Are your arms got tired of operating the riflescope for the magnified view of your target while hunting or shooting? That is where sighting technology is being used. It is the mature part of the thermal imaging devices.
A thermal monocular makes this simple when you sight the objects at long distances with the thermal imaging in the compact and lightweight design.
But to buy the right thermal monocular, you should do research and review available products so that you will know which model best suits your game.
To help you in this, we have reviewed two best and most recommended thermal monoculars for all types of hunting, shooting, and outdoor adventures that are Leupold LTO Tracker and FLIR Scout TK for you based on your needs.
The handheld design, affordable price, features for all games are the primary reasons why they are used by many.
Moreover, if you want the best one among these two, we can go for a comparison between Leupold LTO Tracker and FLIR Scout TK.
To review and compare both of the characteristics and functionalities, First, let’s see about Leupold LTO Tracker and FLIR Scout TK elaborately.
Contents
Leupold LTO HD Thermal Tracker
It is true that only with skills you can’t succeed in a wild; instead, you need the right tools to utilize your skills on the spot.
The thermal monocular or thermal viewer is something that can pick the heat signatures or the blood trails of the animals so you can track your prey even in day and night. Anyone can carry and use them efficiently.
Leupold offers a wide range of thermal imaging devices, which will be useful if you are in law enforcement, the rescue team, or professional hunting. The thermal monocular or thermal trackers from Leupold has a massive market in the hunting business.
Leupold thermal trackers are compact and effective for hunting or spotting the animals in low-light areas and complete darkness. Leupold LTO Tracker is a handheld viewer that is built with less weight and high lens quality to locate the animals even from a long-range.
If you are a beginner to spotting or scouting and you can’t afford a high-end thermal imaging camera, then a thermal monocular from Leupold will be a great alternative because of their compact price.
Locating a target is the first step in any type of hunting; these thermal monoculars do that very well. You can keep track of your target, whatever the lighting and weather conditions are.
High-quality Display
Leupold LTO tracker comes with a High-quality 240 x 204 px resolution screen that displays the images of the objects. It helps you to quickly identify your targets in a limited and dark environment.
LTO Screen is not much big, but still, it displays all the objects, whether it’s a person, a tree, or a coyote. This thermal monocular refreshes the screen 25 times per second.
Leupold thermal monocular also has a fixed reticle; hence the focus doesn’t change. You can zoom up the screen while you need a closer view of the long-distance objects.
Thermal Sensor
Leupold thermal monocular comes with a sensitive 206 x 156 infrared sensor. It detects your targets from a distance up to 750 yards.
Besides, you can find the objects from the 1500 yards distance when it is around 50° F outside. If you don’t want to be too close with the animal you take a shot, this will make it easy.
Construction
Leupold thermal monocular is 5.8 inches long and built to easily fits in any hunting equipment and takes less space while carrying. It weighed less than 10 ounces; hence you can carry all day, and sometimes you won’t feel the weight.
You can hold this comfortably with one hand while watching the surroundings. The housing is completely protected from the dust and can endure in water up to 1 meter without any damage.
Leupold thermal monocular doesn’t endure recoil from the high-quality weapon. Some users have used it on their equipment with soft recoil like a pistol. This monocular is not designed to mount on the rifle of any size.
Battery life
Leupold LTO is powered by one C123 battery that has 10 hours of a lifetime and lasts up to your operation. It is immediately available battery type at any time; hence you can replace them quickly.
It is designed with automatic shut down after 15 minutes of inaction. If you have to stay a long time in the field, it saves you from the dead battery.
Other Important Features
Zoom
The LTO comes in a handy 6x digital zoom that allows you to zoom your targets for quick and easy identification. This 6x zoom makes your image a little blur, but that is to be expected when increasing the size of the original image to 6 times. However, this is a helpful feature while hunting at long-distances.
Wide-Angle View
This monocular takes photos and displays them in a wide range using this feature. It provides better identification of objects and even recognizing them at longer distances.
Color Palettes
Leupold thermal monocular contains six color palette options and allows you to choose any of these colors by clicking the button.
The six-color palettes are white, black, hi-white, hi-black, green, red, orange, and copper. It lets you customize the display setting; hence you can see the heat signatures by the color you choose.
Controls
Three pushbuttons are placed on top of the LTO monocular to access several features. The left side button allows you to change the color palettes; the center button is for the zoom in and out and using the right-side button, you can able to on and off the unit.
Accessories
The Leupold thermal monocular comes with a few accessories, such as a case and a spare battery. The case preserves the battery from unexpected damages. Using the extra battery, you can always have a backup power when you needed.
Here is the lucid review of Leupold LTO Thermal Tracker.
FLIR Scout TK Compact Thermal Monocular
FLIR Scout TK is a compact-sized thermal monocular that helps to identify your objects in low light and total darkness. It exposes your surroundings and allows you to see people, objects, and animals up to more than 100 yards.
FLIR is designing all its thermal devices with the unique FLIR thermal imaging technology to detect the heat signatures of the object.
FLIR Scout TK is the most affordable product in the Scout series, and it has logical menu settings to help the beginners to use the device effectively. This thermal viewer built with the camera that allows you to capture the pictures and record videos of the objects you targeted.
The captured images are stored in the external memory, and you can transfer them into your PC or smartphones.
FLIR thermal viewer is also an excellent tool for home and personal safety at the low light conditions. It lets you protect your home or business at night time and also help to search for your missing pets.
Display
FLIR Scout is built with a 640 x 480 pixels resolution LCD screen. It helps to produce high-quality images and videos of your targeted objects.
This Scout comes with a solid 20-degree lens that ensures the vision of the field and produces clear images of the long-distance objects.
Thermal Sensor
This FLIR thermal image viewer comes with a 160×120 pixels thermal sensor with an advanced detector type called VOX microbolometer. This sensor stands as the best for its lightweight and compact size. However, this is the best thermal monocular because of its excellent quality even it doesn’t have a high-resolution thermal sensor.
Controls
FLIR Scout thermal monocular has an excellent user interface that helps you to operate smoothly. It has four buttons for controlling the device. The power button is used on and off the device, and it takes 5 seconds to startup. Next, the camera button is used to take photos and record videos with the short press and long press of a button.
The brightness button to adjust the brightness of the screen based on the outdoor lighting condition and the thermal palettes button is used to change the colors based on your preference.
The USB port helps you to transfer the pictures and videos that you capture from the monocular to your PC or laptops easily.
Color Palettes
The color palettes have eight different colors that help you to change the colors of your pictures and videos in your preferred colors.
Battery Life
FLIR Scout comes with the rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery that has five hours of a lifetime that enough for most of the hunting.
This thermal monocular is IP67 rated for water-resistance because it can withstand in water up to three feet, and it is fully dustproof.
Storage
Scout TK can store 1000 photos, and it records the videos for four hours. You can upload the pictures and videos via the USB Port to your computer or laptops.
For a more detailed review of FLIR Scout TK Thermal Monocular, check here.
Leupold LTO Tracker VS FLIR Scout TK
We individually make a side-by-side comparison with the key features and specifications of Leupold LTO Track and FLIR Scout TK in below, it is shown that absolutely Leupold LTO Tracker is the best of these two in most of the features (Check how many YES it got).
| FEATURES | LEUPOLD LTO | FLIR SCOUT | WHICH IS BEST | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| |  | | LEUPOLD | FLIR |
| Thermal Sensor | 206 x 156 | 160 x 120 | Yes | No |
| Display | 240 x 204 | 640 x 480 | No | Yes |
| Temperature | -4°F to 140°F | -4°F to 104°F | Yes | No |
| Frame Rate | 30 Hz | < 9 Hz | Yes | No |
| Battery Type | C123 | Li-Ion | Yes | No |
| Battery Life | 10 hours | 5 hours | Yes | No |
| Detection | 600 yards | 100 yards | Yes | No |
| Startup Time | < 3 sec | < 5 sec | Yes | No |
| Color Palettes | 6 | 8 | No | Yes |
| Image | Sharp | Clear | Yes | No |
| Video | NA | 4 hours | No | Yes |
| Size | 6″ x 1″ x 1 3/4″ | 6″ x 2″ x 2″ | Yes | No |
| Weight | < 10 oz | 6 oz | No | Yes |
| | Check Price | Check Price | | |
The Scout TK thermal monocular comes with built-in a video recording feature with lens caps and has the digital detail improvement for the image processing. If you think that video recording is necessary, FLIR Scout TK is a suitable thermal monocular for you because LTO doesn’t have this feature.
Final Words
A thermal monocular is mainly invented for those who go for hunting, camping, hiking, and other outdoor activities. But it also used for home security at night times to search your missed properties; hence this is a useful device for your daily use. Leupold LTO Tracker and FLIR Scout TK are the best affordable thermal monoculars on the market.
In this review, we’ve compared both products according to their features and performance. We’ve given an idea and a precise analysis of the products, it’s not under compulsion to purchase the one from our review. Choosing the right equipment is always a better choice than searching for the best.