Review: Pulsar Axion 2 LRF XQ35 thermal monocular

The Pulsar Axion 2 LRF is a thermal monocular with a built-in laser rangefinder and it’s exactly the kind of device I’d have at the top of my night-hunting shopping list. It has all the fruit: wi-fi so you can view images on remote screens and use the device remotely; a swag of colour palettes; photo and video recording, the latter with sound; and plenty of ways to tune the picture.

But I don’t intend to get into a technical description here; there’s plenty of that in the handbook which you can download from the Pulsar website before you commit to spending any money. Besides, all the technical stuff seems to work the way it should. 

Instead, we’ll look at how it functions out in the field, with a nod to the relevant specs along the way.

The Axion’s body is short and stout, a boxy thing with centred mass that fits well in an adult hand, held more firmly in place by the strap. At 480 grams ready to roll, it’s not too heavy, and it will fit into a generous pocket.

It has four function buttons on top, which each have tactile clues to tell you whether you’re on the right one or not, and they are just spaced widely enough to sit under each of your four fingers. Your little finger doesn’t have to do much as it only covers the on/off button up front. 

The rangefinder button is mounted on the left side of the body, away from the others. I found it easiest to operate with my left hand while I held the Axion in my right.

The rangefinder is fast and accurate, reaching a kilometre with ease in places that have challenged some of the daytime rangefinders I’ve used. It’s super impressive, helping me make instant decisions about whether to shoot or move or not bother at all.

You’re given a fairly clear picture of the target animal via the XQ35’s 384×288 pixel sensor and then the display of 640×400. I could generally pick exactly what species of animal — even smaller ones — I was viewing out to 400m and beyond, usually based on both shape and the way it moved. 

The field of view is just over 18m wide at 100m, providing ample spread to easily find things as you scan over areas, including close in. 

Most of the places I hunt involve finding animals as close as 25m and out for hundreds of metres, with the majority at 50-300m. The Pulsar’s field did this perfectly.

Four-fold zoom starts at the optical 2x magnification and digitally increases it to 8x in small, progressive increments of 0.1x per press of the button. I found it handy to stick with optical 2x on the main screen and activate picture-in-picture at 4x to get a bit more detail when needed, though pixellation naturally robs you of detail the higher you go.

I usually left the Axion in white-hot colour mode, which gave a good image, and rarely felt the need for others. It’s a bit slow to change because you select the colour settings in the main menu, not the quick menu, but you can see the image as you flick through the palettes, which is convenient.

You’ll see small animals like foxes a good 400m away, possibly further in the right conditions, especially if it’s on the move. I found fallow at 1050m though didn’t get a firm ID until I was closer, and I think you’d see things the size of reds and sambar at 1300m, the distance at which Pulsar claims you’ll detect a 180cm high object. That’d seem about right, though I didn’t get to test it. Cattle stood out as hot spots well beyond that distance.

You will get even better imagery in higher-spec thermals but for my non-professional use I’d be quite happy to save the money knowing the XQ35 Pro will serve me well.

The battery is Pulsar’s APS5 removable, rechargeable one with a claimed run-time of up to 11 hours. Heavy use of wi-fi connectivity and other features will drain it much more rapidly but for my more humble handheld use I never ran out of juice during several hours in the field if I started with a full battery. It’s among the best I’ve tried in this regard.

This appears to be a tough unit with a magnesium body, a strong finish, rubber covers on the lens and diopter, and an IPX7 rating for water resistance, a commendably high level of protection.

All up, the Pulsar Axion 2 LRF XQ35 Pro fits very well into the market at around $3300, proving that the Europeans can make good tech at the right price (the sensor is French and the unit made in Latvia). 

Its rangefinding is excellent, and the Axion never left me guessing or made me work hard to find targets. The imagery is clear and the thermal imaging good.  

SPECIFICATIONS

• Sensor: 384 x 288p @ 17 µm pitch, NETD ≤25 mK
• Objective lens: 35mm, f 1.0
• Magnificent: 2-8x (digital)
• Field of view: 18.2 x 13.7m @ 100m
• Detection range: Up to 1300m for a 1.8m object
• Display: 640 x 400 pixel AMOLED
• Rangefinder: Class 1 laser, 900nm, 1000m range
• Battery: APS5 3.7V 4900mAh, claimed life up to 11 hours
• Weight: 480g
• Dimensions: 152 x 74 x 75mm
• RRP: $3299
• Distributor: TSA Outdoors