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Lets go back in time for a minute. We’ve had the great opportunity to test many Thermal Cameras, scopes and monoculars over the years. We’ve had some that were great, others not so much. One that stood out, we tested in the early spring a few years back. Let me just preface by saying it gets cold here in Utah. We decided to take that unit out in early April. It was a brisk 25-30 F degree night. That unit would not even power on. We thought maybe we broke it, maybe our batteries were dead. We had to return back to the office the next day to check things out. In the office, the unit worked fine, batteries were at 70%. We decided to put the batteries in the refrigerator for a few hours and then put them immediately into the test unit. It worked fine. Then we put the unit in the refrigerator without the batteries. We pulled it out 35 minutes later put the batteries in and it would not power up.
We were shocked. This was an IPX-6 rated unit, and it would not work in the cold. Most hunting here in Utah is done in temperatures way below what we were testing this unit at. It had removable CR123 batteries, which it ate through faster than my dog eats its bowl of chicken. Was it a great unit when it worked? Yes, yes it was. But the price of the batteries and the need to replace them at least twice in a 1 hour workload and it’s inability to work in the cold turned us off. Shoot, it turned us off on thermal monoculars for a while.
That has finally changed, We got our hands on the Top Don TS004 about 2 months ago. And in that 2 months it changed all the feels we’ve had towards thermal monoculars. The TSOO4 is everything we wanted from from other units. It’s given us hope, it’s given us joy, and it’s given fantastic results.
Lets begin here, the TS004 which retails for $389.00 is the most value for your dollar when it comes to any thermal camera product. This unit comes with a internal rechargeable battery. It charges using a standard USB-C cable. The batteries last what seems like forever. We used it on multiple outings all on one charge. It charges blazingly quick for a unit that carries that kind a battery storage. The battery charge percentage is plainly visible on the screen as well. The TS004 also has the easiest to use power/function touch buttons we’ve encountered on any unit we’ve tested. You have 4 buttons on the top of the unit. Power, color palette change, zoom, and the take a picture/record button. That’s it, and that’s all you need. It’s not complicated, even your Grandma could figure this out. The focus for the TS004 is a knob on the left side of the unit as well. Simple, just like we like it.
Speaking of simple, the TS004 can also be controlled by Top Dons TOPINFRARED phone app. It has to be one of the easiest apps to use since apps became a thing. It’s not lacking for features either. It is well thought out, doesn’t crash and does everything you need it to do for your outing.
Lets cover the durability of the TS004. We decided to really test how strong it was by taking for a UTV ride. We didn’t cover it with the dust cover, we let it bounce all over inside of the UTV’s cup holder. Here’s the kicker, cup holders in certain UTVs can get wicked hot based on their location. Yes, the cup holder holding the TS004 got scorching during our full day ride. I reached down and felt the TS004 at one point it is was almost too hot to hold in my hand. I honestly got worried and said we’ll that’s it we overheated it. I decided to give it a go and power the unit on. I honestly was shocked, it powered on with no hesitation and the thermal vision was crisp, as it had always been. This brought to mind about the other unit we tested years ago and how it failed us in the cold. I decided hey, let’s see how the TS004 can handle cold temperatures.
We brought it back to the office and the next day we left it in the refrigerator for a little over thirty minutes. Which matches the timing we did on that other unit that would not work coming out of the fridge. Well as our thirty minute timer expired we pulled the TS004 out of the fridge and gave it the power juice. It powered on immediately. There was no blur in the picture it produced. It had succeeded where others have failed. And we were amazed. Should we have doubted the IP67 water, and dust rating? After these test, most certainly not.
Let’s talk about that image the TS004 produces, because honestly that’s what you are looking for when shopping for a thermal monocular. The TS004 has a 50Hz refresh rate with a IR resolution of 256×192. That is light years ahead of many competitors. We can confirm, the clarity we found in the TS004 image is the best that we’ve tested. Even at 8 times digital zoom, the image is better than units we tested with only a 2 times zoom. It’s the perfect mix of IR resolutions and refresh rate.
The TS004 is a solid unit but comes in at just .68 lbs. The outer shell is very strong and handled the abuse we put it through without any scratches. It also measures 9.72×6.5×3.5 inches
One feature that really stood out to us was the “Bird” color palette. Yes, it has a bird specific color setting. We were able to find a group of wild turkeys in some trees. As we toggled through the color palettes it was confirmed. The bird setting does in fact pickup large birds the best. But what about smaller birds? Yep, we tested that too. Ducks, Robins, Speros, it made them stand out wonderfully. With something so small the heat source is vary hard to capture. Not for the TS004 though.
One of our favorite features is the threaded metal bottom that allows you to mount the TS004 to a tripod. It gives you the ability to really stabilize what you are seeing through the monocular. It works wonderfully and matted up with multiple different tripods we used.
Lets not forget a simple feature that we have not seen on any thermal monocular we’ve tested. When the TS004 is turned off, the color palette toggle button acts as a switch for the led light that is on the front of the unit. I mean, you are using these units in the dark. Shouldn’t they have a way to illuminate what you are doing in the dark so you can turn it on or see around your space while getting setup? So simple yet so awesome.
Like the title says. The TS004 truly has renewed our love for Thermal Monoculars again. But, that’s what a quality product can do to your opinion. It is the best built, abuse taking, highest quality thermal monocular on the market right now, that won’t break the bank. Top Don really out did themselves with this one here. We could go on for days about how well it has done in the field.
If you’re in the market for a Thermal Monocular, look no further than the Top Don TS004.
