Maui Jim Hawaii Glow Sunglasses Lens Review
- Sunglass Science
- 14 hours ago
- 7 min read
The Maui Jim Hawaii Glow lens brings bold aesthetics to the brand's bronze lens family. Featuring a striking full gold mirror on a neutral bronze base, this lens bridges the gap between the warmth of brown tints and the versatility of grey lenses. But does the eye-catching look translate to performance?
Check out the Hawaii Glow lens from Maui Jim's Website (filter for Hawaii Glow).
If you want to know more about how brown lenses work, click here.
Disclaimer: Maui Jim provided the sunglasses for review. All opinions are my own, and I received no money to make this review.
In This Review
Lens Specs | Maui Jim Hawaii Glow |
Technology | PolarizedPlus2 Color Boosting |
Lens Color | Bronze |
Mirror Color | Gold |
VLT | ~15% |
ABBE | 56 |
Coatings | Anti-reflective, Scratch-resistant, Oleophobic, Hydrophobic, UV, Infrared, and Blue-light blocking |
Material | MauiBrilliant |
Weight | Light |
Scratch Resistance | High |
Prescription Available | Not yet |
3 |
As discussed in the other Maui Jim reviews, the clarity of Maui Jim's glass lenses is off the charts. The non-glass MauiBrilliant, which is the only option for the Hawaii Glow, is great, in my opinion, just a small step behind the glass lenses.
The lens is very lightweight and comes with every coating you could ask for. The mirror coating is not encapsulated between the lenses, and is most vulnerable to scratches, though it has an anti-scratch coating protecting it.
Is it eligible for prescription?
Not yet, but that may change. I didn't get a definitive answer on that from Maui Jim.
For your prescription (or non-prescription) needs, check out SportRx or Flight Sunglasses, both authorized and experienced Maui Jim providers. Use code SCIENCE10 for $10 off your purchase at SportRx.
Also check out: Best Sunglasses Cases, Storage, and Travel Cases
How does the lens look?
The front has a solid gold mirror that is fully reflective from all angles. The HCL Bronze lens from Maui Jim has a bi-gradient gold mirror, but this is not merely the full mirror version of that. This gold mirror is much brighter and more striking, and it has a more profound effect on the tint.
The back has a red shine from the anti-reflective coating. The tint is a very neutral bronze, more on that below.
Right now, the lens is only available in a few models as standard, but Maui Jim is expanding Hawaii Glow to the MyMaui customization option, which means you can get this lens in any frame of your choice at no extra cost on Maui Jim's website.
What does the view look like?
The Hawaii Glow is a bronze-based lens, part of the HCL Bronze family. There are really five lenses from Maui Jim in the brown category, with various degrees of "brownness" and saturation.
No brown effect | Minor amber effect | Slight amber effect | More brown effect | Brown lens | Redder Brown |
Neutral Grey | Hawaii Glow | Blue Hawaii | Hawaii Lava | HCL Bronze | Maui Sunrise |
The Hawaii Glow has a solid gold mirror on it. Gold is similar to yellow in that it borders both green and red roughly equally, though slightly on the red side. This means it reflects away red and green light.
Since a brown lens is balanced with less blue, more green, and even more red, the effect of the gold mirror is to rebalance the color towards neutral (grey), as it subtracts red and green from the color balance, bringing the three colors closer to parity.
This means the Hawaii Glow is still a brown lens, but barely. It is not far off a grey lens, and many blue mirrored grey lenses, including Maui Jim's Blue Hawaii, are more brown/amber than the Hawaii Glow.
This is neither good nor bad. It effectively makes this lens perform roughly the way a grey lens would, great in colorful and bright conditions, but it does not create as much contrast and saturation as a more color-tinted lens.
Unlike the Maui Jim Neutral Grey lens, which is a relatively dark lens, the Hawaii Glow has a slightly higher visible light transmission, around 15%, which will make the view a bit more colorful and lively than the Grey lens, but less comfortable in very bright conditions (though still comfortable in general).
Sunny Conditions
These photos are what I have 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 lens for yourself? Check out the Hawaii Glow from Maui Jim here.
Here is my simulation of how the lens looks:
The Hawaii Glow is bright, with just a hint of warmth that adds some color definition, but the view is very close to a grey lens, with the usual Maui Jim color boosting that is less obvious with grey lenses than other tints.
The HCL Bronze adds much more color and definition to the view. There is more warmth and energy. The only "drawback" is the slightly darkened and muddied blues, in this case, the sky (since the water is more green than blue). As far as brown lenses go, Maui Jim does a good job keeping blues tuned well.
The Neutral Grey is slightly "cooler" than the Hawaii Glow, but it isn't far off.
The Hawaii Glow is perfect for bright, colorful settings.
Cloudy Conditions
Neutral lenses aren't the best choice for overcast or mixed lighting. Since they dim the light without enhancing colors, they can make the environment feel flat and lifeless. In this case, the higher VLT and slight warmth allow enough light to keep the view bright enough to be manageable. Still, a proper brown or rose lens, like the HCL Bronze, will perform better in cloudy conditions.
Optimal and Suboptimal Viewing Conditions
As a fairly standard neutral tint, this lens is for sunny and colorful conditions. It won't work that well where contrast is needed, like overcast, winter, sports, or boosting moods.
Functionally, the Hawaii Glow is so close to the Neutral Grey and Blue Hawaii in tint, without having the "wow" factor that either of those lenses has, that there is little reason to choose it for performance, though it is still a great lens to look through. The reason someone would pick this lens is if they want the aesthetic of the gold mirror, and the neutral tint profile fits with their needs.
So buy this lens if you want the look of a gold mirror on a lightweight, premium quality lens. It is still a fantastic, high-quality lens from Maui Jim. But if you are going to Maui Jim for the best views, I would say go for the Blue Hawaii or HCL Bronze first.
Comparison to the same brand - Maui Jim
Check out all Maui Jim reviews here.
Maui Jim Neutral Grey
As we have mentioned already, the Hawaii Glow is the closest brown-based lens to the Neutral Grey. That being said, it is not as neutral and is not a full grey lens. It also doesn't come in glass, as the Neutral Grey does. The Neutral Grey has a bi-gradient silver on the front.
See here for the full Neutral Grey review.
Maui Jim Blue Hawaii
The Hawaii Blue lens is a blue mirror on a grey lens. The blue mirror reflects blue light away and makes the lens more red and green, in other words, more amber. Essentially doing the opposite of the Hawaii Glow's gold mirror. The Blue Hawaii ends up being more amber, warmer, and with higher contrast than the Hawaii Glow, all without being a brown lens. It thrives in the same bright conditions that the Hawaii Glow works well in, but better. It also comes in glass.
See here for the full Blue Hawaii review.
Maui Jim HCL Bronze
The HCL Bronze is Maui Jim's flagship bronze/brown lens. It has a bi-gradient gold mirror, comes in glass, and is much more saturated.
See here for the full HCL Bronze review.
Comparison to Gold Mirror Lenses of Different Brands
Since the main point of this lens is the gold mirror, I am comparing to gold mirror lenses and not to brown lenses.
Oakley Prizm 24k
Oakley Prizm 24k is a bronze-based lens with a solid gold mirror. The mirror softens the view slightly, but it is still a very saturated brown lens. The Prizm lens only comes in polycarbonate and is fairly scratch-prone, but very impact-resistant.
Check out the Prizm 24k from Oakley here.
Costa Del Mar 580 Gold Mirror
Costa’s 580G Gold Mirror is a high-contrast rose-based lens built on their premium 580G glass platform, with a 14 % VLT and embedded gold mirror that tempers the intense rose tint for a slightly more neutral, balanced view. It delivers vivid, warm visuals with boosted reds and deep blues, strong polarization, and excellent clarity from premium coatings and glass optics. The mirror is sandwiched between glass layers for better scratch resistance than most mirrored lenses, and although glass adds a bit of weight, durability and optical quality remain exceptional. Not really comparable in tint to the Hawaii Glow, but the aesthetic from the outside is similar.
Serengeti Drivers Gold
The Drivers Gold, like the regular Drivers lens, is a wonderful brown lens that is the most color-enhancing and vibrant lens I have ever worn. It comes in glass with a more subtle gold mirror.
See here for the full Drivers Gold review.
Conclusion - Maui Jim Hawaii Glow Lens Review - Should you buy it?
The Maui Jim Hawaii Glow is first and foremost a style-driven lens. While it delivers the quality optics and coatings you'd expect from Maui Jim, its near-neutral tint means it doesn't offer the contrast boost of the HCL Bronze or the color enhancement of the Blue Hawaii. If you're drawn to the bold gold mirror aesthetic and need a versatile lens for bright, sunny conditions, the Hawaii Glow won't disappoint—it's still an excellent lens that performs well in its intended environment. However, if you're prioritizing view quality and performance over looks, the Blue Hawaii or HCL Bronze will give you more bang for your buck.
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