I have had a set of 8x42s for a couple years now, and I honestly love them for the price (I paid $140 used, but like new). My plan was to let my son use them, but I ended up keeping them as a backup/beater pair. I have cycled through a lot (maybe 8? 12?) of upper/high end binoculars since owning these, and I just keep them because I feel like I would need to spend FAR more than they're worth to replace them with similar quality glass.
In my experience, they are on par with the Viper HD, Monarch 7, etc...(say $400-500 range), but they don't carry any great warranty and they aren't as refined externally. The focus knob is a little sticky (especially when cold), diopter adjustment is a little hard to get set right (it does lock solid at least), and it just feels/looks a little chunky compared to the above mentioned binos. The field of view is nice and wide, and I'm certainly pleased with the clarity, brightness, etc. I would say they are very usable budget binoculars that should be considered based on the price you can find them at. I haven't tried anything from Athlon, but I imagine you can get a similar value on them (through Cameraland) but with a good warranty to boot.