The Oakley Flight Deck Prizm is an unmistakable ski and snowboard goggle, with one of the most unique looks of any goggle on the market. The supersized frameless Flight Deck will be some people’s cup of tea and not so much for others, but the performance that it offers is top notch, whatever you think of the aesthetic.

Lens Shape and Quality

Oakley is one of the few companies to still offer cylindrical lenses in some of their top of the line ski and snowboard goggle, but the Flight Deck features a Spherical lens, which we prefer.

Oakley is perhaps the most well-known sports eyewear manufacturer in the world, so it should come as no surprise that their lenses are top notch. Oakley’s Prizm lenses are among the best at matching a lens with light and visibility on the mountain to achieve the best possible definition. However, it is the middle of the road Prizm lenses that we think really shine, and provide great clarity and contrast in just about any light condition, without the need to swap to a darker or lighter lens.

Meanwhile, the massive spherical lens provides a distortion-free view of a massive field of view, that is unrivaled by just about any ski and snowboard goggle on the market.

If there is one real negative when it comes the Oakley Flight Deck’s lens, it is that it only comes with one, while top of the line goggles from most manufacturers come with two.

Comfort

With soft, three layer foam, the Oakley Flight Deck is a comfortable goggle, but a massive one. Surprisingly, though, it actually does fit fairly well even on average to slightly below average sized faces. And Oakley offers the Flight Deck XM for those who prefer the unique, frameless goggle but need it in a smaller size.

Ventilation

The sheer size of the Oakley Flight Deck might make you expect them to be an extremely well ventilating goggle. However, this is not the case. While the Flight Deck uses open cell foam along the top of the goggle for ventilation, it has only a small ventilated foam section at the bottom, and we chalk its subpar ventilation performance up to this. This means that the Oakley Flight Deck might not be the best choice for spring days when the temperature begins to rise, and that it is definitely not a great choice for backcountry use.

Ease of Changing Lenses

The Oakley Flight Deck does not seem to be a goggle made with the intention of swapping lenses every time the sun and clouds switch places. Perhaps that is why it only comes with one lens. Whatever the case, the Flight Deck lens is removed by unsnapping from a series of notches in the frame in a particular order and reinserting by repeating the process in the opposite order. Because there is no frame to hold onto, you do end up being fairly handsy with the lens in this process. Oakley Prizm lenses are quite durable, but we would still prefer to avoid touching our lenses whenever possible

We would recommend using these with a mid-range Prizm lens, which will perform well in all lighting conditions.

The Bottom Line

Our review of the Oakley Flight Deck might be a bit misleading, in that they come up short in several of the categories by which we judged ski and snowboard goggles. They are not the best ventilated, they fog more than others, and their lenses are a bit of a pain to change. However, on cooler days when fogging is less of an issue, and you are thinking more about riding than swapping lenses, the Flight Deck is a great ski and snowboard goggle with a look that really speaks to me. It is also one of Oakley’s best selling ski and snowboard goggles, and there is a reason that you can’t stand in line for a lift on any mountain without seeing a pair.

Finally, an MSRP of $200 and sale prices as low as $132 puts the Oakley Flight Deck in line with other top end ski and snowboard goggles on our list.

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