The Essential Pricing Guide for VR Prescription Lenses

Introduction

If you're getting lost in complex pricing structures for the leading VR lens brands, then you've come to the right place. This pricing guide will give you diopter-level pricing tables from leading VR manufacturers. This guide covers everything from price variations based on different prescriptions (nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism) to feature-based pricing increments. Don't buy a VR lens without reading this pricing guide first.

As a side note, if you're unsure whether you need lens inserts for your VR headset, we explain their importance and benefits here.

A Quick Background on Spherical and Cylinder Lenses 

Before we jump into pricing for leading VR brands, a quick background on the two primary features that affect prices: Spherical and Cylinder lenses.

Sphere refers to the power required in a lens to correct nearsightedness (Myopia) or farsightedness (Hyperopia). Simply put, it is the value of single-vision correction for your lens to give you perfect vision. The sphere is measured in diopters, the unit of measure used to describe the refractive error of the eye as well as the power of ophthalmic lenses.

Corrective lenses are either positive or negative in power, depending on whether you have Myopia or Hyperopia. Negative or minus lenses cause light to diverge.  Positive or plus lenses cause light to converge. In simpler terms, a plus or a positive lens magnifies an image whereas a negative lens minimizes the image.

Minus lenses are used in the correction of myopia as this condition is characterized by parallel light rays entering the eye and causing focus in front of the retina, rather than directly on it (optimal vision). 

On the other hand, hyperopia involves parallel light rays entering the eye and causing focus behind the retina rather than directly on it, thereby requiring plus lenses as a corrective measure. 

Therefore, the more distant the focal point is from your retina (front or behind) the higher the sphere value of your lenses.

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Astigmatism is a condition in which the eye, especially the cornea or the clear front part of the eyeball, isn't completely round. This irregular eye shape causes blurry vision irrespective of the distance of the object. Astigmatism is a common refractive error and is not a serious eye condition.

Cylinder readings indicate the amount of lens power required to correct astigmatism. It represents the difference between the greatest and weakest powers of the eye. Cylinder readings are measured in diopters, similar to sphere readings.

Cylinder readings are usually followed by an axis value. The axis is a number on an eye prescription to indicate the direction your lenses must be positioned, based on that part of your eye that has an irregular shape. The axis is defined with a number from 1 to 180. The number 90 corresponds to the vertical meridian of the eye, and the number 180 corresponds to the horizontal meridian.

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Research by the American Academy of Ophthalmology says 33% of Americans suffer from Astigmatism. If you have astigmatism, it's likely because it runs in the family.

As you will see below, Spherical and Cylinder lens pricing can vary quite a bit by manufacturer and diopter. Make sure to understand not just pricing across these two lens types, but also how the prices combine if you need a lens with both spherical and cylinder prescriptions.

Leading Brands in VR Prescription Lenses 

While there are many manufacturers of VR prescription lenses, we've compiled a list of some of the most reputable brands in the space. Here's a brief intro for each.

Reloptix is a leading brand in the VR insert space due to being an early mover in VR lenses (founded in 2020) and due to the rave reviews it's received from experts. Reloptix's goal is to deliver high-quality optical solutions, diligent customer service, and exceptional comfort, all while keeping the price of its products consistent across prescription strengths.

Zenni Optical has been a pioneer in the eyewear and contact lenses space since 2003 and recent ventured into the market of VR lens inserts in 2023.

VR Wave began operations in 2020 to make the VR experience immersive and enjoyable, vision irregularities notwithstanding.

Hons VR was created out of a passion for VR to offer high-quality design VR equipment.

VR Optician is a German-based manufacturer of VR lens inserts that offer a wide range of VR products and solutions.

All five of these brands are leading names in the manufacturing of VR lens inserts.

Pricing Table: Spherical Prescriptions

Below you will find a table showing price variations for different sphere readings from leading manufacturers in the VR lens inserts industry.

Price X Sphere Prescription Comparison Table Across Manufacturers

Pricing Table: Cylinder Prescriptions

Similar to the pricing table for spherical prescriptions, the table below shows prices for different cylinder prescriptions. In this case, we've assumed a constant 0.00 spherical reading to isolate the impact of cylinder prescription prices, however, for most manufacturers, spherical and cylinder prices stack.

Similar to sphere prescriptions, Reloptix has special order/experimental order pricing for higher cylinder readings starting at - 4.25 and -8.00.

As we mentioned, these cylinder readings assume a spherical diopter of 0.00, however, this often isn't the case for VR users. To understand how these prices change with spherical + cylinder readings, here are a few examples.

The cylinder pricing for Hons VR for a -4 prescription is $59.95, which assumes the sphere prescription is 0.00. As the sphere reading increases to +/-3.00, the cost jumps to $65.95. With a further increase in sphere reading to -/+5, the cost increases to $69.95. Additionally, this pricing structure does not include a blue-light filter, lens cover and prism in the lens.

The pricing structure of VR Wave may look appealing at first glance. However, once we introduce incremental sphere values into the prescription, even at a basic -2 CYL the price for a -4 sphere reading increases to $90, up from the starting point of $30. As you can probably guess, prices continue to rise for additional prescription strength, such as a +4 CYL reading, with a +3 sphere prescription, which prices out to $100. Lastly, these price increases don’t include additional features such as anti-glare, blue-light coating and filter.

Thanks to its standard pricing structure, Reloptix takes away the confusing (and often high) prices and bundles it with cutting-edge features. The standard pricing of $79.99 includes all the features of anti-glare coating, magnetic clip-in design, microfiber cloth & sturdy box, some prism and blue-light filter. A deviation from the standard pricing of $79.99 is only applicable when the prescription lenses are not in inventory and fall in the special order/experimental order category.

Add-On Features

In addition to the primary spherical and cylinder pricing, add-on features can materially change price depending on the manufacturer you choose. Also, it's important to remember that for most of these suppliers, add-on costs stack with spherical and cylinder diopter pricing.

Conclusion

As you look for a prescription lens to optimize your VR experience, make sure to research the nuanced pricing and feature sets of each manufacturer. For buyers with a high sphere or cylinder reading, incremental pricing can be very expensive and often doesn’t include important features.

Also, don't forget to look into features that aren't priced incrementally for manufacturers. At Reloptix, the benefits go far beyond standardized pricing and add-on features, usually making it the best option for buyers.