Adasion 12×42 High Definition Binoculars for Adults with Phone Adapter and Foldable Tripod, Super Bright High Power Binoculars with Large View, Lightweight Binoculars for Bird Watching Hunting Sports

The birds, fish, frogs, and turtles in my neighborhood have become my new friends since social distancing began, and these binoculars have been spectacl-ar in helping me identify them. I’d never used binoculars before this new hobby, so here are some things i’ve learned that might be helpful to first-time users:

binoculars always have two numbers in the spec, axb. A represents the magnification – the bigger the number, the more zoomed-in the image looks. B represents the size of the objective lens, which is the piece of glass at the far end of the binoculars. The bigger the number, the brighter and clearer the image looks.

They also have a focus wheel that sits between the two halves, which you’ll have to rotate depending on whether you want to focus on something close or super far away. There’s also usually an additional fine tuner on the right eyepiece that will allow you to adjust for differences between your two eyes. So when using a pair of binoculars for the first time, you should close your right eye and use the focus wheel for just your left eye, and then close your left eye and use the fine tuner for your right eye. After that you can just directly use the focus wheel.

I had an old pair of bushnell 12×25 binoculars at home before i got this adasion 12×42 set. Here’s a comparison, with things i learned from experience:

1/ size: the adasion is bigger because of the larger objective lens. You can see the size difference in my first picture.

2/ eyepiece: the adasion has eye cups that rotate in and out, which give your eyes some breathing distance from the eyepiece lenses. You can see in the second picture the right eye cup has been extended while the left one has not. The bushnell didn’t have this feature, so my eyelashes were always brushing against the glass, and the glass itself would frequently fog up.

3/ straps: this seems like a trivial one, but it bothered me more than i expected. Bushnell’s straps attach at the center, while adasion’s straps attach on each side. This results in the bushnell hanging somewhat perpendicular to my torso, which makes it really annoying as it bounces along while i walk. The adasion just lies comfortably flush against my torso.

4/ protective covers: you can see these in the first picture. Each objective lens has an individual rubber cover that hangs off the end. If you don’t like them, you can remove them – they’re attached by a rubber ring that slides off easily. But i think they’re great and protect the glass from smudges. The eyepiece lenses have a joint cover that you take off completely; i only put it back on when i’m done for the day.

5/ picture quality: the most important difference. You can see four pictures i took through both binoculars. Interestingly, i found that the bushnell binoculars were very slightly more magnified than the adasion. I actually prefer the wider field of view of the adasion, which is more forgiving of unsteady hands. The bushnell also starts to get blurry on the edges (see the fence and bench or the floating grass in the fish photo), while the adasion is much clearer throughout. In addition, colors are a lot brighter through the adasion, while the bushnell is a bit faded.

This brings me to my last piece of advice: the smartphone adapter is pretty cool. I had no idea what a phone adapter was in the beginning – i assumed it was some kind of usb cable that digitally connected the binoculars to your phone, and you’d have to download an app or something to take pictures. Nope. So apparently, you can just hold up your phone camera to the eyepiece of any binoculars, have your phone “look” through the binoculars (monocular?), and you simply use the camera app to snap whatever your phone sees. It works surprisingly well as an amateur telephoto lens. That’s all i did to take the pictures from the bushnell.

Turns out though, it’s kind of hard to hold the binoculars in one hand, your phone in the other, and both steady enough while maneuvering your thumb to snap the photo. It’s flat out impossible to take video. So the purpose of this phone adapter is to make it easier by holding your phone in place. It’s a very simple piece of hardware with a spring-loaded clamp around your phone (both an iphone 6s and iphone 11 fit just fine) and a round cap that attaches to either of the binoculars’ eye cups. For best results, attach your phone without the eye cups extended. Righty tighty all the way. I find that provides the optimal phone-to-eyepiece distance for the best view from the camera.

I also did some extra research on phone adapters and tried to buy one for my bushnell. The universal circular ones have a screw cap where the attachment can be expanded or contracted in order to fit any eye cup. But i actually found that the screw mechanism made the attachment so thick that my phone camera was too far away from the eyepiece to see much through it – all i got was a small hole. In contrast, the adapter that comes with the adasion was built to fit the adasion eye cups perfectly. It’s a nice snug fit so your phone (even a heavy iphone 11) will stay in place at just the right distance from the lens and without needing any hand support.

The last thing i’ll say about the phone adapter is not to be surprised that your picture is a circle in a black vignette. That makes sense, since that’s what you see when your eyes look through the binoculars too. The rectangular photos from other reviews can be produced by either zooming using the camera’s zoom function or just cropping after the fact.

Okay that’s as much as i’ve learned so far through my amateur explorations, hope you’ve found it helpful. 🙂

Excellent binoculars for the cost!! These are certainly not a pro model by any means. They do have a clear image, they are easy to use, focus well (be sure to calibrate them before first use), and they work well to photograph with a phone camera. All images pictured are through the binocs. I used mostly images with the black circles or lens glares to prove they are through the binoculars, however, most of the images i took through them do not have the black rims or glares. I also wanted a lightweight item that is fairly durable to being bumped around during hikes. These fit the bill. I paired them with a “vest” style binoculars holder rather than using the neck strap. These were so great and affordable that family members bought them too.
Only suggestion when using is to remove the lens covers entirely as they have a tendency to work their way off/fall off.

Love being able to get super close to all the little critters in my back yard. Easy to use. For the best pictures, set up the tri pod, focus the binocs, attach the camera, then zoom in just a little bit or use portrait mode x3.

I have a child size head apparently. I can’t use most binoculars because the eye pieces don’t squeeze together enough. With these, they can be squeezed close enough together that i can actually use both eye pieces! Everything is clear and i can see for miles!

I wanted not heavy check. This binocular is for sitting on recliner watch out the window or bike and hiking bird watching…..i love you can take off your glasses and it comes in focus just like wearing your glasses….best buy.

Bought these as a gift for my dad before an alaskan cruise vacation. He has an iphone but minimal tech skills, and had an interest in taking pics of what he could see through binos. Behold: the perfect gift! Even with his minimal tech skills and decreasing dexterity, he was absolutely thrilled with these binoculars, the tripod/accessories, and the photos he was able to capture during his vacation. I even tried the binos (sans camera phone engagement) and for an inexpensive amazon set, i was really impressed! Would definitely recommend for hunters, birdwatchers, travelers, anyone with experience and appreciation for a good set of binos, or absolutely no experience using binoculars at all – everyone could eventually use a good pair, and these are absolutely worth the price.

While only completed initial inspection and testing, very pleased with the quality of the product. Materials and manufacturing appear to be of high quality (without regard to it’s price, but even more impressive when that is considered). Light weight. Easy to use, focus, and make personal adjustments. The image is large, sharp when properly focused, and gathers light well, especially in daylight. A recommendation would be to adapt the case to also comfortably carry the smart phone/tripod adapters. The tripod itself is probably a little too large to include in the case, but perhaps a velcro strap or similar to attach it to the case? It should also be noted, not unexpectedly, that photographing from the smart phone is not something that can just be whipped out and pictures immediately snapped. It requires use of the tripod and at a minimum some time (3-10 minutes?) to set up and adjust. Once done, though, and focused, the photos are quite good.

This is a gift for my 10 year old grandson, but it’s something even adults will love. He can’t wait to take them to the nascar races next year!

I bought them for a trip to alaska and they proved to be worth every cent even though i did not take/need the tripod or camera adapter. I have a pair of very good nikon binoculars at my son’s house, and these adasion binoculars are just as good and more powerful. Remember the more power, typically the width of field gets smaller.

So, i bought these for my father for his birthday because he has had a very heavy old pair forever (literally from the late 80s). He told me he loves them. ‘they are light weight and come with a lot of little features, such as easily adjustable eye placements (for glasses or non-glasses) and easily adjustable focus/view placements. They are very light weight, which is great for hiking and quick movement. The stand is small but fun to use and although i don’t have a phone compatible with the side piece, your mother does, and it works alright (haven’t used it enough to give a good review on it). I haven’t used a lot of high-end binoculars but i have used enough that for the price these work fantastic, you can’t beat that.’

personally, i was concerned with how tiny the package was when it arrived and i don’t know anything about binoculars, but i thought they looks impressive when i checked them out and they came early.

Got this because it had a high rating on a website, high ratings here, and was on sale. Liked the idea of the tripod and being able to attach the smartphone to it. Have to save the binoculars themselves seem fine, lightweight, and easy to use. The tripod also seems quite sturdy and easy to use. Had a little problems figuring out how to attach the smartphone with the right camera, but that was more about my smartphone i think. I suspect that unless i’m going to be sitting for a long period of time, i’ll end up just hanging binoculars around my neck and also hanging my camera with the long lens on it rather than trying to finagle the smartphone. Especially as, with my smartphone, which is a samsung galaxy s10, the picture is kind of small with just a circle and lots of black surrounding that. Of course, it maybe i just need to play around with that more. Wasn’t entirely impressed with the instruction book. Particularly with the instructions on putting on the strap. I had to just kind of figure it out for myself with a tiny bit of help from the pictures. Also took me a bit to figure out how to attach the tripod, but that was because i hadn’t carefully looked at the picture of all the parts of the binoculars first. So that one’s on me. I think they’ll be good binoculars. I just don’t know that all the bells and whistles are worth it. Also, the case is kind of weird as if i don’t try to stuff the tripod and the other attachments into the case the flap pulls down too far and misses the velcro closure. But if i sort of stuff the tripod in, in a not very secure way as there isn’t enough room to actually put it in the bag, then the flap matches up with the velcro. Seems a bit of a weird design. I’ll probably end up carrying a bag with my camera and throwing the tripod and the other attachments into there and hoping that the flap will stay down on the bag even without the velcro meeting up well. Seems a bit of a design flaw.

I liked these binoculars, my first pair ever, very fun! They felt heavy around my neck, but barely noticeable weight if worn over a shoulder.

Had read old reviews that the adapter for connecting them to the included little tripod wouldn’t attach to the binoculars, but felt sure that issue would have been fixed by now. They’re still selling them without the tripod or adapter being possible to use, though.

I called the included phone number for customer service and immediately received a text reply. When i explained the issue, they replied within a couple of days that they would be happy to send a replacement adapter, and all contact info/address would be kept private. While i waited a week or two to decide whether to keep them, they texted several more times with the same message. So, i’m torn between appreciating the diligent customer service, wondering about providing my phone number and address to an unfamiliar vendor, and feeling like they should just include this little part correctly in the first place!

Decided to give them to my sister, she won’t care about using the tripod. I will probably get a different brand of binoculars for myself.

I really thought the binoculars would be smaller. Putting that aside the binoculars function with the iphone camera, when you use the iphone zoom feature and the binoculars, you can really see objects far away very clearly. The problem is, even sitting on a flat surface the tri-pod and apparatus that hold the iphone are not steady of enough. You may think you have the phone positioned to see your object, but as soon as you let go, the phone and binoculars shift. It is a pain. Holding the phone and the binoculars to get the picture is a pain as well.

Very good to use,i can see very well with these. I live in the country and am trying to keep track of critters on my property.
I would have given all the stars,except the tabletop tripod wasn’t included with the wonderful binoculars. I was disappointed.

Great viewing binoculars and light weight. Easy to handle & use. Tripod is flimsy in that it cannot be stabilized. It tips over easily, the camera tips every which way. Everything is loose and cannot be tightened. The carry case holds the camera well but where does the neck strap go? And where does the tripod go. We cannot fit anything but the camera in the case. If you’re looking for good binoculars these are good. But don’t expect to have an easy time with the tripod or cas.

I was so excited to get these, as i wanted something just a tad better than what i already have. Unfortunately i have to return them. They do provide clear images. The appear well made, study while still not being too heavy. The tripod and phone adapter easy to use. Unfortunately the ipd did not adjust small enough for me to have one field of view with both eyes (basically my head was too small, so the barrels could not go close enough to match my pupils).

Overall good quality binoculars. However, the phone holder used on my iphone 13, has only one hole for the camera lenses. It’s extremely challenging to make any good pictures. Minus 1 star for that. Other than that i’m happy with the quality of detail when i look through the binoculars. I was expecting typical smudgy views, but i was surprised these are above average. Keeping at 4 stars.

Just got this for my husband, for his birthday, we had a set of binoculars in our condo that had been left that was sketchy, these binoculars are already so much better than the other ones, and my husband is excited about using the iphone feature or looking @ stars etc

The width needs to open a bit wider

Took them on our alaskan cruise. They were great to view the animals up close.