The Third Dragon goggle in our lineup, the Dragon PXV could easily be the best Dagon ski and snowboard goggle for you, depending on what aspects of a goggle you value most. In many ways, it is actually Dragon’s most premium ski and snowboard goggle, featuring some of their latest and most cutting edge technology.

Lens Shape and Quality

With the Dragon X2 sporting a spherical lens, and the NFXS sporting a cylindrical lens, you might expect the Dragon PXV to utilize a Toric lens, which gives you the best of both worlds. Instead, Dragon equipped the PXV with their own latest proprietary lens shape, which they dub “Panotech.” Panotech is similar to Toric lens technology in that it gives the distortion-free optical experience of a spherical lens while still providing the retro look of a cylindrical lens. With Panotech, this is achieved by taking what is essentially a cylindrically shaped lens and giving it a spherical curvature directly over the spot where your eyes will be.

Does it work as advertised? Basically, yes. While Dragon’s Panotech might not represent any real advantage over a Toric lens, it doesn’t represent any real drawbacks either.

This lens shape, combined with their oversized nature also makes for one of the best fields of view that you will find on any ski and snowboard goggle on the market.

As for the lens itself, the Dragon PXV uses the same Lumalens technology that we were so fond of in both the X2 and NFX2 goggles. Meanwhile, for a hefty price increase, the Dragon PXV can also be had in two “Lumalens photochromatic” lens options. These lenses adjust to the light conditions around you, making them an extremely attractive option for riders who are not interested in changing lenses to match light conditions. This is a doubly good thing because swapping lenses is the one area where the Dragon PXV falls short.

Comfort

The Dragon PXV features the same triple layer foam, microfleece-lined liner found in the Dragon X2 and NFX2, and is equally as comfortable. However, the PXV is Dragon’s largest ski and snowboard goggle, and it does not come in a smaller variant. While the mammoth side to side size of the frame gives an amazing field of view, the large top to bottom size means that riders with smaller faces and/or larger noses might find the Dragon PXV being pushed down onto their nose by their helmet.

That said, it should still be an acceptable fit for most riders, but riders with smaller faces might be better served by the Dragon X2s or NFX2.

Ventilation

Dragon’s armored venting system works just as well on the PXV as on other Dragon goggles that we reviewed, and is topped off by an even stouter anti-fog coating. Like the X2 and NFX2, the Dragon PXV is just about as well ventilated as any ski and snowboard goggle on the market, without feeling drafty.

Ease of Changing Lenses

In all of the other categories, we were splitting hairs when trying to compare the Dragon PXV to the X2 or NFX2, with the PXV coming out on top just as often than not. However, when it comes to the lens changing solution, Dragon seems to have taken no steps forward and ten steps back with the PXV. Unlike the Swiftlock system found on the Dragon X2 and NFX2, which was our favorite non-magnetic lens change solution, the PXV features a more old school press in lens style, with 10 or so plugs that have to be matched up perfectly and snapped together between the frame and the lens. In addition to being significantly more difficult to change than the Swiftolock system, it also means that you put your hands all over those great Lumalens lenses, working on their anti-fog coating, and shortening their lifespan.

In reality, it is not that it is terribly hard to change the lenses of the Dragon PXV, it is just that it is such a huge step down from the Swiftlock lens change system found on the X2 and NFX2.

The Bottom Line

The Dragon PXV is a great ski and snowboard goggle in almost every way. It comes with one or two extra lenses, and with an MSRP ranging from $180 to $240, depending on the number of lenses and whether you choose photochromatic lenses, it actually represents a solid value at the premium end of the ski and snowboard goggle spectrum.

However, while it is a top performer in most categories, so are the Dragon x2 and NFX2, and they have such a better lens changing solution, that we just couldn’t find much to recommend the PXV over either of them.

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