AGM Global VisionTaipan Thermal Imaging Monocular for Hunting 12μm Sensor, Hot Spot Tracking, 8× Digital Zoom, Video Recording, WiFi, IP67 Waterproof

This is a well built thermal monocular that's easy to use. The image quality is a clear step up from the 160 pixel sensor models, some of which actually cost more than this 256 pixel unit. It does not offer the same image quality or refresh rate as higher end units, but it also doesn't cost thousands of dollars.Keep in mind that this is a true 1x device. A lot of thermal buyers are going to want more base magnification, but that also costs more. 2x digital zoom works well, 4x OK, but 8x is poor. You can't expect much at 8x from a 256x192 sensor. Think of this as a 1x/2x device and you'll be happy.The monocular housing and push buttons feel nice, and the battery life appears to be very, very good. The EVF image quality is good, and it's a real EVF with a diopter adjustment. It's not a 'LCD in a tunnel' like many low cost night vision devices have. I do not experience any eye fatigue while using this.The WiFi features work on Android devices. The current version of the iOS app seems to have a problem connecting. Hopefully this will be fixed soon. Once connected and logged in, the app is responsive and works well, and video transmission is solid.My complaints? I don't like how they relied on long button presses for parts of the UI. You have to hold the power button down for several seconds to turn the device on/off. You also have to hold a button down for several seconds to get to the settings menu. And while photos take a single press, starting a video takes another multi-second hold (which means you cannot precisely start/stop video). I would have preferred a separate power switch, a dedicated video start/stop button, and faster access to the brightness and contrast settings. Note that with the WiFi app you can start/stop video and set brightness/contrast quickly.My only other complaint is that the Brightness setting is related to Contrast in how the thermal image appears. It does not actually control the EVF brightness at all. And the EVF is a little too bright at night. I suppose that's preferable to being too dim in the daytime. But I wish they had included, or would add, an EVF brightness setting.One last note: once on, the single-press "sleep" mode just turns off the EVF. It still draws power and you can hear it periodically calibrating the sensor. Sleep mode is not something you can or should use overnight. It's a mode you should only use for short periods. Not a complaint really, just an observation.I debated giving this 4 stars because of my complaints, but in the end gave it 5 because the complaints are minor against the performance and price.

I bought this unit a few months ago for hog hunting and it's worked out nicely. I walk fields and ATV trails through hardwoods/swamp at night scanning for hogs, then get whithin shooting range and shoot them using a night vision scope. The longest view I have on my property is probably 600-700 yards across a large field and I can still spot smaller varmint animals at that distance and can clearly make out larger animals like cows. At that range you probably won't be able to distinguish between a deer or hog... definitely won't be able to distinguish between a cat and a possum... but you'll know whether it's a small critter, or a larger animal worth taking a closer look at. I'd say the range for a quick positive ID between deer and hogs with this unit is around 200 yards, probably a good bit further once you've gotten used to looking through a thermal device and know the difference between how the animals tend to move around. That's more than enough for the fields and wooded areas where I tend to kill hogs.The biggest advantage this unit gave me was just learning the hogs patterns and basically allowing me to ambush them. Even when I can't get a shot at a hog I'm able to see what routes they're taking, where they're coming and going from, etc.. They're smart and try to adapt to the hunting pressure, but the thermals allows me to figure them out again. They always come back eventually but I have successfully driven them off my property once they started to realize nowhere was safe and they've lost relatives everywhere they've tried to hang out.I've had this unit out in light drizzling rain a handful of times and it's been perfectly fine. I also live in a very humid state and I've never had the glass fog up at all which is awesome. The clarity of this unit was better than expected but it does lose image quality fast once you zoom in. I leave it on the lowest setting at all times. The little focus knob on the side becomes really intuitive to use one handed and I just never have a reason to zoom in at the distances I spot hogs. The buttons also become very intuitive as far as turning the screen off and on and changing color modes. I've found that black hot is the best for quickly locating animals but white hot and red hot both work great too and might show a little more detail in the thick woods as far as making out the surrounding trees and foliage.The battery life is supposed to be 7-8 hours and I definitely believe it. I tend to hunt from around 8 or 9 pm in the evenings until as late as 2 or 3 am sometimes and I've never had this unit run out of battery and you could also use a battery pack with it. The only complaints I have are that the initial start up process seems long..it's maybe 30 seconds (you can look through it after a few seconds but you can't change color modes or adjust anything else until it's been on for 30 seconds or so). Once it's booted up you can just press the button to quickly turn it off an on as needed...long press the button to turn it completely off again. Also, if you want to record video you have to hold the video button down for a few seconds for it to start and I wish it was a little faster. You also need another device like a laptop if you want to watch or edit your recordings. The storage is internal so there's no SD card or anything.Over all this thing works great for my needs and I don't think I would've gained a whole lot by spending $300 more for the next model but I wouldn't want anything less either. In short, if you need a thermal monocular to instantly ID hogs out to 200+ yards, and keep an eye on your property at much farther distances this will fit the bill. Was definitely an investment for me, but one that I'm happy with and can't see myself going without a thermal scanner from now on.

The media could not be loaded. I got this for general hunting use and to do a bit of DIY pest control around the property. I use this to see rats at night. Then I eliminate them. That simple.The pic and video attached show the rat at a distance of about 10 yard or so. The quality of the picture is very good for heat signatures overall. I can detect heat signatures way over a mile away but these will be geographic signatures like hills, large buildings etc. For general animal detection, I would say you could spot the heat signature of an animal around 1k yards easily. However, you would not be able to make out what animal you are looking at is at that distance. I would say around 700 yards or so you should be able to make out the shape of the animal. Regardless, you would need a thermal scope to get a clearer picture.Overall, I really like this monocular. You can see the image on your phone live with a very slight delay so that way you can point the monocular at a certain spot and just look at your phone instead of having to use your hand up to your eye all the time. The battery is very good also. I like that you can record and take pictures as well on it. My only complaint is that the field of view is very small. However, at this price, you won't be able to get better. For a larger field of view, be prepared to spend over $1,500.So, if you are needing to just detect animals at a long distance this will do just fine. The quality is very good.