GUNNAR’s Soldier 11 gaming glasses may be designed for the digital battlefield, but we discovered they’re equally effective at turning an ordinary dinner into a low-budget espionage operation.
There are glasses you wear because you need them. There are glasses you wear because they look good. And then there are glasses that immediately get passed around the table because everyone wants to know what they look like wearing them.
The GUNNAR x Zenless Zone Zero Soldier 11 gaming glasses fall firmly into the third category.
Inspired by Soldier 11, the formidable operative from Zenless Zone Zero, these are not subtle spectacles. The oversized amber single-shield lens, angular black frame and yellow detailing have considerably more in common with tactical equipment than your optometrist’s reading-glasses display.
And that is precisely the point.
Put them on and something happens. Perfectly sensible adults suddenly start looking like fighter pilots, futuristic security personnel or people who know considerably more about the evening’s mission than they’re prepared to reveal.
We tested them in the highly controlled environment of dinner and drinks. Within minutes, the glasses had travelled around the table. Everyone looked slightly ridiculous. Everyone also looked strangely good in them.
That might be their greatest achievement.
But They Actually Have a Job
Behind the fun is some legitimate GUNNAR technology.
The glasses feature the company’s patented lens technology and G-Shield Premium coating, designed to reduce reflections while resisting fingerprints and smudges. The lenses filter blue light and block 100% of UV, making them particularly suited to long sessions in front of computers, gaming monitors and other screens.
At just under 35 grams, they’re surprisingly lightweight considering their substantial appearance. Flexible spring hinges help accommodate different faces, something our decidedly unscientific pass-them-around-the-table test demonstrated rather well.
The amber tint is immediately noticeable. It changes the colour temperature of your surroundings and makes screens look warmer. For someone spending hours working or gaming, that is where these glasses make considerably more sense than their theatrical appearance initially suggests.
Style Rating: Somewhere Between Maverick and Mad Scientist
Let’s address the elephant in the room.
These glasses are enormous.
With a 142 mm shield lens, they don’t quietly complement your outfit. They become your outfit.
That won’t appeal to everyone, but anyone buying officially licensed Zenless Zone Zero eyewear probably isn’t searching for a discreet pair of tortoiseshell readers.
The Soldier 11 design commits completely to its inspiration. The visor-like shape is futuristic, industrial and just strange enough to be terrific fun. They also photograph remarkably well, as our impromptu modelling session proved.
Some people looked ready to defend New Eridu.
Others looked ready to direct aircraft onto the runway.
One or two appeared capable of performing laser eye surgery without any formal medical training.
Nobody looked boring.
Nice Touches for Fans
GUNNAR has also treated these as collectibles rather than simply sticking a game logo on a pair of glasses. They come with a Soldier 11 collector’s microfiber cleaning cloth and puffy protective pouch, along with a 12-month warranty.
For a Zenless Zone Zero fan, those details matter. For everyone else, the glasses themselves remain the attraction.
The Verdict
Are they understated? Absolutely not.
Are they fun? Ridiculously.
More importantly, underneath the cosplay-meets-cyberpunk appearance is a genuinely functional pair of computer glasses from a company that has specialized in screen eyewear for years.
The GUNNAR x Zenless Zone Zero Soldier 11 glasses manage to combine useful blue-light filtering technology with the irresistible opportunity to look like you’ve just received a classified assignment.
Wear them gaming. Wear them working.
Wear them to dinner if you’re feeling particularly confident.
Just don’t expect to keep them to yourself.
