Night Vision

The second I picked up the CNVPros, I thought to myself, "Are they heavy? Yeah? That means they're expensive, put 'em back." The nighttime 'nocs have a bit of heft to them, and they totally feel like they should cost way more than they do.

There are a bunch of dedicated devices that literally lift the veil of darkness to reveal a secret nocturnal world. Some rugged phones can do this too, but Fossibot reckons that none have the reach and clarity of its recently launched F113.

I spent a few nights with the Akaso Sight-300 and came away fairly impressed. My previous experiences with night vision have been with very high-end scopes, so I wasn't sure what to expect on something that costs several thousand dollars less.

They're chunky and heavy, and not the most attractive handsets around. But rugged phones are designed to shake off abuse, while boasting huge batteries and useful tools. The latest model from Ulefone has all that in spades, plus pocket cinema chops.

Though slim is in as far as smartphones are concerned, they're probably not going to be the first choice for adventurous types. That's likely to be a multi-function rugged phone, such as the latest night-vision beast from FossiBot.

Late last year, Chinese rugged device maker 8849 unleashed a beast of a tablet called the Tank Pad that boasted a powerful camplight and built-in pico projector. Now the Unihertz sub-brand has followed up with an adventure-ready power brick phone.

Unlike cats, our vision is pretty rubbish in very low light conditions. Fortunately, technology can help us reveal the hidden secrets of the night. The Nightra is just such as gadget, and promises to reveal "every detail in vivid, full color."

Duovox has followed its successful Kickstarter for a military-grade night-vision monocular with a Pro version that promises to bring the hidden darkness into "true full color." The nocturnal adventure gadget is also joined by a teeny smartphone camera.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have come up with a clever way of turning darkness into night vision with a new OLED approach thinner than paper – all while using off-the-shelf parts and existing OLED manufacturing processes.

Back in January, Yashica launched a pair of 4K color night-vision binoculars designed to bring color and clarity to otherwise darkened views. The company is following up with the Explorer, which not only features two eyepieces but also a pop-up screen.

Akaso's Seemor 200 night-vision scope uses AI to blur the dividing line between color day imaging and infrared black-and-white night imaging. We waited for sundown and put one through its paces. Here's what we found.

Night vision goggles and thermal imaging scopes are both useful pieces of kit in their own right, but combining the two provides the best of both worlds. For those who have only the goggles, Thermoteknix has come up with an attachment adds thermal capabilities with a click.