I'd also be interested. I have the original Toric 8x42, which is a very capable binocular. I'd be interested to know if the newer one (whenever its released) has discernible optical improvements, or if the improvements are more mechanical (unlikely: my current Torics are very good in this regard) or simply by way of marketing.Curious to know if anyone has been able to get their hands on the new Tract Toric HT and compare them to anything else?
I fiddled with the new 8x42 and 10x42 HT's at a Texas hunting show last week. There is only so much you can do indoors, as going outside was not a possibility. I was able to "compare" them side by side with the Maven 10x which is very nice. About all I could do was try and determine if the whites were really white, black really black, and how well the colors "popped" to my 57 yr old eyeballs, as well as stare at the darkest corners of the building, cobwebs, abnormalities, etc. The new HT's are exceedingly sharp, bright, smooth, and ergonomically superior to the Maven, once again IMO and in those conditions, and my own eyeballs. How much superior to the "original" Torics? Noticeable, not drastic. That's not a negative though necessarily, IMO, since the Torics are just a fantastic piece of glass anyway. Jon at Tract optics is a world class guy as well.
I took my new 8x42 Toric HT down to the sporting good store and they let me compare them to other binoculars. I compared to Zeiss Conquest HD in 8x42, Vortex Razor in 10x42, and the new Vortex Viper HD in 8x42. Inside the store, i could not tell a difference in brightness compared to the Conquest. The Toric was slightly brighter than the Razor but that could be expected given that I was comparing an 8x42 vs 10x42. Resolution was about the same in the models i compared. There was a clear difference in brightness between the Viper and the Toric. We took the Zeiss outside with the Toric. I thought that glare was better controlled in the Toric but just bearly. I could not see chromatic aberration in either. I thought the Conquest was just a slight touch brighter in the full daylight but i had to really go back and forth between them to see it. One thing I noticed was that magnification seemed to differ between the two 8x models, with the magnification slightly higher in the Conquest. All differences were minor and the optical performance was very comparable. We went back in and I once again could no longer see any perceivable difference in brightness indoors. Color seemed equally neutral in both. I wished I could have compared them in low light. I guess I suggest that these are competitive and comparable veiws despite the several hundred dollar difference in price.