Product: Biofinty Energys
Manufacturer: CooperVision
Type: Monthly, Spherical (not for astigmatism)
Available in: 6-pack
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The Biofinity Family
Biofinity by Coopervision is one of the leading lines of contact lenses on the market and has been for a long time. Its highly breathable material and many of versions has made it a go-to contact lens brand for many optometrists and patients alike.
You can tell the success of a brand by how many different lines it has. Biofinity has now branched into 6 lines. They are:
- Biofinity
- Biofinity Toric
- Biofinity Multifocal
- Biofinity XR
- Biofinity Toric XR
- Biofinity Energys (most recent)
The Monthly Contact Lens Revolution
Biofinity Energys is Coopervision’s entry into the market of new wave monthly lenses. Between the years of 2008 and 2014, no new monthly contact lenses were developed by the contact lens manufacturers. During those years there was a big incentive for companies to produce new daily contact lens brands, so that’s what they did.
What seemed like an obsession over daily contact lenses by the contact lens manufacturers caused them to take their finger off the pulse of what contact lens wearers actually wanted. When they realized that the market share of daily contact lenses wasn’t really going up, and that a large majority of contact lens wearers were still looking for monthly lenses, they shifted gears.
Starting in 2014, one at time, all the contact lens manufacturers decided to put out new monthly contacts lenses. They were:
- ULTRA by Bausch & Lomb
- Acuvue Vita by Johnson & Johnson
- Air Optix plus Hydraglyde by Alcon
- Biofinity Energys by CooperVision
What’s Different About Biofinity Energys
Biofinity Energys actually has something quite unique about it. It’s called Digital Zone Optics. This is a feature that CooperVision developed to help alleviate the strain that accumulates in the muscles in our eyes when we spend too much time looking at digital devices.
For some reason there doesn’t appear to be a promotional video out for Biofinity Energys in English. So here’s one in Spanish, I think you’ll get the idea…
Reason For Digital Zone Optics
A phenomenon known as Digital Eye Strain (a.k.a accommodative strain) has been an increasing problem in the realm of eye health since the advent of smartphones, tablets, and the general shift to computers for everything we do. Digital Eye Strain happens when we look at digital devices that are close up (withing arms length) for prolonged periods of time. The muscles in our eyes can’t sustain that kind of vision comfortably for long, and that’s when the problems start to kick in.
To address this growing concern, the eye care industry has developed many special lens designs for glasses that can alleviate this type of strain. Examples of these are:
All of these lenses reduce the impact of Digital Eye Strain by providing the visual system with something called plus power. These lenses put the additional plus power in strategic places which aligns with your line of sight when you look at digital devices, but not when you’re looking elsewhere.
These lenses are becoming more and more recommended by optometrists for heavy digital device users. But of course, they are all lens designs for your glasses. So what are contact lens users to do?
Until Biofinty Energys, contact lens users did not have an effective tool to with which to combat Digital Eye Strain. CooperVision saw this and capitalized on that opportunity by addeding Digital Zone Optics to their massively successful Biofinity contact lenses.
What Digital Zone Optics Does
Digital Zone Optics applies similar principles that the digital lenses for glasses mentioned above use to reduce Digital Eye Strain. It spread positive power throughout the surface of the contact lens so that your eyes don’t have to work as hard when their looking a screens. This reduces the effect of Digital Eye Strain.
This type of lens design is unique to Biofinity Energys. Whereas all of the other new wave monthly contact lenses focus of preventing the dryness that results from wearing contacts all day in front of digital devices, Biofinity Energys focuses on relaxing your eyes instead.
Downsides of Biofinity Energys
The downside to the Biofinity Energys is that CooperVision did not improve on the comfort of the lens at all. It is the exact same material as the regular Biofinity, which was launched back in 2006. Of course, the Biofinty lens material is still good, and overall it’s still a quality lens. But comfort-wise, compared to ULTRA by Basuch + Lomb and Acuvue Vita by Johnson & Johnson, the Biofinity Energys it just doesn’t measure up.
Biofinity Energys Price
The cost of Biofinity Energys will be about the same as its premium monthly contact lens competitors. As of now, there still aren’t very many online retailers that carry Biofinity Energys, but the ones that do are selling it for between $50-$55 USD/box of 6 contacts.
It’s certainly more expensive than the regular Biofinity contact lenses, but for those people who spend 8+ hours a day in front of digital devices, the added benefit of the Digital Zone Optics might just be the thing you needed to help get you through the day.
Biofinity Energys Details
Material: comfilcon A
Water content: 48%
Oxygen transmissibility: 160 Dk/t
Extended wear: Daily or up to 6 nights/ 7 days extended wear
Design: Digital Zone Optics and Aquaform Technology
Base curve: 8.6
Diameter: 14
Sphere power: +8.00D to -12.00D (0.50D steps after +/-6.00D)
Center thickness: 0.08 @ -3.00D
If you have any experience with Biofinity Energys and want to share it with fellow contact lens wearers, please leave your comments below!
10 Responses
Bre
SO can you wear biofinity Energys if you usually have biofinity toric? Can they make the toric have this ability or do you already have it? I am in front of my work computer at least 12 hours a day and have two work phones, a laptop and a tablet. Some days I am in front of at least one to two of them more than 16+hrs at a time and the toric has been a GOD SEND to me. But the way it sounds if you could combine the toric and the Energys it would be even better gift from above!
Please advise. I just saw my eye doc today due to massive headaches over the last two weeks and now have the toric for both eyes. But if there was an Energys/Toric combo, life would be so much better!
Thanks for any info you can provide! Bre
Julie
Hi Bre! Thanks for the great question!
Unfortunately, they don’t make Biofinity Energys in the toric version, meaning that you probably won’t be able to use them. When a new brand like Biofinity Energys is released, the toric version of that brand usually only follows a few years later IF sales are good and demand for the toric version is high.
So far it’s a little too early to tell if Biofinity Energys will be a big success, but in my opinion, I don’t think we’ll see a toric version anytime soon :(
But, who knows? I’ll shoot you an e-mail if I ever catch wind that Biofinity Energys is planning to launch a toric version :)
Thanks for the question :)
Julie
Paul
I am currently using a trial pair of Energys and love them. My ‘script changed to about a -7.35. Tried -7.50 Oasys and they killed my near vision. Tried -7.25 Air Optix and they killed my far vision, and too dry of a lens.
Was given a trial of -7.50 Energys today and my near vision and far vision is perfect. I was worried the higher power would distort my near vision like Oasys, but no issues at all.
And they are insanely comfortable!
Julie
Hi Paul, thank you so much for sharing your experience. I haven’t heard a lot of feedback on this lens, so it’s nice to know that it does what it was designed to do! I’m glad you found something that seems to work for you!
Rachel
I’m in my trial of the Energys (from the basic Biofinity of the past year). Its amazing! I didn’t realize how tired my eyes were getting from working with screens all day. I go from my computer/laptop, to my phone, to a tablet, to a TV, and continually circle among those & paper folders based on the current needs. Within 3 days I could tell the difference. Thank you to my eye doctor for recommending these!!!
Julie
Hi Rachel, that’s terrific! I’m glad you notice the difference between Biofinity Energys and the regular Biofinity. Increasingly, we are all spending more and more time using digital devices, so the more products out there that help our eyes adapt to that, the better!
Jeanne
What exactly does daily or up to 6 nights 7 days wear mean? Can u sleep in them?
Julie
Hi Jeane, that is a great question!
Daily wear: wearing your contact lenses during the day and removing them during the night.
6 nights 7 days: sleeping with your contact lenses for up to 6 nights in a row.
Biofinity Energys has been FDA approved for sleeping in them for up to 6 nights in a row. That is the maximum number of days that they are approved for sleeping with. However, that does not mean that everyone can do this successfully. Some people’s eye (I would say most people) cannot support sleeping with contact lenses at all. Your eye doctor needs to monitor you closely if you’d like to try sleeping in contact lenses regularly.
Hope this helped :)
DK
I’d like to switch to Biofinity Energys from Frequency 55 since they’re now discontinued. I’m worried that the new pair contain less water (48% vs 55%) and I’ve gotten used to and loved the comfort of Frequency 55 for over a decade! How will this change affect me? Also, I’ve been sleeping with my contacts in for extended periods with no negative affects at all, I wonder if I’ll be able to do the same with the new pair…
Julie
Hi DK,
The difference in water content between Frequency 55 and Biofinity Energys is just one difference among many. If the water content was the only difference between the two brands, you may notice it, but given that almost everything about them is different, whether you like Biofinity Energys or not will have very little to do with the fact that it has 6% less water content than Frequency 55% (in my opinion).
Sleeping with Biofinity Energys without problems is possible for Biofinity Energys as it has been FDA approved for such use, but I would strongly recommend that you get your eye doctor’s opinion on this.
If you go ahead with Biofinity Energys, I would love to hear what your experience with them is. Hope to hear back from you :)