Athlon Argos G2 HD 8×42 Binoculars: Our Review

At A Glance

PROS:

• Clear bright image with little color or edge distortion
• Relatively lightweight and small 
• Smooth focus wheel

CONS:

• Field of view a bit narrow
• Hard plastic housing can feel uncomfortable for some users

STATS:

• Price: $225 MSRP at press time. Prices often fluctuate, so check with retailers
• Close focus: Listed as 13.1 feet (400 cm). In tests, we could focus them much closer, to about 8.2 feet (251 cm)
• Field of view: 7.1° (373 feet at 1,000 yards). More about field of view 
• Weight: 23.4 oz (664 g)—that’s about 2.3 oz (65 g) lighter than the average for 8×42 binoculars in our review
• Eye relief: 17.3 mm

Viewing Experience: The Athlon Argos G2 HD binoculars delivered a very nice viewing experience in a relatively small and inexpensive package. Testers found that the overall image quality was excellent with a bright, true-color image that was clear virtually to the edges. When scanning there was no distortion or fishbowl effect. When viewing objects in lower light we noted some minor color distortion, with a subtle green/red outline to darker objects. Still, these binoculars performed very well in overcast and backlit conditions. Watching a mixed flock of grackles, starlings, and blackbirds, we admired the sharp definition the Argos produced: the crisp white spotting of the starlings, the glowing golden eyes of the grackles, and the hint of yellow peeking out from the black shoulders of a few male Red-winged Blackbirds. These bins also performed well tracking and resolving the complex mix of colors in a flock of Bohemian Waxwings.

Feel and Build: These binoculars were smaller and lighter than the average for the 8×42 models we tested. The focus wheel was smooth and easy to work with. The squared-off eyecups had three settings, and although they had a looser feel, there was no adverse effect. The light weight and plasticky housing combined to make us question how durable these bins would be in the case of hard knocks. The neck strap was padded and comfortable if somewhat short (one tester noted being unable to sling these bins around their shoulder). The objective lens covers had stiff, slightly oversized attachment rings that tended to slip up the barrels or hang down over the lenses until adjusted.

This article is one in a series of mini-reviews. To see how these binoculars compare to others we’ve tested, see our full review of affordable 8×42 binoculars.