Alcon Precision7 contact lenses

With the new Precision7, the American company Alcon is bringing a fresh solution for replacement contact lens wearers to the market. The lenses are designed for a seven-day wearing period and thereby neatly close the gap between daily and monthly lenses.

Made from the innovative silicone hydrogel material Serafilcon A, the Precision7 lenses feature an integrated moisture reservoir (water content around 55%) that, thanks to ACTIV-FLO technology, continuously transports moisture from the inside out. The result: up to 16 hours of stable wearing comfort without a feeling of dryness or tired eyes — according to Alcon, even on the seventh day.

After a week the lenses are thrown in the residual waste and replaced by a new, sterile pair. That is not only more hygienic than monthly lenses, but also produces significantly less packaging waste than daily lenses.

Those who wear the lenses seven days and six nights in a row – which, according to Alcon, is possible if individually suitable – also save themselves the daily contact lens care and the costs for solutions and accessories. Another health benefit is that the lenses filter over 90 percent of UVA and 99 percent of UVB rays and additionally block 34 percent of blue‑violet light.

While the spherical Precision7 are available in a range from +8.00 dpt to -12.00 dpt and can therefore make people with strong myopia or hyperopia happy, Alcon also offers a product for contact lens wearers with astigmatism (corneal curvature) with the toric Precision7 for Astigmatism. Equipped with all the aforementioned features, the innovative daily lenses are available in a parameter range from +8.00 dpt to -10.00 dpt and cylinder values of -0.75, -1.25, -1.75 and -2.25.

Alcon Precision7

Since my youth I have worn contact lenses and over the years tried just about every imaginable variant – from hard lenses to six‑month lenses to monthly and daily lenses. None of them were ideal. Hard lenses felt like sandpaper in the eye, monthly lenses suffered on long days from poor oxygen permeability and regularly fell apart during partying. Daily lenses were expensive, but at least tolerable – especially for sports. At some point I found my compromise: glasses for everyday use and daily lenses for cycling or traveling. Still, I was never really satisfied, especially not with the feeling in my right eye, where the lens regularly slipped or felt uncomfortable. Only the discovery of an astigmatism and the switch to toric lenses brought noticeable improvement.

Looking back 2021: I received a review pack of Alcon Precision1 daily contact lenses from my optician – of course with my usual prescription: spherical in the left, toric in the right. I was curious, but skeptical. What could be so different about daily lenses?

After a few days I noticed, however, that my eyes suddenly felt noticeably more relaxed: less dryness, no constant readjusting, no annoying foreign-body sensation when blinking. The lenses sat correctly straight away. A quick blink was enough, and they positioned themselves perfectly.

The longer the days became, the clearer the difference to my previous lenses. Instead of drying out after twelve hours, the Precision1 easily lasted until the evening. No rolling at the edge, no tearing, no stress. These things just work – day after day.

And if presbyopia hadn’t crept in for me, the setup would have remained untouched to this day. But with the inevitable decline came reality: the lenses that worked excellently for driving, motorcycling, sports and everyday life increasingly had to be combined with reading glasses – at the latest when it came to calendar entries on the iPhone or small‑print menus in restaurants. In the end there was no way around it: I switched to progressive glasses and used the daily lenses only for special occasions.

When I first heard about the new Precision7 from Alcon, I couldn't help but smile. Seven-day lenses? Neither daily nor monthly lenses? What comes next? Three-day weekend lenses?

The Precision7 lenses are made from the innovative silicone-hydrogel material Serafilcon A and feature an integrated moisture reservoir. This is intended to keep wearing comfort at a high level for up to 16 hours a day, which was absolutely confirmed in the review. Added to that are the UV filter and the simple, easy-to-remember replacement schedule. Wear them for a week, then change — that's it. And the price is significantly more attractive compared with daily lenses, while at the same time generating less packaging waste.

In the review I tried three different approaches.

1. Contact lenses only, once-daily replacement: I put them in in the morning and took them out in the evening. I replaced the lenses after seven days. Compared to monthly lenses this felt noticeably more hygienic — no wearing them through the critical last days, no irritation from invisible deposits. The eyes could fully recover overnight and the wearing comfort was so consistent that I wore them from early till late without experiencing dryness.

2. Alongside glasses, changed multiple times daily: For glasses wearers who only opt for lenses on certain occasions, such as for sports, when traveling, or during presentations, the Precision7 offer an ideal middle ground. I wore them on such days for three to four hours at a time, then they went back into fresh solution. With careful handling, the pair comfortably lasted the week despite occasional multiple daily changes. Definitely an interesting option for people with progressive lenses or those frustrated by reading glasses.

3. Continuous wear for seven days and six nights: Yes, according to the manufacturer that could work. I also tried it, but stopped the trial after the first night. My eyes were badly gummed shut in the morning, and I had to rinse the lenses thoroughly until my usual visual acuity was restored.
After a slit-lamp examination at my optician Roland Bischel, it turned out that I should avoid it. My tear film is extremely thick and slightly cloudy, so I’m clearly not one of those people who can actually wear one-week lenses continuously for a week.

However, the eye check showed that the lenses — both the spherical and the toric variants — fit perfectly and I can wear them day after day without concern. A further follow-up check some time later confirmed this as well.