2015 THOR Update

[Terry]

I thought I would take the time for a quick review on the 2015 Thor 640 2.5X scope I've been using lately. First alittle background I've owned/used several thermal systems in the field including five Thor scopes ,IR Hunter 336 and 640 models and FLIR RS64 1.1X along with several thermal monos in the last two years alone. I'm pretty picky about my gear and have been known to buy/sell a lot until I find what works perfect for "me".

I ended up with this 2015 Thor 640 2.5X a twin brother to the same model I bought in 2013 (keep a year and sold it) because I wanted a new 640 2X scope. I demoed a MK II great scope but could tell firmware updates would be coming so I passed for now and the Armasight Pro line wasn't shipping at the time ,to bad as I was very I interested in the Zeus Pro 640 2X model.

First, I am very happy with the firmware updates on the new 2015 Thor and I've not seen anyone say a thing about them so figure I would point them out so folks know.

With my 2014 Thor 336 3X one of the things that bothered me as a Hunter is when you powered the scope up you had to go through a few buttons to bring up crossarrow and such before you were ready to shoot. This sucked when you spotted a target and were in a rush as it took more time from power up to shot.

The good news is with my latest 2015 Thor you hit the only the "on"button and your ready to shoot in 2.5 to 3 seconds with or without lens cover on ,it doesn't get any easier or faster. Big improvement.

Another nice thing is once powered up and ready to shoot you can pick one of the most common used features with a simple one touch of the 4 arrow buttons at top of the scope which are : Cal---Zoom---Pallet ---Brightness. No going through a screen menu process to select Cal or other features which slow you down in a hurry. I really like how simple and fast it is for these most common used features afield.

Next, the image clarity seems improved over my previous 2013 Thor 640 2.5x I'm not sure if it's better firmware or newer FLIR sensor design TAU 2. All that really matters I guess is it's better.

A huge plus is my Crossarrows appears to be staying centered or not moving around Like my older Thor's during zoom. Infact I think the crossarrow is staying centered throughout zoom or a least moving very little now, but will comfim will more testing to be 100%sure there is zero movement during zoom. The old firmware you could bottom the Crossarrows off the screen when at 8X I was never a fan of that fact.

I also noticed my OLED a screen doesn't appear to be driven as bright throughout it's adjustment range. This seems small, but it helps give more contrast to the target not over powering it like a White light bulb giving more shades to the target instead.

Firmware wise the menu and functions have operated flawless not one single glitch so far!

Last the battery housing does have the upgraded heavier springs to prevent shut of during fire like you saw a few years back with first production runs. Personally since ATN addressed the springs I haven't had a single issue on my last 4 scopes with thousands of rounds fired.

Overall, I'm real happy with the scope the improvements have really helped to refine the Thor to the next level. Like ATN or not this scope is pretty solid firmware and hardware wise and one of its greatest pluses is its simple/easy to operate in the field with its basic menu setup. I'm keeping this one for a while it's a excellent hunting scope and working well for me.

As far as future improvements I would like to see only one thing still comes to mind. I would like to have "Manual" contrast adjustment or several presaved settings to pick from like the MK scopes and I guess the new Zeus Pros also have this feature. The auto contrast works very well and hasn't casued me any issues, however Being able to adjust contrast allows you the ability to really get the most out of you image clarity sort of like a fixed vs focusable OBJ lens .

I'm already saving my pennies plus planning to sale a older model 336 core scope to buy either a new MK II or Zeus Pro scope so I'll have all 640 core scopes then. I'm sitting back watching how the reviews go and make my decision when the piggy bank is full again.

 

[FrankT]

Thank you...that is a great help. I am not an ATN fan at all but have heard pretty good reviews from the THOR line.

 

[Terry]

I hear you Frank, I stay away from their NV I2 products, but in fairness I have owned a few of the thermal scopes and monos now and they have been excellent for me. I've only had one thermal product issue and it was with a brand new lens on my OTS-X and ATN service replaced it ASAP and treated me really well during the process.

I've watched how ATN has marketed and updated the THOR line the last few years with a lot of interest. At first they pretty much had the average consumer since their wasn't anything else the Thor price range. They had a few hiccups software and such no different than any other recent company entering the thermal market but quickly address them.

I feel at this time the Thor is one of if not ,the most mature and proven commercial thermal scope designs out there at it's price point. Heck ATN has to have sold tons of them I'm sure by now.

They have a great machined and designed housings so haven't changed it and focused on software improvements over the years which has paid off there.

That said, The marketing draw back for the Thors I see is below:

1st, the Thor looks the same be it a 2013 model or 2015 model. In return people assume its the same scope, but truth is there's been a lot of firmware upgrades,small hardware upgrades and newer FLIR cores have came to market. This is bad for marketing because even though a new THOR 2015 model has meaningful improvements the average buyer just thinks it the same old THOR sold 2 years ago.

If I was ATN I would change something even if it was only cool tan color housing so you would get that NEW 2015 model appeal.

I hate to be that way as it shouldn't matter if you make a great housing already why change it, but with IR defense and now Armasight Pros hitting the market they have the new WOW factor going to help drive sales.

 

[rgilbert]

Thanks Terry. Good write up.

 

[DaveABQ]

Good info Terry, will benefit others looking at the Thor.

 

[Terry]

I thought I would post a 4 month update on this this 2015 model 640 Thor Scope. First, I have many, many, many hours behind this scope and most of my time has been in crazy high humidity and rain conditions the last two months.

The scope has had zero issues which has been a blessing since the last few thermal monos/ scopes I bought had some software issues. The 50mm 2.5X lens seems perfect for my use most of the time I don't need digital zoom to shoot which gives me the clearest shooting image possible.

I also have a MK thermal scope and love the turret system for the menu adjustments, that said the buttons on the Thor are super easy to use and haven't been any issue so far.

Battery life seems shorter than the advertised hours listed, however I seem to find that true for every thermal I own I guess there's a lot of factors that go into that figure.

Image clarity has been excellent when the weather is decent the scope has amazing sharpness to the image. In less than ideal conditions it still gets the job done and has never failed to provide a shoot able image even in the worse conditions I've been out in. A couple of my thermal monos failed to make a useable image in some of the worse conditions. I think the big 50mm lens on the Thor really helps out in poor weather.

I've also had zero shut downs while firing on my 300 AAC rifle which is a big plus.

Overall this has been my best thermal scope I've bought so far with overall combined 24/7 all weather performance , software and hardware free issue wise. I've been very pleased and hope the scope stays on this path.

I'm always buying/ trading gear but plan to keep this scope for a while it's been solid for me. I do plan to buy another thermal scope this summer an am watching the market mainly the New armasight pros and MK II's just to have something different this next time around.

 

[FrankT]

Nice to see it is holding up for you!

 

[TEXASLAWMAN]

Good to hear they got some of the issues worked out competition between the manufactures is always good for us in the end better scopes at even better prices!

 

[Terry]

Yep, it's nice when everything works like it should work!

I know when brand new models come out you normally have a few hiccups first generation with software and such which a good company addresses quickly for the customer.

I've owned several Thors and not all were as perfect as this one. I guess over the Thors life span they have updated and updated to get this this point.

 

[TEXASLAWMAN]

Yes it's nice to get one that works right usually you never hear from the people with working units only the ones that are having issues looking for solutions. 500 people bought the same exact scope as you never hear from the 499 that worked just the one that did not.

I think all the major manufactures have great units out now which spurs competition that's great for us hunters.

 

[Shooter]

Nice review. Good to hear that Thor has come a long way.

 

[Terry]

Your 100% right!

1000 units can be sold and 998 work perfect, but all you will see is the two scopes having some issues posted on every NV forum. Anything man made can break and a certain % will fail let's face it. What's really important to me is timely support after the sale on multi thousand dollar items.

And yes most companies are getting their acts together as they have to with all the good product out there right now and pricing has been lower and lower.