The wonderful world of windshield wipers: What is your first choice?

For most people, finding a new set of wiper blades may be an aimless task, but given their importance to driving safety, this decision should be seriously considered. Surprisingly, there are more options than you might realize.
First, you can buy three different types of windshield wipers: traditional, beam or hybrid. Each has a different support mechanism for the rubber blade itself. The conventional blade has a metal spline extending along the blade as an external frame. The beam blade has no external frame and maintains its rigidity by spring steel integrated into the rubber. The hybrid blade is essentially a traditional blade sub-frame with a plastic shell on it for better aerodynamics, and it depends on your eyes and style.
Bosch is one of the big players in the wiper industry, and its ICON blade series is its most famous product. They are beam type, so if they are placed aside, there will be no snow and ice on the frame. Each company has its own patented rubber technology, but high-end beam blades (such as this one) tend to be the most expensive.
The biggest competitor of Bosch ICON blades comes from Rain-X and its Latitude beam blade wipers. The two are similar in many ways, and if you try the two in a car, you may not even be able to tell the difference. With Latitude, you will get the same beam blade advantages as explained before, and even promote aerodynamic spoilers to reduce wind lift.
Valeo’s 600 series wipers are traditional blades. These are generally considered not as effective as beam blades, but these blades are especially well received by consumers, and you can save a few dollars compared to beam blades. Remember, it will not resist the accumulation of ice and snow.
Hybrid blades like the Michelin Cyclone mean you can keep the external frame providing pressure while also having better snow resistance. It all depends on the customer’s preference, because the covered frame is aesthetically smoother and looks more attractive, but it costs a few dollars more to take home.
If your priority is visibility in winter weather, ANCO manufactures these blades, even more extreme blades. They can still be used in non-winter conditions, but they have a strong rubber cover on the top of the frame to prevent the joints from being frozen by snow.