The logarithmic quality to price ratio is almost a universal rule among all products.
The unfortunate thing about this in the context of optics is that old people can afford to buy swarovskis, but only young eyes are sharp enough to make the most of them.
To illustrate the point I was aiming to make:
There is a pretty wide gap between the middle tier and alpha tier.
Swarovski
Money buys clarity and distance in optics.
Sure, there may be similarities during high noon.
But the premium optics start to separate from others when conditions aren’t ideal.
That and the robust build quality.
Doesn’t mean high end optics are right for you.
Athlon makes great binoculars.
I carry the Vanguard Endeavor ED II 8x42, excellent glass, made in Japan. I bought my wife a pair of Vortex Viper HD 10x42 for Xmas, I considered the Zeiss Terra but the ones I tried at Cabellas were not as good as the Vipers. Best part, they were on sale for $299 USD! So instantly made my decision, plus the lifetime no-fault warranty was just the kicker!.. We use them mostly for birding and travel.
I’m just suggesting you’ll find this type of price curve in a lot of products.
Bicycles come to mind. Tools. Musical instruments.
A bud who worked retail pretty much all his life told me that if looking for an X (teevee, stereo, washer, etc.) To “buy in the middle”, ie, avoid the cheapest or the most expensive.
The cheapest are that way for a reason, pared down to almost nothing, using the cheapest components, cheapest assembly techniques, etc., and you pay for it not necessarily in performance (“adequate” but not stellar), but certainly in reliability and longevity.
The more expensive are usually merely the middlin’ units but with cheap addons of convenience, like timers, counters, SOS modes and other blinkies, and so on.
Only the really most expensive ones are “exclusive” and don’t want to play with lesser castes.
Eg, the same chassis car in Chevy/Buick/Caddy could have only base features in Chevy, thinner sound padding and plastic trim, with not many bells’n’whistles, but thicker padding, “burled wood” (whatever that is), and a smoother ride in Buick, and all that plus loaded with exclusive tekky crap like heated ass-wipers in Caddy.
I’ve seen this myself, where a friend’s Malibu’s doors kinda need to be solidly closed with a “thunk!” where my otherwise identical LaCrosse can be closed with a single finger and a barely audible “thoomp”. Never been in the Caddy equivalent, but I’m dying to try out the ass-wiper.
none , I have Adult Supervision !
I loved a friend’s Vortex Diamondbacks, but I hsve Leupold in the McKenzie line… I have carried his Vortex in 10x50 on a couple caribou hunts and loved them. I got my Leupolds in 12x50 last spring after I went to get the Vortex but found better clarity in the Leupolds for a negligible $ difference, and bumped from 10x to 12x for the same reason.
I do indeed EDC them a lot, but the term EDC is subjective… some people EDC a bag all day so pocketability never matters. I’m rarely very far from my truck, and they live in the cab.
Just for grins I looked at Swarovski at the time. I couldn’t tell the difference in light transmission, clarity, etc between tgem and the Leupolds, and only barely with the Vortex(same as the difference between Vortex and Leupold).
The Swarovski are built lije a tank though, Im sure yoh could run it over with a panzer tank and not hurt it. Not that I could ever afford it but that would actually a negative for me; in the same physical size & magnification they weighed twice as much. A deal killer for my main use, which is high country hunting.
Nikon Monarch 5 for me. The 10x is great, use them on a monopod and often take phone pics through one side.
Most of the time when I’m doing beamshots it’s in conjunction with a camera. 
Orion Vista 7x50. Don’t carry these anymore but use them in the house numerous times a day. The main use originally was astronomy but now they are used for counting turtles, ID’ing birds or whatever needs to be seen a little bit better. I tested a lot before I settled on these close to 30 years ago. The optics are top notch and rivals the top end ones I compared to at the time. The soft feel leatherette wears off and the were sent back twice to have it replaced. Now that the 20 warranty has expired I will just have to live with it mostly worn off. Doesn’t matter though because the optics are still just as great.
They are seriously one of my best buys of all time. I would be lost without them.
I’ve come to discover some interesting things about the realm of optics, particularly with binoculars. For many, many years there were only a few brands that were “top dog.” Nothing could come close to their level of perfection permitted by the technology of the day.
More recently, the game has totally changed. The previous proprietary and secretive methods have been met by competition from new high tech. And with China being enabled by years of furious demand for efficient and reliable production, eventually those who saw an opportunity to bust into the binoculars market finally made their mark. The first few years of their attempts were clumsy and fraught with problems, but they’ve finally done it.
There’s that law of diminishing returns as prices go up. How much more do you get for your dollar? Do you need something that will withstand going into space or enduring the harshest environments on Earth, or just something that can survive 99% of what’s encountered by most people?
Vortex and Leupold have gradually inched their way in, providing models across the range from entry level and up to their top of the line… that nudges into the lower end of the ultimate top tier brands. But now you’ve got brands who can swing and hit solidly in the center of those brands, at prices that are unquestionably far more affordable.
When I learned of Svbony, it took me a long while before I made the plunge. It sounded like one of those peculiar English-ified Chinese brand names. But after seeing a well respected binoculars reviewer be blown away by them, and then a number of responses from people who bought them as well thanking him for the tip… I decided it was time. Their SV202 model is presently the best of their hand-held binoculars. As I mentioned back in December of 2022, I bought their 8x42. I was so happy with it, that I bought the 8x32. And that turned out to be a great buy as well (a smaller FOV, but still fantastic optics and easier portability). So I also picked up the 10x42. That was a super buy too.
I had contemplated getting into a binoculars journey, seeking to try out many major brands and a few of the high end ones. And after seeing how the SV202 easily goes head to head with a pair of binoculars from a respected brand costing 4x as much, I think I’m done. I just don’t see the merit of forking out 10x the price to get maybe a 5~10% improvement on optics that are already proving excellent to my eyes.