REASONS TO BUY
Extremely lightweight
REASONS TO AVOID
Not much face coverage
Don’t feel durable
Native discontinued the Dash XP.
Native Dash XP Review
The light weight can’t make up for shortcomings in eye protection
RELATED: 10 Best Sunglasses of 2024
Our Verdict
Opting to value weight savings over all else, the Native Dash XP feels light as air, but provides very little face coverage. Only the smallest faces will find the size of the Native Dash XP's lenses adequate, and even then you might be wishing for more protection when the wind kicks up. The lightness of the frames also makes them feel somewhat flimsy compared to other models. These glasses aren't particularly bad, but when we had an option we always found ourselves reaching for a different pair.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Native Dash XP has nice lenses and a comfortable fit, but the overall design lacks the durability and face coverage we'd prefer for outdoor pursuits.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Performance Comparison
Eye Protection
The Native Dash XP received one of the lowest scores in our eye protection testing, earning a 5 out of 10. The lenses cover your eyes, and that's about it. Due to the lens and frame design all but the smallest faces will have some sort of gap between their lenses and their cheekbones. Wind and dirt found its way through that gap, so we wouldn't use these glasses for any fast-paced pursuits.
The Dash XP leaves gaps to the side and below the eye for most people.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Comfort
The Native Dash XP did fairly well in our comfort testing, earning a 7 out of 10, just one point behind the highest score. This high score was mostly due to the Native Dash XP's incredibly light weight. At only 18 grams the glasses barely feel like they're there at all when you put them on. The only thing that kept this model from earning a top score was the nosepiece. On a pair of glasses where all else is undersized the nosepiece is quite large and, depending on your face shape,settles quite close to the eyes. Some of our testers found this somewhat uncomfortable.
Lens Quality
The lenses of the Native Dash XP provided great protection in our testing, sharing the top score of 8 out of 10. Both in terms of glare reduction and direct sun protection theses lenses were at the front of the pack.
The Native Dash XP had some of the nicest lenses in our testing.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Frame Build
The Native Dash XP earned the lowest score of 4 out of 10 in our frame build testing. The super light and super flexible frames just don't feel like they would stand up to much abuse. They feel flimsier than the frames of any of the other models we tested. The small plastic hinges feel similarly fragile and make us feel like these frames wouldn't stand up to prolonged use and abuse.
Case Quality
We really like the case that native provides with their glasses, which shared the top score of 9 out of 10. The semi-rigid case is solid enough to withstand being shoved into the top of a pack, which is great considering our durability concerns with the Native Dash XP.
We love the Native sunglasses case.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Value
While its list price of $130 is reasonable for high end sunglasses, we don't feel that the Native Dash XP completely delivers on its high end pedigree. Therefore we feel these shades are a relatively poor value.
Conclusion
The Native Dash XP is incredibly light and has nice lenses, but it doesn't provide the eye protection and durability we would look for in a pair of athletic sunglasses.
—
Max Mutter and Steven Tata
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