ARPBEST12X50 Monocular Telescope High Power with Smartphone Holder & Tripod - FMC Lens & BAK4 Prism - Monoculars for Adults with Dual Focus - HD Compact Monocular for Wildlife Bird Watching Camping

Second one I've bought..I went for the next model up from my first one as I was so impressed with the quality of the first one for the price.It's perfect for what I need..identifying garden birds..We are also near Southport RSPB site so it's perfect in the observation hides.this new one was on sale plus an amazon code meant I got it a lot cheaper that my first one..result.The zoom is great..the scope itself is small enough to pop in a pocket.. better than any binoculars you will get at this price..easy to set up and has one finger focal adjustment.One gripe ...the front lens cap is easy to lose compared to my first one which connected to the body of the scope..other that that it great..and you get a good quality mini tripod and phone holder.Snap up a bargain.

The photos I have attached are the view from my window with my iPhone, then with maximum magnification with my iPhone, then holding the monocular to my iPhone (without use of the supplied attachment). I have done this just to give you a sense of the power of magnification. The image I have uploaded is more blurry than what is experienced when holding the monocular to the eye.First impressions are very good. Extremely lightweight and compact, so much so that it fits comfortably in my big pocket shorts.Image is very crisp and clear between x5 - x10 magnification. I find that when using the maximum magnification of x25, the image becomes blurry and slightly grey. The biggest issue with using the maximum magnification is that due to handshake, the image jumps about so much that you really need to use the tripod for a stable view. Speaking of which, the tripod is good but not great. Each of the three legs bend independently so that you can raise and lower the monocular and the top swivels so you can turn it left or right but it is slightly time consuming to do so. I wish that it had a 360 degree ball pivot which would be much more intuitive to use. This would add cost to the design though. I feel I will rarely use the tripod or indeed the phone attachment. I tried once and found it exasperating to set up - but I will try again and update this review.I used the monocular on a coastal walk and enjoyed watching birds eating bugs and a far away horse scratching its neck with ecstasy against a fence. The sweet spot of magnification for me is around x17. The image remains nice and crisp and I find I can steady my hands just enough to enjoy the magnified image. Anything over 20 loses crispness and clarity and handshake is difficult to control. I do find that practice makes perfect though.Overall I am impressed. My partner had a go and summed it up by saying “Wow!”For the cost, this lightweight monocular is perfect for my walks to enjoy wildlife from a distance.

I can't fault this package, and was prepared to spend a lot more on just the monocular. But I thought I'd take a chance, as most reviewers thought that this was a good buy. And it is. The scope itself works very well, easily as good as I wanted. It is lightweight, and might not take knocks very well, but if looked after, I cant see why this shouldn't last for years. Great value. And you even get a lanyard to stop the lens covers from getting lost. That's not even mentioned !

Happy with this at this price. Clear and wide field of view. Perfect for afternoon walks at the nature reserve.

I have been looking for a compact monocular for a while, something a with a bit more reach and higher powered than binoculars, but not wanting to spend the earth.The ARPBEST 30X55 monocular fitted the bill - it has a good size objective at 55mm, a useful zoom range of 10-30x, and I paid £75. It comes with lens caps, a mini-tripod, and a phone holder to allow you to take pictures through the monocular using your smart phone. Everything is provided in a neat case.First impressions were ok - it’s quite light weight, and fits nicely in one hand with the focus knob falling neatly under your index finger. The focus knob is grippy and turns freely with a nicely dampened movement. The body is covered in a green rubber (non-removable) armour case and looks neat and is nice and grippy. The body features a standard tripod 1/4" screw mounting hole. The cap for the objective is captive, so you can’t lose it – you uncap it, and it hangs from the end of the monocular. A lens cap flapping about in the wind can be a little distracting, but in use it’s fine and effectively prevents a lost lens cap. The objective itself is quite deeply recessed, helping shade the lens and keep it clean. The eyepiece features a twist to retract type eyecup. The eyepiece lens cap however isn’t captive, so you must put this somewhere safe while you’re using it.In use however, the monocular shows corners being cut to meet its price point. The apparent field of view in the eyepiece is quite small, especially so at the lower end of the zoom range, and it is not as pleasant or immersive as looking through a wide field binocular or monocular. There are also noticeable optical problems - mainly barrel distortion with straight lines appearing more curved towards the edge of the field of view, and chromatic aberration which presents yellow and purple fringes to bright objects. The focus is quite soft at the edges of the field of view also, more so as you go past about 20x magnification. A minor irritation is that the zoom isn’t parfocal, which means you will have to refocus on an object as you change the magnification.As a glasses wearer, I like optical equipment to have a long eye relief so that I don’t have to press eyepieces into my glasses to see anything. Unfortunately, this monocular has very limited eye relief and even without glasses you need your eye very close to the eyepiece.I have very high standards when it comes to optics and the image quality with this monocular does grate with me, but it’s a fraction of the price of higher end equipment and it’s unreasonable to to make a direct comparison with those. For me the most disappointing aspect is the small apparent field of view combined with the limited eye relief.The good• Light weight• Smooth focussing• Reasonably close focus• Sensible zoom rangeThe bad• Small apparent field of view• Small eye relief• Barrel distortion• Not par-focal through the zoom range• Optically just not that greatFor the money, this is just an OK monocular. I don’t use the tripod or phone attachments so they add no extra value to me, if you need them though this might make it a more attractive option. But if you are looking for the best views, you may want to try other products.

This monocular is very easy to use, haven’t used phone with it yet. Very well manufactured and the accessories are well made. Also very clear view and the zoom is excellent. Not quite pocket sized but still small enough for any bag or maybe camera case.

Very pleased easy to hold cannot see how strap works and attaching camera is a bit fiddly. But happy with results