GTN issue 86

BLOWING HOT AND COLD

GTN sales manager Lee Hurst takes this versatile day/night thermal scope out for a test run and has an in-depth look at the quality and value

IF you’re looking to switch from a day scope to thermal, or even set yourself up with a dedicated night rifle running thermal, there are a number of manufacturers you can look at, but 2022 saw a new player arrive on the scene. When I say new, Thermtec has been producing thermal imaging equipment since 2011, but the Ares range is its first thermal rifle scope, and it is available here in the UK from Optical Solutions.

The Ares 335 retails at £2,100, so what do you get for your money and is it any good?

Rather than go into too much of the spec side of things, which is all available on the Optical Solutions website, the Ares 335 has a 12 micron, NETD <35mK core along with a 1024 x 768 AMOLED screen which gives excellent image quality. The 35mm objective gives a field of view of around 33m at 100m, which is more than ample if you’re using it for close-range pest control or foxes and deer at slightly longer ranges. The base magnification is 3.2, but there is also a 5x digital zoom available after that. The 335 has a fixed field of view and doesn’t have the optical zoom found on the other Ares models.

The 30mm tube has no moving parts inside, i.e., no shutter, so always switch the unit on with the lens cap closed, and if you do need to refresh, (NUC), this can be done by a quick double press of the scrolling/ zoom turret, but remember to close the lens cap before you NUC it. I must add that I never needed to refresh the unit because the image quality remained excellent. I have a spotter from another manufacturer that had to go back for a sticky shutter and be replaced—no worries about that with the Ares.

The Ares has no internal battery but offers two battery options. The battery turret is on the top, in the same position as the elevation turret on a day scope. It can be powered by an 18-500 battery, giving around four hours of continuous use, or an 18-650, which the manual says will give around six hours. I only used an 18-650 battery, and I got over six hours of use out of it. Another nice touch is that if you do need to change out the battery in the field or in darkness it doesn’t matter which way up you insert it.

From back to front

So, let’s start from the back of the unit and work our way to the front. The rubber eye cup is magnetic and is extremely magnetic, but I was still able to knock it off twice and had to re-trace my steps to find it. I’ve never been a fan of magnetic or detachable eye cups and the Ares has not changed my mind.

On the top there’s the power/sleep button. Then there’s the camera/video button—with a double tap it will activate the picture-in-picture mode, (PIP). Next to that is the button which changes the colour palettes, of which there are six options. With a long press this button will also activate the artificial intelligence range finder, which can only be described as very artificial and not very intelligent. Maybe in the future something can be built in that’s reliable, but the technology here is definitely not there yet. If Thermtec releases a model that has a laser range finder built in it would be a very different story.

Quickly jumping back to the PIP mode, I really like that when zooming in it’s just the PIP view that zooms and the main part of the screen remains as it is. This gives a very specific zoom area, but the overall field of view remains at its maximum.

As mentioned, there are no internals within the 30mm tube and at the front there’s a very nice and tactile focus ring. The scope is also supplied with a set of 30mm rings. They looked fairly cheap and I’m sure they’d be adequate if mounting to an air rifle or rimfire, but I opted to mount the scope with a set of rings that I already had and that I knew would stand up to some recoil.

Internal menu

When you access the internal menu, it has all the good stuff for setting up the screen to your preferences. There are seven reticle options. Again, I’m not going to go into every aspect of the menu, but I do want to talk about the zeroing options. First, there is the single-shot zero—fairly common these days. Take the shot, freeze the screen, move the secondary crosshair to the point of impact, press the button, and everything snaps together.

The Ares also has an auto-zero and I was interested to see if this was a feature that really added to the package. Again I will try and be brief here, but when you enter the auto-zero section of the menu it asks you to set your zero distance. It then gives you 15 seconds to take the shot. Once you’ve hit the button and the countdown has started the scope activates the built-in microphone, which registers the report of the shot. Yes, the Ares can record your hunting footage with audio! The scope will then look for the heat signature of the bullet strike and snap to it. I know, it sounds nuts.

It’s important to point out that the colder the target the easier it is for the scope to pick up the impact. I simply put a piece of plywood out at my desired range and shot it, no target, no nothing. The crosshair snapped to the point of impact and that was it done. I will admit I wasn’t sure about it, but it works and it’s a brilliant feature.

To sum up, the Thermtec Ares 335 is definitely punching way above its retail price. The 3.2 base magnification is something I really liked—thermal scopes and spotters normally have about a 2.5 base magnification. The image quality on the screen is extremely crisp and very high quality.

The menu features are packed with all the good stuff and even though they’ve not set the world alight with the AI range-finder—which is fun to play with for a few minutes until you realise it doesn’t really work—everything else about the Thermtec Ares 335 is very good indeed. If you’re in the market for a thermal scope in 2023 then the Thermtec Ares series is definitely worth considering and is excellent value for money. GTN GTN