Celestron Trailseeker ED 8×32 Binoculars: Our Review

At A Glance

PROS:

• Large, colorful, eye-filling image
• Smooth, precise focus wheel
• Comfortable grip

CONS:

• Image quality drops off slightly at edges

STATS:

• Price: $340 MSRP at press time. Prices often fluctuate, so check with retailers
• Close focus: 7.1 feet (216 cm)
• Field of view: 7.8° (410 feet at 1,000 yards). More about field of view 
• Weight: 17.7 oz (503 g)—that’s about 0.1 oz (1 g) heavier than the average for compact binoculars in our review. Compare binocular sizes and weights
• Eye relief: 15.6 mm

Viewing Experience: We were impressed back when we reviewed the 8×42 version of Celestron’s TrailSeeker ED binoculars, and this carries through to the 8×32 version as well. They provide a bright, colorful image that fills the eye, without any of the tunnel vision that hampers some compact binoculars. The crisp image allowed us to appreciate details of a female House Finch at close range: the buffy feather tips that merge to create the wingbars, and the pointillist pattern of fine streaks that make up the overall brown look to the face. As a Tree Swallow watched us from a nest box, its steely green-blue iridescence gleamed softly in the dark box; a nice illustration of the way these binoculars can bring out color and detail in lower light levels. The easy action to the focus wheel made it easy to quickly get sharp looks at moving birds. At the edges of the image we noticed a slight drop-off in brightness and sharpness. At far distances we noticed the image wasn’t quite as sharp as the Nikon M7, and in very low light it lost some detail—but at $160 less than the M7, the TrailSeeker ED is worthy of a close look.

Feel and Build: These are sturdy compact binoculars with a great feel in the hand thanks to good balance and a slightly soft, grippy texture to the black armoring. Orange accents highlight the focus wheel, which is large and easy to find and move. The hinge is broad and centrally placed so that a viewer’s fingers tend to rest on top of the hinge rather than wrap around the barrels. The eyecups dial smoothly and securely through two stops. The stock neck strap is wide and well padded.

Comments From Testers:

• The kind of binoculars that make me want to go look for birds
• Good color clarity
• Sleek, a better size for me
• Very nice, a little heavy, good feel to focus wheel
• Good field of view and brightness

This article is one in a series of mini-reviews. To see how these binoculars compare to others we’ve tested, see our full review of affordable compact binoculars.