Review by Matt Merritt
Price: £245
Verdict
Excellent all-rounders at a very affordable price, and especially worth looking at if you’re into dragonflies, butterflies, etc, as well as birds. They do a good job in all conditions.
Eden is something of an unfamiliar name on the UK optics market, but we were impressed by one of their entry-level binocular models a few years back, so were intrigued to see how their flagship XP range measured up.
First impression is that they’re nicely compact, for 10x42s, with an unfussy closed-bridge design that feels well balanced and comfortable in the hand. The weight of 650g makes them easy enough to hold steady with one hand on occasion.
The oddly rectangular thumb indents seem a bit superfluous, but the body is sturdy and well armoured with hard rubber, and the hinge stiff enough to keep the barrels your preferred distance apart.
Its hard rubber eyecups are comfortable in extended use, and twist up and down to four distinct positions, offering a maximum eye relief of 18mm, excellent for glasses wearers.
The dioptre adjustment is on the right barrel, and sets easily, although the ring did feel loose enough to perhaps move accidentally in the field.
The focus wheel is just over a finger in width, with prominent enough ridges to make grip easy when wearing gloves. It takes just over one-and-a-half anti-clockwise turns from close focus to infinity, travelling smoothly and moderately stiffly. Focus was easy to find and maintain.
So what about the optics? Well, the colour feels natural, and more than bright enough, including at dawn and dusk and in some pretty murky drizzle. Sharpness is excellent, going right to the edge of the image, so you get the full benefit of the 114m@1,000m field of view. That’s really pretty good for 10x42s, and certainly I never felt my view was too restricted.
Colour-fringing was never a problem, although there were small amounts against very strong sunlight, and especially when following a moving target. But that can be true with most bins, and if you take the time to get the interpupillary distance and eyecup position right, you can help reduce it to an absolute minimum.
One real bonus, though, is the close focus, which came in at around 1.2m. That makes them good all-rounders. Birders tend to opt for 10x magnification if they do a lot of sea- or estuary-watching, or to read rings on much closer birds, so it’s excellent to find that the XPs also do a really good job for bug-watchers.
BINOCULAR SPECS
Eye relief: 18mm
Field of view: 114m@1,000m
Close focus: 1.2m
Weight: 650g
Size (LxWxD): 145x120x55mm
RRP: £245
Supplied with: Case; strap; rainguard; tethered, removable objective lens covers, lens cloth