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Awards: Best Low-Cost Binocular 2024
Hawke Vantage Binoculars
The first time Hawke Optics sent me a binocular to review (8x42 Sapphire ED) was way back in 2012/13 and since then I have now used, tested and reviewed many of their instruments (inc. spotting scopes, monoculars & binoculars) and one aspect that has always stood out for me with this brand has been a level of performance and build quality that without exception exceeds my expectations within the its particular price range.
However, up until now, most of the instruments of theirs that I have tested have been positioned within the Mid-High value price levels, which as competitive as it is, it does give manufacturers a little more wiggle space in terms of what components and coatings that they can manage to incorporate into a product and still keep it within their intended budget.
Now, because the Hawke Vantage series of binoculars is currently their entry level offering, this makes them very interesting to me as I am intrigued to see if Hawke Sport Optics can stay true to form and deliver a binocular that offers a better than expected performance to price ratio with a much smaller budget and therefore less wiggle room to play with.
Expectations
Available in either an 8x42 or 10x42 configuration, price wise, their RRP of approximately $150 - 160 / £129 - 139 is right at the crossover point here on BBR as being either classed as a Low Cost (50 - 130) or a Mid Level (130 - 300) device.
Thus I could either view them as being an "expensive" low level binocular or on the other hand, a "cheap" mid range binocular which does makes it a little more difficult to formulate what my expectations should be for them.
However, do keep in mind that these prices that I quoted above are the manufacturer's recommended ones and as such their actual retail prices will be lower. For example in the UK I see the 8x42 model listed for as little as £99 on some sites which certainly puts them firmly in the Low Cost bracket here on BBR and thus this is why for this review, this is where I will mostly place my expectations for them. But at the same time I will also just keep an eye and comment as to how they perform against the higher tier mid-range instruments, paying particular attention to the ever popular Hawke Nature-Trek 8x42 that I tested back in 2014 and which is still Hawks next level up offering from the Vantage.
Main Features & Review Sections:
Design & Shape
Whilst quite typical for a modern 42mm porro prism bino, the Hawke Vantage binoculars sports a modern single top hinge design and is to my tastes not lacking in the looks department. My first impression was also that they look more expensive than what they actually are, which is always a good start. Whilst quite similar, they look to have a more aggressive, slightly less rounded styling than the latest version of the Nature-Trek, which I personally like.
Exterior Rubber Coating
As is the norm, the Hawke Vantage has a protective rubber coating that covers most of the exterior surface, but unlike many of their more expensive line-ups where you get the choice between a grey or a green armor, at the time of writing, these are only available in green.
As with almost all other Hawke binoculars that I have tested, the armor used is thin and made from a rather hard rubber. These characteristics certainly result in less impact protection and grip than thick, soft rubber armors. But on the plus side, in my experience it is likely to be harder wearing and less likely to go sticky/tacky, which I have found happens to the rubber armor on a number of binoculars (especially lower costing ones).
The fine texture imprinted into the rubber does help with the grip level and I do like the two thumb indents on the underside that are well place in that they just encourage you to hold them in the right way and at the right position to make them well balanced and comfortable when glassing.
Chassis
Unlike Hawk's more expensive offerings that incorporate a magnesium chassis, the 10x42 and 8x42 Hawke Vantage binoculars use a polycarbonate plastic frame which at this price level and indeed with many mid range instruments is exactly what I would expect to find (the Nature-Trek family also uses polycarbonate frames).
So whilst polycarbonate may not feel as luxurious and is possibly a little less robust, it does have the advantage of being more lightweight and is one of the reasons why cheaper binos tend to weigh less than expensive ones, and these are one of the lightest 42mm binoculars I have come across.
Water & Fogproof
At the low cost price range, it is fairly common for binoculars to not be fully sealed and so whilst they may be advertised as being "weather protected" or "water resistant", the lack of seals means they cannot be submerged and stay water tight and they most certainly do not contain a dry gas like nitrogen within them which prevents the internal lens surfaces from fogging up.
The good news here is that these Hawke Vantage binoculars are fully sealed and filled with nitrogen and thus are both water and fogproof, which for me is certainly a good indicator of a better quality binocular that the lower price points.
Now you may be thinking something along the lines of "I don't go out in wet weather, so why do I need a water proof binocular?" Well just remember that the air-tight seals also prevent fine dust particles from entering the system, which can and does occur, especially when leaving the binocular out of it's case over time.
Eye-Cups & Eyepieces
I rate the eyecups on these as excellent compared to most low cost binoculars and even match some of the better mid-level instruments out there:
The first thing to mention is that the twist-up mechanisms feels robust and I like the way it clicks very positively into each of the pre-defined click-stops. Which there are four of (two intermediate as well as maximum and minimum), which again is excellent as most will only have one intermediate stop.
This along with an excellent 18mm of eye-relief makes sure that you are able to adjust them and get your eyes the perfect distance behind the ocular lenses (with or without glasses on) and be able to take in the entire image without black rings or tunneling forming on the edges of the view.
As with the chassis, they eyepiece and eyecup housings look to me to be made from polycarbonate, but at this price level, I don't think I have ever come across metal ones, so this is to be expected.
Focus Wheel & Focussing
Hawke's higher tier instruments like the superb Frontier 8x42 ED X have some of the best focus wheels and focus mechanisms out there, and so whilst I would never expect a binocular at this price to achieve that kind of level, I was secretly hoping that at least some of their DNA would be passed down to the Vantage.
Well the good news is it has and I feel confident stating that you will struggle, if not find it impossible to get anything better at this level.
The wheel looks very similar and has the same rubberized track as their mid-range instruments like the Hawke Endurance ED 8x42, and measuring 31mm in diameter, I would not be surprised to learn that it is the same wheel.
Yes, the wheel is plastic and not metal like the ones used on the top tier Frontier ED X series, but it is the silky smooth mechanism that is most impressive here, which made focusing my sample Hawke Vantage 8x42 binoculars a pleasure.
Speaking of which, the wheel takes about 2¼ turns to adjust the focus from one extreme to the other. This is a fairly low gear meaning that it takes longer (more turns) to make large focal adjustments, so not so great if you want to quickly move from near to far or vise vera, but on the plus side it does make fine tuning the focus to get it 100% sharp that bit easier, which along with the very smooth mechanism was something that I appreciated. The difference here between these many/most other binos in this price category cannot be understated.
Diopter Adjuster
The diopter which is used to calibrate the binocular and thus cater for any differences between your left and right eyes is positioned as usual in the standard place on the right eyepiece.
Whilst it is not lockable, the ring is thin and has a low profile, which along with a good level of resistance means it should not move by accident, but at the same time is not too difficult to adjust when you need to.
Hinge & Inter-Pupillary Distance (IPD) Adjustment
Measuring just 3cm, the single hinge that connects the two barrels is pretty narrow, but at the same time feels perfectly robust and whilst I did not test it to destruction, I don't have any additional worries in terms of its strength being less than normal.
This hinge is also positioned nearer the eyepieces than the objectives on the barrels. the advantage of this thin bridge and its location is that it opens up more surface area on the barrels for you to hold onto, which if you are like me and often forego the neck strap and simply carry about your binoculars in your hands, is an advantage.
The hinge itself opens and closes smoothly which makes adjusting the distance between the eyecups to match that of your eyes (Inter-Pupillary Distance) simple enough, yet at the same time it has a good level of resistance and thus remains at your desired setting (It is very annoying to use a binocular with a hinge that keeps opening and closing because the hinge is too loose).
Tripod Adaptable
These Hawke Vantage binoculars are "tripod adaptable", by this I mean they have a standard thread (¼ inch - 20 UNC) located under the dust cap on the front of the hinge. Unscrew this and you can easily attach a tripod adapter, which in turn mounts onto a tripod, monopod etc.
Body Quality Score: 7/10
Weight
Tipping the scales at just 19.6ozs / 556g these Hawke Vantage binoculars are extremely lightweight for a 42mm binocular:
Dimensions
As you can see in the table above the outer dimensions on this vantage are fairly typical for a 42mm roof prim shaped binocular, so not much for me to mention here.
Body Stats Score (for a 42mm binocular): 9/10
In their specification sheets, Hawke states that both these and their higher tier Nature-Trek binoculars incorporate their "H2 Optics" and thus logically you would think that they share the exact same system, but from what I can see, there is a difference:
The 10x42 and these Hawke Vantage 8x42 binoculars are advertised as having Multi-Coated Optics, whilst the Nature-Trek series has Fully Multi-Coated Optics.
The omission of the word "Fully" is important here as it tells us that only some optical surfaces (usually the outermost objective lens and ocular lens surfaces) have been multiple layers of an anti-reflection material, whilst fully multi-coated binoculars have all of the lens surfaces throughout their entire system treated.
Whilst there is no doubt, it would be preferable for these to be FMC, at this price level it is quite common (Although you can get cheap FMC binoculars), however it is better than those which are simply Coated - meaning they only have a single layer coating and not multiple layers.
The level of these coatings can make an observable difference to image brightness as well as quality as these coatings are designed to increase transmission levels whilst at the same time reduce unwanted reflections and it is something I paid particular attention to when I tested them. See the Optical Performance & Image Quality Section below.
For more on these coatings, take a look at my article on Anti-Reflection Lens Coatings used on binoculars.
I measured the exterior ocular lens on the eyepiece of my sample Vantage to be 23mm in diameter, which for a 42mm binocular is on the larger side of average.
Large ocular lenses can present us with a number of advantages which I go through in this article on ocular lens sizes in binoculars.
The 42mm objectives are set back nice and deep within the ends of the barrels (I measured it to be about 10mm), which not only protects them somewhat from physical damage, but shields them from light rain, dust and in certain light conditions performs a little like a camera lens hood and thus will help eliminate or at least reduce some lens flair problems.
These 8x42 Hawke Vantage binoculars use the Schmidt-Pechan design of roof prisms to correct the inverted image.
These prisms are made from BaK-4 glass, which for the use in binoculars, is considered to be a better option than BK-7 glass which at this price level is also sometimes used and thus it is good to see that Hawke have not downgraded the glass quality here to cut down on production costs.
Prism Coatings
There is no mention as to what prism coatings have been used on these Hawke Vantage binoculars on their website, so I wrote in to ask:
As to be expected at this price level they use aluminium mirror coatings, which has a reasonable level of reflectivity (approx. 87% to 93%). Note that I have tested some low cost binoculars that use the more expensive silver coatings that can raise the reflectivity to about 95% to 98%, but this is the exception, not the rule. Not that high-end roof prism binoculars will usually use dielectric prism coatings that have a reflectivity of more than 99%.
I was also told that the prisms don't have any phase correction coatings, which considering just how good the image quality is (see Optical Performance section below), really surprised me, as I am usually able to see a much bigger variance between those with and without when making side-by-side comparisons.
Optical Components Score: 6/10
Field Of View (FOV)
Advertised as being 367ft wide at a distance of 1000 yards or 122m wide at 1000m the field of view on these 8x42 Hawke Vantage binoculars equates to an Angle of View of 7°, which for an 8x binocular is generous and certainly does not feel narrow or constricting when you look through them, but at the same time it is not what I would describe as a very wide-angle binocular.
For most users and uses this will be perfectly fine, but if you specifically need a wide angle binocular then these will not be the ideal choice:
Eye-Relief:
At 18mm, the level of eye-relief on this 8x42 Vantage is excellent and what here on BBR is considered to be long eye-relief and thus when combined with their very good twist-up/down eye-cups with 4 click-stops, it makes these easy to get your eyes the perfect distance behind the oculars and achieve a full uninterrupted image weather you wear glasses or not.
Close Focus
The advertised minimum focus distance of only 2.5m / 8.2ft is OK, but not great. Therefore, based on only this, I would say they are fine if you only occasionally want to observe things butterflies from a very close range. However, checking my sample Hawke 8x42 Vantage binoculars, I was able to achieve a sharp focus at about 1.6m / 5.2m, which is very good, but I can't guarantee that you will get the same result.
Optical Stats Score for an 8x42 binocular: 8/10
For this Hawke Vantage binocular review, I compared the view against my two benchmark 8x42 binoculars (mid and alpha level) that I use for all my 8x42 reviews as well as very cheap pair of 8x42s (Under $100) that I have in my possession and below are my thoughts:
Image Brightness
In bright sunny conditions, all that four binoculars looked to me to be pretty close in terms of the image brightness. This may seem a little surprising, but with large 5.25mm exit pupils, 8x42 binoculars are easily able to supply your eyes with more than enough light for you to perceive a bright image under these optimal conditions and thus the optics would have to be particularly bad for you to notice a big difference.
The variance in the brightness of the view between the instruments became progressively more evident in low and then in very low light when I compared them all again at the end of the day as the sun was setting:
Here, in these less than optimal conditions unsurprisingly, I found my alpha-level 8x42 benchmark with its ultra level optics performed best and had a noticeably brighter view. What was somewhat surprising was that my mid-level benchmark with its fully multi-coated optics and dielectrically coated prisms only marginally outperformed these low-cost Hawks. Both were noticeably better than the cheap pair that lagged behind.
Colors & Contrast
When considering the colors and contrast levels within the view, here again, I was very pleasantly surprised by the 8x42 Hawke Vantage:
The image my sample produced was vibrant, with natural looking colors and was definitely not tinted in anyway, which is sometimes the case with binoculars that use cheaper glass as I have found that they can have a slight yellow/brown tint to the view.
Yes, if I had to choose between them, I would say that my alpha's did manage a better image in terms of the colors and contrast, but even in overcast and poor light, the margin was not massive.
Sharpness, Color Fringing, Image Distortions & Blurring
The fact that these Hawke Vantage 8x42 binoculars don't use phase correction coatings on the prisms or ED glass in their lenses makes it doubly surprising to me as to just how good the image is.
The level of color fringing I observed around the edges of objects in the view was minimal, this was even the case when looking at a black telephone line lit up against a bright blue sky. Here I observed a cyan line on the underside of the line and a purple one on the top, but the amount was perfectly acceptable and certainly a lot less than what I had expected.
As with the ED version, I never notice any other undesired image distortions and the level of image softening right at the edge of the view is extremely minimal.
So yes, once again, my alpha level benchmark was better than the rest, but I have to say, the mid level 8x42 (with ED glass) was surprisingly not really much or at all better than the Vantage.
Also just to point out that once I had correctly focussed onto an object, the view was perfectly sharp from the center right to the edge and there was only the normal amount of blurring right at the extreme edges of the image.
Conclusion
Considering the level of coatings used, I have to say that the view through these Hawke Vantage 8x42 binoculars really surprised me and whilst they could not match my alpha level bino that costs more than 10x as much, the view is certainly as good as you could hope for within this sort of price range.
Score for Image Quality: 7/10
Carry case, neck strap, lens covers and cleaning cloth. As well as these typical accessories, these Hawke Vantage 8x42 binoculars also come supplied with an extra soft material carry bag that can also double up as a cleaning cloth. I have seen this included on a number of other Hawk binoculars that I have reviewed, which is great at any level, but this as well as the general quality of the other accessories goes far beyond what I would expect to find at this price level:
Carry Case
In comparison to Hawk's higher-end instruments that are supplied with a semirigid carry case included, the soft case supplied with the Vantage is a lot more basic. But having said that, at this level, this is to be expected and what you do get is about as good as you could hope for:
Carry Pouch
As well as the standard carry case, Hawke also includes a soft drawstring carry bag to keep the binoculars in.
It is made from what looks and feels like the same material that is used on most good quality cleaning cloths and thus as well as for carrying it can also be used for cleaning as well. The fact that this is included is impressive at any level, but I have to say that the quality of the cloth is actually better than that which you get with a normal cleaning cloth on many low cost instruments which makes it doubly impressive.
Cleaning Cloth
As well as the drawstring bag which I have already mentioned above can be used for cleaning, these Hawke Vantage binoculars also come with a separate dedicated cleaning cloth.
Made from a very high-quality microfiber material, it comes with its own cardboard envelope with instructions on cleaning. This quality goes far and above the vast majority at this or even the mid tier price ranges, which when you consider that you also get the carry pouch is once again very impressive.
Lens Covers: Main Points
Neck Strap
As with the carry case, the included neck strap is not quite at the same level as which comes with Hawk's higher level offerings like the Frontier ED X for example, but even so, it is still good enough for me to say that it ranks with the best that you'll find at this price level:
Warranty Information
Hawke Optics offers a lifetime warranty against defects in materials and workmanship for the original owner.
Note: in the UK and Europe this is restricted to 10 years by law.
Extras Score: 7/10
Below are some of the main features and details of these and other low cost 8x42 binoculars that I have fully reviewed her on BBR:
Open table in full screen mode to view the full results.
I find these Hawke Vantage 8x42 binoculars quite difficult to pin down as they are currently priced at $140 / £99, which depending on which side of the pond you are on is right at the cross over point between being what I consider here on BBR as either a Low Cost (50 - 130) or a Mid Level (130 - 300) instrument.
So, if I was to judge them as a mid level instrument, I would say on the whole, they compete well and would probably wind up around mid table, which considering they cost a lot less than many in this category is not at all shabby.
As a low cost instrument I consider them to be excellent in almost all areas and certainly one of the best 8x42 binoculars I have tested in this price category, however, here you need to keep in mind that I am comparing them to many that costing a good amount less than these.
Thus to sum them up: If you are after an 8x42 (or the 10x42 version) that is a lot better than the majority of cheap binoculars, but can quite afford to splash out the 250 to 300 ($£€) needed for a genuine mid-level one, then you could do far worse than these, that compare very well at this higher level.
Main Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Ideal Uses
Reviewed by Jason Whitehead for Best Binocular Reviews
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Awards:Main Specifications & Features:
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General Price Range: (2/6) Low Cost Binoculars
Below is a link that will take you to a page with online retailers in both the US and UK that sell Hawke 8x42 Vantage Binoculars this page makes it easy to compare prices and then to buy from your preferred option:
 Buy & Compare Prices for the Hawke 8x42 Vantage Binoculars |
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Price & Where to Buy
Price & Where to Buy
