Anti-reflection (AR) coating for a glass substrate is prepared by blending at least two different sols to form a coating sol which is used to coat a substrate such as a transparent glass substrate. In certain example embodiments, a method includes forming a first sol formulation including a colloidal solution having a tri-alkoxysilane based binder; forming a second sol formulation including a colloidal solution having a tetra-alkoxysilane based binder; blending the first and second sol formulations to form a coating sol formulation; coating at least a portion of said coating sol formulation onto the glass substrate to form a coating; and heating (e.g., for curing and/or annealing) the glass substrate and the coating thereon. Anti-reflection glasses show improved mechanical strength and higher transmittances (e.g., Tqe % gain).