Blue Light Glasses vs Night Mode: Do You Need Both?

Melavue Midnight red lens glasses resting beside a phone with a warm-toned screen on a cream surface

Short answer: Night mode warms the colors on one screen. Blue light glasses filter the light reaching your eyes from every screen and every lamp in the room. In studies, night mode on its own didn't do much: iPad Night Shift still suppressed melatonin (Nagare et al., 2019), and iPhone Night Shift didn't improve sleep compared with leaving it off (Duraccio et al., 2021). Keep night mode on, but if you're on screens in the last 1–3 hours before bed, a deep red lens like Midnight covers the light night mode can't reach.

What does night mode actually do?

Night mode goes by different names: Night Shift on iPhone and Mac, Night Light on Windows and many Android phones. It shifts the screen's colors toward warmer tones in the evening. Dark mode is different: it swaps a white background for a black one.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) recommends both night mode and less screen time in the evening, because warm colors and a lower brightness are less likely to signal daytime to your body (AAO). It's a good habit and it's free. The question is whether it's enough.

What do the studies say about night mode and sleep?

  • Changing the color wasn't enough. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute tested iPads at night with two different Night Shift settings. Both still suppressed melatonin after one and two hours of use, and the warmer setting did no better than the cooler one. The researchers concluded that changing a screen's colors without turning down its brightness "may be insufficient" to protect melatonin (Nagare et al., 2019).
  • Night Shift didn't change sleep. In a study of 167 young adults, using an iPhone in the hour before bed with Night Shift on led to the same sleep as using it with Night Shift off. Among people who usually slept well, not using a phone at all gave the best sleep (Duraccio et al., 2021).
  • Screens aren't the only light. Ordinary room lighting before bed delayed melatonin in 99% of people in a lab study and shortened their melatonin night by about 90 minutes (Gooley et al., 2011). Night mode does nothing about your lamps or the TV.

What can glasses do that night mode can't?

Glasses filter the light at your eyes, so they work on everything you look at:

  • Every screen: phone, tablet, laptop, TV, gaming console.
  • Room lighting: ceiling lights, LED bulbs and the bathroom mirror light while you brush your teeth.
  • A bigger share of your view. University of Arizona researchers point out that glasses cover a greater part of your visual field than screen dimmers, and that screen settings leave other light sources untouched (Mason et al., 2022).
  • A deeper filter. Red-tinted lenses let through the least of the light that affects your body clock of the 50 lenses those researchers tested (Mason et al., 2022).

And tinted glasses have their own track record for sleep: in a review of 12 studies of tinted glasses worn before bed, eight found a benefit, such as longer sleep or better sleep quality (SLEEP Advances, 2020).

Blue light glasses vs night mode at a glance

Night mode Midnight red lens glasses
What it changes Colors on one screen The light reaching your eyes
Covers your TV and lamps No Yes
Works on every device Only devices you set up Yes
Depth of filtering Light warming Our deepest filter
Cost Free $59.99
Best use Always on in the evening The last 1–3 hours before bed

Night mode warms one phone screen, while Midnight red lens glasses filter the phone, TV and lamp light together

So do you need both?

Yes, and they work well together. Here's the evening setup we recommend:

  1. Set night mode to switch on automatically at sunset on every device.
  2. Turn screen brightness down. Brightness matters as much as color (Nagare et al., 2019).
  3. Dim the room lights.
  4. Put on Midnight for the last 1–3 hours before bed and keep it on until lights out. More on timing: how long before bed to wear blue light glasses.
  5. Lights out, glasses off.

If you can put the phone down earlier, do. The AAO's first tip is less screen time before bed (AAO). Midnight is for the evenings when the show, the book or the group chat wins.

What about during the day?

Leave night mode off during the day if you like, and skip deep tints: daylight helps keep your body clock on track (Glickman et al., 2025). If you'd like a softer, warmer look at your desk, that's what DayLight, our yellow lens, is for. See red vs yellow blue light glasses for how the two lenses split the day.

Cover every screen with Midnight

Night mode is a good start. Midnight finishes the job across your phone, your TV and your room lights. Try the Midnight Aura in Tea, the Midnight Nocturna in Black or the Midnight Aura in Glossy Black. For more on red lenses, read red light glasses for sleep.

Every pair is $59.99, comes with a hard case and a cleaning cloth, ships free on orders over $69.99, and has 30-day returns.

Shop Midnight →

FAQ

Is night mode as good as blue light glasses?

Not on its own. In studies, iPad Night Shift still suppressed melatonin and iPhone Night Shift didn't improve sleep compared with leaving it off. Night mode only warms one screen, while glasses filter every screen and the room lights too.

If my phone has night mode, do I need blue light glasses?

If you're on screens or under bright lights in the last hours before bed, glasses add coverage night mode can't: your TV, laptop and lamps. Use both, and wear a deep red lens like Midnight in the last 1–3 hours before bed.

Does Night Shift help you sleep?

Research hasn't shown that it does on its own. A study of 167 young adults found the same sleep with Night Shift on or off, and a lab study found changing screen color without lowering brightness may not protect melatonin.

Should I use night mode and blue light glasses together?

Yes. Set night mode to come on at sunset, lower screen brightness, dim the lights and put on Midnight for the last 1–3 hours before bed.

Is dark mode the same as night mode?

No. Dark mode switches to a dark background with light text. Night mode warms the colors of the screen. Neither filters your TV or room lighting the way glasses do.

Sources

This article is for general information and isn't medical advice. If you have ongoing trouble sleeping, talk to a doctor.