All the problems with FLIRs customer service sent me looking at Pulsar's offerings. I'm looking for a thermal scope for predator hunting and also for pulling off the rifle on occasion and using as a handheld spotter. The Pulsar Trail XP50 seems to have decent magnification (I'm envisioning 150-200 yards max) and good resolution. Might be a little heavy to use as a handheld, but I think it will work.

Price seems to be $4000-4500.

Anyone have one? Anything else I should look at in the price range?

Where are you located near?  I have a trail XP50 that you can come check out (I am 30 mins west of Denver).

I like the trail XP50 due to:  rechargeable and removable battery, picture in picture, adjustable focus, multiple zero points, downloadable firmware updates, etc.

Check out the XQ series also.
You might not see a great difference between them.
Vs. the price point.

Thanks for the offer - my place is out in Pitkin County but I'm back on thee East Coast for the fall.

If I were to start all over, I’d buy an xp50 and be done with it. I’ve been spoiled with trijicon stuff for a while .  And while it may save a few steps, and give you an image that you can’t beat, pulsar will kill them the exact same amount of dead.  You will only ever want more if you look through something that cost 40% more.......  this is strictly my opinion, and you can take it for what it’s worth

I appreciate the insight. I think an XP is as much as I need right now; now I have to make sure I don't look through a Triijicon!

The image quality on the Trail XP50 is shockingly good. All the features work as advertised as well. It's a terrific scope you can do pretty well on the price depending on who you go through.

-Stooxie

+1. It’s a really good image. I ended up with something else, only because it was NOS for quite a bit less. I’ve used both while hunting and I’m not sure the image is any better on the device I have.

I think the Trail XP50 has the absolute best price:performance ratio of anything on the market, bar none.

I wish Pulsar offered the XP imagers in their Apex line.
I don't need all the bells and whistles.

You can use as a spotter.  Get a zrodelta, slap it on and off as needed.  It’s not perfect for that , but it’s what I did for a long time .   Very functional

Cool products. I'd never heard of them. I was thinking of a Bobro since I read an article comparing mounts that found they had the best return to zero of the mounts they tested but I'll take a look.

Thanks!

The ZRO Delta has two massive advantages over any other mount on the market, including the Bobro.  
First, removing and attaching the mount in the darkness is easier with the ZRO Delta.  
And second, the ZRO Delta is the only mount that overcomes the problem of different 1913 rail sizes.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, they're all supposed to be in spec, but they just aren't.  When the LaRue, Bobro, ADS, etc. is snug on one gun, it will be loose on another and too tight on the third.  Adjusting this absolutely affects your zero.  The ZRO Delta's patented design overcomes this problem, and because of this I can run my XP50 on my AR15, my backyard pellet gun, and my Marlin lever gun all without a problem. That lets you get the most out of the fact that the Trail offers three different zeroing profiles, and is one of my absolute favorite things about this scope.

In for answers.

I have a 1-6 scope (with a Bobro) on the rifle I'll be using and I'm planning on pulling it off to use the thermal. A mount that really holds zero is exactly what I need.

Which one did you use?

Rumor is bobro will have a mount out in the next 30 days.

They all hold zero. Even the chinesium QD that Pulsar used to sell for $40. If you want the Bobro, get it.

I have a Night Optics USA D740 that has a Chinesium QD Mount.

Got my XP50 today.  For comparison's sake I previously have had a Zeus 640/75mm and a Predator 640/25mm.

I've long thought the Zeus 640/75mm is the best pure weapon scope in the "consumer-grade" scopes.  Obviously you can spend more and get a trijicon etc but the Zeus 75mm is solid for just shooting.  I ended up selling it because I wanted less magnification so I could scan & shoot with the same device.  My only other complaint with the Zeus is I don't care for Armasight's mount & I didn't like that it had to be sent back to them for firmware updates; all problems they corrected with the Zeus Pro line.

That said I started eyeing the XP50 because I thought it was a good compromise for scanning & shooting purposes.  I'm going to be upgrading the mount to either the ZRO or the new Bobro when it comes out to help retain zero with mounting/unmounting the scope and moving between different uppers.

First impression is the XP50 doesn't feel as stout as the Zeus 75mm and I don't find the controls as intuitive but I think that will change with some use.  The image quality is as good or better than the Zeus 75mm and that is quite the compliment; especially since it is still warm/humid right now.  The streaming to phone feature is pretty cool for observers and I was able to check for firmware updates through the phone as well.  Looking through the manual I think I'm really going to like the one-shot zero feature.  I like everything I'm seeing right now and hope to get a chance to play with it further in the near future.

When I first got my XP50 I looked at that little cigarette-lighter sized remote and thought "lol useless."

The remote is indispensable in the field.  So much better than trying to mash buttons on the scope in the dark.  Give the remote a shot.

Good buy. I have the xp38 which is just a smaller fov but the clarity works great. Love the simplicity. Also picNpic is helpful. At work I use units 10x the cost and the image is junk and lots of problems. They could just have more use but I have some user  experience with multiple thermal units and for the price I am really happy.

I imagine it may feel more natural after you get more time with it. Really cool to hear the image is good.

When you scan, are you using it as a handheld? How does that work for you?

I made the mistake of going on Pulsar's website and saw the specs for the XP50 LRF. I don't need it, really wouldn't use it since I'm not hunting at ranges where the drop is enough of a concern to warrant, but man, they look cool. The future is now!

I have a few hunts in with my XP50 now and I am really happy with it. I think the image is fantastic up until about 80% humidity but I have made kills with it at 95% also. It's not terrible at 95% but it does degrade some. I have also detected a coyote with it at over 700 yards (measured on google earth), very happy with that. I knew it was a coyote by watching it move and hearing it howl.
Battery life is extremely good, at least in 50* weather. I bought the extended battery as a backup but it is pretty big and after seeing how long the standard battery lasts I almost regret getting the extended, but I may need it when it's below zero.
Onboard recording is great and I watch and share the videos quite a bit. I use the streamvision app to scan with the rifle on a tripod, works pretty well. My buddy has the XQ38 and it is a good scope but every time he looks through my XP he comments about how it is clearer.
I have looked through a Trijicon and the image was very good, wish I had had the XP then to compare. Even if the Trijicon had on board recording and a rechargeable battery I don't think I would pay almost double the price for it, at least not on my budget.
And PIP is awesome for hunting smaller targets like coyotes.

Really helpful review.  Thanks!

I never thought the streaming function would be more than a gimmick but everybody seems to like it. Color me surprised.

Can anybody speak to how far away the wireless might work or the remote too for that matter ?

I can say this much: I tried setting the scope up outside my bedroom window the other night.  I found a place where rats were congregating in the backyard, and I wanted to use the motion detection feature in the Stream Vision app to alert me when movement was detected. But it never worked because my phone kept losing signal with the scope.  I'd say it was 20 feet apart with an exterior wall in between.

Take that for what it's worth.  Unobstructed line of sight will be totally different.

I stick mine out on the back porch and sit in the kitchen ~10' away through a sliding door.. and StreamVision works.

I think the remote only works within a few feet (<5'), may just be my batteries too though.

It actually does work well. Before the last update the screen would time out at whatever my phone screen was set to, 10 mins max on my Samsung. But since the update it stays on indefinitely.
Streamvision is not perfect though. The image on the phone does not look as good as it does through the scope, maybe 80% as good, but it certainly works for scanning for heat. Scanning this way is also not as intuitive as using a handheld scanner, but it works. A tripod is pretty much mandatory. Once in a while I will lose the conection to my phone but generally I can get it back quickly.
I'd rather have a dedicated scanner for sure but one advantage is that when you are trying to run an E-call remote it is easy to switch your eyes back and forth from the phone to the remote quickly .
The remote only works a few feet but the streamvision will work a good 30 feet or more. I think in theory I could run a second phone and connect it to my calling partners scope which would allow me to see what he's looking at, but it would just be too much crap to keep up with I think.

Sooner or later I'll probably buy a dedicated scanner.