Vanguard Endeavor ED IV 8×42 Binoculars: Our Review

At A Glance

PROS:

• Bright, sharp image
• Solid feel
• Smooth focus wheel
• Comfortable neck strap

CONS:

• Image appeared to have a slight yellow-green tinge
• Heavier than average

STATS:

• Price: $620 MSRP at press time. Prices often fluctuate, so check with retailers
• Close focus: 6.6 feet (201 cm). In tests, we could focus these even closer—to about 6.2 feet (188 cm)
• Field of view: 7.2° (378 feet at 1,000 yards). More about field of view 
• Weight: 29.2 oz (827 g)—that’s about 3.5 oz (98 g) heavier than the average for 8×42 binoculars in our review
• Eye relief: 19 mm

Viewing Experience: The Vanguard Endeavor ED IV binoculars were among the most expensive in this round of testing, but fell just outside of the “Top Picks” according to our testing. These bins were bright and crisp in the center of the view, with very slight blurring around the edge. When panning, the image was steady and flat. Likewise, the pair rendered backlit objects with minimum color distortion. However, the overall field of color seemed slightly tinted toward yellow or green—resulting in a noticeable difference between the binocular view and the view with naked eyes. This may affect the color perception on birds that are far away. At long distances, they did not render quite the same level of detail as our Top Picks; chickadees and titmice visiting a feeder around 150 meters away were difficult to differentiate. Overall, the bright image, easy adjusting, and solid feel made them an enjoyable pair to have in the field.

Feel and Build: These binoculars are a bit heavier than average (often an indication of higher quality glass) and feel solidly constructed. The smooth focus wheel makes for easy bird finding, though one tester found it could slip out of focus once they were on a bird. The eyecups are a little stiff to adjust, but they hold position and offer four different eye-relief settings. The housing is faintly textured black rubber with an open hinge design that allows your hands to wrap farther around the barrels and can improve the balance. The objective-lens caps fit into a recessed notch in the barrel, so they are less likely to move around or fall off. The neck strap is medium-wide and comfortable, if a bit shorter than average.

Comments From Testers: 

• Good image and feel
• Wide field of view
• A little heavy
• Focus wheel loose in a good way
• Feels heavy but stable in the hand
• Focus is touchy, one small adjustment can take you out of focus

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 8×42 binoculars.