Buying a Swarovski binocular will be a day to remember for anyone – and that goes for a Swarovski pocket binocular as well. However, being faced by at least 10 models to choose from, does not make it easy.

Swarovski Optiks are all about quality and everybody knows that – and they back their products with a lifetime warranty, so that says it all. And when we talk about quality, we mean everything – not only the optics. Just by looking at the instrument you know you’re looking at quality.

The pocket binoculars under review are all also very lightweight (all weighing less than 8.1 ounces) and very compact – all will easily fit into your jacket –even shirt - pocket.

Apart from some differences in how they look, there are some other differences relating to the technical aspects of binoculars. Some of these could be important enough for you to make your final decision. These differences will now be discussed.

Magnification:

Some of these pocket binoculars magnify by 8 times and some by 10 times.The Swarovski Optik Pocket 8x20B-P (Green) and 8x20B-P (Black ), the Traveler, Tyrol and the three crystal ones, the Tosca, Nabucco and Idomeneo – all have magnification of 8x. The Swarovski Optiks Pocket Binocular (10x25B-P, Green) and the 10x25B-P, Black, as well as the Traveler have magnification of 10x.

The 10x power gives you more magnification, but makes finding and following an object more challenging, since movement is exaggerated with higher power.

Another problem is that the higher magnification means a smaller exit pupil if the objective lenses stay the same. Fortunately Swarovski Optiks compensated for this by making the apertures bigger in the case of the 10x magnification binoculars, so the exit pupil is the same (2.5 mm) in both the 8x20 and 10x25.

Objective lens size:

Making the objective lenses wider is an easy decision for the manufacturers in the case of normal size binoculars, but it’s another matter in the case of pocket binoculars, since bigger apertures always make the instrument more bulky and heavier, which is not good when the binocular has to fit in a pocket. However, Swarovski dealt with those matters (see dimensions and weight below). The wider objective lens of 25mm of the 10x25’s does have an advantage of collecting more light than the 20 mm, which will deliver a slightly brighter image to the eyes. This will come into play in dim or fading light.

Weight:

The 10x25’s are all slightly heavier than the 8x20’s due to the wider objective lenses: 8.1 oz. vs 7.6 oz. However, this is not really that much.

Dimensions:

The bigger 10x25’s have the same dimensions as the smaller 8x20’s in terms of height (1.5 inches) and width (2.3 inches), but their barrels are slightly longer (4.57 inches vs 3.98 inches). Clearly this difference is of no importance.

Field of view (FOV):

One of the technical features that usually gets affected by higher magnification is the field of view (FOV) of the instrument. The higher the magnification, the narrower the field of view, which contributes to the difficulty of spotting an object and following it. The FOV of the 10x25’s is 285 feet at 1,000 yards, which is considerably narrower than the 345 feet at 1,000 yards of the 8x20’s; to put it another way – 5.4 degrees of the 10x25’s vs the 6.6 degrees of the 8x20’s.

Close focus:

A binocular with longer barrels can never focus a close as one with shorter barrels. Some compact binoculars are designed specifically to focus as close as possible for viewers interested in things like butterflies or bugs. For those you really need binoculars with close focus of less than 2 yards. Some focus as close as 1.2 yards (1 meter), but the king of all close focus binoculars is the Pentax Papilio, specially designed to focus as close as 18 inches! The Swarovski’s have a moderate close focus of 13 feet in the case of the 8x20’s and 16 feet in the case of the 10x25’s. This is sufficient, unless you really need to get closer, in which case you will have to consider the Pentax Papilio, which is excellent as far as close focusing is concerned, but not in the same class as the Swarovski’s overall.

Price:

There’s quite a difference in price between the different models, even though the specifications are quite the same. The "standard" and "travel" 8x20 models are all going for $679 currently, but the luxurious 8x20’s are considerably more expensive, even though their specifications and performances are exactly the same. The Swarovski Optiks Pocket Binocular Tyrol 8x20 goes for $839.99 and the crystal models (the Crystal Tosca 8x20, Crystal Nabucco 8x20 and Crystal Idomeneo 8x20), are all priced at $899, probably due to their very beautiful and lustrous housing studded with Swarovski crystals.

Whether this beautiful housing is worth the extra $120 or not, is something everybody has to decide for himself, as long as you realize you’re not getting a better binocular than the other 8x20 Swarovski’s.

The 10x25’s are all priced at $769.

Summary

In spite of the wide variety of models made available by Swarovski Optiks, the technical differences really boil down to the difference in magnification (8x and 10x) and objective lens opening (20 mm and 25mm). The higher magnification and aperture do impact on certain other technical features like the field of view and close focus distance. These binoculars are excellent pocket binoculars, being very lightweight and compact enough to fit any pocket. Although they are all of very high quality in terms of optics and finish, some have crystals embedded in their housing, which makes them more expensive.