Gifts for gamers

Are blue light glasses a good gift for a gamer?

Yes, as long as you choose the frame with their setup in mind. Most gaming kit is hard to buy for someone else: mice, keyboards and headsets are personal, often expensive, and gamers tend to have firm opinions about all three. Glasses sit in a useful gap. They are visible, genuinely worn, rarely bought for themselves and affordable enough that the gift does not need a big occasion behind it.

Our lenses filter blue light from screens and the anti-glare coating cuts reflections from monitors and desk lamps, which is the kind of thing someone who spends their evenings gaming notices. What decides whether the pair actually gets worn, though, is fit and look. A frame that pinches under a headset or looks odd on a webcam ends up in a drawer, however good the lenses are.

What kind of frame works under a gaming headset?

Slim, flat arms are the single most important thing to check. A headset earcup presses the arm of the frame against the side of the head, so thick chunky arms create a pressure point that becomes obvious an hour into a session. Thin metal arms or slim plastic arms sit under the cushion with far less fuss.

Weight matters for the same reason. A light frame is easy to forget about, while a heavy one slides down the nose every time they lean in towards the screen. If you can, look at the product photos from the side to judge how thick the arms are before you buy.

• Arms: thin and flat, so they sit under an earcup
• Weight: light enough to forget about mid-game
• Shape: a medium square or rectangle suits most faces
• Colour: black or dark tortoiseshell looks right on and off camera

Should you choose clear or amber lenses for a gamer?

Choose clear unless you know they want the amber look. Clear lenses keep colours true, look like ordinary glasses on a webcam and can be worn for everything else they do at a screen, from work emails to films. That makes a clear pair the one that gets used every day rather than saved for one game.

Amber lenses are the more distinctive choice and they have a loyal following. They give the whole screen a warm cast, which some gamers love for the look and feel of a late session. The trade-off is that colours shift noticeably, which is not ideal for streaming, photo editing or anything colour-critical. If they already talk about gaming glasses or follow streamers who wear them, the Amber Lens Gaming Glasses at £18.99 make a fun, specific present.

Does it matter if they play on PC, console or handheld?

A little, mainly because of distance and lighting. PC gamers sit close to a monitor at a desk, often with a lamp or RGB strip nearby, so an anti-glare coating and headset-friendly arms matter most. Console players are usually further back on a sofa facing a TV, where reflections from windows and ceiling lights are the main annoyance and a headset may not be involved at all.

Handheld and phone gamers are the easiest to buy for, because almost any comfortable, lightweight frame works on the train or in bed with a Switch. For a closer look at how different setups change the choice, our guide to the best blue light glasses for gaming in the UK goes through the options frame by frame.

How much should you spend on a gaming glasses gift?

Somewhere between £10 and £20 buys a very good gaming gift, and there is no need to spend more to get a pair that gets worn. The price of a frame mostly reflects materials and styling, so the real decision is about look and fit. Here is how our range breaks down for a gamer.

Delivery is free on UK orders over £20 and £5.99 below that, so pairing two frames, or a frame with a second small gift for someone else, often makes more sense than a single pair on its own.

• Around £10: the Midnight Square at £9.99, a plain black square that suits most faces
• Around £14: the Sunset Lens pair at £13.99 for a warm tinted look
• Under £20: the Amber Lens Gaming Glasses at £18.99 for a dedicated gaming pair
• Two pairs: a clear pair plus a tinted pair takes you past £20, so delivery is free

What can you add to make it feel like a proper present?

A single pair of glasses is a practical parcel, so pair it with something small that lives on the same desk. The best add-ons are things a gamer uses every session but rarely thinks to replace for themselves.

If they both game and work at a screen, a second clear pair kept at the work desk is a surprisingly welcome extra. It means the gaming pair stays at the gaming setup instead of travelling back and forth in a pocket.

• A proper microfibre cloth for wiping fingerprints off the lenses
• A sturdy case, so the glasses survive a bag trip to a friend's house
• A desk lamp with an adjustable arm to brighten a dim battlestation
• A headset stand, so the headset stops sitting on top of the glasses
• Their favourite snacks for the next long session

What happens if the frame does not suit them?

Every order comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee and free returns, so a frame that does not fit or suit them is easy to send back. It is worth saying so on the card. It saves the recipient from wearing something they are unsure about just to be polite.

If you would rather they chose for themselves, point them towards Home Try-On, which lets them borrow up to four frames for seven days free and see what suits them before settling on one. For more ideas across every budget and recipient, have a look at the blue light glasses gift guide.

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