Swarovski NL Pure 14x52 Review

The latest addition to the Swarovski NL Pure line, the 14x52, has caused quite a stir. Since nobody has more experience with quality optics than the folks who work at Outdoorsmans, we asked them for their opinions on these. Whether you’re upgrading from 15s, considering your first alpha glass product, or simply dreaming about them, we hope this collection of mini-reviews helps you.

Mark Denham

When Swarovski announced the NL 14x52, expectations for its performance were high, to say the least. I had given up on higher-powered binoculars for their higher-performing but lower-powered counterparts. My priorities when it comes to glass have shifted from maximum magnification to maximum field of view, quality, and clarity. For a long time, the NL 42mm models were just right.

The 14x52 has since replaced most other options for me. They are brighter, clearer, and much more comfortable to handle than the older 15x56 SLC with basically no drawbacks. The field of view for an almost 15-power binocular is out of this world, and its low-light capabilities leave little to be desired. Once again, I will have to rethink my entire optics setup. Back to the days of carrying a large binocular in my pack, I guess!

Joe Mannino

Recently, I took my bow for a walk in the same ol’ stomping grounds that I’ve been stompin’ around in since the ‘90s. The biggest difference this time was that my new Swarovski NL 14x52s finally showed up.

From my glassing point in this particular spot, I can get a near-360-degree view with distances ranging from 100 yards out to almost two miles. Now, I don’t know if the fact that I got skunked twice in a different spot contributed to this or not, but I have to tell you, I feel like I saw everything available to see in that basin with those 14s.

At one point, I was glassing out to roughly 1700 yards. My binos were set at the top of the ridge, and I was looking at some tall grass underneath a big mesquite tree. It wasn’t a particularly windy day, but that grass started moving, and all of a sudden, I had a small herd of javelina that worked up from the back side, grazed under that mesquite, then sauntered back down out of view.

I then spotted two Coues deer does working up a hillside over 2000 yards away, and then two bucks in the opposite direction at about 1500 yards out. It’s not often that I spend a couple of hours glassing and feel like I saw everything there was to see within the area.

I can sit here and write out all the specs and talk about edge-to-edge clarity, lens coatings, and field of view, but the bottom line is that these 14s are absolutely incredible and will be a solid addition to anyone’s optics kit.

Levi Sopeland

I first looked through a pair of 15x56 SLCs about 12 years ago. Their owner was someone whose hunting skills I admire on a primal level. They were a status symbol. When you saw someone with a pair, you thought, “Dang. That guy looks way harder for deer than I do.”

15x56 guys were willing to sacrifice field of view for the near-spotting-scope magnification, but I always got the sense that they weren’t 100% happy about it. Those guys are still out there. Many of them tried the 12x42s, but they didn’t get quite the same “in-their-bedroom” view that drew them to the 15s in the first place. They’ve waited 20 years for their upgrade, and it has come. In the past three months, Outdoorsmans has been taking in hundreds of 15x56 SLCs on trade, and it’s no surprise.

I am not a high-magnification guy, or at least I wasn’t. Even when the 14s were released, I was quickly convinced that the 10x52s were the best binoculars ever created. However, when I borrowed a pair of 14s for a backpack Coues hunt, I realized that, although the 10s might be the better option for my style, there is something truly magical about the 14s.

I don’t quite know how to explain it, but the way I feel when I look through the 14x52 is different than any other glassing experience I’ve had. It reminds me of the sensation of snorkeling or scuba diving. You feel like you’re getting a glimpse into another world that you’re not supposed to be allowed into. The only other time I’ve felt a remotely similar feeling was the first time I looked through a BTX 115.

That’s all a bit mystical, but I can confidently and factually say that you’re not prepared for how good these binoculars are. It feels like you can actually glass at 2000 yards and pick up details like movement and colors. At about 750 yards, I watched a bedded doe in the shade, crinkling her nose, and I wondered what she was thinking about. Brody was next to me using a pair of very expensive 10x42s with a rangefinder, and had difficulty locating her.

All that said, I’m still sold on the 10x52 because I like to use one binocular for everything. To me, 14 power can be a little too much at close range (300-500 yards), but the 10x52 shines in every imaginable situation.

Kevin Guillen

I was lucky enough to bring a pair of the new Swarovski NL Pure 14x52 binoculars home with me in November and have since used them on three hunts–two coues deer hunts in Southern Arizona and one late-season elk hunt in Montana. The performance that stood out to me immediately was the depth of focus, or seemingly infinite level of focus, you experience when looking at things in your field of view that range from 200 yards away to 1,200 yards away. 

With very little to no adjustment needed in the focus knob, almost everything is crisp and well-focused, often giving me the impression that, “Hell, I could shoot that from here.” Before the NL 14s, I used EL 12s for years and got pretty comfortable with my sense of how far things actually were based on how they looked in my glass. But with two more steps in magnification, a greater depth of focus, and a brighter image than my EL 12x42s, I constantly found myself reorienting the actual distance to my surroundings. This is certainly not a complaint, but more of a testament to how well these binoculars perform when trying to pick out even just the essence of a deer in thick brush.

Brody Layher

Around 30 years ago, Swarovski Introduced the first pair of compact 15x56 binoculars. They were part of the slim, light, compact (SLC) series of binos that Swarovski offered. These binos would get a handful of upgrades around 20 years later, but they were always considered the gold standard for high-power, compact binoculars. As of June 14th, 2024, that has changed. The release of the NL pure 14x52 has been the biggest innovation in binoculars for the western hunter since the mid-‘90s.

Since the release, I have been able to sit behind the 14s for 30-some days. I refuse to use the phrase “game changer,” but they have changed what optics I use by a considerable amount. For the past few years, I have carried a BTX everywhere–it virtually hasn’t left my pack. With the advent of the 14s, that has changed. The combination of high magnification and field of view is unique to the NL Pure line, and the 14x52s are the greatest expression of it.

Unless I know I’ll be looking two miles or more for a long period of time, I opt to carry the 14s along with a spotter. This saves some weight and makes me more effective at glassing with the larger field of view and upgrade in glass.