Key Specs:
Brand: Smith
Model: 4D Mag
Price: $280
Availability: Fall 2018
Unique Features: BirdsEye Vision technology to increase field of view by 25%; proprietary locking magnet lens

Upshot: Smith’s newest goggle, the 4D Mag, uses the same magnet technology that it revealed this season to allow skiers and snowboarders to swap lenses on the fly. The new model offers a new technology called BirdsEye Vision, a unique lens shape that reportedly increases the wearer’s field of view by 25 percent.

Who It’s For: Skiers and snowboarders.

Insight: It’s difficult to tell from the image in this article what Smith’s new BirdsEye Vision technology actually is. But in person, it’s obvious: the bottom portion of the lens curves downward and inward toward the face. It’s a new lens shape that offers what might be the first alternative to the spherical and cylindrical shapes previously available (Smith still categorizes the 4D Mag as cylindrical though).

We had a chance to test out the 4D Mag weeks ahead of Smith’s announcement while skiing in Wyoming and Vermont. Overall, the 4D Mag doesn’t feel any bigger than Smith’s other goggles. The curved bottom of the lens isn’t immediately noticeable either unless you’re looking for it. The increase in the field of vision is a peripheral, downward one. The curve that allows for it is more angular than the lateral one of a traditional spherical goggle, so there is a tiny line of distortion, but it isn’t really noticeable when looking straight ahead. In providing this additional view, the 4D Mag has the potential to fix a common bad habit — looking down instead of forward — and to do so in a manner that’s imperceptible (except aesthetically).