The Anon M1 Goggle – Teton Tested

Check out the Anon M1 at evo.com here!

The Anon M1 is
at the high end of the goggle line for Anon, coming in just a nickel short of $200–a lot to spend on a pair of goggles, but shockingly still below the asking price for the premium gogs from brands like Smith, Oakley, and Dragon. The big sell with Anon's flagship eyeball protectors is the new Magna-Tech
lens connection, which uses 12 rare-earth magnets at six points of contact to keep the lens on. So instead of fiddling with plastic connectors and levers and all the other connections brands have used to try and make switching lenses quicker and simpler, the M1's lenses snap in and out of place. It might seem a little dubious on the durability front, but Anon claims the dozen magnets can hold a total of 16.5 pounds, and we found the Magne-Tech did a great job keeping my lenses intact and on my face.

Other than that, the M1 totes a couple other high-profile features. Anon makes 24 different lenses for the M1–a quantity they claim cover the entire VLT (Visible Light Transmission) spectrum, i.e. that they have a lens for you whether you live in a cave or spend your lift rides staring directly at the sun. 

Intergral Clarity Technology and full perimeter
channel venting are intended to keep fresh air coming in and fog away, while a spherical lens
construction means to provide superior optics and a Wall To Wall Vision construction uses 40% less foam and a wide lens to provide largely unobstructed viewing.

I experienced many different light
conditions on the very first day using these goggles. Everything from sunny to
extreme vertigo to cloudy, and back multiple times–typical for down in Bariloche, Argentina, where the Andes' wind is always moving weather around. Usually I would just put a darker lens in for
the sun and take the goggles off my eyes if it got hard to see. However the
Magna-Tech lens feature made changing lenses a snap. Less than 15 seconds and I
could have the goggles off my face, a lens out, and the new lens in and be ready
to go again. This made it extremely easy to have the appropriate lens in for
every light condition. Once you've mastered the location of the magnets, you can even swap lenses without taking the goggles off. That's a first for any company.

Being this easy to remove the lens, I thought the lens might fall out if you whipped your head. Luckily (for you reader), I took an
accidental tomahawk and was able to test this out. I came out of a flip, self-esteem
lowered, but the lens still firmly fixed over my eyes.

The M1 provides a large range of
view. It has a very wide left to right peripheral and a top to bottom view. I
dislike feeling like I have blinders on when snowboarding, but I found no
restrictions that required me to move my head farther then necessary.

The drawbacks? The design of the magnets holding the lens in allows for a slight opening on the left and right sides of the lens. Not
a big enough opening to let any snow in when visiting the white room, but
enough to get a slight draft on your eyes when riding at high speeds. This kept
all the fog away, but might caused some slight eye watering when riding at high
speeds.

The M1 is a well-designed goggle.
It is a nice fitting frame with lenses for every light condition that can be
changed quickly. The goggles come with one spare lens, but additional lenses
can be purchased if necessary, with most coming in around $80. Lenses are priced higher then other goggles in
the Anon line, but that is a slight sacrifice to make for convenience of such an
easy lens-changing process.

If you are looking for a high end
goggle, and are in a location where light can change frequently throughout the
day, the Anon M1 is a great goggle to look at. The easy changing lens is extremely
functional and doesn’t sacrifice on the stylish design.

Not into the M1? Check out evo's full line of 2015 goggles here.