Oakley Flight Deck XM Review
February 21, 2017
86 The Good
- Plenty of venting and no fogging
- Great for variable lighting conditions
- Impressive field of view for mid-sized goggle
The Bad
- Pricey
- Stiff frame
- Lens scratched relatively easily
The Oakley Flight Deck XM has a large fit and impressive peripheral vision. The frame was relatively stiff, but curved around tester’s faces well. The nose cut was nice and large and the lens did not fog due to the dual vents. It worked great in a variety of lighting and weather conditions. Though, we’d like to see a little better glare protection for low, late in the day light.
FIELD OF VIEW
The Oakley Flight Deck XM has a surprisingly large field of view despite the “small to medium fit” as claimed on Oakley’s website. Our in-house test yielded a 170 degree field of view, which was among the top performers. The nose cut obstructed the view somewhat when looking down.
FIT & COMFORT
The large nose cutout and aggressive curvature of the Flight Deck XM is a perfect match for medium-sized faces. They did not slip around at all, making them overall the best fitting and most comfortable of all the goggles tested. The foam was nice and soft but durable, and the strap was easy to adjust. We paired them with five different helmets, and found no major issues with a goggle gap. Finally, there are discreet frame notches at the temples for compatibility with most prescription glasses.
ANTI-FOG POWER
No fogging occurred in the Flight Deck XM while tested in the relatively dry climate of Colorado. Out of the many goggles tested, the Flight Deck XM was the fourth most resistant to steam up in our in-house steam room test.
LENS QUALITY
The Oakley Flight Deck XM tied for best in class in this category—a 9 out of 10. The lenses performed well in many different lighting conditions. Even in flat light, these lenses helped to define the texture of the snow better than any other goggle tested; there was no distortion around the edges. Testers did experience a small amount of glare that was not cut by the lens on bright days when the sun was low in the sky. Also, a scratch managed to appear despite careful handling.
FEATURES
The strap was easy to adjust and it stayed in place on and off helmet due to the three lines gummy silicon that go all the way around the inside of the strap. The strap is one continuous piece, and the elastic was just stretchy enough for moving them from face to forehead without any issues. It comes with a lightweight storage bag.
Leigh started skiing at 8 and converted to snowboarding soon thereafter. His first board was an original 1985 Sims Kidwell Roundtail, which he still rides on powder days. He has written articles for numerous magazines and recently published a novel. He lives and works in Denver and hits the hills on weekends with his family.
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