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While thermal vision goggles have a ton of perks, they’re not cheap and have many features to learn how to use. It’s easy to get stuck with an inferior product if you don’t make the right decision the first time.
We understand the dilemma, and that’s why we highlighted 10 of the best heat vision goggles on the market. There’s also a comprehensive buyer’s guide to help walk you through the specifications that you need to check out before making your decision.
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Best Overall | ATN Binox 4T 384 Thermal Binoculars |
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Best Value | AGM Global Vision AGM Asp-Micro |
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Premium Choice | AGM Global Vision F14-3AP |
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Pulsar Multispectral Fusion Binoculars Trionyx T3 |
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Pulsar Helion 2 XQ50 |
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Magnification range: | 25–5x |
Eye relief: | 10–30 mm |
Battery life: | 16+ hours |
Weight: | 75 pounds |
Field of view: | 5–16 degrees |
If you’re looking for the best overall thermal vision goggles on the market, what you want are these ATN Binox 4T 384 Thermal Binoculars. They’re an outstanding mix of price and features that other goggles simply can’t match.
It comes with a built-in laser range finder that makes it easy to track targets, and the IP64 weather certification means it can handle whatever nature has to throw at it. Whether it’s monsoon-style rains or well-below freezing temperatures, this product can handle it all.
Another awesome feature that comes with this set of goggles is the ability to live-stream anything to an iOS or Android device through an app. This means you get to enjoy everything in the moment, let others watch it, and view the footage again later!
Finally, with 16+ hours of battery life, you don’t have to worry about these thermal goggles dying on you when you’re out in the field. They last more than long enough for any adventure that you might have.
We do wish that there was a simple 1x magnification setting to go with the different magnification levels, but the minimum magnification of 1.25 is not that far off.
Magnification range: | 1x |
Eye relief: | Infinite |
Battery life: | 7 hours |
Weight: | 5 ounces |
Field of view: | 74–15.61 degrees |
Just because you’re on a tight budget doesn’t mean you can’t get a great set of thermal goggles. With the AGM Global Vision AGM Asp-Micro, you get the best of both worlds: great thermal goggles at an affordable price.
They’re incredibly lightweight and come with a 7-hour battery life, so you don’t need to worry about them dying on you when you’re out and about. They also have infinite eye relief, and you get both a 2x and 4x digital zoom feature.
With all these nice features, it’s easy to see how the AGM Global Vision AGM Asp-Micro earned our nod as the best thermal goggles for the money. Still, while there’s plenty to love, it’s not a perfect product.
First, there’s no magnification. It depends on what you want to use them for if that matters to you, but it might. Second, it only gives you a sharper field of view, which is workable but not ideal. Still, at this price point, they’re an outstanding choice.
Magnification range: | 1x |
Eye relief: | Infinite |
Battery life: | 8+ hours |
Weight: | 5 ounces |
Field of view: | 1–25.8 degrees |
The price point for the AGM Global Vision F14-3AP isn’t for the faint of heart, but if you can afford them, they’re worth it.
This great set of thermal goggles comes with night vision features, and it has bi-spectrum image fusion and highlight technology. This makes it easier than ever to spot your target. While it doesn’t have any optical magnification, it does have digital zoom features when you’re using the thermal.
The field of view with this device is phenomenal, and it’ll work for up to 8 hours even when you’re using all the features. Furthermore, it’s completely waterproof with an IP67 certification.
Finally, while it’s expensive, it does come with a 3-year warranty, which guarantees that you won’t need to replace it any time soon. If you take care of it, there’s no reason it can’t last a lifetime.
Magnification range: | 5–10x |
Eye relief: | 15mm |
Battery life: | 6 hours |
Weight: | 7 pounds |
Field of view: | 1 to 15.4 degrees |
The Pulsar Multispectral Fusion Binoculars Trionyx T3 is slightly expensive, but it has plenty of features to help make up for the price.
First, it offers thermal vision and night vision. Additionally, you can pair this device with an iOS and Android app called Stream Vision Compatibility, which enables you to record everything that you see and make adjustments with the click of a button.
But it’s not all about the new technology with this set of thermal goggles. You also get a 1,000-yard thermal detection range, which makes it among the longer distance options on the market. This pairs right with its maximum magnification of 10x, which is also among the most powerful for thermal goggles.
However, the tradeoff with this set of goggles is the fact that the lowest magnification setting is 2.5x. While that’s not a huge deal for some applications, for others, it’s a deal-breaker.
Magnification range: | 5–18x |
Eye relief: | 15mm |
Battery life: | 8 hours |
Weight: | 9 ounces |
Field of view: | 5 to 13 degrees |
The Pulsar Helion 2 XQ50 is a Pulsar product, and it’s worth considering if you need a lightweight and easily portable thermal imaging device. The magnification range starts on the higher side at 4.5x, but the maximum magnification of 18x makes it quite powerful.
In fact, it has a 2,000-yard thermal detection range, which is impressive. It’s also fog proof, dust proof, and IPX7-certified waterproof. This means it can handle just about any conditions out there, so bad weather won’t keep you indoors again.
It’s Wi-Fi compatible with the Stream Vision app, and it also comes with a built-in video recorder that can handle 8 GB of data all on its own. The battery life on the device itself lasts up to 8 hours, which is more than enough for your trips out.
The only tradeoffs with this device are that the minimum magnification is 4.5x and that it’s expensive. But if you want a thermal device that works at long distances and can afford the high price tag, this is a top-notch choice.
Magnification range: | 1x |
Eye relief: | Infinite |
Battery life: | 5 hours |
Weight: | 12 ounces |
Field of view: | 17 degrees |
While the FLIR Systems Scout II 320 is quite a nice choice. It’s easy to use, and while it only has an optical magnification of 1x, it does have a 2x digital zoom.
It’s a lightweight option that’s great for packing with the rest of your gear, and it has a wide field of view for easy viewing. This is an excellent short-range thermal device, but it isn’t a great choice for much else. It only has a thermal detection range of 550 yards, though for many applications, that’s more than enough.
It also only has a 5-hour battery life. That’s not a huge deal for many people, but if you plan on using it on long outings, it can become a problem.
Finally, this set doesn’t quite match its high price tag. It’s a reliable product, but it’s a bit pricey for what you’re getting.
Magnification range: | 5–6x |
Eye relief: | N/A |
Battery life: | 5 hours |
Weight: | 6 ounces |
Field of view: | 7 to 19.5 degrees |
The Pard Hand-Held G19 isn’t a set of thermal goggles, but rather a thermal video recorder. Still, that has its own perks. For starters, it has an easy-to-see HD screen, and of course, it records everything as you go.
Another awesome perk of this device is that it has a thermal detection range of over 2,400 feet. It also has laser-positioning technology, which makes it easy to home in on a target. However, there are a few drawbacks.
The most notable one is the short battery life of just 3.5 hours, so there’s a decent chance that you’ll run out of power if you’re using it. Second, it is slightly expensive. Finally, there’s the fact that this is basically a video camera. Still, with everything else that it offers, it is worth considering.
Magnification range: | 5 to 14x |
Eye relief: | 15mm |
Battery life: | 8 hours |
Weight: | 1 ounces |
Field of view: | 4 degrees |
The Helion 2 XQ38 is extremely similar to the Helion 2 XQ50, except it’s a slightly lower model. That does reflect in the price, though not by much.
If the XQ50 didn’t exist, this would be an outstanding choice. It has a wide magnification range and an 8-hour battery life, and it comes with Wi-Fi technology when you pair it with the Stream Vision app. Furthermore, it has thermal detection up to 1,475 feet, which is impressive by itself.
The only real problem with this choice is that the superior XQ50 does exist, and it’s not much of a price jump to get there.
Magnification range: | 1x |
Eye relief: | Infinite |
Battery life: | 5+ hours |
Weight: | 6 ounces |
Field of view: | 20 degrees |
If you’re looking for a compact thermal imaging device that you can easily pack and take anywhere, the FLIR Systems Scout TK Mini is worth considering. It only weighs 6 ounces, and despite its compact design, it has a wide field of view that makes it easy to spot things.
It does only have a 1x magnification, but considering the price point of this thermal imaging device, that’s not surprising. It’s an affordable choice, though, and it has a built-in LCD control panel that makes it easy to control what’s going on.
Furthermore, it has picture and video capture technology built right in, so you don’t have to worry about missing a moment of the action. Finally, it has a waterproof design backed by an IP-67 rating.
However, while there are quite a few technological features in this inexpensive product, the tradeoff comes in the performance. It only has a 100-yard thermal detection range, and the battery life only lasts about 5 hours. If you only need it for close objects, though, it works just fine.
Magnification range: | 1x |
Eye relief: | Infinite |
Battery life: | 10 hours |
Weight: | 6 ounces |
Field of view: | 74 to 15.61 ounces |
The AGM Global Vision Asp-Micro TM160Y only has 1x optical magnification, but it does have 2x and 4x digital zoom. It’s also affordably priced, with tons of technological features.
Chief among these features is the Wi-Fi hotspot capabilities. You also get pallet switch and distance measurement, and it all comes with a 3-year warranty, so you don’t need to worry about getting a dud out of the box. The battery life of 10 hours is more than enough for most trips too.
However, it only works well at short ranges. It doesn’t have any optical zoom, so you won’t get any additional range with this thermal imaging product.
If you’re stuck on picking out a thermal imaging device, you’re not alone. We created this comprehensive buyer’s guide to walk you through the key features that you should look into when picking out a device.
The most important factor to consider when picking out a thermal device is how far away the objects that you plan on viewing will be. If you’re using it for hunting purposes, you want to get closer to the target, and a further maximum range might not be as important.
A tradeoff with going with long-range goggles is that they often don’t have a true 1x magnification. So, while you might be able to spot things from a distance, once you get closer, using the goggles can be more of a problem.
If you don’t plan on recording, you can save yourself some money and go with an option that doesn’t have this feature.
Furthermore, you need to decide if you’re fine with it streaming to a different device to record. This is easier for manufacturers to set up, and if you already bring your phone with you when you head out, there’s no reason that you need to pay more for internal storage capabilities.
It doesn’t matter how great your thermal imaging device is if it can’t hold a charge. Only you know how long you are typically out and how much you’ll need to use it, but try to get a product with a battery life that will last long enough for you.
Even if you have to spend a little more, the last thing that you want is to not have your new thermal device when you need it most!
If you’re still stuck on which product to get after reading through the reviews and buyer’s guide, don’t overthink it. There’s a reason that the ATN Binox 4T 384 Thermal Binoculars are our top choice, as they come with tons of features at a price that you’ll love. If you’re on a tight budget, the AGM Global Vision AGM Asp-Micro is an outstanding choice at a lower price point. What’s important is that you don’t go out on your next adventure without the tools that you need!
Featured Image Credit: Dmitri T, Shutterstock
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Robert’s obsession with all things optical started early in life, when his optician father would bring home prototypes for Robert to play with. Nowadays, Robert is dedicated to helping others find the right optics for their needs. His hobbies include astronomy, astrophysics, and model building. Originally from Newark, NJ, he resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the nighttime skies are filled with glittering stars.
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