An Optometrist’s UNBIASED and IMPARTIAL Experience with Hubble Contacts

by Sep 26, 2018Eye Care

Laying the Groundwork

I’m an optometrist. I’m a website designer.  I’m a normal guy.  What’s the point of me writing this?  Well, besides writing about website design all the time, I like to pay homage to my roots as an optometrist too. I’ve been with the Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA) for almost 10 years now.

The job has a lot of perks such as a great schedule, amazing benefits, and patients that are fun to work with.  The one perk it does not have though is a hookup for me to get free/cheap glasses or contact lenses.

***Please note: I have absolutely no financial disclosure in regards to contact lens companies, manufactures or even selling contacts in my own practice.  This is solely my personal opinion based on my experience with Hubble Contacts***

I’ve been wearing contact lenses for well over 20 years now.  Like many of you reading this article, I’ve thought for a long time that contacts can be pretty dang expensive.  Who in their right mind would want to pay $400+ a year for a simple piece of plastic that you put in your eye? I certainly don’t.  So what do people do to offset the price of contacts?

They abuse the hell out of the them!  I’m not talking about just wearing them overnight for a few days here and there, I’m talking about people who wear the same pair of contacts for YEARS.  You did not misread that. YEARS!  Every day I hear stories about someone who has not changed their contact lens case out in 6 months, has gone swimming in a parasite infested lake, or licks their contacts with their tongue to moisten them and sticks it back on their eyeball.  Enter the new player on the market…Hubble Contacts.

Hubble Contacts

Hubble Contacts is a relatively new startup that offers daily disposable contact lenses for less than a dollar a day.  Any contact lens wearer will tell you how amazing it feels to put that never before worn, brand spanking new contact in your eye for the first time.  For a contact lens wearer it’s pure bliss.  That’s the premise behind Hubble.  As Hubble’s states on their site, “We founded Hubble to offer you the high quality, affordable lenses you deserve.”

 

Initial Impressions

A few weeks ago, I started noticing that my vision was getting worse and my contacts were irritating me.  I haven’t had much time to go see an optometrist so I thought I would give Hubble Contacts a shot with the thought that at the very least it would be a good experience and something to write about. I was truly impressed with their website from a website designer’s perspective.

Their site is clean, modern, and easy to navigate.  Best of all, the entire process took upwards of TWO MINUTES to order my lenses.

 

Dilly Dilly in Philly

Here’s where things get interesting.  I put my own name in the “Doctor” area.  I am a licensed optometrist in the state of Missouri so this shouldn’t be a problem.  For some reason Hubble does not have any record of my existence.  No problem.

It says on their website, “With this info, we’ll verify your prescription with your doctor.”  I was never once contacted by the company by phone, email, fax, or carrier pigeon to verify that the data entered were in fact valid. This isn’t a first either; a similar story came out a few months ago.

What really matters is the contact lenses right? That’s why people go online to buy Hubble Contacts anyways.  My contacts made their way to me later than anticipated after taking an unexpected trip to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania first.  I’m thinking they wanted to go see the Rocky statue and celebrate with Nick Foles and the Philadelphia E-A-G-L-E-S!  But I digress.

 

The Packaging

The Hubble Contacts finally came and I was immediately impressed with their appearance.  The package was modern and attractive.  I was actually excited to put my new daily lenses in and take them for a test drive.  And that’s when things took a turn for the worse.

As soon I got the lens in my eye I could tell it was totally wrong. I tried rinsing it with saline, making sure it wasn’t inside out, etc., but it just didn’t feel right.  I threw the lens out and tried another, which admittedly felt better.  Off I went to work to examine eyeballs all day long.  At around two in the afternoon my Hubble contacts were starting to dry out quite a bit, especially while working on the computer.  A re-wetting drop helped a bit, but these things starting to feel like the Sahara desert in my eyes.  I trashed those pieces of plastic and went back to my glasses for the day.

I started to think, “Maybe these contacts aren’t so great after all?” Frankly I didn’t even know what material they was made out of.  If you’re an optometrist reading this, please understand that I haven’t fit contacts in almost a decade so I’m admittedly out of the loop in that regard. Here’s what I found about the material of Hubble Contacts.

The Material 

Hubble contact lenses are made of methafilicon A. which is a older material.  In fact the material is so old that the company that originally manufactured methafilicon A has discontinued the lenses, simply because there is MUCH better stuff out there nowadays.

The other important factor about the lens is something called the dK value.  The dK value measures how much oxygen can get through the lens to your eye. You like to breathe right? So does your eye.  When an eye has a contact lens on it with a low dK it gets starved of oxygen.  For comparison’s sake check out the dK of other popular contact lenses that are on the market now.

 

The Verdict 

I said it above and I will say it again because it is worth repeating. I have absolutely no financial disclosure in regards to contact lens companies, manufactures or even selling contacts in my own practice.  This is solely my personal opinion based on my experience with Hubble Contacts.

My experience with Hubble Contacts was very disappointing.  I was certainly grateful for the free trials; however, the product was not nearly as comfortable for me as other modern day contacts that I have used and are currently are on the market. I want to make this clear if this is the only part of the article you read: I would never recommend Hubble Contacts to a friend, family member or colleague.

If you’re ready to get new contact lenses, please do yourself a favor a visit an optometrist near you and get properly fit in a contact lens that will be right for your eyes.

 

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21 Comments

  1. S. Matsen

    I just about lost my eyesight because of the lack of oxygen my eyes received from wearing these lenses. I’m on steroids and under the care of an ophthalmologist. Yup cheap didn’t pay off that’s for sure! If one person reads this and does not use these lenses I will be happy. I thought I was saving money but it nearly cost me my eyes and in addition some lenses would feel like they were cutting when you put them in or they would burn. I through out a number of lenses and when complaining all I got was a call center. Very hard to talk to anyone at Hubble.

    Reply
    • Richard Zimbalist

      Yikes! Personally I had no issues whatsoever when I initially cancelled my order. Certainly things may change over time but their representatives were quite helpful at the time.

      Reply
  2. Danielle Morris

    Wow im glad I’m reading this. I have been having a lot of trouble with my eyesight recently. I was worried that my eyesight was getting worse. Ive been wearing Hubble for almost a year now. I think its time for me to throw these away and go see a dr. Now I’m worried. My vision is alway blurry and my eyes are always dry

    Reply
    • Richard Zimbalist

      Hopefully you have found some relief Danielle!

      Reply
  3. SILVA EYE CARE

    As the admin of this website is working, no doubt very soon it will be renowned,
    due to its feature contents.

    Reply
    • Sb

      I used Hubble for around 8 months between 2018 and 2019. In July 2019 I woke up with the worst pain of my life. I went to the dr, and they rushed to the ER because I had a horrible cornea ulcer. I remember screaming in pain, barely able to see, because of all the horrible crap coming out of my eye. They started examining me, and as I sat there, my vision quickly went from cloudy, to completely blind in my right eye. It was like the lights turned off. It was utterly terrifying. Little did I know, that I would spend the next 7 months completely blind in my right eye. Long story short, they diagnosed me with a rare fungal eye infection called aspergillosis. I was 31 years old, healthy, and never even had stitches or a broken bone prior to this debacle!!. I spent 7 months living in a terrible nightmare. I have spent every waking hour focused on saving my eye. I spent months waking up every single hour to put specialized eye drops in my eye. I was exhausted, worn down, and at times I was so depressed that I wanted to just give up. These extremely strong eye drops became part of my life. They cost hundreds of dollars for one small vile, and they were NOT COVERED by insurance. Finally, with the grace of god, I was able to kill the infection. Then came the waiting period.. took months before the cornea specialists felt comfortable in giving me the full cornea transplant. I am so grateful for the surgery, and all of my doctors. Unfortunately still live in fear that something wrong is going to happen again. I don’t think all ophthalmologists understand that impacts these cheap lenses have. In the beginning they kept saying I left my lenses in too long. I tried to tell them that I have one-a-day contacts!?! Why would I do that!?! I was so sick at that time, that it was hard for me to fight. I was just tying to stay sane.. but I truly feel like these contacts had something to do with my infection. I’m not looking for anything, all I want is to hopefully help educate others… I first learned about Hubble from several ads on podcasts…. it’s kinda funny, cuz I went from hearing their ads all the time, to no longer hearing them.. Hmm…

      Reply
  4. Lucille

    So glad I came across this article. I ordered lenses from Hubble that were supposed to be here on April 13. On the 11th, they were 45 minutes from me, now they are in another state and they were getting ready to charge me for another supply when I haven’t even received the first supply. Needless to say, I am cancelling my subscription to Hubble. Thanks for your review.

    Reply
    • Richard Zimbalist

      My pleasure Lucille. Needless to say the delivery issues that both you and I experiences are certainly not the fault of Hubble but it is frusturating nonetheless!

      Reply
  5. LISA VILCHIS

    This was a really great review – Thanks for taking the time to write this – It definitely helped in my decision on what to purchase for my daughter’s first contact lenses.

    Reply
    • Richard Zimbalist

      Thanks for the kind words Lisa. Happy to help!

      Reply
  6. Ali

    This is completely bias and not true evaluation of Hubble ! I have been using Hubble contact close to two years and it was one of the most comfortable contact I found. I have very sensitive and dry eye and need to work with computer for over 8 hr per day! I was using Acuvue one day moist before and was hesitate to switch . I am very glad that I did and save a lot of money. I also suggested Hubble to couple of my friends and all except one are happy customers of Hubble now . Of course it is possible that it won’t work for some people but doesn’t have anything to do with contact quality, it is just how your eyes accept some material and some eyes don’t ! All I am saying this is very similar to Acuvue one day oasis , the material also the same as Acuvue oasis , it is cheap because it made in Taiwan not US! So I don’t believe that oasis has 103 oxygen pass and this one only 18. Anyway, try it , it is free, if it works you save a lot of money if it didn’t you don’t loose that much,just I think 3$ for shipping !

    Reply
    • Richard Zimbalist

      Thanks for your review Ali. Certainly everyone’s eyes are different, I’m glad to see you had a good experience with the Hubble contacts.

      Reply
    • adam f

      There is almost nothing true about your comment Ali. Hubble contacts have a DK of 18 Oasys 1 day 121. Oasy 6x more Oxygen permeable. Oasys are silicone hydrogel come from a manufacturer that makes Billions of contacts a year and spends million of dollars on research as do the other major manufacturers. All have much more advanced platforms and technologies on how their contacts are made. Oasys contacts are class 1 UV blocking (99 percent) , Hubble is not even class 2 97 percent but not rated for UV blockage. The only truth is Oasys are more expensive luckily you can buy Clarity one days and other brands which are far better cotnacts for less than Hubble after rebates. Giving bad medical advice for something you stick in your eyes is a bad idea.

      Reply
  7. Damien Theophano

    I tried these and had no problems but they are not cheaper than my usual Acuvue and there are a lot of warnings about them so I advise staying far away

    Reply
  8. Teresa

    I recently got Hubble contacts. I’ve worn contacts since middle school.. (I’m 33) though admittedly the past couple years I’ve worn my glasses. Anyway I really wanted contacts and couldn’t afford them so I found and tried Hubble. These are the hardest contacts to get in that I’ve ever had. I’ve had to throw away a couple pair because of just basically destroying them (not wanting to put them in my eyes after being dropped multiple times). I’ve had to throw away several pair because I’ve opened the next one trying to tear off one. The perforated material is cheap tearing open two packs at once while being tough to open all at the same time if that makes any sense. The first several weeks my eyes were irritated and puffy like I had been crying all night when I hadn’t. After about 2 months now that still happens on occasion. My eyes usually feel “funny” kinda like my eyelids are really heavy like I’m super tired when I shouldn’t be and my eyes definitely feel dry. I get frequent headaches almost daily. I can’t wear them a whole normal day (morning til bedtime). They start to hurt and get like cloudy/blurry making it really hard to drive after sunset which is about 5:30 where I live. I can no longer see to tell time from across the room or read small print without bringing it up real close. I never had to do that with my glasses. I thought maybe it was just me. I thought maybe it was just from getting used to wearing contacts again after not wearing them for a few years. Or maybe that they’re dailies and not my normal kind I used to use that I could sleep in. For a while I only wore them on days I worked. I kept using them thinking I would get used to them.. or that discomfort that came with them a few hours a day was worth not having to wear glasses anymore. I called to cancel it because I already had over a months supply and didn’t want to keep paying $39 a month when I didn’t need to since it’s the holiday season. Hey every dollar counts. They talked me into just delaying the payment another month. While looking up how to contact Hubble I saw several articles about Hubble/blurry. I made the mistake of reading them after I just delayed the payment a month. I read my box and it says 30 sterile, blue handling tinted soft contact lenses (45% Methaflicon A, 55% water) immersed in a buffering saline solution containing hyaluronic acid polymer. Sterilized using steam or dry heat. Made in Taiwan. Glad I read these articles. Especially this one. I feel dumb for not doing my research before hand. So thank you for the article I’ll be calling back and canceling.

    Reply
  9. Rachel

    I got into a free trial with these lenses. I’ve been wearing contact lenses since 1993. I currently use Acuvue oasys from my optometrist but have been experiencing severe drying out in the 2nd week of the cycle. (they’re biweekly replacements). I didn’t really pay much attention to the shipping time etc. because I have my regular lenses. Anyhow, I started using them this past weekend. I wore them Sunday without any problems, but was not working or on a computer. However over the course of Monday-Wednesday (today) I noticed my vision was getting extremely blurry. I wear a +3.25 and +3.50 prescription, so I can’t see up close as it is. At first I thought it was the head cold I’m getting over messing with my eyes, then today I thought about how it coincided with me starting these new lenses. I mean it was so bad that I couldn’t see handwriting on the paperwork required to do my job! I googled blurry vision hubble contacts at lunch and BAM I found this page amongst others. Luckily I was able to have my boyfriend drop off my glasses. I literally removed the contacts and threw them on the ground!! I was then able to return to work and actually complete my paperwork. I’ll be using my acuvue lenses tomorrow. Basically my eyes were dying for air.

    Reply
  10. Preston Shewell

    Richard, since you have background in optometry, maybe you can help me understand. Aren’t contacts wearers supposed to use only the brand their optometrist prescribes to them? If that’s true, how do brands like Hubble and Walmart’s Equate work? I assume they’re never prescribed.

    Reply
    • Richard Zimbalist

      That’s correct Preston. Unfortunately I can’t speak to the processes or legality of it.

      Reply
  11. Tim Wieland

    I have been wearing Hubble contacts since 2017 and have never had an issue. I even sleep with them in on occasions. With that said, I will mention I am an avid swimmer and swam all thru school and Life-guarded for years, including in the military. With all the chemicals my eyes have been subjected to, maybe my eyes are a little tougher than someone that is not a swimmer.

    Reply
  12. kate t.

    My eyes are seriously messed up from Hubble contacts, wearing them only periodically because my eyes got sooooo dry (thanks for the article now I understand why!!)… 🙁 I got charged twice after I cancelled. THey were nice after I emailed them, but I just took a bunch of white stuff out of my eye and then my interior eyelid membrane skin PEELED OFF! Yes, that’s right, peeled off. I didn’t know the inside of your eyelid had any layers, but by far the most disgusting thing I’ve seen lately, and I just did it myself else I wouldn’t believe it. I have an emergency appointment with my opthamologist tomorrow and my eye is all red, itchy and painful. You’re right, cute packaging though. I think it’s criminal that they’re marketing these and they didn’t call my optometrist either. I think a lot of people went online during COVID and bought these. I tested the website, and if you put down that you sleep in your contacts which is dangerous under any circumstances, they still say Hubble’s are OK for that, which is downright terrifying considering how much moisture it takes from your eyes.

    Reply
  13. Zhimei Zhu

    I tried 8 pairs of Hubble and my eyes cannot take it any more. My eyes are getting very dry and my vision are blurry. I will probably throw out the rest 37 pairs. Brilliant marketing and cute packaging, but terrible products.

    Reply

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