Thermal scopes / Comparison
Pulsar Thermion XP50 vs Pulsar Thermion XQ50
Both put about the same number of pixels on a coyote, 18 tall at 100 yards, so neither sees farther. You can tell a coyote from a fox out to about 150 yards with either.
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Calculated from sensor and lens
What a coyote looks like on each
The sensors are 640 and 384 pixels wide. How many pixels land on the animal comes from pixel size and lens length, not from the sensor's size. Here is a coyote at each distance, drawn with the pixels each unit would give it. Every square is one sensor pixel, at the same size throughout.
Pulsar Thermion XP50
Pulsar Thermion XQ50
100 yards
Thermion XP50
18 px tall
Thermion XQ50
18 px tall
200 yards
Thermion XP50
9 px tall
Thermion XQ50
9 px tall
300 yards
Thermion XP50
6 px tall
Thermion XQ50
6 px tall
Tell a coyote from a fox out to
Identification distance
Our estimate of how far away you can tell a coyote from a fox or a dog. It is calculated from the lens and sensor, assuming good conditions.
Where the coyote still stands 12 pixels tall at the shoulder. The maker's detection figure (Thermion XP50 1,969 yd, Thermion XQ50 1,969 yd) is a warm dot, not an animal you can name.
Ground across the screen at 100 yd
Field width
How many feet of ground fill the screen at 100 yards. Wider makes scanning faster; narrower usually means more detail on the animal.
At base magnification. Wider finds animals faster; narrower shows each one bigger. You cannot have both from one lens.
Key differences
- Both put about the same number of pixels on a coyote, 18 tall at 100 yards, so neither sees farther. You can tell a coyote from a fox out to about 150 yards with either.
- The Thermion XP50 shows 67% more ground side to side: 65 feet at 100 yards against 39. Wider finds animals faster; narrower shows each one bigger.
- The Thermion XQ50 runs 7 hours on a charge, the Thermion XP50 5.
Full specs
| Thermion XP50Pulsar Thermion XP50 | Thermion XQ50Pulsar Thermion XQ50 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sensor | ||
| Resolution Sensor resolution How many heat-reading pixels the sensor has, such as 384 × 288 or 640 × 512. More pixels show more detail, but the lens matters just as much. | 640 × 480Better | 384 × 288 |
| Pixel pitch Pixel pitch The size of each sensor pixel, in microns. Smaller pixels mean more magnification from the same lens. Most current thermals use 12 microns. | 17 µm | 17 µm |
| NETD (maker’s claim) NETD (thermal sensitivity) How small a temperature difference the sensor can show. Lower is better, but brands measure it differently, so numbers from two makers are not a fair comparison. | <40 mK | — |
| Refresh rate Refresh rate How many times per second the picture updates. 50 or 60 times a second looks smooth; lower rates stutter when you pan or a coyote runs. | 50 Hz | 50 Hz |
| Optics | ||
| Lens Focal length The lens number in millimeters, like 35 mm or 50 mm. A longer lens puts more pixels on a distant animal but shows a narrower slice of ground. | 50 mm f/1.2 | 50 mm f/1.2 |
| Base magnification Base magnification How much bigger things look before any digital zoom, like 2× or 4×. Higher is not automatically better: it narrows your view. | 2× | 3.5× |
| Max digital zoom Digital zoom Electronic enlarging of the picture. It makes the animal look bigger but adds no detail; past about 2× to 4× the image gets blocky. | 16× | 14× |
| Field of view Field of view How wide a view you get, in degrees. A wide view makes scanning for animals faster; a narrow one usually means more magnification. | 12.4° × 9.3°Better | 7.5° × 5.6° |
| Detection range (maker’s claim) Detection range The maker's figure for how far away a warm object shows up as a dot or two. It is far longer than the distance you can tell what the animal is. | 1,969 yd | 1,969 yd |
| Display | ||
| Display Display resolution How many pixels the small screen inside the eyepiece has. A sharp screen looks cleaner but cannot add detail the sensor did not capture. | AMOLED HD 1024 × 768 | AMOLED HD 1024 × 768 |
| Power | ||
| Battery | Dual Li-Ion B-Pack Mini Power System: 2 A·h Changeable Battery (external) / 3.2 A·h Battery (internal), removable | Dual Li-Ion B-Pack Mini Power System: 2 A·h Changeable Battery (external) / 3.2 A·h Battery (internal), removable |
| Runtime Battery life (runtime) How many hours the device runs on a charge, by the maker's test. Real runtime is shorter in the cold and with Wi-Fi, recording or the rangefinder on. | 5 h | 7 hBetter |
| Features | ||
| Rangefinder Laser rangefinder A built-in laser that measures how far away the animal is. The rated range is for big, reflective targets; expect much less on a coyote. | No | No |
| Storage Onboard recording (storage) Built-in memory that records photos and video of what you see. Useful for reviewing shots and sharing hunts; listed in gigabytes. | 16 GB | 16 GB |
| Wi-Fi / app Wi-Fi and app A wireless link to a phone app for live viewing, downloading videos, changing settings and updating the device's software. | Yes | Yes |
| Riflescope | ||
| Eye relief Eye relief How far your eye sits behind the eyepiece and still sees the full picture. On a rifle scope, more distance keeps the scope off your face under recoil. | 50 mm | 50 mm |
| Recoil rating Recoil rating How much rifle recoil the maker says the scope can take and still work and hold zero. Makers state it in different units, so compare carefully. | 6000 J rifled | 6000 J rifled |
| Mount Mount How the scope attaches to the rifle: standard rings or a rail clamp, fixed or quick-detach. A good mount does more to hold zero than anything else. | Standard 30 mm rings | Standard 30 mm rings |
| Ballistic calculator Ballistic calculator Software in the scope that moves the aiming point for distance, using your bullet's data and the range to the animal. | — | — |
| Zero profiles Zero profiles Saved sight settings for different rifles or loads. Switch profiles instead of re-zeroing when you move the scope or change ammunition. | — | — |
| Build | ||
| Weight Weight How heavy the device is. Check whether the maker weighed it with or without the battery, because brands do it differently. | 31.7 oz | 31.7 oz |
| Water rating IP rating (water rating) A two-part code for how well the device keeps out dust and water. IP67 means dust-tight and survives a short dunk; an X means not tested. | IPX7 | IPX7 |
| Operating temp Operating temperature The temperature range the maker says the device will work in. Batteries lose much of their runtime well before the low end of that range. | -13°F to 122°F | -13°F to 122°F |
| Buying | ||
| Warranty Warranty How long the maker promises to repair or replace a faulty unit. Check whether it needs registration and whether it passes to a second owner. | Not published for US | Not published for US |
| US price US price The price we found for the unit in the US, with where it came from and when. Prices change often, so treat it as a snapshot. | Discontinued | Discontinued |
| MSRP MSRP The maker's suggested retail price in the US: the list price, before any sale. Useful for seeing how good a deal really is. | $5,500 | $4,180 |
Check prices
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How the numbers are worked out. Each pixel covers an angle equal to pixel pitch divided by focal length. A coyote is drawn to scale, 36 inches nose to tail base and about 22 inches at the shoulder. Identification uses Johnson’s criteria: about 12 pixels across the animal’s smallest dimension, here shoulder height. That lands where hunters report it, around 150 to 200 yards on common units. Digital zoom makes the picture bigger but adds no pixels, so it changes none of these figures.
Sources. Pulsar Thermion spec data (pulsar-nv.com product modifications), Pulsar discontinued products list (pulsarvision.com) (read 10/11/2026) · Pulsar Thermion spec data (pulsar-nv.com product modifications), Pulsar discontinued products list (pulsarvision.com) (read 10/11/2026)