Alcon makes some of the best contact lenses available and some of the most dated, and they sit in the same catalogue. This page lists the whole current US range with the numbers that actually matter — material, oxygen transmissibility, water content, parameters — so you can tell which is which. Alcon will not publish this comparison because it would rank their own products against each other.
The number to look at first
Dk/t is oxygen transmissibility — how much oxygen reaches your cornea through the lens. Your cornea has no blood supply and takes its oxygen from the air. Starve it and you get redness, discomfort, and over years, blood vessels growing into tissue that should not have any.
Here is the spread inside Alcon’s own daily disposable range:
- Dailies Total 1 — Dk/t 156
- Precision1 — Dk/t 100
- Dailies AquaComfort Plus — Dk/t 26
That last one is not a typo. AquaComfort Plus is a conventional hydrogel, not a silicone hydrogel, and it delivers roughly one sixth the oxygen of the lens sitting next to it on the same shelf. It is still widely prescribed, largely because it is cheap and because it goes to −15.00D, the widest minus range Alcon makes.
If you are in AquaComfort Plus and your eyes feel tired by evening, that number is the first thing to raise at your next appointment. It is not a bad lens for what it is. It is a 1990s material still on sale in 2026.
Daily disposables
Dailies Total 1
The flagship, and genuinely excellent. Delefilcon A, Dk/t 156, with a water gradient running from 33 percent in the core to near 100 percent at the surface — so the part touching your eye is almost entirely water while the core stays firm enough to handle. That gradient is built into the polymer, not coated on.
Powers +6.00 to −12.00D, base curve 8.5, diameter 14.1.
One thing Alcon does not lead with: the standard sphere has no UV blocking. Its own toric sibling does. If UV protection matters to you, that is worth knowing before you commit to a year.
Dailies Total 1 for Astigmatism
Same material, Dk/t 127, and unlike the sphere it carries Class I UV blocking plus high-energy visible light filtering. Cylinder to −2.25D. Uses a prism-ballast design to keep the lens oriented.
Dailies Total 1 Multifocal
Dk/t 156, powers +6.00 to −10.00D. Add powers are designated low, medium and high rather than numerically, which means the fit depends more than usual on your practitioner picking correctly. Expect more than one trial.
Precision1
Verofilcon A, Dk/t 100, 51 percent water in the bulk rising above 80 percent at the surface. Class 1 UV blocking, unlike Dailies Total 1.
Alcon markets this as SmartSurface, and it is worth understanding that this is a different mechanism from the water gradient, not the same idea renamed. Precision1 is a uniform material with a plasma surface treatment. Dailies Total 1 has the gradient built through the material itself. Precision1 is positioned as the more affordable silicone hydrogel daily, and it is — it was the cheapest single price we found anywhere in our price index, at Costco.
Precision1 for Astigmatism
Dk/t 90, cylinder to −2.75D — a wider cylinder range than the Dailies Total 1 toric. Class I UV.
Precision7
The newest thing here and the most interesting. Launched late 2024, this is Alcon’s first weekly replacement lens — a genuinely unusual modality that sits between daily and monthly.
New material, serafilcon A, not shared with anything else in the range. Dk/t 149 in the sphere, 119 in the toric, 55 percent water, Class 1 UV. Cleared for daily wear with weekly disposal, or extended wear up to six consecutive nights.
A note on that last part: overnight wear of any lens carries materially higher infection risk than taking them out. That the lens is cleared for it does not mean it is the right choice for you.
Dailies AquaComfort Plus
Discussed above. Nelfilcon A, Dk/t 26, 69 percent water. The comfort agents — HPMC, PEG and PVA — are built into the lens and release as you blink, which is an older approach than surface engineering. Toric cylinder only reaches −1.75D, narrower than every other Alcon toric daily. No UV blocking.
The real case for it: it reaches −15.00D, and for a high myope who cannot get their power elsewhere, availability beats oxygen.
Monthly lenses
Total30
Lehfilcon A, Dk/t 154, water gradient 55 percent core to near 100 percent surface, Class 1 UV, powers +8.00 to −12.00D. Alcon’s answer to the fact that most people still wear monthlies.
The CELLIGENT technology is a biomimetic surface layer designed to attract water while resisting lipids and bacteria — which matters more in a lens you keep for thirty days than in one you throw away nightly.
Total30 for Astigmatism
Dk/t 123, cylinder to −2.75D, Class I UV with blue-violet filtering.
Total30 Multifocal
Dk/t 154, powers +6.00 to −10.00D, low/medium/high add. A Total30 Multifocal for Astigmatism also exists.
Air Optix plus HydraGlyde
Lotrafilcon B, Dk/t 138, 33 percent water — uniform, not a gradient. Powers −12.00 to +8.00D. Cleared for daily wear or extended wear up to six nights. Multifocal and toric versions available.
Two technologies get conflated here and they are separate things. SmartShield is a plasma coating that minimises exposed silicone, because silicone attracts lipid deposits. HydraGlyde is a separate wetting agent whose chemistry Alcon does not disclose.
Air Optix Night & Day Aqua
The outlier. Lotrafilcon A — a different material from the rest of the Air Optix line. Dk/t 175, the highest in the entire Alcon range, with the lowest water content at 24 percent. Those two facts are related: the oxygen comes through the silicone, not the water.
It is the only current Alcon lens cleared for up to 30 consecutive nights of continuous wear. Diameter 13.8mm, smaller than most, and available in two base curves.
Our position on 30-night wear: the lens is remarkable, and continuous wear multiplies your infection risk. Published data puts microbial keratitis at roughly 20 cases per 10,000 wearers a year for lenses slept in, against 2 to 4 for lenses removed nightly. Choose it because your circumstances genuinely require it, not for convenience.
Air Optix Colors
Lotrafilcon B, Dk/t 138. Uses SmartShield, not HydraGlyde, despite the family name. Powers only run plano to −8.00D, considerably narrower than the clear version’s −12.00D — a real limitation if you have a strong prescription and want coloured lenses.
Discontinued — do not let anyone sell you these as current
- The entire Freshlook line — Colorblends, One-Day and Dimensions — is discontinued in the US. Colors and Dimensions went in October 2022, Colorblends in September 2023. Alcon’s US page for it now returns a 404, though the international site still carries it. Alcon’s current colour options are Dailies Colors and Air Optix Colors.
- Air Optix Aqua was discontinued around September 2021, replaced by Air Optix plus HydraGlyde.
- Focus Dailies is gone from the US catalogue.
Retailers do still list some of these. If you find one in stock, you are buying remaining inventory, and you should check the expiry date on the box before you buy a year of it.
The 2024 recall, because an honest page has to mention it
In August 2024 the FDA posted a Class 2 recall covering Dailies Total 1, Dailies Total 1 for Astigmatism, Dailies Total 1 Multifocal and Total30 sphere — 92,835 packs, distributed nationally and internationally, sold between 5 June and 15 August 2024.
The cause was a third-party materials quality issue and a process change-control failure at Alcon’s Fort Worth facility, creating a risk that lenses would not meet their performance specification for their full shelf life. Alcon stated no increased risk to wearers was expected, though temporary irritation, redness or blurred vision were possible. No injuries were reported in the records we reviewed. Total30 toric and multifocal were not affected.
A Class 2 recall means a situation where use may cause temporary or medically reversible harm. It is not the most serious category. It is also not nothing, and you will not find it mentioned on any page that sells these lenses.
What we would actually tell a patient
If you are in Dailies AquaComfort Plus and comfortable all day, carry on. If your eyes feel tired by evening, ask about Precision1 — it is the closest silicone hydrogel on price and roughly four times the oxygen.
If cost is the constraint, Precision1 is the value play in this range and it is not a compromise lens.
If comfort is the constraint, Dailies Total 1 is the best daily Alcon makes, and among the best anyone makes. Just know it has no UV blocking.
If you keep forgetting to change monthlies on schedule, Precision7’s weekly cycle is worth a conversation. Weekly is easier to remember than monthly and cheaper than daily.
Whatever you choose, check the rebate before you buy. Alcon pays up to $250 on Dailies Total 1, Precision1, Total30 and Precision7 — and requires that you buy from the doctor who prescribed them.
Specifications recorded 24 August 2026 from Alcon’s own professional materials and FDA records. Manufacturers revise parameters — confirm with your practitioner before relying on any figure here. This is general information, not medical advice. Reviewed by Dr. Teresita Bollar, OD. Contact Lens HQ does not sell contact lenses.