Maven B.3 8×30 Binoculars: Our Review

At A Glance

PROS:

• Very bright and sharp image
• Small and solid feel in the hand
• Very good close focus and field of view

CONS:

• Stiff focus wheel
• Metallic texturing on focus wheel uncomfortable for some users

STATS:

• Price: $550 MSRP at press time. Prices often fluctuate, so check with retailers
• Close focus: Listed at 8.2 feet (250 cm). In tests, we could focus these binoculars down to about 5.2 feet (157 cm)
• Field of view: 8.2° (431 feet at 1,000 yards). More about field of view 
• Weight: 18.5 oz (525 g)—that’s about 0.8 oz (23 g) heavier than the average for compact binoculars in our review. Compare binocular sizes and weights
• Eye relief: 15.1 mm

Viewing Experience: These stylish and sturdy binoculars deliver a wonderfully bright and sharp image, though the focus wheel is a bit stiff and slow to move. Image quality was crisp all the way to the edges, without any distortion when refocusing or panning. The bright image provides good color, though seemingly less saturated than in some other binoculars. The optics were sharp enough to show the gradations of gray on the throats of Chimney Swifts foraging high above, and to pick out the gleaming steel-blue of Tree Swallows swooping over a river in the distance. The binoculars offer an impressive field of view, among the best in the compact category. The slow focus wheel was the main limitation of these otherwise excellent binoculars, at times making it difficult to adjust in time to identify a fast-disappearing bird.

Feel and Build: The stylish Maven B.3s have a unique look, steely gray with highlights of metallic orange and silver. They are heavy for their small size, giving them a sturdy feel overall. The focus wheel is metal with a raised grip pattern that felt precise to some testers but uncomfortable or even irritating to others after prolonged use. The squared-off eyecups click neatly into 4 positions. The neck strap is fairly wide and comfortably padded. It attaches with plastic buckles, making it easy to remove, or change it out with a harness.

Tester’s Comments:

• Compact design
• Stiff focus wheel
• Very crisp and bright image

This article is one in a series of mini-reviews. To see how these binoculars compare to others we’ve tested, see our full review of affordable compact binoculars.