading, which would best suit their needs.

There are also various other alternatives, like having both a progressive glasses as well as a reading or driving glasses, or the use of office lenses that is for use within the office cubicle - giving relatively excellent intermediate and near vision as compared to a conventional progressive lens.

We wrote a post about some cases where progressive lenses fail. If you are looking for alternatives beacuse progressive lenses don't seem not to work for you, also check that article out.

Else, there's always Otago Optical to help you.

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When Progressives Fail

Cases of failed progressives and lessons learnt.

Have you tried progressives but to no success? Are progressives lenses uncomfortable for you? Are you having issues adapting to progressive lenses? What could go wrong when you get such glasses?

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The advantages of progressives in a nutshell

- Convenience. We feel this should be the primary consideration and motivation. If you don't want to carry an extra pair of reading glasses out and switch your glasses around, progressive lenses can stay on your face and allow you to see both far and near.

- You probably wouldn't lose it. Because you aren't constantly changing between glasses, and so it's less likely to leave it at the hawker centre / food court / cafe / restaurant table.

The disadvantages of progressives in a nutshell

- Smaller usable areas. In a single vision lens, the whole lens is for far or for near vision, while in a progressive lens, there is both the powers, and everything in between. So each of the areas are smaller.

- Adaptation. Like riding a bike for the first time, you'll need to learn how to use it, and when you buy a new bike, you'll need time to get comfortable with the that new feeling. And yup, there will always be non-adapt cases.

P.S. progressive lenses are also known as multifocal lenses or varifocal lenses. Some folks call them invisible bi-focals. In general, people use these terms interchangeably.

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Haiyaa, why the progressives don't work:

Initial reluctance to use progressives

Presbyopia, a.k.a 'old flower' catches all of us, but not everyone wants to accept it initially.

So, some folks may have single vision glasses that are adjusted to be a compromise between distant and near vision. Some may even have multiple pairs of glasses, such as one for clear distant vision ('full power'), one for clear near vision (reading glasses), and one as a compromise between far and near vision.

At this point, the wearer may already be struggling with near vision. There may be an expectation of having the equivalent feel of the single vision distance glasses AND the reading glasses. This, needless to say, is not physically possible, since the areas of both far and near on a progressives would never be as wide or large as a single vision lens.

Solution: start wearing the progressive lenses when you first experience issues with near vision. With a lower "addition" or "presbyopia power", there is minimal distortion, swim, and other effects, which makes adaptation easier.

Lesson learned: START EARLY.

Unsure of what to get

Practitioners would advise on what they feel is best for the wearers, based on their feedback on their current and previous glasses.

One lesser known type of lens is an office lens, or workspace lens. For customers who spend much time on the desktop and mobile phone, this can be much more comfortable than a progressive lens as the areas for intermediate and near work are significantly larger. We have written about office lenses (scroll down to "office lenses" in that article).

It can happen, although not common, that a customer will first want office lenses, and then call a couple of days later to change it to progressive lenses. We think this may be a fallacy of value - "if we do a progressives, it is more worth it than an office lens, since there is more use for it" - they have failed to take into account the usable areas of the lenses.

When this happens, it causes the expectation of being able to see near as well as office lenses, yet also have the area for distant vision like a normal progressive lens. Of course, this is impossible to achieve since those are two different lens types / designs.

This creates a mismatch between the product and the wearer's expectation. Furthermore, in the above case, the progressives would end up being the same as the previous glasses (albeit slightly better since it's customised) and not fully solving the initial issues presented by the wearer.

Solution: Listen to the practitioner's suggestions, and think about what you really wish to solve, if they create a match, and if it does, stick with it and give it a try.

Lesson learned: DON'T SELF SABO.

Change in Prescription, especially for First-Time Progressives Wearers

Similar to the wearer who may be reluctant to use progressives at first, someone who has a change in prescription will have to get used to BOTH the new prescription and the progressives. This adds a layer of challenge, made worse if the wearer tends to have difficulty adapting to a new degree.

This is why it is important to regularly get your eyes tested and change your glasses accordingly. Even if your prescription does not change, lenses will degrade over time and be less clear. When you use your glasses for too long, changing to a new pair might make things 'too clear' even with the same degree, as the lenses are new.

We like to advice wearers that if you have a change in prescription, wear the new glasses rather than trying to rely back on the old glasses, which then results in having multiple pairs of glasses, all with different degrees! If you prefer to keep the prescription the same, tell it to your optician or optometrist, and they will be able to advise accordingly - if the change isn't large then it may be alright to just "follow back" the old prescription, which means you will now have glasses that are of the same degree that can be worn interchangeably.

Solution: Check your eyes regularly, especially if you're already not seeing clearly.

Lesson learned: DON'T LAZY TO VISIT YOUR OPTICIAN.

Expectations and Imagination

(No) thanks to some advertisements promising you everything, consumers can come in looking for magical glasses that can adjust and adapt to whatever they are seeing, in perfect unicorn vision. Also, it must be fast, cheap, and guaranteed success! Too bad, the closest to a unicorn is the narwhal and it doesn't fly around on a magic carpet. Progressives aren't binoculars or microscopes, nor are they alive and can auto-focus for you. Progressive lenses have both pros and cons, and although customisation of the lenses seek to make the lenses as suitable for the wearer's requirements as possible, they are never 'perfectly perfect'.

Excessively high expectations can also happen when a progressive wearer loses their progressive glasses. Since it can be a lot more inconvenient without the progressives, they may imagine how wonderful it used to be, creating a false impression and expectation of the 'perfectness' of progressives.

Realising and accepting that every new pair of glasses needs adaptation, and more so for progressive lenses, and even more so if we do not know the previous prescription (hence it could have changed significantly) will usually resolve the issue.

Also, have a reasonable budget and don't overspend.

Solution: Manage your expectations.

Lesson learned: KEEP CALM AND WEAR YOUR GLASSES.

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What to do if you still can't seem to get used to progressives?

1) Try a different design

By customising the progressives to your visual needs and according to the feedback on the vision and comfort in the failed pair of progressives, the subsequent pair can be done with the aim to best resolve the issues that you faced.

2) Use two pair of glasses instead

Single vision far, and single vision near. Minimal adaptation required, especially if you've worn these before.

3) Use a specific single vision lens for a purpose

If your issue with the progressives is mainly on, say, near work, why not try to use a single vision reading glasses for near, and the progressives as a general use - like when you're shopping or our for lunch.

4) Check out office or workspace lenses

If the issue is with a limited area for your desktop, mobile phone, or writing materials, office lenses that have a prescription specific for your workspace (e.g. up to 1m for the desktop and close up to 35cm for paperwork) can help a lot better than standard progressive lenses!

5) Take note of your typical visual space

A few of us might have some kind of workspace that's markedly different, perhaps a monitor that's placed at a non-typical location, or have lifestyles that require extra consideration when doing the progressives. Your practitioner can only help you if they know about these, so don't be afraid to tell them about it.

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Average Cost of Spectacles in Singapore

How much do spectacles cost in Singapore? Here's your guide to spectacles prices in Singapore.

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How much does it cost to do glasses in Singapore

What's the market average, and how much should you be paying? Check out our reference guide!

Glasses used to be sold ala-carte, i.e. you add the frame and lens prices together. As an article by TheSmartLocal noted, "frames can cost as much as $300, and most of the time, these don’t include lenses".

But gone are those days! Now you have a choice - glasses packages that include the necessary basics at one flat price, or ala-carte your way with atas lens options.

If you're looking for progressive lens prices, scroll down towards the bottom of this article.

Package Glasses Prices - Simple, easy, transparent pricing!

Under $50 - Very Budget

You can usually find sub-$50 glasses by going online. These usually have a smaller range of prescriptions available, with various top ups necessary. Shops based overseas typically have a longer waiting time. Some of the frames used in this price range could be 'fashion-stock' meant for the night markets or street vendors. Another way to lower cost is to put as much of the fulfillment in a country where it's cheaper, i.e. your order is fulfilled overseas.

$50 to $100 - Acceptable

In this price range, you will be able to find reasonably decent glasses in some neighbourhood shops - especially those that focus less on branded goods. Look out for good plastic frames, like those made of TR90 material which is flexible and lightweight, making it durable and comfortable to wear. New generation optical shops (like Otago Optical) have pretty decent glasses at this price range, inclusive of multicoated lenses, and a wide selection of styles to choose from too!

$101 to $200 - Best Value

This range is where you will find the best value - the perfect balance between price and quality. Most shops, including the larger chain stores would typically stock glasses that are in this price bracket, although the selection may not be huge. Going to a less expensive store, you should be able to find decent titanium alloy frames, as well as some more unique materials like polyetherimide (also known as PEI or ultem) that can offer excellent flexibility and material memory, making it good for those of us who tend to abuse our glasses a bit more. Shops in malls including the fast retailing chains tend to start with a base price in this range, with add-ons on the lenses potentially making the cost go up significantly.

Above $200 - Premium

Here is where you can find premium products, such as branded frames and branded lenses. While not common, there are shops that package such branded products together to give a simple pricing, making it easy for the consumer. We find that these tend to be the fashion brands, with the truly designer brands being sold ala-carte. Note that there is a huge range of brands available, and there can be different product ranges within a brand itself, so if you're comparing prices, keep this in mind.

Ala-Carte Prices for Frames

Typically, for frames, expect to pay about $150 ala carte for a popular high-street brand, and $400 or more for a designer handmade brand that has less supply and may only be available at a small handful of select stores. Limited edition frames can go up to $1000 or even more.

Unbranded frames are typically cheaper, starting anywhere from about $20 per frame to about $200 or so. At this end of the market, the pricing often is a reflection of the cost to produce the frame (of course, excluding the shops that exist to intentionally overcharge and chop unwary consumers). Some designs, materials, or manufacturing processes are more costly, producing unique designs in smaller quantities will result in a higher cost, and so on.

Check out this article on why some frames cost more to manufacture.

Frames that are designed locally, or made with quality-first in mind in order to match with good branded frames, would fall on the higher end of the scale.

Some frames are licensed with a brand, i.e. the supplier or distributor has bought the license to use the brand on the frame. Depending on the popularity and value of the brand, the frame can be as cheap as a normal unbranded frame, or as much as a designer glasses.

Ala-Carte Prices for Lenses

For lenses, expect to fork out about $140 and above for basic lenses by the major premium brands (the Big 3 - your Crizal, Hoya, Zeiss). These lenses can run up to well over $1000 depending on the lens type and features.

As a general rule, 'stock lenses' which are pre-made and are more commonly used tend to be cheaper, while 'rx lenses' which are made-to-order are more expensive. 'Rx lenses' are there to meet all you folks who have high astigmatism or degree, or expect some additional features, say if you want the lenses to be compensated for the specific frame and wearing position on your face.

For unbranded lenses, our research has shown the typical price of ala-carte prescriptive lenses in Singapore:

​Multicoated Lenses with UV Protection
​1.50	$50 to $70
1.56	$50 to $90
1.60	$90 to $140
1.67	$150 to $200
1.74	$250 to $450

(Last updated May 2024)

Prices vary as different businesses have different concepts - some offer a low price for a certain index lens, but have a very limited prescription range, hence the user ends up having to upgrade the index. Some stores may charge the same whether you do just the lenses, or the glasses as a package (i.e. free frame).

We also note that some shops have absurdly low prices, especially for the higher index lenses. Use caution. The prices we have listed are based on what we believe are legit and authentic.

Also check out the article on the thickness of your lenses VS the index. There are many other factors to consider - thickness isn't always just about lens index!

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1-for-1, Trade-In, Second-Pair Half-Price Promotions

Some optical stores frequently run promotions, or have memberships that can you can sign up for, in order to get a better price. In this case, you would have to monitor the on-going sale mechanics to score the best deal and avoid buying it when prices are high. Also note the terms and conditions that have to be fulfilled for the promotion, and any minimum spending required.

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Prescription Ranges and Higher Powers or High Astigmatism Lenses

For package glasses, most good shops would keep a range of about +400 to -600. This means 400 degrees of hyperopia/presbyopia and 600 degrees of myopia. Astigmatism would be -200 and under.

For the cheaper price points, the range is usually smaller, e.g. +200 to -400, with additional top-up required if you fall outside the range.

For Otago Optical, as at this writing, we keep a range of +400 to -800, astigmatism up to 200. This covers the large majority of spectacle wearers we see.

High astigmatism, i.e. above 200 degrees, will usually cost more, as they are not typically kept in stock, and the store would either have to order from a lab that keeps stock, or have it made-to-order. These also usually take more time - which is why if you have a higher astigmatism, it's best to have a spare pair of glasses.

High astigmatism lenses can cost as little as $30 more, or up to $100 and more, depending on the specifics of lenses you are ordering, i.e. are they high-index, do you need photochromic function, etc.

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How much do progressive lenses cost in Singapore?

$200 to $2000, depending on the specific requirements and features the lenses offer.

While there are lenses going for under $100, those are rare. There are stock progressive lenses that are pre-made with common prescriptions, and are simply cut to fit the frame - just like how we can cut single vision lenses on the spot so customers are able to collect their glasses within a short period of time. Some of these stock progressive lenses do not come with astigmatism, and they have limited parameters. Of course, these are not customisable.

A decent pair of progressive lenses should cost about $200 and up. This should include the multicoating, which gives you the anti-reflective (AR) coating as well as the ultra-violet (UV) blocking feature. Add on a frame and you should be paying in the high $200 to mid $300 range.

We wrote an article about why you shouldn't spend over your budget for progressive lenses.

Branded lenses typically start from $350 for the budget range, all the way up to $2000 for the most individualised range with add-ons.

The final price depends on:

- what index, i.e. how thin you want the lenses to be, if you have a higher prescription

- what functions you want, e.g. photochromic, blue/violet light blocking

- the design of the lenses - think wider corridor or usable space with less distortion

- how personalised the lenses are to your needs

- if the lenses are branded

Since most good progressive lenses are made-to-order, high astigmatism isn't an issue, i.e. typically shops do not charge extra for it. However, expect to pay more for high-index lenses if your prescription is higher, and also any fancy add-ons like blue or violet light blocking, photochromic (photosensitive) function, and so on.

There can be quite a significant difference between unbranded and branded lenses here. Fast-retailing and newer 'package pricing' stores tend to have an add-on price for functions like photochromic or violet light blocking, which is about $100 or so, while for branded lenses some these additional functions can cost an additional $200 or more. The price premium could be worth it in some cases, which depends on your expectations, and also as some brands are well-known for certain functions or features.

Office lenses work similar to progressive lenses, but additional inputs are done in order to customise the prescriptions and usage areas, in order to make it individualised for the wearer's workspace. For instance, office lenses can be made to work for both near objects at 35cm at the downward gaze, and up to 1metre in the straight gaze which would make it suitable for desktop computer work as well. These usually cost about the same as a progressive lens, or sometimes a little more, due to the additional time it takes to personalise the lenses for the wearer.

The important thing to note for progressives is: There is no one-size-fits-all. It requires a good balance between your expectations and needs in terms of your lifestyle and visual requirements, your budget, while also considering other factors like the frame type, if you have other glasses (e.g. single vision reading glasses), and so on.

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