Oakley Flak 2.0 Prizm Green Fade

Field Notes: Oakley says its limited edition Green Fade collection is designed to “unite the world’s best athletes under the color of innovation and performance.” And in a throwback move by the iconic sunglasses brand, the same Green Fade was featured on Oakley’s first performance sunglasses in 1980, which some of us are old enough to remember. 

Only 100,000 Flak 2.0 were produced with Green Fade frames, one of which we got our hands on for testing, and each pair was hand painted at Oakley’s Foothill Ranch headquarters in California. They literally made us want to go out and run around the track, a rare occurrence for our usually dirt-focused testing. These sunglasses feature lightweight and durable frames, extended peripheral coverage, and UV and impact protection with polarized lenses.

Oakley athletes Gwen Jorgensen (USA), Javier Gomez Noya (Spain), and Richard Murray (South Africa) were seen wearing them this summer in Rio, which definitely ups the covet factor for this limited edition release. The Flaks we tested as well as the others in the line feature Prizm – a lens technology that enhances contrast and visibility through a wide range of light conditions.

Prizm lenses dial in on one definitive tint or tint combination made for specific use cases. The Flak 2.0 collection with Prizm includes models like Prizm Road, Prizm Trail, Prizm Deep Water and so on, each with their own unique frame and lens color combination, named for the preferable activity and outdoor condition lens color is optimized for. Other Flak 2.0 styles can be customized with either black, silver or “retina burn” frames and a variety of Prizm lenses.

Other Oakleys with Prizm include lenses include performance styles like EVZero, Radar EV Path and Flak 2.0 XL, as well as lifestyle models including Frogskins and Holbrook models. 

Pros: Classic throwback style, open-bottom Prizm Baseball lenses with Green Fade and other Flak 2.0 models.

Cons: Too sporty for normal wear and look out of place in casual settings.

Tester Comments: “I don’t know if it was just me, but these Oakley sunglasses made me feel faster.”

Key Attribute: Performance

Best For: Kicking butt in sport and athletic pursuits when unobstructed downward view and proper light contrast are critical.