Alright guys verdict is in. I was going to wait until after the holiday to put the rest of this out but the results were just obvious and there wasn’t any chance of change so here it is. Spent the last couple days glassing my tail off and these are the conclusions I’ve came to. Both of these are good optics and I’m not taking anything from either one of them. I think a guy could and would be happy with both. That said there is one that I thought definitely out performed the other and will be staying in my bino harness for the foreseeable future. Those are the meoptas.
Here’s why
Image quality: Both of these binos have good image quality, but in my opinion the meoptas are just on the next level. Now I’m not saying they are swaros so don’t chastise me here, but they have the feeling and look of alpha glass to me. Just next level. And yes I will argue you in that. I loved the image. As soon as you stick your eyes into the cups it seems like they just bring the image to you instantly. It’s clear, it’s crisp, it’s detailed and it’s immediate. Just bam, there it is. I loved that. I never felt like I was having to work to get the image to me or get it settled in just right. I’m not saying the mavens were bad here, they were just not up to par with the meoptas. The difference in image quality was noticeable. Keep in mind the are the original meostar B1’s and the original maven B1’s. Not the updated Meostar b1 plus and maven b1.2 models.
(Side note. I did notice the image “bending” in the edges on the meoptas that guys talk about. It’s definitely noticeable if you are not into the glass well. Something I never really noticed, at least not as bad with the mavens.)
Clarity: this again went to the meoptas. Images were extremely clear and detailed. I was able to pick out details on bushes and trees at long distances with the meoptas that I had to work harder to see with the mavens. Even when I could see the details, they were not as noticeable or as detailed if that makes sense. From low light, to mid day, the meoptas almost seemed to separated the details for you. Very cool.
Edge to edge: they were both pretty close here actually. Maybe even give the edge to the mavens. They were both good here though.
Low light performance: my favorite category. Hunting the desert, things get hot quick and deer bed up in a hurry. So low light is very important to me. As the light got lower and lower you were able to see the meoptas start pulling away. Image details were brighter and noticeable longer than with the mavens. We were glassing a desert cedar tree out of my buddies back yard at a very long distance away and tree had 3 branches hanging off the right side. You could still make out 3 distinct branches with the meoptas after you were basically no longer to distinguish any of them with the mavens. No I did not time the length of how much longer it took for the meoptas to lose the image, rookie move. Mavens hung in there pretty late though. Just not as long as the meoptas.
Mid day: both binoculars performed well mid day. Most do. But even here the difference in image quality was noticeable. Basically everything I mentioned above applies here as well, Meopta won but maven puts off a bright, quality image as well. Nothing to shake a stick at whatsoever.
That’s pretty well all I got on this. Like I said not a professional review by any means but we gave it a shot. I really like both these binoculars and I don’t want this to seem like a knock on the mavens because it’s not. I have run those mavens for 4ish years and have loved them since I got em. I have glassed lots and lots of deer and elk with those binos. They are quality glass. Especially for what you can get them for used on here. Which goes to show just how much I liked the meoptas. This was just a head to head between these two and which I thought was better. To me the meoptas win. Pretty handily. Like I mentioned above, both meopta and maven have updated these models, but in my opinion don’t hesitate to snag either of these up if you interested. Might can save a buck or 2 and still have a quality binocular. They may be a little older but they both bunch above their price range. Especially for what you can find them for on here used.
If you made it this far thanks for following along. If you have any questions I’d be happy to answer them.
