Bering Optics Phenom Review

[Gman757]

When I saw that a 640/12µm version of the Phenom was being produced I became very interested in the unit and decided to order one. I was especially interested with performance in high humidity since that's common here in the FL Panhandle.

Luckily the conditions were perfect for testing in poor thermal conditions when I received the unit a few days ago. It had been cloudy and raining for several days and several days of clouds and rain and no sun to warm things up can be very challenging for thermal devices. The longer the ambient day and night temperature differential stays closer together and the humidity level is high, the more likely you are to get poor performance and "thermal washout".

It was actually still raining when the Phenom arrived so I decided to test it beside a couple of other units I have with similar specs.

Flir Scion OTM266 640 Boson core 12µm pixel pitch / 1x optical $2650

Trijicon 20mm REAP-IR 640 BAE core 12µm pixel pitch / 1.5x optical $6900

Bering Phenom 640 iRay core 12µm pixel pitch / 2x optical $3200

Based on my limited and preliminary testing I can tell you the Phenom was by far the best unit in these conditions.

I have noticed with previous FLIR units that they struggle in high humidity conditions and the Scion is no exception. The specs of the unit are there so I can only attribute it to possible shortcomings in the software. The Scion is a nice unit with a very good image but it just does not perform well in the conditions I tested in.

The REAP-IR was better and I was able to get a decent image but I had to adjust contrast, brightness, and digital focus to compensate for the rain and humidity. Although I was able to get an acceptable image it still did not compare to the Phenom.

The Phenom performed on par with what you would expect from a unit in good conditions and it seemed to be almost unaffected by the humidity and flat ambient temperatures. The unit is very impressive and I can highly recommend anyone looking for a thermal scanner to put the Phenom on the list if you are looking for a medium to long range unit. The 13° FOV is a little tight for close range applications but other than that it's a great unit. It's hard to explain but the Phenom seemed to be more sensitive with regard to detecting the difference in the thermal signatures of various objects. The "hot" objects would really "pop" out become more easily identifiable.

I only have 2 issues with the unit but they are not deal breakers by any means..... I would like to see more than 4 preset brightness levels and I would like to have a contrast adjustment in the software. The unit performs well enough to get by without a contrast adjustment but any additional image adjustments are always nice to have on a thermal unit. On the plus side I give a big thumbs up for the objective focus ring that allows you to fine tune the image for sharpness and clarity. The bottom line is I think this unit provides a great bang for your buck at $3200.

Keep in mind this is a non technical subjective review based solely on initial personal observations.

The weight difference is worth noting. The Phenom weight was 14.2 ounces vs the FLIR Scion at 23.5 ounces with the rechargeable battery pack.

 

[Kirsch]

Originally Posted By: Gman757The Phenom performed on par with what you would expect from a unit in good conditions and it seemed to be almost unaffected by the humidity and flat ambient temperatures. Thank you for your review. Your comments reflect what I have said for a very long time and that is the Bering Optics thermals are the least impacted by humidity of any thermals I have ever used.

Originally Posted By: Gman757The unit is very impressive and I can highly recommend anyone looking for a thermal scanner to put the Phenom on the list if you are looking for a medium to long range unit. The 13° FOV is a little tight for close range applications but other than that it's a great unit. It's hard to explain but the Phenom seemed to be more sensitive with regard to detecting the difference in the thermal signatures of various objects. The "hot" objects would really "pop" out become more easily identifiable. I believe this is a combination of the sensor as well as the firmware modifications Bering makes. I agree that it is impressive.

Originally Posted By: Gman757The REAP-IR was better than the Scion and I was able to get a decent image but I had to adjust contrast, brightness, and digital focus to compensate for the rain and humidity. Although I was able to get an acceptable image it still did not compare to the Phenom.You are comparing a $7K unit to a $3K unit. On top of this, the $7K unit has 1x base mag compared to more than double on the Phenom, and yet the image was still better on the Phenom. With additional mag, a person typically gets a poorer image especially in humidity. It is amazing you can be even putting them in the same category due to the price difference and with Trijicon being the "Gold" standard of the thermal industry.

The other part I totally agree is you did nothing to the Phenom image and had to tweak the Trijicon settings to make it useable. The only thing you need to do on the Phenom at times is select a different color palette and go.

Originally Posted By: Gman757I only have 2 issues with the unit but they are not deal breakers by any means..... I would like to see more than 4 preset brightness levels and I would like to have a contrast adjustment in the software. The unit performs well enough to get by without a contrast adjustment but any additional image adjustments are always nice to have on a thermal unit. Bering is still planning on a spring firmware update. A contrast adjustment is still on their list. However as you have mentioned, the image corrects itself. There is some "skylining" that impacts almost all thermals and I have reported to Bering and maybe they can adjust.

The end cap is a pain on the Phenom but there are aftermarket options to help.

Originally Posted By: Gman757The bottom line is I think this unit provides a great bang for your buck at $3200. I couldn't agree more as Bering adds a another "Best Bang For Your Buck" to the line up.

 

[Gman757]

Kirsch.....just a few points.

It's true I was comparing a $7k unit to a $3k unit but the point of my comparison was to see the difference in the units based on the fact that they are all running cores with the same specs.....640/12µm. The Trijicon REAP-IR is also a scope and the others are just monoculars so that has a bearing on cost if you want to throw that into the mix. To me it was all about a comparitive assessment of the the images in high humidity.

I disagree somewhat that a higher magnification creates a worse image in humidity. If the unit is running at native resolution then the respective image should be comparable in other units from the same manufacturer running different magnification levels. The only exception that comes to mind is the Trijicon line where some of the units have a Gasir lens and others have Germanium. Whether or not the difference in lens material affects perfromance in high humidity I have no idea. I think you are trying to say that using a higher magnification unit at a longer range makes a difference because of the increased addition of atmospheric particulate matter that the unit has to penetrate.

As for "skylining" that has been an issue for FLIR units since my first FLIR Scout 320 that was only available as a 9 Hz unit back then if that tells you how long ago that was. I have had no issues with the Trijicon units "skylining" and I have not actually field tested the Phenom so I can't offer an opinion one way or the other. Now that I think about it I did notice a little "skylining" with a Pulsar Thermion XG50 I tried out for a few days but I hate to say it would have been an issue because I did not keep the unit long enough to know for sure.

I agree the lens cover is sort of cheesy but I may try a flip up scope cover and see if it works with the lens when focusing. If not then maybe some other cover....my main concern is scratching the lens storing and transporting the unit.

Like I said this is basically a non technical review and I was just conveying my thoughts after having the 3 units available to look through and render an opinion.

 

[carvercalls]

Great Review!!

I have about exactly the same thoughts I have looked through the FLIR and a few others, I have a Halo LR and I have the Phenom 12.. The phenom for the price I don't think can be beat..