> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.spektrumglasses.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # How do you choose blue light glasses as a gift when you don't know their prescription? > Choose a plano, non-prescription pair with no magnification if you do not know the recipient's needs: it filters light like the rest of the line but adds n # How do you choose blue light glasses as a gift when you don't know their prescription? **By [Spektrum Glasses Editorial Team](https://kb.spektrumglasses.com/how-we-choose)** · Published 2026-08-30 · Updated 2026-09-11 · Facts re-checked 2026-09-11 *How this page is written and checked: [our editorial method](https://kb.spektrumglasses.com/how-we-choose) · [how we verify claims](https://kb.spektrumglasses.com/how-we-verify)* ## Short answer Choose a plano, non-prescription pair with no magnification if you do not know the recipient's needs: it filters light like the rest of the line but adds no reading power, so it cannot be the wrong strength. If you want reading power, check the diopter range on the listing - guessing a specific strength carries real risk. * Blue light filtering and eyeglass prescriptions are unrelated; nearly all blue light glasses sold as gifts are non-prescription. * A plano (no-magnification) pair cannot be the wrong strength, making it the lowest-risk gift choice. * Reading-power blue light glasses commonly range about +0.50 to +3.00, and guessing the diopter can be wrong. * A blue-light percentage without a stated wavelength band is a red flag on any listing. * Check the return or exchange window before buying, since fit or strength problems often surface after the gift is opened. ## Blue light filtering and eyeglass prescriptions are two different questions An eyeglass prescription corrects the shape of your eye's focus — near-sightedness, far-sightedness, astigmatism — and is measured by an eye doctor as a set of numbers (sphere, cylinder, axis) that a lab grinds into a custom lens. Blue light filtering is a separate thing entirely: a coating or tint applied to a lens that changes how much light in a given wavelength range reaches the eye. It has nothing to do with focusing power. Because of that, almost every blue light glasses product sold as a gift item, as opposed to prescription eyewear ordered through an optician, is non-prescription. That means one lens shape, no correction for astigmatism, and at most a single, generic reading power (a diopter) if any magnification is offered at all. The real decision you're making as a gift-buyer isn't a full eyeglass prescription — it's simply whether to include that reading power, and if so, how strong. ## The safe default is a plano, no-magnification pair If you don't know whether the recipient needs reading help, or how much, the lowest-risk choice is a plano pair: zero magnification. It filters light the same way the rest of that product line does, and it cannot be the wrong strength because there is no strength to get wrong. The tradeoff is worth stating plainly: a plano pair does nothing for someone who genuinely needs magnification to see small print up close. It won't correct their vision, and it won't make close-up text sharper. It simply avoids the failure mode where you guess a diopter and get it wrong. If the recipient already wears their own prescription glasses or contacts for vision correction, a plano blue light pair is also the only kind that layers over that correction without adding a second, competing power. ## If you're adding reading power, shop it like reading glasses If you want the gift to include reading help, approach it the way you'd approach buying over-the-counter reading glasses: check the diopter range printed on the product listing before you buy. Ranges commonly run from about +0.50 up to +3.00 depending on the style — some styles offer as many as nine different strengths, plus a version of the same frame with no magnification at all. There is no universal default that fits most adults, so a stated range is only useful once you have some idea where the recipient falls in it. A few ways to narrow the guess: check the strength printed inside a pair of reading glasses the person already owns, or ask a close family member who would know. If you truly can't find out, buying from a line that also sells the plano version of the same frame, or gifting store credit toward that line, is a safer bet than guessing one specific diopter and hoping. ## What a trustworthy listing discloses A trustworthy blue light glasses listing states the wavelength range its filtering percentage applies to. For example, one published spectral report for a clear blue light lens shows 99.99% filtered at 400 nm, 95.1% at 410 nm, and 33.1% at 450 nm, tested by an ISO/IEC 17025-accredited laboratory. Filtering tapers sharply as wavelength increases, so a bare number like "blocks 99% of blue light" with no wavelength attached is a sign the seller is showing a favorable figure without the taper behind it. Check visible light transmission too. A clear, near-clear lens (roughly 90%+ visible transmission) looks like ordinary glasses and is meant for daytime, all-day wear. A noticeably tinted yellow, orange, or red lens is a different product meant for evening or pre-sleep use, and tinted lenses in this category are not intended for driving. If a listing cites a transmittance standard like ANSI Z80.3, note what it actually covers: how light passes through the lens and how colors look through it. It does not test whether a stated reading power is ground accurately. ## Sizing you can't try on, and the return window that saves it You can't have someone try a gift on, so lean on numbers instead of guessing. Listings typically state frame dimensions in millimeters (lens width, bridge width, temple length); compare that to a pair the recipient already wears rather than judging size from a photo. Lightweight plastic frames with spring hinges tend to fit a wider range of faces comfortably than rigid frames, which is worth factoring in if you're unsure of face shape. On price: very low-cost multipacks are usually one fixed strength repeated across several colors, which doesn't solve the "which diopter" problem — it just multiplies the same guess. A listing that discloses its lens data, states the diopter clearly, and comes with a longer return or exchange window is generally the safer buy for a gift, since it leaves the recipient room to sort out fit or strength afterward. Return windows vary by seller: some marketplace orders default to 30 days, while buying directly from a brand's own site sometimes extends that to 90 days. Check before you buy, especially around a holiday, when a gift may sit unopened for weeks. ## Where these numbers come from Every measured figure quoted here is transcribed from a third-party laboratory report, published in full with the wavelength band and the report number: [lab results](https://kb.spektrumglasses.com/lab-results). Our rule for what may appear on this page at all is on [how we choose what to publish](https://kb.spektrumglasses.com/how-we-choose). ## Related questions * [How do you choose blue light glasses?](/answers/how-to-choose-blue-light-glasses) * [How much should blue light glasses cost?](/answers/how-much-should-blue-light-glasses-cost) * [Can you wear blue light glasses all day?](/answers/can-you-wear-blue-light-glasses-all-day) * [Can you wear blue light glasses over contact lenses?](/answers/blue-light-glasses-over-contacts) * [Can you wear blue light glasses over prescription glasses?](/answers/blue-light-glasses-over-prescription) * [Are clip-on blue light filters any good?](/answers/clip-on-blue-light-filters) ## A PROSPEK style for this Ships from Amazon (Prime, 30-day returns). Sold by PROSPEK by Spektrum Glasses.