Jeff8861
Well-Known Member
We were out with four thermal spotters last night with a view to see how Hik and Iray compare and perform. We choose four models that were of similar spec.All have 35mm lens and all are roughly in the same price bracket. They all have virtually the same functions and layout. The units we looked at were.
Irays Exeye e3max v2 12um 384x288 £1880.
Hik 35mm Vulcan 17um 384x288 £1749.
Exeye e6+ v1 17um 640 x512 approximately £2000 the V2 £2380.
Hik 35 pro 17um 640x512 .£2699.
Hik advertise thier units with a netd rating of 35mk and the Iray of 50mk. I would take these specs with a pinch of salt as you will see further on.
Firstly the Hiks are slightly bigger and heavier, not alot though. They all have wifi,streaming, pip and a number of different pallets. Magnifications are slightly different and all the functions and menus work in a similar way. The e3max has a compass stadiametric rangefinder and accelerometer, we feel that these are not necessary. However we all liked the laser pointer.
Out of the box image quality. Conditions that night were virtually perfect fresh and clear with broken cloud.
We even had a few gingers turn up which was a bonus.
Upto 100 yards there wasnt much in it between all of the units. The Hik pro had the largest fov on base mag then the e6+ followed by hik/e3max.
From 100 to 300 yards the e6+ then the e3max and the hiks were the same.
From 300 to 600 yards e6+ e3max and again the hiks were the same.
At 600 yards plus again in the same order.
Magnification x4 and x6 this was all the units on highest mag.
E3max was far the best very little pixelation, the Hik pro was poor overall.
Overall based on the clarity sharpness tones of the picture we found the e3max to have the best all round image, very clean. The e6+ then just edged it over the two hiks. There was virtually no difference between the two Hik models.
We had a number of features to work with last night, plenty of people walking around at different ranges open fields, hills wooded areas and houses. We scanned all the areas from 49 yards out to approximately 800 yards. There was the odd partridge around and we watched a couple of foxes.
At top mag the e3max was much better than the others with the hik pro being the worst. To summarise regarding image out of the box not much between all the units from 0 yards to approximately 150. From 150 the detail in the e3max image then starts to come through. As the ranges increase the Hiks fall behind the Iray units. When introducing the mags the e3max is superior, as the only unit in 12um it shows. Regards to applying the magnifications I have to mention that the Hik process of engaging the mags is very positive and smooth, this was a nice feature.
Detection all the units were very good no issues at all, again on magnification the detail in the e3max was better.
All of us present who have had experience of the pulsar helion xq38f decided that on image alone the clarity, tones, detail and sharpness of the image on the hik and iray were better.
Battery life there is a clear winner the e3max, this is much better than the Hik 35mm models. Regarding the Hiks the battery life in 35mm models would be a concern for me, I've been told that they are only lasting around four hours.
Overall If we had to choose one of the four bearing in mind budget warranty aftersales functions etc it would be an easy choice it would be the exeye e3max. Simply based on price, battery life, lack of pixelation and ultimately the quality of the image.
The Hik Vulcan 35mm at around £1700 isn’t a bad option it does do what it needs to do, however the battery would be a concern.
The hik 35mm pro we all agreed that we would stay clear of, it is roughly 1k more than the other Hik. There is no way the image functions and battery are worth the extra expense.
The e6+ is also cheaper than the Hik pro and the newer version with 12um 640x512 is far superior across the board and would be my choice if budget wasn’t an issue.
Folks that’s what I found out from the session and that’s my opinion, the three of us present were in agreement virtually across the board. Ultimately there were no bad units as such and other than the Hik pro you cant go really wrong. I suspect Hik will change their core and batteries shortly once the feedback filters through. The thermal market is opening up dramatically components are becoming more accessible and it can only be a positive for us users. Hope you find this mini review helpful.
