Brunton Echo 7x18 Pocket Scope: Customer Reviews & Product Details

On the whole, this is a pretty incredible little instrument.

Having such a long focal range (16 inches to infinity) in such a small package, for such a low price, is quite miraculous. This makes for a brilliant throwaway, super-small scope, for when portability is more important than quality. But it's not for serious viewing.

The 18mm objective doesn't capture much light at all, so the image, especially for distant viewing is quite poor. I compared this with the 7x32 Carson monocular, looking at a pigeon nest on my neighbor's house; with the Brunton I couldn't make out any detail at all, while the Carson (which has its own weaknesses) picked up a very clear image.

For close-focus viewing (i.e., less than 20 feet), it performs much better, but still not better than close-focus monoculars with a larger objective.

I can only recommend this monocular to someone who needs a micro-size spotting scope (either close- and/or distant-focus) that is vanishingly small in size, and wouldn't break the bank if it got lost/damaged. If you are looking for a super-small scope that doesn't suck, then this is for you. If you are looking for a reasonable scope that would benefit from being small, then I'd advise you to continue looking.

great small pocket size. Not to be used over longer time, but for spotting objects its great.

Well Bought it to spy on neighbours! jk actually I got it for camping to see birds and deers. The reason I wanted small is it was for hiking. It is really small and very light. but very very less powerful. I mean i dont bother taking out. my cellphone has a 5 x zoom on it and it is like 3 times better than this one.

Its a great toy.
Not for a person who actually wants to use it to see far away objects.
A shot of what you can see without this and with this at 100 yards away would show that its useless. like I tested it out in a parking lot and well it did help to read plates of cars standing 2 lines further than what i cud read. BUT again this is not impressive. this is like a match when you need a maglight.
very very weak.

Best deal I have gotten for the money in a l-o-n-g time. Great deal. Very good quality for the price.

Saw this one on the National Geographic site (for about double the price), used Google to get more info, and checked Amazon and eagerly ordered two of them. Not difficult to make that decision. Very, very satisfied.

Ordered two of these - one for me, and one for my wife for "mother's day" - just as a nice thing for her because she likes flowers and birdwatching and it'll just disappear in her purse (a good thing - she won't complain about taking up too much space).

Told her it was one the Jack Bauer used. Told the same thing to a Chinese friend (who I lent mine to to try it out - since he had just ordered a large pair of binos from Nikon for mucho money) and he asked with a sly, faintly sarcastic smile, "is this the *same one* that Jack actually held in the show?" "uh, no, just the same brand and model." Very smart and savvy guy - good sense of humor. Told him that a couple folks here said theirs fell apart with just a light bump, so he said he would volunteer to test that aspect for me. Suggested that would not be what I'd like him to test. :) (Came back from him in perfect shape, as expected - no problem.) (He liked it.)

Looking forward to putting this in front of a small digital camera or cell phone to try out as a telephoto lens.

Trying to get *any* inexpensive monocular in Columbia, MO is a never-ending aggravating exercise in futility - been trying off-and-on for years. Never could find a cheap small pair of binos that I could tear apart into two monos. Does everyone *have* to have binos? Is it too much trouble to just shut one eye? Twice the space, twice the weight and twice the money for a little comfort? 3D vision (as an excuse) IMHO - there is almost no meaningful depth perception at binocular distances. Unless you can get those objective lenses *way* apart. (Sorry - I'll stop ranting.)

These might make terrific Christmas and birthday presents for some friends.

I was looking for an alternative to Nikon's excellent 5X and 7X High Grade Monoculars when I found the Brunton Echo 7X18 Pocket Scope. The Nikon units go for $200+ and are worth the price for "pro-level" super-close focus, low flare, crisp images. Nikon 5x15 High Grade Monocular But for $30 the Brunton EchoBrunton Echo 7x18 Pocket Scope is a "must have" for casual field trips. The Brunton's optics are good and the 13 inch close focus works great for observing fine detail on insects, plants, etc. For long-term serious use Nikon's high end stuff is hard to beat. But for $30, Brunton's little Pocket Scope does the job quite well.