Best Monocular Overview and Review: So Many Options

There are literally hundreds of monoculars in the market today. In this article, I’ll try to help you find the best monocular for your needs, one that is worth the money and is one you will want to use virtually every time you go outside.

The list of some of the best monoculars that I have collected below is actually much too long. For that I apologize. But it does give you some idea of what is available. There are many more (mostly cheap, toy-like) monoculars you can get, but to list all of them would be ridiculous and futile.

I will try to give you some direction so that you can narrow your choice to just a handful or so. From there you should be able to pick one that you think will be the best for you.

Update: A few of the options below have gone out of stock at Amazon. With just a little searching, you should still be able to find a monocular with similar specs and price, so don’t be discouraged and give up right away.

You can click a link in the box below to go directly to that section of the article, but in this case I would suggest you just scan the entire overview from top to bottom.

Military Grade Night Vision Monocular

Armasight (now a division of FLIR) makes the monocular you need, if you are looking for a military grade night vision unit.

The Armasight NYX-14 SD (Standard Definition) monocular is a Gen 2+ device that has just 1x power by default, but you can optionally get 3x, 5x, and even 8x lenses for it.

You can mount the NYX-14 on your head or helmet with the appropriate gear. You can also mount it on a rifle and use it just like any other riflescope.

There are several other versions of the NYX-14 available that are even higher quality (and therefore more expensive). You can see most of them at Amazon here.

You can also read more about them first here.

Midrange Monoculars between $100 and $500

Normally I would only include about five models of a product in a list like this. But there are so many good monoculars in the market that I just had to add a few more in this case, so you can pick out the best monocular for your needs.

There are seven brands shown below and a total of ten models. You might want to pick out just one of the choices from each brand. Perhaps the magnification and objective lens size will be enough for you to decide which one(s) to look at.

You have magnification powers of 5x, 8x, and 10x from which to choose. Objective lens sizes vary from a mere 10 millimeters to a generous 42 millimeters (the same as found in many binoculars), with several stops in between.

Magnification power and field of view can vary widely among these instruments, whether you’re looking at the Zeiss Conquest, the Vortex Recce, the Bushnell Legend, or any of the others. Check the individual reviews for details.

• Leica 8×20 Monovid (Click here for full review)
• Zeiss 10×25 T (Click here for full review)
• Zeiss Conquest 8×20
• Zeiss 5×10 MiniQuick (More info on Zeiss Monos here)
• Vortex Recce Pro 8×32 (Click here for full review)
• Vortex Optic Solo R/T Tactical 8×36 (a best seller)
• Nikon 7394 5×15
• Docter 8×21 (with a unique “S” shape) (Click here for full review)
• Bushnell Legend Ultra HD 10×42 (Click here for full review)
• Minox Minoscope 8×25 (Click here for full review)

Midrange Night Vision Monoculars

If you need night vision capabilities in your monocular, you’ll want to investigate the possibility of owning one of the following units.

Here you can choose either 5x or 6x magnification or a 1x to 3x zoom model. Most objective lenses are 50 millimeters in diameter, but the zoom model is just 30mm. The larger the objective lens, the more light the monocular can gather which gives you a better picture of your target.

• Bestguarder 6×50 HD Digital Night Vision
• Bushnell Equinox Z Digital Night Vision 1-3×30 (Click here for full review.)
• FireField 5×50 Nightfall 2 Night Vision
• Night Owl Optics 5x NOXM50 Night Vision

Best Monoculars under $100

The monocular I chose to buy for my personal use is the Wingspan 10×50. This one is so popular that it’s sometimes hard to find (at Amazon). If that’s the case when you go searching, try the Wingspan 12×50 version instead.

You can click to read my full review of the 10×50 model here.

A very similar model is the Gosky Titan 12×50 which you can read all about in this full review.

Low End Monoculars under $50

A cheap monocular will obviously save you some money, but don’t expect the performance you get from those listed above. If you don’t need to look very far or see a great deal of detail, one of these low end monoculars may still work for you.

Even among just three models, you get a wide range of magnification (6x, 7x, or 10x) and an equally diverse spread of objective lens sizes (18, 30, or 40 millimeters). See if one of these is the best monocular in your price range.

• Barska Blackhawk 10×40
• ROXANT HD Mini 7×18
• ROXANT Grip Scope Wide View 6×30

Concluding Thoughts on Monocular Choices

As you can see from the many choices above, there is pretty much an embarrassment of riches when it comes to finding the best monocular overall. It’s actually fairly difficult to make a bad choice.

You have to know your needs; that is, how you plan to use your monocular most often in order to make a wise decision when shopping. Once you pin down those factors, you can try to match them with the specifications of a particular monocular.

Features I didn’t mention, like eye relief, light transmission, image quality, lens coating, and more, you can sometimes find in the individual reviews for a specific monocular, so don’t go away without checking them out.

If you find that the one you first chose doesn’t really perform the way you want it to, there is always the option of returning it. Hopefully that will never be necessary, but it is a possibility, especially when you make a purchase via Amazon.

Also check out my updated (2023) review and picks of the best monoculars at every price point here.