Anon M3 MFI Goggle

Anon M3 MFI Goggle

Style: Eric Pollard Pro Model

Stated Features:

• Magna Tech
• MFI (Magnetic Facemask Integration)
• No-slip silicon strap
• Over the glasses compatible
• Anon cylindrical lens technology
• Triple layer face foam
• Full perimeter channel venting
• TPU frame
• Spare greybird lens
• Molded case
• Facemask included

Frame Height: 93 mm

MSRP: $259

Test Locations: Grand Targhee, Teton Pass, & Grand Teton National Park, WY

Days Tested: 15

Intro

We love the Anon M2 goggle. Jonathan Ellsworth and Will Brown have both raved about it, and they still do. It is a repeat Blister ‘Best Of’ award winner, and still is, in our opinion, the best goggle on the market.

So if you’re Anon, what do you do for an encore?

Make a new goggle that offers some additional, very functional features. Which is what Anon has done with the M3.

Unlike the M2, the M3 is over-the-glasses compatible. The M3 also comes with an integrated / detachable facemask (“MFI” – magnetic facemask integration). Finally, the M3 has a classic, cylindrical lens and frame, as opposed to the M2’s (and M1’s) spherical-lensed, semi-frameless design.

So does the M3 still preserve the best parts of the M2 while offering these additional features? And how well does this MFI system work in the real world?

Lens Retention System

For an overview of Anon’s “Magna Tech” lens retention system check out our review of the M2. However, the M3 does differ from the M2 in several key ways. It uses 9 magnets instead of 8 (a magnet on either side of the nose, as opposed to one over the bridge).

The biggest difference in lens swaps though, is the frame design. The M2 uses a mostly frameless design, the lens sits over the frame, rather than in it. The M3’s lens sits recessed in, and flush with the frame.

This means that there are no exposed edges to grab when swapping lenses. Instead, I twist the frame of the goggle just enough that the stiffer lens pops out in one corner, then grab it, then throw in a new one, just like the M2.

Is this more difficult than swapping lenses on the M2? Yeah, I guess, but the M2 has by far the easiest-to-use system on the market. The M3 is just a hair more complicated, but is still miles above the competition.

Compared to the Giro Contact’s “SnapShot” system, the M3 is far and above superior. It’s easier to use (no hard-to-push button) and more reliable (the frame is stiffer and doesn’t separate from the frame when adjusting it like the Contact.)

In my Contact review, I stated my worry that the lens could separate from the frame in a hard impact. Low and behold, a few weeks ago I under-rotated a backflip, caught my tips, and put my face into the snow, hard. When I eventually stood up I had a concussion, and my goggles were full of snow, the lens had popped off the lower frame, allowed them to fill with snow, and then snapped most of the way back on, over the snow. Since the M3’s lens is recessed in the frame, there is no way I could duplicate this situation with them.

Magnetic Facemask Integration

In addition to the magnetic lens retention system, the M3 also comes with an optional magnetic facemask. The goggle has four additional magnets on the outside of the lower frame that interact with a small integrated frame and magnets on the facemask.

Initially I was pretty skeptical of this idea, but in practice it works very well. It’s easy to pull the mask off the magnets if you want to breathe unrestricted, and all it takes is a tug in the right direction to get it to snap back onto the goggles. This makes it possible to adjust your mask easily without taking off your gloves.

Anon also claims that using the integrated mask helps reduce fogging. While I have had no real issues with fogging, while testing these, I was impressed with the mask’s integration. I could get the M3 to fog briefly if I had the facemask I normally wear all the way up over my nose, but with the Anon magnetic mask, I was not able to get them to fog at all, since the magnets make sure that the mask redirects hot air away from the inside of the goggle.

NEXT: Fit and Helmet Compatibility, Optics, Etc.