Single vision or progressive lenses: which one do you need?

You need single vision lenses if only one distance is blurry, which is almost everyone under 40. You need progressive lenses if you are over 40 and distance and reading are both going, which is the point where people start holding the phone further away. That is the whole answer. The rest of this post explains why, and what each one costs at our showroom in Lalitpur.

What single vision lenses do

One power across the whole lens. If you are short-sighted, the lens sharpens everything far away and your eyes still handle the phone on their own. If you are long-sighted, it works the other way round. Most of our customers under 40 are here and never need to think further.

At Blurkart, single vision starts at NPR 750 for a blue coat lens. The multi-coated version at NPR 1,800 is the one we fit most, because the anti-reflective layer on both sides makes night driving and video calls noticeably easier. The fully digital blue filter lens at NPR 2,990 gives thinner edges on stronger powers.

What progressive lenses do

After 40 the lens inside your eye stiffens and stops focusing close. This is presbyopia, and it comes for everyone. The first sign is menus and phone screens drifting further from your face. A progressive lens carries three zones in one piece of plastic: distance at the top, computer in the middle, reading at the bottom, with no line between them.

Our three tiers differ by the width of the clear corridor you look through when you glance down:

Tier	Corridor	Price	Who it suits
Generic	Small	NPR 1,900	First progressive, light use, tight budget
Budget	Wide	NPR 3,400	Daily wear, office plus driving
Premium	Large	NPR 5,500	All-day screens, people who could not adapt before

We wrote a longer piece on what progressive lenses are if you want the detail on how the zones are ground.

The three questions that decide it

Is more than one distance blurry?

If only far is blurry, or only near, single vision. If both, progressive, or two separate pairs.

How old are you?

Not a rule, but a strong hint. Under 40, single vision almost always. Over 45, almost always some reading help. Between 40 and 45 is where the free test earns its keep.

What do you do all day?

Someone at a monitor for eight hours often does better with a dedicated computer pair than a progressive, because the mid zone of a progressive is narrow. Someone who drives, meets people and reads a bit does well with a wide corridor progressive.

The cases people get wrong

Buying progressives at 32 because a shop suggested it. You are paying NPR 3,400 for zones your eye already handles for free.

Buying a small corridor progressive to save NPR 1,500 and then giving up on it in a week. A narrow corridor means more head turning. If you can stretch to the wide corridor, do.

Putting a progressive into a tiny frame. The reading zone needs vertical room. We will tell you if the frame you love cannot carry the lens, and steer you to one that can, like the Premium Rectangle Frame at NPR 1,500, which has the lens height a progressive wants.

What it all costs together

A first pair for a 25-year-old: NPR 999 frame plus NPR 1,800 multi-coated single vision, about NPR 2,800. A first progressive for a 48-year-old: NPR 1,500 frame plus NPR 3,400 wide corridor, about NPR 4,900. The full breakdown is in our post on what glasses cost in Nepal.

Progressive lenses in Nepal: the questions we hear in the shop

"Progressive chasma ma adjust huna kati din lagchha?" Most people are comfortable in three to seven days. Wear them full time from day one; switching back and forth to old glasses drags the adaptation out.

"Bifocal sasto chha, tyo nai linu ramro?" A bifocal has a visible line and a jump between the two zones, and it has no middle distance for a screen. Our budget progressive at NPR 3,400 costs about the same as a decent bifocal and does all three. We only suggest bifocals for people who have worn them for years and want no change.

"Reading chasma matra kine hunchha?" If your distance vision is still fine, yes. A pair of plus-power readers is the cheapest fix and we stock them from NPR 999 with lenses. The moment you also squint at road signs, that is when a progressive earns its price.

Whichever way you lean, the test is free and takes ten minutes, and we would rather sell you the right lens than the expensive one.

Not sure which side of 40 your eyes are on? The test is free at both Lalitpur showrooms, and we will say plainly if a cheap pair of readers is all you need.

The answer comes down to whether you need correction at more than one distance, which is exactly what the free eye test measures. Walk in Sunday to Friday, no appointment needed.