Leica Geovid Pro AB+

In 1992, Leica invented the world’s first laser rangefinding binocular. It was a large, blocky optic with no hinge to change your IPD (eye width) and would absolutely not fit in any modern binocular harness. If you’ve ever seen a pair of Pulsar thermal binoculars, they resembled those in many ways. The Geovid 7x42 BDA was jet black, featuring the classic red Leica logo in the lower right-hand corner. Leica must have been pretty happy with that name and design because 33 years later, they’re still using both. That is, until the Leica Geovid Pro AB+. Instead of the classic black, they’ve gone with a beautiful shade of baby-poo brown. They’re not the most pleasant binoculars to look at, but much like their great-grandfather, they are innovative.

The “AB+,” as I have come to know it, features the same chassis, glass, display, and app as its predecessor, the Geovid Pro, with two major upgrades: Applied Ballistics Elite built-in and new software called Shot Probability Analysis (SPA). The “AB” part allows you to skip the $3.99 per month for Applied Ballistics Elite. SPA gives you the ability to see what your first round impact probability is on a variety of targets at any yardage, in any condition.

Now, SPA may not seem like something you need or would ever use, but once you start to mess with it a little, it can be a great tool for comparing different bullets, calibers, and cartridges. SPA can also give you an important wake-up call when it comes to figuring out why you may have missed an animal or target. I can tell you for certain that it’s made me a better shot and not because it’s physically helping me in any way, but because it’s telling me I am the problem and not the gun.

As I mentioned above, the meat and potatoes of the binocular are the same as the 2023 released Geovid Pro in the 42mm objective model. The glass in them is great for a rangefinding binocular, but it is not as easy on the eyes as something like a Noctivid or NL pure. The edges can have a slight blur, but anytime you add a display to the barrel of a binocular, you’re going to degrade the image.

The Leica Ballistics App has seen tons of updates in the past few years. It’s gone from a clunky, crashing nightmare to an easy-to-use, intuitive masterpiece. I can easily add different ballistic profiles, change settings in the binocular, and make accurate wind calls using the HUD feature.

It’s hard to speak on the durability of a binocular after only six months of use, but so far, so good. I dropped them off of a tripod at sitting height and it does look like the focus wheel might have bent slightly, but nothing has changed on the binoculars. They still focus without any issues. I stuck them in the freezer for a couple of hours to see how they handled the cold and, short of a low battery sign, (which is a flashing reticle indicating you have 50 ranges left before the binocular dies… yeah, maybe not the best way to show that) They still functioned quite well. Normally, I would expect to see the ranging and solutions to lose some speed, but that wasn’t the case.

The Leica Geovid Pro AB+ has onboard temperature and pressure sensors just like its predecessor to ensure you get the most accurate solutions possible. After the aforementioned freezer time, and when I checked the temp on the HUD in the app, it matched my Kestrel, which I trust. The one issue I did notice is that it took a long time for the optic to read the correct temperature once removed from the freezer. I could only see this being an issue if you’re doing something like truck hunting in Eastern Montana in November. If that's the case, maybe take a click or two off your data.

Overall, I think this is one of the top three rangefinding binoculars on the market. They may not be the prettiest binoculars to look at, but they will absolutely allow you to find your target, give you an accurate range, and show you a correct solution. Buy now on Scheels.com

Watch my full video review below: