I have now had a chance to try out the Curio properly, and to compare it to the CL 8x25.
In terms of construction, the Curio is very, very good. I chose the burnt orange/silver version and the fit on the orange armor on the barrels is generally excellent. The focuser is very smooth and positive, but not as smooth as my 8x25 which has one of the nicest focusers I have ever had on a binocular. The double hinges are stiffer than on the 8x25 which is good as it stops any accidental changes to the ipd. Eye cups and work as expected as does the dioptre adjustment.
Moving on to the most important are - the view. This is very, very good - and it's almost unbelievable how good it actually is. CA is virtually non-existent, the view is sharp and bright, and colors are very accurate and pleasing. Glare control seems very good and I have not been able to induce any glare in situations where I know the 8x25 would show some. What initially impressed me, and still does, is how easy it is to use. Eye placement is very forgiving, it has a lovely wide view, and is for me (without glasses) totally without blackouts. Generally it feels like you are using a full size binocular rather than a compact!!
It comes with a case, neck strap, lanyard for the case, rain guard and cleaning cloth. I'm not sure what the designers at Swarvorski were smoking when they came up with the rain guard as it is the most bizarre example I have ever seen. It only fits when the barrels are folded together, and it seems to me you only fold the barrels together when you are storing the binoculars in a case or pocket, at which point the rain guard is redundant! Very strange!
In conclusion this is perhaps the best compact I have used to date. It’s not miles ahead of the CL 8x25, but the wide, bright and easy view, definitely gives it the edge.
