NightFox Cub review: compact digital night vision monocular for the masses

The NightFox Cub monocular lets you see in the dark without breaking the bank

NightFox Cub
(Image: © Future)

Digital Camera World Verdict

For the price and the functions available, the NightFox Cub is a very capable digital night vision monocular that will deliver good results to around 100 metres, with the image becoming slightly fuzz at 150 metres, but you will still able to make out deer and other forms of wildlife. It must be noted at this price point you are not getting the highest recording rates or formats available, but enough to show to your friends and family. For the price you are getting a great bit of kit that will serve you well in your observations.

Pros

  • +

    Good price point

  • +

    Compact and lightweight

  • +

    Records night vision & color

  • +

    Great battery life

Cons

  • -

    No Full HD video

  • -

    Memory/battery door not self-closing

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If you are looking for a trusty monocular companion to join you on a day's bird watching or out at night looking for wildlife then the NightFox Cub is the perfect digital night vision monocular for your needs and can even record your findings to show off to your fellow bird watches and wildlife enthusiasts .

This compact and pocketable digital monocular is able to provide night vision with a 7-stage range of sensitivity and is also able to provide color viewing for when out and about in the day. You will be able to see birds and wildlife from a good distance thanks to its range of 150 metres and you will also find handy buttons located on the top of the device for 3x optical magnification and 2x digital zoom.

This makes sure all your wildlife spots are in focus and can be seen clearly, and talking of being able to see clearly, if you are out in cloudy conditions the cub is also equipped with an 8-range brightness setting within the monoculor, so you'll be sure you won't miss anything interesting on your travels. 

NightFox Cub specifications

Magnification: 3x optical & 2x digital zoom
Range: 150 meters
Lens: f/1.4 - automatic adjustment for day and night
Viewfinder: EVF
Video: Standard Definition
Memory cards: Micro SD card, up to 32GB
Color Effects:  Night vision / Color
Connectivity: USB-C
Requires: 1x AA rechargeable batteries
Size: 127 x 46 x 72mm
Weight: 255g (including memory and battery)
Compatibility: Mac OS and Windows XP SP2/ Vista/ 7/ 8/ 10

Key features

Thanks to f/1.4 that is auto adjusted to either night or daytime use, this handy device will be able to record all your interesting finds thanks to onboard recording and a 32GB microSD card provided, the card slot is located at the back of the device, just below the eyepiece where you will also find the battery compartment, which takes one AA battery. 

Battery life is considerably good and I would imagine you could get at least two weeks of constant use before you see a loss in performance and need to recharge it - luckily the included USB-C cable will allow you to connect to either your laptop or usb car charge to provide power or the old fashioned way or using a usb charging brick pledged into the mains - you have options!

(Image credit: Future)

Performance

Along with its compact size, lightweight construction and reasonable price tag of $149.99 / £139.99 / AU $291 its ability to record SD footage both in night vision mode and daytime color is extremely useful and can be downloaded via plugging in the included USB-C cable or by ejection of the microSD card into a tranional card reader.

For the price and the functions available the NighFox Cub is a very capable digital night vision monocular that will deliver good results to around 100 metres, with  the image being slightly fuzz at 150, yet still able to make out deer and other forms of wildlife. 

If brightness modes for both the viewfinder and night vision are extremely handy when out either in the day or night for spotting wildlife and its lightweight construction and great build quality means you can take it on any journey long or short and it will last, and stand up to a fair amount of use.

Verdict

(Image credit: Nightfox)

It must be noted at this price point you are not getting the highest recording rates or formats available for video recording, rather you are getting standard definition, enough to show to your friends and family, but if you are wanting 1080 or even 4K recording this is not the product for you. However, for the price, you are getting a great bit of kit that includes everything you need to get you out and recoding your bird watching or wildlife spotting, and it will serve you well in your observations.

Read more:

Best monocular
Best night vision goggles
Best binoculars
Best compact binoculars

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Sebastian Oakley
Ecommerce Editor

For nearly two decades Sebastian's work has been published internationally. Originally specializing in Equestrianism, his visuals have been used by the leading names in the equestrian industry such as The Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), The Jockey Club, Horse & Hound, and many more for various advertising campaigns, books, and pre/post-event highlights.


He is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts, holds a Foundation Degree in Equitation Science, and is a Master of Arts in Publishing.  He is a member of Nikon NPS and has been a Nikon user since the film days using a Nikon F5 and saw the digital transition with Nikon's D series cameras and is still to this day the youngest member to be elected into BEWA, The British Equestrian Writers' Association. 


He is familiar with and shows great interest in street, medium, and large format photography with products by Leica, Phase One, Hasselblad, Alpa, and Sinar. Sebastian has also used many cinema cameras from the likes of Sony, RED, ARRI, and everything in between. He now spends his spare time using his trusted Leica M-E or Leica M2 shooting Street photography or general life as he sees it, usually in Black and White.