Nocpix Omni H35R multi-spectrum binocular review: right first time

Thermal is superb at finding things and only average at telling you what they are. We all know the routine. A hot signature turns up in the distance, and then you spend valuable time trying to make a positive identification through an image that’s not normally up to the task. Personally, I am not happy until I am completely sure of what I am looking at, which is why multi-spectrum binoculars have absolutely won me over.

The Omni is Nocpix’s first attempt at the format, and with no shortage of choice in this corner of the market, I was keen to see what a new take would look like, particularly one arriving with a claim to being the world’s first 8K multi-spectrum binocular.

At £2,499, the H35R is a lot of money, and versatility is what you get for it. One pair will pick up rats, rabbits, hares, foxes and deer across all sorts of environments and cover, day and night, when traditional glass would miss them. That is why these types of binoculars have caught on the way they have.

Omni H35R or L19R: what does the extra £1,000 buy?

There are two Omnis and a thousand pounds between them. The H35R pairs a 640×512 thermal sensor with a 35mm objective, while the L19R drops to 384×288 behind a 19mm lens at £1,499, the R denoting the rangefinder on both. What is unusual is how little else separates them. Digital channel, display, battery, storage, rangefinder, body and weight are identical, so that £1,000 buys thermal resolution and reach alone. The L19R actually has the wider field of view (1.5x base mag).

Watch the Omni H35R in action in the video below.

Thermal and 8K digital technology

The thermal side runs a 640×512 sensor on a 12µm pixel pitch with a sensitivity of ≤15mK, refreshing at 50Hz, behind a 35mm F0.9 objective. As with a thermal riflescope, that 35mm is focal length rather than front lens diameter. Field of view is 12.5°x9.4°, or 21.9×16.5m at 100m; magnification runs from 2x to 16x, and detection range is quoted at 1,800m.

The digital channel is the headline, and both models share it. An 8192×6144 sensor on a 1.2µm pitch gives a little over 50 megapixels, which is where the 8K claim comes from, behind a 50mm F1.8 lens for a very welcome 3x base magnification. Field of view narrows to 8.8°x6.6°, or 15.4×11.5m at 100m, with detection quoted at 1,000m. The display is only 1600×1200, so you never see all those megapixels at once. What they give you is room to zoom. Because the sensor captures so much more than the screen can show, you can push a long way into the magnification range before the image is stretched rather than simply cropped, considerably further than a lower-resolution sensor allows. I worked mine up to 18x, although my favourite was around 14x.

The image lands on a 0.5in round AMOLED with a generous 25mm of eye relief, a 12mm exit pupil and dioptre adjustment from -4 to +4. Between the objectives sits a replaceable infrared illuminator, offered in 850nm and 940nm, and it is adjustable for power and beam focus. Mine arrived with an additional IR850 module in the box, so I am assuming the one fitted as standard is the 940nm, the more discreet of the two at the cost of some reach.

Power is a pair of replaceable 18650 cells backed by an internal battery, quoted at 7.5 hours at 22°C and charged over USB-C. There is 64GB of storage with Wi-Fi and app support; the laser rangefinder is rated to 1,000m, and ballistic calculation is included. The body is IP67 rated from -20°C to +50°C, measures 198x144x75mm and weighs around 900g.

How the Omni H35R performed in the field

Foxes had previously been seen crossing a potato field at about 7.30pm, so I was in a high seat with the H35R well before then, with a hedgeline 130m out front, potatoes left and beet right. Setting up took moments, with independent dioptre adjustment on each eyepiece and adjustable interpupillary distance. Where a traditional binocular has its focus wheel, the Omni has a zoom control, which I much prefer to thumbing a button. Then it was a case of waiting.

Roe and muntjac appeared from 7pm, and I had a great time observing them, working through the thermal palettes and testing the Omni’s rangefinder. When two muntjac arrived, running and playing in the beet, I spotted them in the thermal immediately, then switched to digital to identify them. If you have not tried a pair of multi-spectrum binos, that is the process that will sell them to you.

At around 8.20pm, the light was really fading, straining the digital ‘Day’ mode. I tried the ‘Dusk’ mode, which didn’t seem to offer much, so I went to ‘Moon’, and the difference was immediate, suggesting that if your digital image is falling apart as the light goes, the answer is almost always the wrong mode rather than a binocular out of talent.

With it much darker at 8.43pm, I turned to rabbits and hares between 60 and 120m, running the illuminator through low, medium and high and playing with the beam focus. Their eyes made them stand out beautifully, and shifting the beam from flood to tight was easily done via the illuminator’s rubber wheel. Focus is handled by two dials underneath where your thumbs fall, the right for thermal and the left for digital. That affects one-handed use, but it is forgiving enough that one adjustment covers a decent bracket of distance, unlike some units that need constant fettling.

Then, at 8.54pm, what I had come for. The fox cub was halfway across the potato field before I clocked it, at around 300m on the rangefinder. I did not need digital, as a fox moves in a way nothing else does and the 640×512 sensor gave me plenty to be certain. Just as well, because I could not have used it. The low branches in front of the seat would have meant IR splashback and ruined the image, a quiet advantage thermal holds over digital. Those same branches also ruled out a safe shot, and calling the fox didn’t work, suggesting I need to work on my call.

Living with the Omni H35R

Living with the H35R threw up a few things. Magnification stays in sync (near as dammit) across both channels. The four buttons on top are large and easy to find by feel, and I do not think I pressed the wrong one all evening. The battery compartment is stiffer to open than I would like on the H35R, but easier on the L19R, so it may be luck of the draw. I am sure it will ease up with use.

Battery drain barely registered, with four hours of heavy use hardly denting it, helped by an auto-power function that shuts the unit down when you place the Omni back in a chest harness, for example.

In the H35R box specifically, you get a charger, four batteries, instructions, a spare IR850 module and a very nice Nocpix chest harness, though its straight-edged black cut did not tempt me from my Härkila one.

Verdict: should you buy the Omni H35R or the L19R?

Assuming you like the Omni based on what I have told you, the next challenge is deciding which one to go for, and that is a decision only you can make. Now, the L19R will tell you there is a heat source out there and then let you identify the animal digitally, which, for most people, is the whole job. Seen that way, the H35R is a luxury, not a necessity.

A longer focal length lays more detector pixels across a distant animal, so detail holds together further out, and the bigger objective gathers far more infrared energy for a cleaner image. Oh, and the detection range increases from 1,000m to 1,800m. The cost, of course, is field of view, which is why the cheaper model is nicer to scan with. If you shoot ground that will use that reach, take the H35R. If your engagement distances are typically shorter, where a greater field of view is a huge advantage, take the L19R.

One feature that deserves more shouting about is the image stabilisation. This is common enough these days, but not only can it be switched on and off independently for thermal and digital, it also works across the entire magnification range, not just the higher levels. Anyone who has tried to hold a pair of binoculars steady one-handed while recording footage for an upcoming YouTube review, with a spot of buck fever setting in, will know why image stabilisation matters. On its own, it is close to a reason to select the Omni.

In the end, two things nagged at me. The auto-power function is a tad overenthusiastic, occasionally waking the unit when I had no need of it, and the battery compartment on my H35R is stiffer to open than it ought to be. Minor gripes both, and nowhere near enough to spoil things.

Overall, the Omni is a first attempt that behaves like a third, and I would happily have either one in my chest harness.

Nocpix Omni H35R specification