Blenders vs Oakley: What Sets Blenders Eyewear Apart from Oakley?

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Want to buy a cool pair of sunglasses and you find Blenders and Oakley, right?

But now you are confused between the evergreen Oakley and the trendy Blenders? 

Calm down, chill! In this article, I have dissected both brands thoroughly, for you to make the ultimate decision between Blenders vs Oakley. 

Blenders Eyewear

blenders eyewear

The Blenders Eyewear is a California-based optics company that sells trendy and stylish glasses which are affordable, without compromising quality. The CEO of Blenders, Chase Fisher, started this company in 2012 and today it has established an extremely popular name in the optics industry. 

Fisher, an avid surfer himself, created this eyewear brand to represent the California surf culture. Fisher wanted his brand to be accessible to a wide range of customers and not just selective rungs of society, thus the reason behind its affordable price point. The brand puts more emphasis on their marketing to stay close to the customers and they also have a strong online presence. 

The Safilo Group, a reputed Italian group for eyewear, bought a majority stake in the Blenders in 2019. 

Oakley

oakley website

Oakley has established itself as a well-known name in the eyewear industry as well as the sports industry. Initially, when it was founded in 1975 by James Jannard, Oakley’s main focus was on manufacturing motorcycle grips which were called the Oakley grip. Their first sunglasses were released in 1984, after which Oakley included sunglasses and eyewear in its product line. 

Oakley became popular among athletes because of its cutting-edge technology and high performance. Not just for athletes, it was also a popular choice among outdoor enthusiasts. 

Headquartered in California, today Oakley also offers various apparel, footwear, and accessories under its brand. It’s a prominent brand in the industry that is known for its high-performance driven and exceptional quality products.

Blenders Eyewear vs Oakley

Brand Popularity

Both Oakley and Blenders are very popular among people, but what if they have to compete? 

Oakley has 2.5M+ followers on Instagram, 5M + followers on Facebook, and 350K + followers on Twitter.

oakley instagram popularity

Blenders Eyewear, which is known for its social media presence and promotes most of its products through social media has a following of 600K + on Instagram, 1M + on Facebook, and 11K + on Twitter. 

blenders instagram popularity

Between the eminent Oakley and the hip Blenders, Oakley wins the brand popularity index.

Retail Distribution

Blenders does not have many stores across America but they have 3 physical stores in its birthplace California, and 1 store in Texas. They mainly are an online based store that also sells through retail distributors across the country. You can also find their products on Amazon. 

Oakley, being a brand from the 20th century, has about 170-180 stores in the USA. Apart from the walk-in stores, Oakley also has an official website from where you can purchase their products if you do not have a store nearby. Amazon also offers Oakley products. 

Price Range

The Blenders are known for their affordable pricing in high-quality products and after checking out their website, you’ll know that it is quite true. Their lowest-priced products happen to be the Ice Crush Polarized Sunglasses, and Kiwi Dream in the Aviator series. Their most expensive products are the ORBR III Special Edition Redbull Sunglasses. But, all of their sunglasses costs less than $100.

The Oakley sunglasses on the other hand have a price range that is much more than Blenders. The majority of Oakley sunglasses will cost you somewhere around $100 to $250. Some Oakley sunglasses are even expensive than $300.

Variety Of Styles

blenders eyewear variety of styles

The Blenders eyewear offers many of the classic eyewear styles in their collection with their own touch of chic and zestiness. Some of these are; the Wayfarer, the Aviator, the Clubmaster, and the Rounds. They also have a range of styles which are the Blenders’ exclusive styles like the Shield, the Wraparound, the Geometric, etc… Among all the styles and models Blender has to offer, The Rose Theatre and Black Tundra always top the list! 

Want to check out Blender’s best-selling sunglasses, you can find them here.

The Oakley designs are made especially for catering to the needs of athletes, with a style that is appealing to the general public as well. Some of the styles offered by Oakley are the Holbrook, the Split Shot, the Frogskins, the Jawbreakers, the Gascans, the Batwolfs, the Catalysts, etc… Oakley’s bestseller product is the Oakley Holbrook™. Now, even though I am not athletic at all, the Oakley collection still had the Flak 2.0 XL which I loved the most out of all the 1100+ products. 

Note that both Blenders and Oakley offer these styles in various different models, different colors, and shapes. 

Material Used

For making the frames Blenders usually use Acetate, Metal Alloys, Nylon, etc… While making lenses, it uses Polycarbonate. Polycarbonate lenses are impact-resistant and thus provide ultimate protection to your sunglasses. While making a Blenders product, an athlete’s needs are always kept in mind. If you are already impressed by Blenders, but you really can’t afford them, well then there are so many sunglasses similar to Blenders.

One of Oakley’s breakthrough innovations was the creation of Unobtanium, which is a rubber-like material that enhances grip and comfort and thus is ideal for sporty people. Unobtanium is used in making nose pads. Oakley uses materials like Titanium, Stainless Steel, Plutonite, etc… to make the frames of their sunglasses. 

Collaborations

The Blenders are known for their unique ways of promotions, like social media and collaborations. Recently, Blenders have collaborated with the F1 racing team Oracle Red Bulls and have become popular among the F1 World Champion Max Verstappen fans. Their bestseller products, the ORBR I and the ORBR II are the models of the  Oracle Red Bull Racing Collection. 

The Oakley, even though are not very good at promotions, have done quite a lot when it comes to collaborations. It has collaborated with Scuderia Ferrari and Ducati. Oakley has also collaborated with various athletes like basketballer Michael Jordan, golfer Bubba Watson, Olympic snowboarder Shaun White and cyclist Mark Cavendish. 

Warranty & Customer Service

blenders warranty and customer service

The Blenders Eyewear provides a warranty period of 1-year to the customers. The warranty is only for sunglasses that have a manufacturing defect and the company doesn’t take any responsibility for any external damage made to the sunglasses. 

Oakley, on the other hand, provides a 2-year warranty against manufacturing defects and workmanship faults. However, Oakley will not bear any kind of responsibility for the scratches, normal wear, and tear, accidental damages, etc… 

My Personal Preference 

Both the brands, Oakley and Blenders have an amazing collection of a variety of sunglasses that are of high quality and perform exceptionally. If you’re still confused, then I will keep it straight for you. 

If you have more exquisite taste and are athletic and fashionable at the same time, then you should choose Oakley without a doubt. But, if you are like me, outgoing and fashionable but also work on a budget, you should probably choose the Blenders. Blenders’ amazing range of products won’t disappoint you.

The Citrus Blast can be a great choice for girls, while both men & women can go with the Assertive Style (Aviators). However, if you’re more into sports, then you should definitely check out their Saturn Cloud sunglasses.

From Oakley, just like everyone I like their Holbrook and Radar Ev Path sunglasses for sports lovers.

Wanna check out some more fun comparisons just like these, well then check out Blender’s and Knockaround or even Blender’s eyewear or Pit vipers.

I wish you all the best with your sunglasses shopping folks!

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Author

Tessa Reynolds
Meet Tessa Reynolds, who lives in Denver, Colorado. She likes to write about sunglasses, and eye makeup so that she can share her knowledge, and help all the people who need something for their eyes. When she is not writing, you can find her skiing in the mountains of Colorado.