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The other day, Amazon had a sale on Bushnell Legend XLT “Bone Collector” 10×42 binoculars. They were okay, but this started me on a small binocular comparison project. I tried the following models:

• Athlon 112002 Ares 8 x 42 ED Binoculars, Green //Not arrived yet.
• Nikon 16000 PROSTAFF 7S 8×30 Inches Compact Binocular (Black) //Very nice but not worth $180 for me when my Athlon 8×34’s at $85 (super deal) are awesome and not that much larger.
• Athlon 114006 Argos 8 x 34 Binoculars, Green //Amazing, especially at the $85 deal I got, compared to $165 as the approximate normal price.
• Vortex Optics New 2016 Diamondback 8×42 Roof Prism Binoculars //Really disliked them ergonomically. They seemed about as sharp and bright as the Athlon Midas 8x42s.
• Nikon 8248 ACULON A211 10×50 Binocular (Black) //Hated these. Cheap looking and feeling and poor quality optically.
• Nikon 8246 ACULON A211 10×42 Binocular (Black) //Hated these. Cheap looking and feeling and poor quality optically.
• Steiner AZ830 Binocular //Meh. Also really disliked the style of binoculars.
• Steiner AZ842 Binocular //Meh.
• ALPEN Wings 8×42 Waterproof Fogproof Roof Prism Binocular (non-ED model) //These were okay. Nothing special. A bit of black edge for my eyes, which may have been handled if they had a little more eye relief.
• Athlon 113004 Midas 8 x 42 ED Binoculars, Green //Incredible. But I got a pair of 8×42 Ares for $227 (instead of $390), compared the the $260 (usually $290) I paid for these Midas.
• Athlon 113003 Midas 10 x 42 ED Binoculars, Green //Didn’t like these at all. Congested picture and a little fatiguing.
• Nikon 8217 Trailblazer 8×25 ATB Binocular //Terribly dark, which I expected but sort of hoped wouldn’t be so pronounced.
• Bushnell Trophy XLT Roof Prism Binoculars, 10x42mm (Bone Collector Edition) //I liked the picture in these better than that in the Athlon Midas 10x42s, but these were still sort of unremarkable ergonomically and I only got about $25 off by buying them on that one-day Amazon special (paid $70, usually $95 or so). Theses also had the widest diameter barrels of the similar binoculars I’ve tried. Frankly, since I’m comparing these to $290 Athlon Midas binoculars and they produced a better sight picture than those (the 10×42 Midases), that’s amazing! But I don’t want 10x42s though.

The iPhone 7 was released in September this year. But I don’t want one. Too expensive to buy them new, I hate the Touch ID fake button (doesn’t actually get pressed down and whole bottom of the phone vibrates for the “click”) and, finally, I’m an “S” man.

I recently bought a used iPhone 6S Plus for myself, as an upgrade from my iPhone 6. I wanted to try out a larger-sized iPhone for two reasons:

• The iPhones Plus get better camera upgrades first (optical stabilization and double-camera, so far); and
• If I can tolerate the size, it would be nice to have more space to read web pages and such on it.

I got it and tried it for a couple days. No dice. This thing is too big for my hand (I have to clutch it in one hand and touch the screen with the other) and too big for my Prius’s drink holder (barely fits and sticks straight up). It’s a monster. Okay, early upgrade for the wife. She loves it. Sold her iPhone 6 Plus for something like the same amount I paid for her new 6S Plus. Great deal.

I then bought myself a used 6S. It arrived with a bunch of bad (black) pixels. Apple fixed it under warranty, which is good though April 2017.

I really like this phone. It’s snappier than my iPhone 6. 3D Touch is kinda cool. I love the instantaneous Touch ID! Though sometimes I just wanted to read my notifications and instead it opens up. This is a small price to pay.

I like the S-only voicemail transcriptions. I’ve used them… once. But it’s a very nice feature.

The screen seems to have better viewing angles, but I haven’t A/B’d them to be sure this is the case.