AX Visio in the test

On the prowl with Swarovski’s smart binoculars

The AX Visio is said to help with the identification of several thousand birds worldwide.

(Bild: Swarovski Optik, Krone KREATIV)

Swarovski Optik presented the AX Visio, the world's first smart binoculars, at the CES in Las Vegas at the beginning of January, causing an international stir. But how smart is this unusual piece of Tyrolean technology really? Krone+ went on the hunt.

The good news first: Swarovski's AX Visio may be the first smart binoculars, but they can also be used just like ordinary binoculars. As is typical for the Tyrolean company, the workmanship is extremely solid and robust, the ease of use is very high thanks to diopter correction and a multi-extendable eyepiece for both non-glasses and glasses wearers and the optical quality is excellent even in poor lighting conditions thanks to the large lens diameter of 32 millimetres. However, the comparable EL Range 10x32 offers all this at a much lower price, namely just under 3400 instead of 4600 euros for the AX Visio. This raises the question: do the smart features justify this extra charge?