Preface....I’m a little long winded so just skip if you don’t want to read. This is my opinion alone and I am no expert in the field of thermals.
I will give you my two cents on some of the thermals in the 2.5k to 3.5k range. I have been hunting with night vision for well over 10 years and thermal going on 4 years. My first thermal was a Pulsar Apex XQ50. I sold it, thinking I was upgrading to the next level, for a Flir PTS536. The PTS536 was a very incredible optic. I used it for several months then picked up a Pulsar XP50. What a huge difference the XP50 was…..at first. I sold the XP50 and had a Trijicon for a short while. Then had buyer’s remorse and moved back to another XP50. Everything is about resolution, magnification and FOV. The XP50 at 640x480 had a native mag at 1.6x…..at 3.2x it would resolute to 320x240. My preference for native mag is between 2.5x and 3.0x. The Apex would resolute to 336x252 and The SH would resolute to 348x261 at the same 3.2x mag for the XP50.
In the end I sold both the Flir and the XP50 and bought another Apex XQ50. This thermal did everything I wanted at the time. All the features I wanted and needed and nothing more. I used that scope until just recently as I made the decision to upgrade again. Now remember, I’m “upgrading” but that really doesn’t mean much if I’m staying in the 384x288 resolution. I simply thought the new Thermion was the real deal. I purchased a Thermion XQ50. I was pretty pumped up when I got the scope. I have a Nightforce 5-25x50 that was off a rifle at the time. The Thermion was actually BIGGER. It was huge on the rifle. I did some field test between the Apex XQ50 and the Thermion XQ50. The Apex was simply better. It was brighter and provided more detail. Sad thing was I had sold the Apex to a friend of mine and was in the process of getting it to him. Kicking myself now as I should have kept that scope……………….Then comes the Super Hogster. I made the jump and purchased one. The size alone was a huge reason. I also compared the Super Hogster to the Thermion XQ50. And again the new SH thermal to me to provide more detail overall. I was very disappointed in the Thermion. Please, don’t get me wrong it is a great thermal, but…..
I had a chance to view side by side my old Apex XQ50 and the SH last weekend. Both were pretty good with some things going to the Apex and some going to the SH. What I found most interesting is both scopes have very close native magnifications in the specs. 2.8 for the Apex and 2.9 for the SH. Looking through the scopes there was a significant difference. One or the other isn’t as it seems. The magnification was significantly higher in the SH or significantly lower in the Apex. This also gave the Apex a better FOV. The detail was an edge to the SH to me though. My eyes preferred the SH while my friends eyes preferred the Apex…..go figure.
So for what it comes down to for me is size, price, quality, ease of use, size….did I mention size? Without getting in 5k range and having an awesome 640x480 that has a native mag of 1.6 or 2.0…..when the optic is doubled it isn’t much different than the SH. I am really liking the SH for the price point. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea though. There are a few things I really don’t like about it. 1. The startup time is closer to 15sec. 2. Even though it stated there is a manual NUC option and you can even change it to manual NUC it will still auto NUC. 3. The picture is grainy overall compared to some other thermals in the same class and there is definitely more pixelization than other thermals in the same class. Neither is bad at all but it is there. 4. The app is rather weak but works even though only on Android at this time. You Apple folks are SOL. 6. You cannot site the scope while zooming in. 7. The menu is simple….very simple. This is good and bad. I do wish it had some more user control for environment. 8. Background detail is rather weak. I've been told by Bering Optics that it relates to the 12 micron core.
What I like about the SH. 1. Did I mention the size?!? Seriously! Probably the best 35mm 384x288 thermal out there. I have only compared it to 50mm objectives. 2. Battery options. In the menu you can chose from 3v to rechargeable 3.7v and use any 5v usb battery pack. Very versatile. 3. QD mount is effective. 4. On board inclinometer. This is awesome! 5. Picture in Picture. Personally I like Pulsar’s better but this one works. 6. Only 3 buttons. And last but not least did I mention the size?