Yes, always best to get them in hand and whenever possible, to have them to use for a little while. I also don't do any side-by-side optics comparisons without steady rests as it's too subjective when you're hand holding to decide anything other than ergonomics and fit and possibly brightness. But if you're looking at edge to edge sharpness, field of view and resolving power, you have to have a steady rest and a good high resolution target. (For years I used the air vent on a nearby school about 300 yards from my house, but in the case of the Conquest HD/SLC comparison, the whiskers on the Bobcat were the final vote for me).
I've lost track of how many pairs of bins I bought and sold when I was on my "quest" to find the right binocular for me. SLC's were as much as I was willing to pay for (warranty doesn't cover losing them or them being stolen) and I reached down to the "lowly" Bushnell Legend M's (which my wife loves and still uses) and most of the stuff in between.
Over the course of about 3 years I owned (not looked through but actually owned):
Nikon LX-L (their former top of the lines from the 90's)
Nikon Monarch HG
Nikon Monarch 7
Nikon EDG
Vortex Viper HD's
Vortex Razor HD's
Minox (can't recall the model)
Sightron SII 8x32's
Bushnell Legend (original. still have these in 8x32 for my backyard bird feeder bins)
Bushnell Legend Ultra HD
Bushnell Legend M 8x42 (my wife's bins that she picked over Conquest HD's and SLC's!)
Zeiss Conquest HD in 10x42, 8x42 and 8x32 (8x32 is the best of the lot IMO)
Zeiss 10x40 Classic B*T*
Swaro SLC in both 8x30 and 10x42 (2 pairs)
Swaro Companion in 8x30
Leupold Mojave
Leupold BX-4 Pro Guide in 8x42 and 10x42
Meopta Meostar 8x32
Meopta Meostar HD 10x42
Meopta Meostar (non HD) 10x42
Meopta Meopro HD in both 8x42 and 10x42
Leica Trinovid HD (latest) 10x42
Leica Trinovid (older model)
Khales 10x42
Pentax DFC ED 10x42
Maven 8x30
Maven C3 10x42
Zen Ray Prime 10x42
And surely a bunch more that were entirely forgettable.