The two biggest problems with even the best binoculars is that they only provide a solo experience and the images are fleeting.
By contrast, MatataXplore’s compact Solvia ED 8×32 AI Binoculars, which I spotted last week at CES, allow you to capture and share images. Plus, they have a few AI-based tricks up their sleeve.
Now for sure, these aren’t the first binoculars to grab videos and stills. Heck, I was a big fan of Sony’s DEV-5 back in 2012. It was essentially two highly zoomable camcorders fused together that looked and worked like binoculars. But they were way bigger, at least twice as heavy, four times the price, and — great as they were at the time — lacked the external screen and modern identification smarts you’ll read about below.
MatataXplore Solvia ED: Camera–Binos
Just to be clear, you can still use these just like traditional binoculars. Individually adjust the right and left diopters to match your vision and gaze right through the eyepieces. Wide dynamic range provides a clear, natural, detailed image in a variety of light conditions, and electronic image stabilization smooths out the inevitable real-world shakiness.
When you want to capture the moment(s), an 8-megapixel CMOS sensor lets you record full HD photos and videos with simple, dedicated buttons for each. View your shots on the 2.8-inch touchscreen — or on a nearby smartphone through Wi-Fi screen mirroring. And yes, you can one-tap share to your favorite logs and/or social platforms.
More recently, digiscoping has become a thing. Let’s assume you’ve moved beyond the clumsy, unreliable nightmare of trying to manually steady your phone to an eyepiece.
Even with the “most efficient” purpose-built rigs, you’re still stuck hauling a dedicated phone case adapter, standard-sized tripod, and girthy optics — which you then need to quickly assemble in the field. So, it’s clunky at best. The Matata unit is clearly smaller (and smarter), allowing you to be much more in the moment.
And There’s AI (Because of Course)
But here’s where the real magic kicks in: These binoculars were trained to quickly identify over 10,000 common bird species around the world with up to 98% accuracy. So you might not be able to tell a yellow warbler from a Eurasian blue tit, but the Solvia ED sure can.
And if you want to identify other flora or fauna, just upload a photo to the cloud to instantly match it to a database of tens of thousands of plant and animal species. Beyond identification, AI also helps improve image quality, boosting low-light scenes and deblurring images when necessary.
These small, all-in-one binoculars weigh 560 g (about 1.25 pounds). They’re IP64 dust-, water-, and fog-resistant. They can operate in temperatures ranging from -10 degrees C all the way up to 50 degrees C. An onboard electronic compass and GPS positioning let you retrace your adventures. And you can adjust a whole host of professional photography parameters, such as white balance, saturation, and exposure compensation.
According to the pricing from MatataXplore’s successful Kickstarter campaign, the Solvia ED 8×32 AI Binoculars will eventually retail for $499, with an optional $100 expansion module that adds an extra battery and dynamic fill light.
In the meantime, you can still purchase them at the early-bird level (roughly $349 before shipping), with delivery of the first units slated for later this month, when the company also plans to open up regular preorders on its site, MatataXplore.com.
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