With these two new lenses (both were introduced in 2009), Vistakon and CIBA Vision (besides some other manufacturers) serve a growing market: baby-boomers (and beyond) coming of age and requiring reading glasses.  For people in this market segment multifocal lenses are an attractive alternative to spectacles. Air Optix Aqua Multifocal and Acuvue Oasys for Presbyopia want to own a significant share of this market. We looked at the differences with this comparison chart.

	Air Optix Aqua Multifocal	Acuvue Oasys for Presbyopia
Lens Type	Multifocal lens	Multifocal lens
Lens Material	silicone hydrogel (lotrafilcon B)	silicone hydrogel (senofilcon A)
% of Material	67%	62%
% of Water	33%	38%
Available power range	-10.00D to +6.00D	-9.00D to +6.00D
Available Add Parameters	LO (<= +1.00D) MED (+1.25D to +2.00D) HI (>= +2.00D)	+1.25D +1.75D
Available base curves	8.6mm	8.4mm
Available diameters	14.2mm	14.3mm
Oxygen transmissibility (at -3.00D, center, non-edge-corrected)	138 Dk/t	147 Dk/t
UV-A Blocking (in 316nm to 380nm range)	unknown	> 90%
UV-B Blocking (in 280nm to 315nm range)	unknown	> 99%
Moisture-rich ingredient	No, but high wettability through low contact angle	Yes - via Hydraclear
Replacement schedule	4 weeks, daily wear or up to 6 nights extended wear	2 weeks (daily wear) or 1-2 weeks (daily wear with up to 6 consecutive nights)
Visibility tint?	Yes (blue)	Yes
Inside-out mark	No	No
Manufacturer	CIBA Vision	Vistakon
Packaging Details	3 lenses per box, each lens in a foil-sealed plastic package	6 lenses per box, each lens in a foil-sealed plastic package
Release date	UK: January 2009 US: unknown	May 2009
Online retail price range (per box)	$42.00 to $60.00 (estimated)	$37.00 - $47.00

Found an error? Please let us know - we try our best, but sometimes it's just not enough :-)

Conclusion:

A close call.  Currently not yet available in the US (as of August 2009) Air Optix Aqua Multifocal offers a greater variety of add powers.  We couldn't find any information about the UV blocking parameters for Air Optix Aqua Multifocal, so points go to Acuvue Oasys for Presbyopia which offers UVA and UVB blocking. 

Air Optix Aqua Multifocal appears to be less expensive than Acuvue Oasys as this is a monthly replacement lens, compared to the 1-2 replacement schedule of Oasys for Presbyopia.  As with the other Air Optix lenses, we noticed a significant price range for Air Optix Aqua Multifocal when researching prices on the Web. So with a little bit of homework you could save some money.