From the mid-2000s, we can see that manufacturers and brands involved in making thermal imaging products, night vision gears, spotting scopes, and sighting devices have increased to a significant number.
They understood that the future of night vision would not be without thermal imaging technology and its gears.
From started producing thermal devices like thermal imaging cameras, thermal scopes, thermal monoculars only for surveillance, rescue, safety, and security for Govt and Private agencies to developing night vision gears especially for hunting, shooting, home inspection, personal safety, industrial testing, these manufacturers have done a tremendous job.
FLIR is the leader in this line who allow the common people to use these high end military-grade thermal imaging devices.
Now, there are almost 15 companies in this industry who followed FLIR and started creating innovative products that meet all range of customers.
AGM Global Vision, a USA company, is one of the new entries to this industry that producing thermal imaging gears, night vision devices, Laser and Illumination tools, direct view products like binoculars, monoculars, weapon mountable, range finders, and attachments like helmets and weapon mounts.
As everyone focuses on FLIR, SEEK, and FLUKE, we can look at AGM like brands who are also doing great work in the same industry.
AGM Global Vision Asp 50mm Medium Range Thermal Monocular Review
AGM Global Vision is now a rising leader in the optics industry. They have proven their ability and innovation in optics and sights since 2019.
AGM has an aim to produce quality products at an affordable price. They are working in a way that you should remember their name when you think of weapon sights and optics.
Let review one of their direct view product called AGM Global Vision Asp 2.1x50mm Thermal Imaging Monocular.
AGM Medium-Range Monocular has designed with the latest thermal imaging technology and housed with rugged materials to exceed the requirements and expectations of the users. This thermal imaging monocular has quality crafted with integrity and precision.
We have divided the parts of this thermal monocular for your better understanding.
Technology and Sensor
AGM has used FLIR Tau 2 336 x 256 17 micrometers Uncooled Microbolometer as a thermal sensor or detector in this monocular. So totally, you get 640 x 512 pixels IR resolution. Thus, an accurate view of any sized target is assured with this.
The overall temperature measurement range is between -40℃elsius and +50℃elsius (-40°F and +122°F). It is the most acceptable range in medium-range thermal monocular.
To cope up with sensor resolution, AGM added a high-quality display of 800 x 600 pixels resolution.
On the whole, sensor and display parts of this thermal monocular are perfect for medium range hunting or sighting.
Lens and Focus
After Sensor, the Objective lens is the most crucial part of any sighting device. This AGM thermal monocular has an objective lens of 50 mm diameter, which means you get a broad view of your target. With the wide lens, you don’t have to strain your eyes while focusing on tiny objects or things.
You can focus on your target from any long distance between the range of 5 m to infinity. It is undoubtedly a noticeable feature of this AGM monocular. You can magnify your targets up to 2.9X. You may get a blurred view, but still, it helps to follow your prey.
The Field of View of this 50 mm objective lens is 14.8 degrees, and the Viewing Angle you get with this lens is 11.8 degrees. These values may not be high; it is not low, too when comparing other medium-range thermal sights of this class.
One interesting thing is it enables the user to adjust the Diopter in the range of -5 points to +5 points.
Having an infinity focus range and large lens with a wide field of view, following and viewing our prey or targets from the medium range became more accessible than before.
Image / Video
Thermal monoculars are the direct view devices that help to sight on or view the movement of targets from long distances. So, video capturing was not a needed feature. But, now the quality, Storage, Output Format, and transfer of Image/Video also treated as an ability.
As we have seen its sensor quality already, it is not necessary to tell about its image quality. But you will wonder after knowing its Color Palettes because it offers 13 modes that are White Hot, Black Hot, Ironbow1, Ironbow2, Color1, Color2, Glowbow, Sepia, Fusion, Ice-Fire, Rainbow, Rain, and OEM.
When we look at AGM thermal monocular, it provides video outputs in two formats, such as PAL with 768 x 574 pixels and as NTSC with 640 x 480 pixels.
Also, the 60 Hz refresh rate makes sure the users get clear and detailed images and videos.
About image and video, users don’t want to worry about the quality and storage. You are guaranteed to get the crystal clear images and videos of your adventures.
Device Housing
AGM’s mission is to develop devices with the latest technology and rugged housing to ensure accuracy and durability. They followed it in this thermal monocular also.
AGM thermal monocular made of Aircraft Grade Aluminum as a primary material. With the speed technology and processing, it gets start detecting within 3 seconds once you switched on.
The device is entirely waterproof, and we don’t have any details about its water resistance level. But it is surely a weatherproof device that you can use at any place.
The mount or attachment type it uses is MIL-STD 1913, which is commonly available on any commercial shops, so there is no issue at mounting a device.
With quick startup and rugged construction, this monocular can help users in any moisturized places with changing weather conditions.
Size and Weight
AGM designed this thermal monocular for dual-use, such as a mountable sight and a handheld device. So the weight of the device is essential. It should not add extra weight to the weapon when mounted and to the shoulder when using it as a handheld for extended operation.
The weight of this AGM thermal monocular is 0.69 kg, and yes, it is heavy to use as a handheld for more than 3 hours. But remember this monocular is intended for medium range, so in this range of hunting or shooting, you will not need to carry the monocular for a long time. In that case, this weight is not a critical issue.
The size of the device is 220 mm length, 60 mm height, and 72 mm width. It looks a bit bulky, but it offered a good grip and mounted perfectly on our weapon. I’m sure the size will not affect your performance.
Being developed as a dual-use device, this thermal monocular has done its best in both the applications. It had tested over three weapons by multiple people, and no one feels that its weight and size affect their game.
Battery and Operation
On average, a medium-range weapon optics like scope and monoculars should afford at least 3 hours of operation time continuously. And these devices must have batteries that are possible to replace any time anywhere.
With that note, when we take AGM, it used 2 X CR123A 3V Lithium Batteries, which are highly available battery types even in local stores.
When tested the monocular while operating, it offered us almost 3.8 hours of battery life that is very close to the manufacturer’s statement of 4 hrs. This battery life can be extended using the options MIcro USB port.
It meets all the needs of a medium-range thermal monocular in terms of battery type and battery life. I recommend it for any medium-range shooter.
Attachments, Interfaces, and Accessories
AGM thermal monocular uses S620 Interfacing Connector for Power In, Digital Video Recorder, and Analog Video In/Out. Likewise, the Micro USB as an External Battery Pack.
As already seen, it is compatible with MIL-STD 1913 attachment type.
In addition to Thermal Monocular and manual, this monocular package comes with accessories like Lens cloth and Soft carrying case.
After the testing and review of AGM Global Vision Asp Thermal monocular for a day and night, I would say this is a valuable asset to the hunters and shooters of medium range. They get large lenses, wide FOV, long battery life, and detector with high thermal sensitivity. We will surely add this product to our list of best thermal monoculars for medium-range shooters.