Powerful Binoculars

More about our range of powerful binoculars

What are powerful binoculars?

Powerful binoculars provide a larger than average magnification. In short, they bring things into view from further away than other binoculars.

Our customers usually look for powerful binoculars for wildlife viewing. Specifically for birds and other smaller animals which may be very far away.

What makes binoculars powerful?

All binoculars have two numbers in their name. The first is the magnification, expressed as 10X, 20X, 50X and so on. This is the magnification beyond what your naked eye provides. The larger the magnification, the more powerful the binoculars.

The second is the objective lens diameter. Generally speaking, a larger lens diameter coupled with a large magnification provides the best high power performance.

We class binoculars as ‘powerful’ when they provide a magnification of 12x or higher.

Do I need powerful binoculars?

Binoculars with high magnification are fantastic for bringing the world into vision but they do come with their own drawbacks. Notably, larger bodies and diameters result in larger and heavier binoculars. Not great for carrying around for long periods.

Another consideration is that higher magnification means the binoculars must be held more steady. If you are considering high powered binoculars with magnification over 15X+ - you want to use a tripod mountable set or be sure you're going to have a hide, a tree, or a shoulder to lean them on during use.

Browse Binoculars by Size

When buying a pair of binoculars you will soon notice that each pair has a set of two numbers following their name, such as “7x50” or “8x32”. The first figure is the magnification, which indicates the number of times larger an object will appear when viewed. The second figure indicates the size of the object lens in mm; the larger it is, the brighter the images will seem. View our Binoculars Buying Guide for more information »