To compare the quality of vision with an aspheric intraocular lens (IOL) with no aberration and an IOL with negative spherical aberration. Bretonneau University Hospital, Tours, France. Patients scheduled for cataract surgery were randomly chosen to bilaterally receive a SofPort Advanced Optics IOL with no aberration (no-aberration IOL group) or a Tecnis Z9000 IOL with negative spherical aberration (negative-aberration IOL group). Six-month postoperative outcomes included patient-centered visual disability assessed with the Activities of Daily Vision Scale (ADVS), contrast sensitivity testing, and wavefront aberration analysis. There was no difference in the overall ADVS score between the 2 groups (P = 0.07); however, the negative-aberration IOL group had a better night-driving score (mean 82.7 +/- 15.1 [SD] versus 66.4 +/- 7.6) (P<.001) and the no-aberration IOL group had a better corrected near-vision score (mean 96.5 +/- 6.2 versus 86.2 +/- 13.2) (P<.001). Mesopic contrast sensitivity was significantly better in the negative-aberration IOL group at intermediate and high frequencies; the no-aberration IOL group performed better under photopic conditions at intermediate frequencies. There was significantly higher spherical aberration (mean 0.11 +/- 0.05 microm versus 0.01 +/- 0.06 microm; P = .001) and lower 3rd-order coma (mean 0.09 +/- 0.06 microm versus 0.15 +/- 0.06 microm; P<.001) in the no-aberration IOL group than in the negative-aberration IOL group, which had better MTF. Bilateral implantation of an IOL with no aberration resulted in better quality of near vision. A negative spherical aberration IOL provided better night-driving vision and improvements in mesopic contrast sensitivity and MTF.