HIK Micro Condor 2 CQ35 LRF Review
After having been using the HIK Micro Condor 2 CQ35 LRF Review now three or four times a week, I thought I would take a second to write down my thoughts and opinions. I fully understand, though, that other people have purchased other devices, so other opinions will exist. These are mine.
I am not paid by anyone, I don’t sell any new thermal gear in a shop or receive any equipment FOC. These are my opinions after extensive use on products purchased with my own money. Other opinions will and do exist, and I am cool with that.
So, for context, I have previously owned and/or used extensively the following:
- Pulsar Helion 2 XP50 Pro
- Pulsar Merger XP50
- Pulsar Axion XG35 LRF
- Pulsar Telos XP50 LRF
- Hik Micro Falcon XQ50
- Hik Condor 1 XQ35 LRF
- Hike Falcon 2 FQ35
- Hik Habrok 1 HQ35
- Hik Habrok HE25
- Hik Habrok HQ35 4K
And probably some others that I have forgotten…
So, I was a big fan of the Pulsar Axion XG35 LRF, but didn’t like the fact that the LRF module insists that you use the device right-handed. I fully understand that nine out of ten people are right-handed, but that also means nine out of ten people shoot with their right eye. Why spend a lot of money on good deer stalking rifle scope glass and then blind your shooting eye by using a TV screen on your shooting eye? Enter the Hik Condor 1 and Telos, and there are devices that allow ambidextrous use for the shooter to choose for the first time. Or at least the first time if you wanted LRF as well. The Condor 1 CQ35 LRF gave a 640x512 sensor, LRF, and a compact package that could be stuffed into a jacket pocket in seconds. Add in a 22m FOV @100m, and it was a “Swiss army knife” unit. Early models suffered a reputation blow though because they somehow managed to drain their batteries at the rate of one battery per hour until HIK did a rapid software update. I noticed the other day that someone was asking about Condor battery performance, so even a two-month issue nearly two years ago has a memory impact with people.
Fast forward to the present day, and for me, the Condor 2 CQ35 presents a really good tool for the deer stalker. Especially that stalker who stalks woodland and maybe needs LRF for after-dark shooting. The 640x512 sensor provides sufficient detail to be able to ID roe, fallow, fox, or muntjac out to 150-200m conditions permitting. The 35mm lens gives the same 22m FOV @ 100m as the Condor 1, which is important as it means less scanning. To explain this, the Falcon FQ50 and Condor FQ50 both have more base optical mag, giving a better image once the animal is found (2.7 x mag as opposed to 1.9 x mag), but then the FOV gets cut from 22m @ 100m to 15m @ 100m, and for me, that’s 32% more scanning. Not an issue if you stalk in bit open spaces, but woodland and smaller areas can be a pain. Other people will prefer the FQ50 models for the exact opposite reason. Each to their own.
With regards to battery life, HIK have certainly kicked the Condor 1 problems into the long grass. By introducing a new 5500 mAH battery, the battery life seems to be 6 hours plus per battery, and the device comes with 2. You lose the 18650 battery cheapness that the Condor 1 had, but the new batteries seem to be priced at about £23, so if you wanted a 3rd to boost the use time to 18 hours plus, then it’s not exactly a bank breaker.
The other big change on the Condor 2 and, in fact, the Falcon 2 is the one-handed operation. By allowing the user to focus the image on the rear of the device rather than the front lens, there is a dramatic improvement in use. For the stalker or mobile fox shooter, the other hand is often taken up with a task like carrying shooting sticks, so to lean them somewhere to use your other hand to focus your thermal is a pain. Not a game-changing pain, but once you try a one-handed device, then you will be reluctant to go back. There is a downside, though, because HiK has moved the power button to the side to a location that is designed to be used by the thumb on your right hand. For me, this is a step back from the ambidextrous nature of the previous device that has suddenly rolled back. You can still use the Condor 2 left-handed, but in darkness, you are waiting on the switch sensor to auto-turn off the screen. This works very well, but there is a delay of a few seconds before the screen turns off. At times I have found myself illuminated by the screen when I didn’t really want to be.
In terms of thermal performance I find that for me the 640x512 is pretty dependable and works well in a wide range of conditions. I have found on a couple of occasions that the images has become very grainy in humid conditions, but randomly turning the device off and back on seems to solve this. Good old power cycle fixes 90% of tech issues it seems! I do find sometimes that i refer the image that the “cold setting” gives over the “warm” image setting, but generally it lives in white hot, warm and detection rather than identification. I have turned off the various alternative pallets as I just don’t need them personally. Just white and black work for me, but it’s a personal preference thing really and cycling through 3 others that I don’t use is annoying so off they go.
In summary, the Condor 2 CQ35 LRF is my current go-to choice for a thermal. I would prefer a form factor like the Falcon maybe, but they only do the FQ50 with LRF, so I would lose the FOV. I would also prefer the power button to be back on the top, but I have learned to work around this. I am also aware that the Pulsar have recently released the Oryx XG35 LRF, which is very similar in price and spec, but Pulsar insist on wrapping 18650 batteries in plastic and charging £40-50 for an £8 battery. This annoys me, and I worry that Pulsar have taken their position as market leader for granted and lost the edge. HIK and others have been buying market share with decent products and cut prices, coupled with good aftermarket service, and the consumer should take advantage of that. Similar story with the NOCPIX LUMI H35R; by all accounts, decent devices from a manufacturer looking to secure market share, but the LUMI misses the rear focus. It uses a 18650 battery, though, so some bonus points for that. Also, the NOCPIX is £300-400 cheaper, and that’s not to be sniffed at. I also fully accept that there are better devices on the market, but generally these are all more expensive as far as I can determine or lacking some of the features that I like. I used the Condor 1 for probably 300+ outings, so I fully expect to be using the Condor 2 to the same extent.
After having been using the HIK Micro Condor 2 CQ35 LRF Review now three or four times a week, I thought I would take a second to write down my thoughts and opinions. I fully understand, though, that other people have purchased other devices, so other opinions will exist. These are mine.
I am not paid by anyone, I don’t sell any new thermal gear in a shop or receive any equipment FOC. These are my opinions after extensive use on products purchased with my own money. Other opinions will and do exist, and I am cool with that.
So, for context, I have previously owned and/or used extensively the following:
- Pulsar Helion 2 XP50 Pro
- Pulsar Merger XP50
- Pulsar Axion XG35 LRF
- Pulsar Telos XP50 LRF
- Hik Micro Falcon XQ50
- Hik Condor 1 XQ35 LRF
- Hike Falcon 2 FQ35
- Hik Habrok 1 HQ35
- Hik Habrok HE25
- Hik Habrok HQ35 4K
And probably some others that I have forgotten…
So, I was a big fan of the Pulsar Axion XG35 LRF, but didn’t like the fact that the LRF module insists that you use the device right-handed. I fully understand that nine out of ten people are right-handed, but that also means nine out of ten people shoot with their right eye. Why spend a lot of money on good deer stalking rifle scope glass and then blind your shooting eye by using a TV screen on your shooting eye? Enter the Hik Condor 1 and Telos, and there are devices that allow ambidextrous use for the shooter to choose for the first time. Or at least the first time if you wanted LRF as well. The Condor 1 CQ35 LRF gave a 640x512 sensor, LRF, and a compact package that could be stuffed into a jacket pocket in seconds. Add in a 22m FOV @100m, and it was a “Swiss army knife” unit. Early models suffered a reputation blow though because they somehow managed to drain their batteries at the rate of one battery per hour until HIK did a rapid software update. I noticed the other day that someone was asking about Condor battery performance, so even a two-month issue nearly two years ago has a memory impact with people.
Fast forward to the present day, and for me, the Condor 2 CQ35 presents a really good tool for the deer stalker. Especially that stalker who stalks woodland and maybe needs LRF for after-dark shooting. The 640x512 sensor provides sufficient detail to be able to ID roe, fallow, fox, or muntjac out to 150-200m conditions permitting. The 35mm lens gives the same 22m FOV @ 100m as the Condor 1, which is important as it means less scanning. To explain this, the Falcon FQ50 and Condor FQ50 both have more base optical mag, giving a better image once the animal is found (2.7 x mag as opposed to 1.9 x mag), but then the FOV gets cut from 22m @ 100m to 15m @ 100m, and for me, that’s 32% more scanning. Not an issue if you stalk in bit open spaces, but woodland and smaller areas can be a pain. Other people will prefer the FQ50 models for the exact opposite reason. Each to their own.
With regards to battery life, HIK have certainly kicked the Condor 1 problems into the long grass. By introducing a new 5500 mAH battery, the battery life seems to be 6 hours plus per battery, and the device comes with 2. You lose the 18650 battery cheapness that the Condor 1 had, but the new batteries seem to be priced at about £23, so if you wanted a 3rd to boost the use time to 18 hours plus, then it’s not exactly a bank breaker.
The other big change on the Condor 2 and, in fact, the Falcon 2 is the one-handed operation. By allowing the user to focus the image on the rear of the device rather than the front lens, there is a dramatic improvement in use. For the stalker or mobile fox shooter, the other hand is often taken up with a task like carrying shooting sticks, so to lean them somewhere to use your other hand to focus your thermal is a pain. Not a game-changing pain, but once you try a one-handed device, then you will be reluctant to go back. There is a downside, though, because HiK has moved the power button to the side to a location that is designed to be used by the thumb on your right hand. For me, this is a step back from the ambidextrous nature of the previous device that has suddenly rolled back. You can still use the Condor 2 left-handed, but in darkness, you are waiting on the switch sensor to auto-turn off the screen. This works very well, but there is a delay of a few seconds before the screen turns off. At times I have found myself illuminated by the screen when I didn’t really want to be.
In terms of thermal performance I find that for me the 640x512 is pretty dependable and works well in a wide range of conditions. I have found on a couple of occasions that the images has become very grainy in humid conditions, but randomly turning the device off and back on seems to solve this. Good old power cycle fixes 90% of tech issues it seems! I do find sometimes that i refer the image that the “cold setting” gives over the “warm” image setting, but generally it lives in white hot, warm and detection rather than identification. I have turned off the various alternative pallets as I just don’t need them personally. Just white and black work for me, but it’s a personal preference thing really and cycling through 3 others that I don’t use is annoying so off they go.
In summary, the Condor 2 CQ35 LRF is my current go-to choice for a thermal. I would prefer a form factor like the Falcon maybe, but they only do the FQ50 with LRF, so I would lose the FOV. I would also prefer the power button to be back on the top, but I have learned to work around this. I am also aware that the Pulsar have recently released the Oryx XG35 LRF, which is very similar in price and spec, but Pulsar insist on wrapping 18650 batteries in plastic and charging £40-50 for an £8 battery. This annoys me, and I worry that Pulsar have taken their position as market leader for granted and lost the edge. HIK and others have been buying market share with decent products and cut prices, coupled with good aftermarket service, and the consumer should take advantage of that. Similar story with the NOCPIX LUMI H35R; by all accounts, decent devices from a manufacturer looking to secure market share, but the LUMI misses the rear focus. It uses a 18650 battery, though, so some bonus points for that. Also, the NOCPIX is £300-400 cheaper, and that’s not to be sniffed at. I also fully accept that there are better devices on the market, but generally these are all more expensive as far as I can determine or lacking some of the features that I like. I used the Condor 1 for probably 300+ outings, so I fully expect to be using the Condor 2 to the same extent.
