Svbony-SA401 20-60x85mm Double ED APO Spotting Scope-Is It Worth It !?!

Jun 01,2023
Posted by:Nicholas Smith
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I think we’ve all been there at one point or another, searching for countless hours online for a bargain – forums, Reddit, various social media and Amazon reviews. Then out of nowhere someone recommends a brand that you’ve never heard of and go to check it out. You think surely it can’t be good is it’s that cheap…Especially when it comes to optics.

Well, that is how I come to hear of Svbony at least. They have and are making a pretty big impact on the astronomy market based on my research with many high-quality reflector scopes available and new ones constantly in development, including what seems to be a 122mm APO refractor in development at the moment.

On the flip side of the astronomical equipment, they have been creating binoculars, spotting scopes and various other equipment specifically aimed towards birders and nature observers, and not only that, they are passionate about it and actively seek feedback from their customers in order to continuously improve their products – which is a marker of a great company.

Well, anyway – after a few weeks of reading and wondering, I decided to commit and purchase a SA401 spotting scope (I was very torn between this or the SA405 that’s for sure!) due to the fact I really wanted to see what their highest tier of spotting scope offered and to see if the double ED APO 85mm objective truly made a difference to my eyes out in the field. I ordered from Amazon and it was very fast to arrive as usual and it came in a large, very well padded box which ensures no damage to the scope inside.

My first thoughts when seeing this packaging was that it looked very professional and clean, and the care taken to protect the equipment was much better than that of my Celestron Regal M2. Obviously after this I was very eager to get the scope out and have a feel of it. Needless to say I was definitely impressed. The quality when I got it out was far beyond my expectations. All components well machined and put together, the focus adjustment precise and well-oiled and the eyepiece lovely and smooth. The material of the scope isn’t specified on the Svbony’s website, but I’d say it is comparable to magnesium alloy in feel and weight (2192g).

Alongside the scope in the box is a neoprene scope case with separate eyepiece and objective cover, which has 2 notches in for focus adjustment. It fits well, but I think instead of clips it should have used press-studs as this would have allowed a tighter fit. Nonetheless it gives it a great look and is reminiscent of a Vortex or Swarovski. Both eyepiece and objective have well fitted rubber covers.

Also included is 2 small rubber covers for if the eyepiece is removed from the scope body, a soft large cleaning cloth and instruction manual with warranty card, which states it includes 1 year of warranty.

The optics on the scope look very good too, the large 85mm objective lens shows nicely applied coatings and upon looking into the scope itself with a torch, there is no internal reflection issues and it looks very well coated inside to prevent this. The objective lens on Svbony’s website states it is “4 pieces/3 group” – which I presumes means 2 ED lenses and 1 APO.

The eyepiece is stated to have “8 pieces/5 group” and it seems to also be of very high quality. I love the fact that it has massive eye relief and a rubberised eye cover which makes it comfy during use and also prevents glasses from being scratched. The lenses also seem to be well coated and no internal reflections are noted in there too.

Sadly the eyepiece isn’t 1.25” by default so it doesn’t take astronomical eyepieces straight away – however Svbony designed an adapter that allows you to use these eyepieces (SA406). I don’t own any eyepieces to test this with however so I’m unsure how they focus. But based on research, complex eyepieces such as the Baader don’t focus to infinity on it, but simple Plossl or fixed focus do.

I decided to mount the scope to my carbon fibre Benro tripod with fluid head and take it into the garden to test the sharpness at different magnifications next to my Celestron Regal M2 65ED. I fixed the focus on a nearby object on a roof with lots of details on it. I tested the Scope at all magnifications and noted it was very sharp throughout the range and only slightly losing sharpness at 60x. The same test conducted on the Celestron showed sharpness to 40x and then it drops significantly after. The Celestron shows a warmer color to the image, whereas the SA401 seems more true to color.

Needless to say, so far I’ve been very happy with the performance of the SA401 and was very keen to take it out into the field and give it a test. But as you know, life gets in the way, so I had to wait until the next evening to go out. I decided on a usual location that I go to here in Western Australia due to the variety of birds that there is there at all different distances. I chucked it back on my tripod and walked about half a kilometer until I arrived at a small pond that is home to 50+ Grey Teals, spoonbills, egrets and lots of others. Upon arrival I noticed a Heron in far corner of the pond and zoomed right up to 60x. I could easily ID the bird species, see individual feathers and markings. I noticed here that throughout the whole field it is completely sharp, more or less edge to edge, with a very flat image with good contrast. Impressive!

I decided to walk further up to the large lake at this location, on my way there I heard some parrots in the trees and also a black-headed cuckooshrike. I was able to set down my tripod quickly and quickly adjust the scope to get a better view. I saw 2 Red-capped parrots, their reds and greens appeared beautiful through the scope. Then I found the cuckooshrike which was good enough to stay in the frame long enough for me to take a short video. I don’t own an adaptor so it was just hand-held to the eyepiece, but due to the eye relief, eyecups and large exit pupil, it’s very quick and easy to do even without.

Also not too far ahead, I noticed an egret and spoonbill feeding in the muddy area of the lake, so I zoomed in on those. Again I was blown away by the sharpness that the SA401 displays! Upon scouting the rest of the lake I realized there was many small birds that I have been missing due to only having a 48x reach. So surprisingly the extra 12x makes the difference between an ID or not!

Even at the point the sun was going down, the scope still remained very bright and details still stood out on the various cormorants sat at the side of the lake. So it buys you some extra time in the evening if you prefer to go for evening birding walks as I do.

Back to the car I went and drove home. As I’d left the scope assembled on my tripod during transport and the sky looked very clear that night, I thought I’d give it a test looking at the planets in the night sky. First I had a quick look at Venus which was extremely bright in the sky and focused on it until it became a clear point in the scope, then onto Mars at 60x which had clear color to it and then finally the moon – WOW, it was extremely bright, sharp and clear. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen it look so sharp. I don’t know too much about astronomy, but damn I’d love to get a telescope to try out now!

I hope this review of the Svbony SA401 has helped you if you were thinking of purchasing this scope. The scores I would give it below are:

Optical Quality – 9/10

Build Quality – 9/10

Focus Speed/Smoothness – 9/10

Brightness – 9/10

Chromatic Aberration Correction – 8/10

Edge to Edge Sharpness – 9/10

Overall it is an excellent scope. It is sharp, bright, built well and will provide many years of good use. A couple more coatings to further correct the small bit of CA would improve it even more, the machining on the tripod threads could be improved, and press-stud buttons could be used on the neoprene case, but all these are just minor details.