Re. vs SunGod Running Sunglasses Compared

SunGod, co-founded in 2013 by Ali and Zoe Watkiss, is a British brand built on customisation and elite athlete partnerships with runners like world number one ultra runner Courtney Dauwalter and UK trail runner Tom Evans. Re. is Australian-designed, built from the ground up around running-specific lens systems.

We have taken two of our frames, the Re.balance and the Re.flex, each fitted with the Infinity lens, and compared them against the two most popular SunGod running sunglasses: the FORTY2s (top frame) and the Ultras (frameless). Different frame structures, different approaches to lens technology, and a meaningful price gap once you factor in what each configuration actually includes.

Both brands make genuinely good sunglasses. The difference is where each puts its investment. SunGod puts it into lens optics, colour customisation, and a lifetime warranty. Re. puts it into packing photochromic, polarisation, and permanent anti-fog into a single lens at a price that undercuts the equivalent SunGod configuration.

At a Glance: Re. vs SunGod

*SunGod Lifetime Guarantee terms vary. Coverage for lens coating wear, accidental damage, and issues from normal use may be more limited than the headline suggests. Worth reading before purchasing.

Frame Options and Fit

Re. offers four frames ranging from 20g to 27g, all in TR-90 nylon with anti-slip rubber at the nose and temple contact points. The Re.balance at 20g is a top frame construction built for road running. The Re.flex (21.5g) is frameless, with a flexible, lightweight build and a free prescription insert included. The Re.silience (24g) provides wider lens coverage for trails. The Re.glide (27g) adds ventilation channels for high-intensity speed work and also includes a prescription insert.

SunGod's two primary running models take different structural approaches. The FORTY2s weigh 28g with a top-frame design, 151mm frame width, and 54mm frame height. They use hydrophilic nose grips designed to grip harder as you sweat, plus turned-down arms for a zero-bounce fit. The Ultras are lighter at 26g with a frameless design, which gives them a wider field of view and slightly less frame presence on the face.

Both SunGod models use Pop-Lock screwless hinges that allow lens swaps in approximately 15 seconds. That interchangeability lets you carry a second lens tint for changing conditions, though it means buying additional lenses separately.

Lens Technology: 8KO vs Re.'s Four-Lens System

SunGod uses 8KO nylon lenses with an Abbe value of 52. Higher Abbe values mean less chromatic aberration, so colours stay truer and edges stay sharper across the visual field. The optical quality is solid.

Re. takes a different approach: four distinct lens types, each built for a specific use case. The Infinity combines photochromic, polarisation, and permanent anti-fog in one lens. The Adaptor is photochromic without polarisation, transitioning to near-clear for pre-dawn starts. The Purity is polarised with a revo mirror coating for bright, stable conditions. The Protector is a polycarbonate impact lens with revo coating.

Where SunGod invests in one high-quality lens material and lets you swap between tints, Re. invests in building different technologies into different lenses for different conditions.

Photochromic: Standard on Re., an Upgrade on SunGod

This is where the price comparison shifts. The standard FORTY2s and Ultras ship without photochromic lenses. Adding photochromic (SunGod's 8KO Iris) raises the FORTY2s to AUD $310 to $330 and the Ultras to AUD $390.

Both the Re.balance Infinity and the Re.flex Infinity ship with photochromic at AUD $220. The VLT range of 69% to 20% covers low light through full sun. That is narrower than the Adaptor lens, which reaches 83% VLT on its clear end for genuinely dark pre-dawn starts, but the Infinity adds polarisation and permanent anti-fog on top of the photochromic transition.

For runners who train across variable morning and afternoon light, the price gap is significant. A photochromic FORTY2s at $310 versus a photochromic, polarised, permanently anti-fog Infinity at $220 is a $90 difference before accounting for the extra features Re. includes.

Anti-Fog: Permanent vs Passive

The Infinity lens uses a permanent anti-fog treatment bonded to the lens surface that does not degrade with cleaning or sweat exposure. This is a chemical treatment, not a coating that wears off or a ventilation design that relies on airflow.

SunGod's FORTY2s handle fog through frame design: built-in airflow cut-outs and the open top-frame construction. Passive ventilation has the advantage of never wearing out. But it depends on forward movement generating airflow. At traffic lights, at aid stations, or walking steep trail sections, passive ventilation does less work. The frameless Ultras have no dedicated anti-fog feature.

For more on how different anti-fog approaches perform in practice, see our guide on how to stop running sunglasses fogging up.

Price Breakdown

Comparing base prices is misleading. Here is what each configuration actually costs in AUD:

Both Re.balance and Re.flex Infinity at $220 include every lens feature that SunGod charges extra for, plus polarisation and permanent anti-fog that SunGod does not offer in any configuration.

Warranty

SunGod carries a Lifetime Guarantee across all sunglasses. Before treating this as a decisive factor, it is worth reading the full terms. Lifetime guarantees on sunglasses typically cover manufacturing defects, but coverage for lens coating degradation, scratches, and damage from normal wear is often more limited than the headline implies. If you are choosing SunGod partly for the guarantee, understanding exactly what it covers is time well spent.

Re. offers a 1-year warranty covering manufacturing defects, plus a 30-day return policy. The warranty period is shorter, and that is a fair point in SunGod's favour. The longer-term question is whether the guarantee terms hold up to scrutiny.

Customisation

This is where SunGod is genuinely hard to match. SunGod lets you choose frame colour, lens colour, and icon colour on all running sunglasses at no extra cost. If you want a pair that matches your kit, your run club colours, or just your own aesthetic, SunGod gives you that in a way Re. currently does not.

Re. does not offer a full colour customisation builder. What Re. does have is a range of lens tints across its four frames, including the Protector and Purity collections in multiple colours, plus collaborations with athletes and creators. If colour options are what you are after, it is worth browsing the Purity and Protector collections before deciding. That said, it is a different thing from SunGod's per-unit custom colour picker. If full customisation is your main priority, SunGod is the right call.

Prescription Wearers

The Re.flex Infinity includes a free prescription insert. No added cost, no separate purchase. If you wear corrective lenses, this is a meaningful difference. Re.glide and Re.silience also include free prescription inserts if you prefer those frame shapes.

Re. is also developing a prescription service, currently in testing, that will allow prescriptions to be filled directly through Re. rather than sourcing a separate insert. More details when it launches.

SunGod does not include prescription inserts as standard with either the FORTY2s or the Ultras. For more on choosing between Re.'s lens options as a prescription wearer, see the Adaptor vs Infinity lens comparison.

Who Should Choose Which

Choose SunGod if: full colour customisation is what you are after. Being able to build a pair to your exact colour preferences at no extra cost is something Re. does not offer, and for a lot of runners that genuinely matters. The FORTY2s at $225 also come with solid 8KO nylon lenses at a competitive price point for runners who train in consistent light and do not need photochromic.

Choose Re. if: you want photochromic, polarisation, and permanent anti-fog without paying for each separately. Both the Re.balance Infinity and the Re.flex Infinity deliver more lens technology per dollar than any SunGod configuration, both at $220 AUD. The Re.flex adds a free prescription insert on top of that. For Australian runners dealing with variable light on morning and afternoon sessions, the Infinity lens removes the need to carry or swap lenses. If you need a wider photochromic range for pre-dawn starts, the Adaptor lens reaches 83% VLT on the clear end.

Both brands make sunglasses that stay on your face, protect your eyes, and handle daily running. The deciding factor comes down to one thing: if customisation is the priority, SunGod wins. For everything else, Re.