Review: Hawke Frontier APO 8x42 binoculars

22 July 2021 
By James Hamilton

​In complete contrast to our last binoculars review the conditions were somewhat warm and pleasurable as we took the intriguing HAWKE Frontier APO 8x42's with a 'flat field view' for a spin down the local patch. Here's our take on things...

Firstly, for those buying online, as seems to be more and more popular as a natural buying progression through the Pandemic - delivery was superb through DPD (Hawke's preferred partner) and the boxing was secure and well packaged. Not as fancy boxing detail as you get in the sharper end of the premium optics market, but suitable nonetheless.

The APO's are an interesting binocular as they come with a flat field of view. What's this you might ask? Put simply, it means that focus is constant across your field of view. With some binoculars you will see that you have a perfect focus in the centre, yet out of focus on the edge. Not so with the APO's.

The view...

The APO 42's gave a clear and detailed image quality thanks to their high performance lens coatings and dielectric coated prisms which let in floods of light as we honed in on small birds in bushes and hedgerows right through to much quicker birds in flight such as a hobby that gave us a crystal clear, but fleeting few seconds of it's brick-red trousers as it flew overhead. Scanning for waders and gulls was easy enough as the APO's offered plenty of view zone and a quick response when focusing. The APO's also benefit from extra-low dispersion glass for controlled chromatic aberration and this made colour fringing a non-topic.

Focus, images and handling...

The focusing wheel is responsive and easy to use for those with larger digits like us. It feels quite chunky and well made and has the right amount of tension built in. Handling was nice also, the barrels offering plenty of grip and that well put together feeling. If we had one big gripe it's that we've been spoilt recently with the lightness of the leading binoculars such as Swarovski's NL Pure's and as such the APO's felt heavier around the neck, and when paying nearly £600 (not exactly budget bino's) this does indeed make a huge difference to the buying decision.
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What's in the box?
  • HAWKE Frontier APO 8x42 Binoculars
  • Soft Case
  • Rain Guard
  • Comfort Carrying Strap
  • Rubber Objective Lens Covers
  • Microfibre Cloth
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Verdict
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There are better options out there for your money and they are on the heavy side.
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★★★★★★★ 7/10

Testing scores
  • Design: ★★★★★★★ 7/10
  • Performance: ★★★★★★★ 7/10
  • Durability: ★★★★★★★ 7/10
  • Weight: ★★★★★★★ 7/10
  • Value: ★★★★★★★ 7/10

​📞 Contact: uk.hawkeoptics.com/contact.html
🏷 Price: £599.00

The Hawke Frontier APO 42's are available to order from uk.hawkeoptics.com now.
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