These cheap binoculars present a crisp, vivid picture with easy focusing. We rated them a Strong Alternative.
Might 1, 2023
At A Look

PROS:
- Clear vivid picture with little coloration or edge distortion
- Comparatively light-weight and small
- Easy focus wheel
CONS:
- Discipline of view a bit slender
- Exhausting plastic housing can really feel uncomfortable for some customers
STATS:
- Worth: $225 MSRP at press time. Costs typically fluctuate, so test with retailers
- Shut focus: Listed as 13.1 toes (400 cm). In exams, we may focus them a lot nearer, to about 8.2 toes (251 cm)
- Discipline of view: 7.1° (373 toes at 1,000 yards). Extra about discipline of view
- Weight: 23.4 oz (664 g)—that’s about 2.3 oz (65 g) lighter than the typical for 8×42 binoculars in our assessment
- Eye reduction: 17.3 mm
Viewing Expertise: The Athlon Argos G2 HD binoculars delivered a really good viewing expertise in a comparatively small and cheap bundle. Testers discovered that the general picture high quality was wonderful with a vivid, true-color picture that was clear nearly to the perimeters. When scanning there was no distortion or fishbowl impact. When viewing objects in decrease mild we famous some minor coloration distortion, with a delicate inexperienced/purple define to darker objects. Nonetheless, these binoculars carried out very properly in overcast and backlit circumstances. Watching a blended flock of grackles, starlings, and blackbirds, we admired the sharp definition the Argos produced: the crisp white recognizing of the starlings, the glowing golden eyes of the grackles, and the trace of yellow peeking out from the black shoulders of some male Pink-winged Blackbirds. These bins additionally carried out properly monitoring and resolving the complicated combine of colours in a flock of Bohemian Waxwings.
Really feel and Construct: These binoculars had been smaller and lighter than the typical for the 8×42 fashions we examined. The main target wheel was easy and simple to work with. The squared-off eyecups had three settings, and though they’d a looser really feel, there was no adversarial impact. The sunshine weight and plasticky housing mixed to make us query how sturdy these bins could be within the case of exhausting knocks. The neck strap was padded and comfy if considerably quick (one tester famous being unable to sling these bins round their shoulder). The target lens covers had stiff, barely outsized attachment rings that tended to slide up the barrels or hold down over the lenses till adjusted.
This text is one in a sequence of mini-reviews. To see how these binoculars examine to others we’ve examined, see our full assessment of reasonably priced 8×42 binoculars.