On the hunt for something special?
From the optics lab to the rigours of the field, Andrew McKean has tested the best binoculars and suggests those to look out for this year
The best hunting binoculars around in 2025 cover the category from small-frame units for travel and woodland hunting to tripod-mounted behemoths that enable hunters to pick apart expansive landscapes to electro-optics that combine laser rangefinding with observation. As you might expect from such a varied class, prices range from the accessible to the heirloom-quality.
Functionally, all these optics will enable users to hunt more effectively, but the best ones are engineered to make you a better shooter, with built-in ballistics calculators and GPS-enabled wayfinding.
As optics companies race to put electronics into their products and replace traditional glass with digital screens, it’s refreshing to see many brands are investing in heirloom-quality binoculars that don’t have power buttons or integrated circuits.
Swarovski, Vortex, Zeiss, Leupold and Bushnell all have new binocular families on the market this year, with a traditional analog optic, at nearly every price and performance level.
Zeiss Conquest HDX 10×42
RRP £1,100
While this excellent binocular shares the name with Zeiss’s mid-priced Conquest line, the new HDX is made in Japan, not Germany. But it features premium glass, thoughtful touches such as a locking diopter and rapid focus wheel, and retails for £1,100, which makes this an excellent value.
The new Zeiss turned in top image scores, thanks to excellent coatings, sharp edge-to-edge clarity and faithful colour renditions. The testers also liked the nicely tapered eyecups and field-flattening lenses that boost field of view and minimise astigmatic “bulging” that can cause peripheral distortions.
The version in our test was a pre-production prototype and we noted a bit of a hitch in the focus wheel. But we expect that issue to be resolved once this is produced and quality controlled. Aside from its blameless optical performance, some testers worried that consumers may confuse the HDX line with the Conquest HD line, which has been on the market for a decade. It’s a fair observation, especially because the new Japan-sourced HDX binoculars perform on par with the German-produced Conquest HD.
We also wondered about its retro design. While most upper-level binoculars are playing with two-tone colourways and distinctive textures, the Zeiss is old-school, in basic black and with a hinge design that wouldn’t have been out of place 15 years ago. What’s new is its excellent glass and image, attributes that are timeless and exactly in keeping with what you’d expect from Zeiss.
Leica Geovid R 15×56 LRF
RRP £2,110
This excellent long-range hunting optic combines three of Leica’s core strengths: laser rangefinding, premium observation and ergonomic design.
Despite its blocky lines, the Geovid R balances well and offers sure, precise controls. It behaves adequately when mounted to a tripod, but because it can’t use a traditional tripod mount, users have to find other ways to anchor it to a tripod. That’s an important consideration, because this rangefinding behemoth is so big and its 15x magnification so powerful that you’ll want to mount it in order to get its best performance.
That performance is tailored to hunting the wide-open spaces and high-angle game fields. The Geovid R is at home in situations where users sit behind their glass for hours, picking apart an extensive woodland, open fields or mountains, until they get a sudden chance to make the shot of a lifetime. You don’t want to be searching for your rangefinder at this moment, or to take your eye off your quarry. Leica’s offering allows users to glass and range in the same field of view.
However, what the Geovid R doesn’t offer is an extensive on-board ballistics package or connectivity to a mobile app. You need to step up to the Geovid Pro for those features, but the lack of complicated, slick electronics is actually refreshing. This makes the Geovid R the go-to LRF binocular for hunters who want to know two things precisely — what’s the target and how far away is it?
With both angle-adjusted and line-of-sight ranging, the Leica provides fast, simple aiming information. And its image is excellent, especially when tripod-mounted, allowing hunters to use this device rather than mid-power spotting scopes for their observation. The image delivered by the Geovid R is vivid, crisp and bright. Its price is accessible and reasonable for a high-performance ranging optic.
While its simple LRF feedback doesn’t have all the app-connected capability of more sophisticated rangefinding binoculars, it’s one of the most capable optics for those ambitious hunters who know that less is more when it comes to finding and hunting exceptional animals
Vortex Razor UHD 8×32 and 18×56
RRP £1,599 and £1,999
We tested Vortex’s new flagship binocular in both the 8×32 compact and the oversized 18×56 and, while they have wildly different uses, they share excellent glass, nice handling, a durable build and wonderful field of view.
The 8×32 in our test produces a big image out of proportion to its size. Testers noted it’s a perfect travel optic, since it can be easily held with a single hand and offers excellent mid-range performance. Enhancing its handling, the Razor UHD features thumb indentations in the chassis that are placed at the balance point of the binocular and enable good gripping.
The 18×56 is clearly intended as a tripod-mounted observation tool. These large-frame binoculars are replacing spotting scopes, especially in weather conditions that make high-magnification optics problematic.
The substantial barrels have a strategic bend in their middle to accommodate a tripod mount while allowing full interpupillary travel. Many of Vortex’s competitors, without this thoughtful touch, don’t quite allow their tripod-mounted barrels to squeeze closer for children and users with smaller facial features.
The controls of the Razor UHD were tight and precise, and testers particularly liked the locking diopter and tapered three-position eyecups. We could find very little to criticise on either model and felt the prices — £1,599 for the 8×32 and £1,999 for the 18×56 — are about right for the combination of excellent glass, durable construction and easy handling of the binocular, especially since it ships with Vortex’s top-of-the-line GlassPak Pro harness and rangefinder pouch.
Leupold BX-4 Pro Guide HD Gen 2 10×42 and 12×50
RRP £699 and £799
With configurations in just about every practical size and magnification, you might consider Leupold’s new BX-4 Pro Guide HD the binocular equivalent of its new Mark 4HD line of riflescopes — mid-priced do-everything optics.
Leupold introduced the BX-4 Pro Guide HD earlier this year in 8×42, 10×42, 10×50 and 12×50 configurations. We considered the 10×42 in our mid-sized binos test and the 12×50 in our large-frame binos class. Both come in between premium optics costing well over £1,000 and entry-level versions.
Leupold brings innovative interchangeable eyecups to the model, providing three different pairs of Form-Fit eyecups with its BX-4 Pro Guide HD: low- and medium-profile sets and a winged version designed to block out peripheral light. The eyecups answer an oft-asked question: how can brands possibly improve the basic binocular? With its Form-Fit, Leupold has found a way.
Testers wished the image produced by the BX-4 Pro Guide HD was on par with its mechanics, handling and eyecup innovations. Every tester recorded distracting blue colour fringing and most noted edge distortion. The field of view of the 10×42 (314ft at 1,000 yards) is noticeably narrower than most 10x42s and the apparent field of view is even more stingy. The tripod mount, located on the forward-most hinge, creates imbalance.
But the BX-4 Pro Guide HD represents a solid value in a durable, versatile binocular, and the value proposition is strengthened by inclusion of Leupold’s very good Pro Guide harness.
GPO Passion SD 10×42
RRP £299
With a recommended retail price of about £330, there’s a good deal of value in this new line of binoculars from German Precision Optics, better known as GPO. In addition to the 10×42 in our test, the company is bringing to the market 8×26, 10×26, 8×34, 10×34 and 8×42 models. Each wears the SD designation.
Although we struggled to define that term, the new GPO is built around a variety of high-transmission glass that delivered a pleasing image but also some noticeable flaring. Internal lenses are nicely coated and interior blacking is excellent. We also appreciated the high-quality zippered case and strap that ships with the Passion SD.
GPO is bringing the Passion SD to a very competitive place in the market. But it stands out for its magnesium chassis — most binoculars at this price point are built on polycarbonate bodies — and that high-transmission glass.
The in-hand feel is both substantial and tight, though testers wished the focus wheel wasn’t so spongy, and we have absolutely no reason to doubt its durability and overall versatility.
Bushnell R5 8×42 and 12×50
RRP £254 and £305
The brand-new R5 line from Bushnell represents an excellent deal, offering decent performance and abundant versatility for a accessible price. It is positioned between the new entry-level R3 line and the more aspirational R7 family. Think of the R5 as the mid-tier Engage in Bushnell’s previous Prime/Engage/Forge line-up of optics. We considered both the 8×42 and the big 12×50 configurations of the new model.
The larger unit rides the divide between a walk-about binocular and one that performs best when tripod-mounted. The image is decent, though spectacles wearers reported rather stingy eye relief.
The R5 is sourced in China, and has some forgettable attributes, including its ho-hum glass and spongy controls. But one of the advantages of an established optics company such as Bushnell is that even its basic products benefit from its excellent coatings. The R5’s exterior lenses are coated with Bushnell’s EXO Barrier that cuts glare and boosts colour fidelity.
The R5 ships with Bushnell’s very good Vault Lite chest harness and is covered by a lifetime warranty.
Hawke Frontier ED X 8×42 and 12×50
RRP £499 and £469
The Frontier ED X, built around very good extra-low dispersion glass and responsive controls, is a good example of the British brand’s mid-priced, value-packed optics. For an 8x competing in a field of 10x binoculars, the Frontier ED X held its own, scoring near the bottom of the low-light test but posting an exceptional resolution score. Testers like the trim eyecups and the nicely textured armour.
We also tested the 12×50 version and, while the glass is underwhelming, its even balance and responsive controls make it a good choice for a walk-about optic that can easily be stabilised on supports such as fence posts and backpacks. It’s a good choice for a hunter on a budget who wants a powerful binocular for the open fields.
Image scores for the 8×42 version were in the middle of the field. Testers generally liked the brightness, edge sharpness and overall tone of the image, but most noted flaring and other optical aberrations, probably as the result of poorly finished interior blacking. The focus wheel also requires nearly three revolutions to zoom from close focus to infinity. One of the quiet advancements in binocular technology is focus wheels that cover the entire focal length in two or fewer turns, and we’d like to see the Hawke apply this to its offerings.
Like others in the Frontier ED X line, Hawke has it in both grey and green armour in 8×32, 10×32 and 10×42 in addition to the 8×42. The binos ship with a premium zippered vinyl semi-hard case and carry strap, a feature that added to its high price/ value score.
Swarovski NL Pure 10×52 and 14×52
RRP £2,910 and £2,950
Once you recover from the startling price tag of this Austrian-made binocular, try to find a way to experience the image and the design that starts to justify its price of £100 per ounce. In terms of image quality, low-light performance and ergonomics, the NL Pure — in both 10×52 and 14×52 — is a pair of the most remarkable binoculars we have tested.
As you might imagine, the 10x and 14x models have wildly different use cases. The former is designed for walk-about hunting, hiking and travel. The 14x model can be stabilised in hand, but performs best when it’s attached to a tripod or some other support.
The distinctive external lines of the NL Pure are purposeful. Swarovski introduced the roof-prism model four years ago in three configurations: 8×42, 10×42 and what seemed like a crazy magnification at the time, a 12×42. That high-power binocular works as a shake-free hand-held optic because of the balance-enhancing shape of its barrels.
This year the company extended the line with a series sporting 52mm objective lenses. Swarovski calls the NL Pure a wasp-waist design and a new optical prescription and redesigned prism allow the chassis to accommodate big objective lenses, a slender mid-section and large eyepieces fitted with field-flattener ones that enhance edge sharpness.
The design also enables an enormous field of view. The 10x NL Pure has a 130m FOV at 1,000m. That’s even wider than most 8x binoculars, and far wider than any other 10x options we’ve tested.
This binocular is decidedly not for you if you want to mount it to a standard tripod. One of the more frustrating aspects of Swarovski’s design is its proprietary front-hinge tripod socket. The NL Pure has a special click-lock socket that only accepts Swarovski’s tripod mount, which sells for an additional £200. The added magnification of the NL Pure 14×52 requires this tripod-mounting interface.
But these small external nuisances don’t distract from the NL Pure’s astonishing image quality and brilliant low-light performance. The image delivered by the NL Pure is so vibrant, bright and pleasing that testers gravitated to the Swarovski any time they wanted to get a better look at a distant object.
