Best build quality among sub-$500 binoculars

[nobody]

Is the quality worth the $200 extra for the BX-4’s?

Short answer: no.

Long answer: definitely not. Glass quality is just alright in the Bx4. @grfox92 hit the nail on the head above, they’re underwhelming. Most other optics out perform them at similar (or even lower) price points, especially when you start looking at greater distances.

The Maven C series is the only bino I would ever buy below $500 personally. I love my B6’s, but if something happened to them and I had to do something tomorrow and I couldn’t afford another pair, I would buy a pair of C series and never complain. They’re fantastic and compete well with most in-store brands up to $1k. I owned a C1 for a few years, alongside my brother who has vortex razor HD’s, and I believe the C’s were superior optically. I worked retail behind an optics counter for several years and often took my C’s to work (to the chagrin of corporate), and would compare with other binos when things were slow. I bet I sold a hundred pairs of maven c series binos in a couple years of working there just by showing them to people and letting them compare side by side. Lots of people walked in to buy $1k binos and walked out with a Maven confirmation email from ordering a pair of C’s and just bought a bino harness from me.

Yea, they’re that good. They’re not alpha, but a guy has to spend 3-4x as much to see any improvement. Buy the maven’s and spend the $200 on your enclosed bino harness of choice instead of spending more on the Leupolds.

 

[schwint11]

Another vote for the maven c series

 

[HuntOregon]

Short answer: no.

Long answer: definitely not. Glass quality is just alright in the Bx4. @grfox92 hit the nail on the head above, they’re underwhelming. Most other optics out perform them at similar (or even lower) price points, especially when you start looking at greater distances.

The Maven C series is the only bino I would ever buy below $500 personally. I love my B6’s, but if something happened to them and I had to do something tomorrow and I couldn’t afford another pair, I would buy a pair of C series and never complain. They’re fantastic and compete well with most in-store brands up to $1k. I owned a C1 for a few years, alongside my brother who has vortex razor HD’s, and I believe the C’s were superior optically. I worked retail behind an optics counter for several years and often took my C’s to work (to the chagrin of corporate), and would compare with other binos when things were slow. I bet I sold a hundred pairs of maven c series binos in a couple years of working there just by showing them to people and letting them compare side by side. Lots of people walked in to buy $1k binos and walked out with a Maven confirmation email from ordering a pair of C’s and just bought a bino harness from me.

Yea, they’re that good. They’re not alpha, but a guy has to spend 3-4x as much to see any improvement. Buy the maven’s and spend the $200 on your enclosed bino harness of choice instead of spending more on the Leupolds.

Thanks for that detailed reasoning. I am narrowing down my choices right now. This thread and forum have really made me consider the Maven C’s. On the flip side, I’ve seen a lot of amazing reviews for the Athlon Midas G2 UHD 10x42. They retail for $390.

Maven C1 10x42 are retailing for $425.

Have you compared these two?

Also, what is the best time of year to buy bunions to get best sales?

 

[HuntOregon]

i have a couple freiends and family 15% off codes if anyone wants some maven c series. pm me

Bo, I am new to this forum thing. This is my first one that I have joined. I have yet to figure out how to PM someone, but am interested in the maven code. Looking to get my first set of binos. Probably C1’s

 

[nobody]

Thanks for that detailed reasoning. I am narrowing down my choices right now. This thread and forum have really made me consider the Maven C’s. On the flip side, I’ve seen a lot of amazing reviews for the Athlon Midas G2 UHD 10x42. They retail for $390.

Maven C1 10x42 are retailing for $425.

Have you compared these two?

Also, what is the best time of year to buy bunions to get best sales?

Never messed with those binos. I’ve heard good things. I’ve messed with other Athlon stuff though, and personally didn’t get that excited or impressed. They were fine, but they don’t do anything that different or impressive compared with the competition. Athlon seems to me like a “me too” company, a bunch of guys who saw the interest in optics and the growth of shooting sports and wanted a piece of the pie. So they went to an OEM and just picked a few designs off the shelf, put them in an expensive box, marked them up 1-200%, and sell their stuff. It’s all fine gear, just nothing mind blowing or that different from the rest of the market.

Just buy the Mavens. I’ve never met anyone who had a pair and regretted them. They run a Black Friday sale every year, you can buy them on Prime days on Amazon for a discount IIRC, and they typically do 10% off at their trade shows if you can make it to one early next year.

 

[Agross]

I’ve had both. The Athlon Midas are decent binos. I got em for $160 off eBay. For that they are great binos. Between the two I would get the mavens. I also tried the leupold bx4 , and much preferred the mavens.