Oakley's Prizm Sport collection is crafted to enhance vision for specific environments. The Prizm Deep Water Polarized (DWP) lenses are designed for offshore boating, fishing, sunny beach outings, and any bright, sun-drenched day.
Check out the Prizm Deep Water lens on Amazon (which is often cheaper than Oakley's website).
If you want to know more about how rose lenses work, click here.
In This Review
Lens Specs | Oakley Prizm Deep Water Polarized |
Technology | Prizm |
Lens Color | Rose |
Mirror Color | Blue |
VLT | 12% |
ABBE | 30 |
Coatings | Mirror Coating |
Material | Plutonite (Polycarbonate) |
Weight | Light |
Scratch Resistance | Low |
Prescription Available | Yes |
3 |
For a detailed breakdown of Oakley Prizm lenses, including specifications, lens coatings, impact resistance, scratch resistance, and care tips, check out this guide. It also covers key considerations like the limited coatings and lower scratch resistance of Prizm lenses.
The Prizm Deep Water lens only comes in polarized. Of Oakley's Sport lenses, only this lens and the Prizm Shallow Water are polarized. The reason for this is because of potential depth perception issues that can happen during fast-paced sports, as explained here, but around water the need for polarized lenses is so high it outweighs any other consideration.
Is it eligible for prescription?
Yes
For non-prescription, Check out the Prizm Deep Water lens on Amazon (which is often cheaper than Oakley's website).
How does the lens look?
The front has a light blue solid mirror, one of Oakley's more reflective mirrors. Some light blues lean towards a more feminine look, but the DWP is a deep enough shade to stay very much unisex.
The back has a rose tint, but not too heavy. As far as rose lenses normally go, this is one of the most neutral rose lenses out there. What is interesting here is that a blue mirror reflects away blue light and makes reds more prominent, and since red is the main ingredient in rose (mostly red and blue), it would make sense for the lens to be a much redder and saturated rose color. But Oakley anticipated this well and used a more faint hue of rose to keep the view closer to neutral, while still having a blue mirror that helps deal with heavy blue from water and clear skies. Contrast this with Costa Del Mar's Gold Mirror lens, which uses a gold mirror to reflect away red to keep the rose more neutral. There is no anti-reflective coating on the lens.
What does the view look like?
This lens is unique, not because of its view, but because of its stated purpose, and the decision behind it. Usually, sophisticated sunglasses brands design a lens meant to be used for bright water activities with a grey base tint and a blue mirror, which creates a slight amber-dark lens. This is the case for Maui Jim, Costa Del Mar, Revo, Kaenon, Otis, etc. The reason for this is because grey is the darkest tint, and a blue mirror helps reflect away some blue light that is very prevalent with the blue water and sky. But Oakley decided to use a rose lens. In fact, with one exception, all Oakley Sport lenses have a rose base tint.
I believe this decision is because Oakley gears their Sport lenses towards the extreme use cases. What a professional would wear, that's what they will sell to the public for the same activities. Oakley thinks athletes who use their dedicated offshore lens would want a rose lens for the color-enhancing effect they have.
I recommend exploring how rose lenses work to understand why their bold tint doesn't create an overwhelmingly red view. Instead, it delivers an effect similar to an enhanced grey lens. As noted in this post, the view initially appears with a strong red cast for about two minutes until the eyes and brain naturally adjust.
Rose lenses are designed to enhance red tones while subtly boosting blues. By allowing less green light to pass through, they balance the color spectrum to align with the eye’s natural sensitivity to green. This results in a warmer overall tone, with richer blues and sharply contrasted greens, delivering a vibrant, color-enhanced viewing experience.
Why would we want that by open water? We would want it anywhere if it were used for sports, as explained in that same post. And that's the difference between Oakley and the others. Oakley only thinks about sports for this lens, the other brands want their lenses to be used for other water-related uses as well, like relaxing all day by the beach. If someone wants that kind of lens from Oakley, they do make it - in the Prizm Sapphire Polarized lens. But for sports, Oakley may have made the right call, though it does come down to preference (and we will see the difference in the next section).
However, rose-based lenses can be fatiguing, as they will make a hot view much "hotter". That is why Oakley designed the DWP lens to be as neutral as a rose lens can be. Maui Jim makes a rose lens, but they do not recommend it for the beach, since its deep saturated hue will be tiring to the user after a relatively short time. The DWP does not really have that issue as much.
The 12% VLT does not feel too dark while remaining comfortable in full sun. For sports, a bit more light is generally recommended and the DWP does feel just a bit brighter than some of the lenses other brands design for these conditions.
Sunny Conditions
These photos are what Oakley has used to show the view. Keep in mind that photos will never look as good as the real view looking through the sunglasses with your own eyes.
Interested in experiencing the Prizm Deep Water lens for yourself? Check out the lens on Amazon (which is often cheaper than Oakley's website).
First, this is how Oakley shows the difference between their polarized filters and cheaper ones:
These are accurate, but keep in mind it is the difference between Oakley and cheap sunglasses, not Oakley and everyone. Any other premium brand will have a similar highly effective polarized filter.
This is how Oakley shows the Deep Water Polarized Lens:
This is mostly accurate, but the sky will be a bit more rosy.
This is also not far off.
What they do not get right in this photo is that the greens are too bright, and the sky is not as rosy as it is in real life with the lens on. Also, the polarization will remove far more glare than this and the water will look much different. They do get the bluer hue of the water mostly correct.
This one is fairly accurate but doesn't show much:
Here is my simulation of how the lens looks:
The lens does a good job of removing glare, and it is a fairly comfortable view. The sky will be bluer with a touch of rose. The water will be a darker blue. and the visible part of the boat has a redder complexion.
Contrast that with the Costa Del Mar 580 Blue Mirror lens, below. The green highlights in the water are much more noticeable, and the sky is a softer blue. The Oakleys will be better at picking up details in the water because it boosts red more, but this is where preference comes in for what someone might prefer if they are out in these conditions for long exposure.
To show what it looks like as an everyday pair, I chose a bright haze day. You can see that the tint is noticeably rose-hued, but not aggressively so. A brown lens may be more enjoyable but will not be as good in full sun.
Cloudy Conditions
The Oakley Prizm Deep Water Polarized (DWP) lenses perform effectively in overcast or cloudy conditions by adding warmth, contrast, and enhanced color, though it is a dark lens and can feel too gloomy if the light level is too low. They excel in mixed lighting or bright haze, offering a significant improvement over standard grey lenses. However, some rose lenses with a less neutral tint may provide slightly better performance in such conditions.
For overcast environments, brown lenses often outperform rose lenses by brightening greens, delivering a more vibrant and well-balanced visual experience.
Optimal and Suboptimal Viewing Conditions
The Deep Water lens is designed for bright conditions on or near the water, and I think it works well there.
This rose lens stands apart from traditional rose-tinted options as it is specifically designed for bright, full-sun environments rather than mixed conditions. While the view appears warmer and more intense than a standard grey lens, the relatively neutral rose tint balances the vibrant color boost for a more comfortable visual experience. However, unlike other rose lenses, it performs less effectively in overcast conditions.
The DWP lens shares similarities with brown lenses, offering one of the most versatile viewing experiences available. It functions as an all-purpose lens that performs well across a variety of lighting scenarios, making it a reliable choice for outdoor activities. Even in overcast conditions where the tint is too dark, the color boost helps to add enough detail and contrast to make it passable.
Red, a key component of rose lenses, sits at the warmest part of the color spectrum. Warm colors are often associated with energy and coziness, which can influence the emotional response to the lens tint.
In winter, the DWP lens performs well on sunny days, but on overcast days, it lacks the red and brightness of lenses like the Serengeti Sedona. In such conditions, a lens with more color and warmth may be preferable to counterbalance the muted tones of a gloomy environment.
It is worth noting that there isn't that much difference between most Prizm Sport lenses other than the VLT, and one lens designed for a particular sport will work fine for another sport. As a dark, polarized option, the DWP lens may be the best all-around everyday lens in the Sport collection.
Sports
Rose lenses are particularly effective for sports and fast-paced activities due to their heightened contrast, which helps users perceive their surroundings with greater clarity and accuracy. This feature provides a critical advantage where precision matters, while also delivering excellent visual aesthetics.
In these situations, the goal isn't to have a more beautiful view but to help you perceive your surroundings and activities as accurately as possible.
Keep in mind that for long exposure to bright conditions rose lenses may be fatiguing, but the functional benefits may outweigh that. This rose lens is one of the less fatiguing ones, but it is still worth keeping that in mind.
Oakley is renowned for sports and the lenses are virtually unbreakable.
Interested in experiencing the DWP lens for yourself? Click here to buy on Amazon.
Comparison to the same brand - Oakley
Oakley Prizm Shallow Water
The Oakley only other polarized Sport lens from Oakley is the Prizm Shallow Water. Officially a rose-based lens according to Oakley, you can see clearly in the picture below that they are a brown lens, sort of a softer variation of the Prizm Tungsten lens. The Shallow Water has a green mirror vs the blue mirror of the DWP. The Shallow Water will be more versatile than the DWP.
Oakley Prizm Sapphire Polarized
Oakley's only other polarized blue mirror lens, the Prizm Sapphire has a slight amber tint that tracks as a more traditional color tint for bright and sunny conditions. The view will be more neutral but still with plenty of color enhancement. While the Prizm Deep Water may be better for Sports, many will prefer the Prizm Sapphire for similar conditions.
See here for the full Prizm Sapphire review.
Oakley Prizm Dark Golf
If you enjoy the Prizm Deep Water and are looking for a slightly brighter and non-polarized version, the Prizm Dark Golf is the way to go. It has a warmer and slightly more neutral rose tint than most of the other Prizm Sport lenses and is the best all-around sports lens that Oakley makes in my opinion.
Comparison to the Blue Mirror Lenses of Different Brands
Normally we would compare a rose lens to other rose lenses, but in this case, since the primary purpose of the Deep Water Polarized lens is to be used in bright sunlight near water we will use the lenses usually designed for that purpose, blue mirrored lenses with a grey base. As mentioned above it is not a really a fair comparison, since the other lenses are not designed with only sports in mind. For that reason, we will only describe the other options, not give a side-by-side comparison, though we may do other direct comparison posts for some of them in the future.
Maui Jim Blue Hawaii
A wonderful lens for full sun, the Maui Jim Blue Hawaii comes with the clarity of premium glass, a slightly warm and very vivid outlook that feels comfortable and colorful. It comes with all coatings and a brilliant blue mirror.
See here for the full Blue Hawaii review.
Costa Del Mar 580 Blue Mirror
The Costa Blue Mirror lens is one of the most comfortable glass lenses to wear in bright sun. It comes with all coatings and takes a comfort-first beauty-second approach, though still looks very nice to look through. Its encapsulated mirror increases its scratch resistance.
See here for the full Costa Blue Mirror review.
Revo Blue Water
I prefer this version of Revo's blue mirror lens over their H2O Heritage glass lens. Very similar to the Costa Blue Mirror with a bit more boost to greens and reds. An in-between option if Maui Jim is too bright and colorful and Costa is too dark and saturated. This lens is also nylon-based, not glass, and provides more impact resistance. The mirror is a lighter blue, not as dark and deep as the other options listed here.
Smith Chromapop Blue Mirror Lens
This lens has amazing clarity but the blue mirror does not add the same amber hue as the Costa lens. The light levels are fine-tuned and the colors are clear, but the view is a lot closer to a grey lens than the Costa. Consider this lens if you want a blue mirror without much warming effect.
Conclusion - Oakley Prizm Deep Water Polarized lens review - Should you buy it?
The Oakley Prizm Deep Water Polarized lens brings comfort and performance to outdoor adventures. Whether you're navigating open waters, fishing in the sun, or simply enjoying a bright day at the beach, these lenses deliver solid clarity and color enhancement. With Oakley's commitment to sports-driven innovation, the DWP lens is a reliable companion for those who demand more from their sunglasses. It also looks great.
To avoid the issue of lack of AR coating, go for a wrap frame that does not let the sun in from the sides or top. The great color enhancement mostly makes up for the lack of coatings and weak scratch resistance, which is why the DWP lens is a Tier 3 lens.
If you're interested in trying out the Prizm Deep Water lens, you can find it on Amazon, often at a lower price than Oakley's official website.
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