SZRSTH 12×25 Binoculars – Review

20210310_142454-1I wasn’t going to review these SZRSTH 12×25 Binoculars here because, well, I didn’t think I had a lot to say about a pair of binoculars.  They either work well or not so good and there’s maybe this or that feature but not a lot to say.

But I decided to post a quick review as I was pretty damn impressed with the quality of these very inexpensive binoculars.

When I got these I expected them to be just adequate and maybe fun to throw in the backpack; but considering the low price, I didn’t expect anything really good.

Was I wrong!  I’m completely surprised at how nice these ultimately turned out to be, hence this quick review.

The first thing I noticed upon opening the box was how well-built the binoculars are, they’re a resilient rubbery texture on the outside and the build and construction of them is something I’d expect to see on a fairly expensive pair of binoculars.  

They just look more expensive than the price tag.

They come in a nice little box, everything in plastic bags.  A manual is included – written plainly, as well as the neck strap, lens covers, and a case.

The case is standard fare with a velcro closer on the front and a belt loop on the back.  It’s a soft material, sewed okay, and while it won’t provide a ton of protection it’s what you would expect from a binocular case I suppose.  The binoculars themselves have a padded rubbery construction so a real padded case probably isn’t necessary anyway.

The neck strap is pre20210310_142246-1tty nice with a secure latching system for connecting to the binoculars, similar to camera straps.  It consists of a nylon canvas strap at the ends with the rest of the strap a soft, slightly stretchy and wider section, and trapper rings near the ends to hold the tips of the straps.  The binoculars are quite light (only about 276g/9.74oz) so you don’t need a real heavily padded strap here for around your neck.  Again, the sewing on the straps seems to be just fine with no sign of any unraveling of the thread.  Neither the case nor the strap are especially impressive in themselves, but are standard sort of things and do their jobs just fine.

The rear lens cover(s) are of one piece with the covers on either side connected to each other, they are constructed of a rubbery material and have slots on either side to attach them to the strap or whatever. They’re easy to remove at a moment’s notice but just secure enough to stay on pretty well if you put the binocs in your backpack without it being in the case.

There are no front lens covers as the front lenses are recessed pretty well, so it’s generally well protected there.

On to the binoculars themselves. 

As I said above the construction is top-notch, with the binoculars completely covered in a rubbery protective material that is easy to grip, and provides bump and impact protection too.

The rubber eyecups can be extended for normal use (and the covers fit on them just fine when extended) or they can be screwed in fully for those of us with glasses.  It takes a little getting used to looking through them with glasses on but works fine either with or without glasses for me – I could adjust the focus to compensate for no glasses as well as having glasses on.  Your results may vary here, but either way worked fine for me.

You can also adjust the distance between the two eyepieces, swinging them out and in (adjustable from 52mm to 74mm) to match for the distance between your eyes so you can get the best focus point.

The right eyepiece has a diopter adjustment to help you dial in your initial focus and any differences between your two eyes, once you get that set you can adjust the regular focus known in the middle.  The instructions give you some help on setting the diopter correctly.

Using the center focus wheel lets you very clearly and precisely focus in on an object, moving the focus wheel depending on the distance the object that you are looking at is from you.

I was able to focus in on things as close as fifteen feet away, and of course, pretty much any longer distance is easy to focus too with a little turning of the knob.

And this is where I am also impressed – the construction is great on these but also the quality of the lenses is excellent, crystal-clear and crisp at any distance I tried them at.  Including an object about a mile away. 

So I am really surprised and happy about the quality of these SZRSTH 12×25 Binoculars.

Even though they are not meant to be used for taking photos through I was able to take a test/example photo with my phone’s camera, you can see the comparison in the  photo below.20210310_145013

The magnification is about 12x with an effective diameter being 25mm, which is pretty normal for smaller binoculars and will allow enough light in for use toward dusk and at dawn – but these are not made for night use, though anything with a fair amount of light will still be maybe visible.  The field of view is about 288ft@1000yds (88m@1000m) with a closest focal distance of about 5 meters/16.4 feet.

According to the manual, these can get splashed and such but you don’t want to use them in heavy rain or submerge them for longer than a quick drop.  Normal use in other words.

The lens are coated and the weight of the binoculars is just under 10 ounces (276 grams) so they are very light, and in no way bulky like larger binocs are.

So I gotta say again, I’m really impressed with these and highly recommend them, whether for hiking; bird watching; or just because you want a pair around for occasional use.

 

 

 

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Marc M

I am a web developer and fitness geek, but I have a heck of a lot of differing interests.  Biking, the Internet, technology, movies, fitness, running and walking and hiking, science fiction, photography, graphics, WordPress, flying and aircrafts, pets and animals, history, and much more.  I like to stay very fit but I don’t mind sitting at my computer for work and play either.  I live in upstate New York (that’s far from New York City) in a rural area, yet close to a small city, with my beautiful awesome wife, a bunch of beloved cats and dogs and chickens in a very old multi-century house.

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