Outdoor Master Heron Ski Goggles – Test and Review

Frameless toric lens ski goggles with 2 lenses for a budget price.

Manufacturer and Model: Outdoor Master Heron Ski Goggles
List Price: $69.99

Summary

The Outdoor Master Heron is an entry level ski goggle with the latest toric lens shape along with an easy to change magnetic lens swap system. It comes with 2 lenses making it good for all light conditions right out of the box. The Heron is a great budget ski goggle for new skiers or experienced skiers looking for a bargain.

Outdoor Master Heron Ski Goggles Review and Test

Outdoor Master Pro ski goggles have been the gold standard of budget $50 ski goggles since their introduction. The $50 offerings from Smith, Giro, and Oakley are just plane framed goggles with flat lenses that haven’t changed since the 1980’s. The OM Pro gave you modern quick swap lenses and a frameless spherical look for the same price.

The Outdoor Master Pro has been around a while now. I was excited to see that Outdoor Master came out with the Heron goggle which looks to be an updated goggle with toric lens shape for the same price point as their Pro model. The Heron is offered with 2 lenses and is available from Amazon or directly from Outdoor Master.

Outdoor Master gave me a set of Heron’s to try out. Mine are the Grey Frame Vlt 10% RevoBlue Lens with a VLT87%Yellow second lens.

Features Overview

The Outdoor Master Heron is the latest budget entry level ski goggle from Outdoor Master. It is a large fit goggle with a toric lens shape. It comes with 2 lenses so you have a good daylight lens and a low light and flat light lens. The magnetic swap system makes changing lenses easy. The goggles comes with 2 lenses, a microfiber bag for cleaning, and a hardcase for storage. The hardcase is a new design that better fits larger goggles than what used to come with goggles from Outdoor Master.

1 – Style

The Heron is a large fit ski goggle with a toric lens. It has a frameless design with just 2 plastic frame parts sticking out on the top of the lens. There is a small frame outline at the nose. It’s a very clean execution with just enough frame so you have something to grab to remove the lens. The strap has some Outdoor Master branding on it along with a fox design. I’m guessing this goggle might have been intended to be named Fox but later changed to Heron. The goggle band still has foxes on it.

2 – Lens Clarity (8.0/10)

The Heron has good lenses for the price. They do not have the visual pop that ChromaPop or PRIZM lenses have. They have very little distortion when looking out. They are a little better than the Outdoor Master Pro goggles just because the toric lens shape better matches your natural vision shape.

3 – Field of View (9.0/10)

The field of view is on par with any large fit toric lens goggle. They have good side to side range. You have to look hard to the sides to the frame. There is a decent amount of frame blocking the view looking down. Better than the Outdoor Master Pro. About the same as a set of Smith I/O Mag or Oakley Flight Deck. Not as good as Smith 4D Mag. You could buy 4 sets of them with money left over for the price of a 4D Mag.

4 – Flat Light Performance (8.0/10)

The Heron comes with an VLT 87% yellow lens that can be used for flat light condition and low light condition. I’m happy to see that Outdoor Master gave the correct color lens with these goggles. Yellow and orange lenses work the best in flat condition by naturally filtering out the blue shades. This lets you see the snow surface with more detail.

5 – Anti-Fog Performance (8.0/10)

These goggles have all the things you need in a good set of anti-fog ski goggles. They have double layer lenses with an anti-fog coating. They have lots of ventilation around all sides of the goggle. There is triple layer foam with a moisture wicking inner layer. These goggles will stay fog free on all but the most humid wet days. They will work well on those days too.

6 – Lens Swapping (10/10)

The Heron uses a 10 magnet system for holding the lens in place. The lens can be swapped by pulling it away from the frame and popping on a new lens. It is easy to swap lenses while wearing these goggles. I like all magnet systems with no extra latches. I wish most goggle brands that add extra latches on top of magnets would get ride of the latches.

My only recommendation for magnetic lens goggles is that you not swap lenses while on a chair lift. If you drop the lens it may not be easy to get it back again.

See the below video for how to swap the lenses.

7 – Comfort (9.0/10)

These goggles have kind of normal feeling fit. The triple layer face foam has a firm feel to it. The nose has enough tightness to seal against your face without being too lose or too tight. The goggles have about the right amount of frame curvature to not feel like they have to bend a lot around my face to seal. They seal up with just a little goggle strap tension. They have a closer feel to the stiff foam that Oakley uses on their snow goggles.

8 – Helmet compatibility

The Heron has a standard top shape to it that most modern ski goggles have. It will fit most current ski helmets without having a goggle gap. The goggle strap has some silicon beads to keep it from slipping on a helmet. I skied with them using an Outdoor Master Elk MIPS helmet. They would also work very well with the Outdoor Master Diamond MIPS too.

9 – OTG Compatible

The Heron is OTG compatible and will work with a set of glasses. The plastic frames have cutouts in the side so that glasses can pass into them easier. They work but they feel a little snug going over the sides of my glasses frames when I put them on here at home.

Recommendation – Buy or No Buy?

The Outdoor Master Heron is a nice improvement over the older Outdoor Master Pro model. It has a newer toric lens shape and comes in a bundle with an extra lens that is good for low light and flat light. It gives you a complete goggle package for really great value price. If you are looking to buy your first ski goggles, I would take a serious look at the Heron.