The Adidas Evil Eye Evo Pro offers decent coverage, delivering a clear field of vision around the top of the lenses with just the hint of frame showing.

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When we first tried the Evil Eye Evo back in 2014 they offered the biggest coverage of any glasses on the market: But times change and now there are plenty of off-road specialist glasses with similarly big coverage (or bigger), like Smith, POC or Scott. The Adidas glasses are based on a full-frame design that the brand says makes them strong and ideal for off-road riding. They certain feel very robust and stiff, with the flex coming just from the arms that pivot slightly to allow for your head shape and ears.

In use the Evil Eye hugs the face tightly and doesn’t budge from its spot all ride. It’s comfortable too, the arms flex their way neatly round any helmet strapping I tried without digging into your scalp like some arms can. The glasses sit high on your face in the ideal position to maximise the protection they provide from mud or light, although there’s a gap at the bottom where crud did occasionally make its way through the barrier and they’re breezy as a result too. The Evil Eye comes in small or large sizes, which is really smart because almost everyone should be able to get a decent fit. The removable sweatband across the top of the frame is unnecessary though, it’s designed to soak up sweat but it only contacted my face in the middle, just above the bridge of my nose and so rendered itself useless.

Having tested the Evil Eye Evo version of these glasses before, I’m struggling to figure out what the Pro moniker offers as an improvement though — the shape is identical and the lenses are removable in the same clever way. The only difference I can see is the £29 price increase. I’m also struggling to make sense of the semi-translucent frame material that creates a stunning light show all round the edge of your vision, something I found distracting. It’s so bad in fact I’d be giving these glasses a scathing review if I didn’t know they came in solid frame colours too, so needless to say, you should get the opaque option.

The blue grey lenses the Evil Eye came with are decent and didn’t distort my vision despite the very deep curve, suggesting they’re ground polycarbonate lenses rather than pressed plastic. However I found the tint too dark for most UK riding even in full summer — darker tints don’t actually provide greater UV protection as all protective coatings added to glasses are in fact clear. These are decent glasses then, with a good lens and impressive coverage, but they’re let down by the high price, irritating frame material and daft sweatband.

The Evil Eye Evo Pro glasses are more conservative but still function well, it’s a shame Adidas hasn’t moved on in four years though because they’ve been left behind.