HikMicro Falcon FQ35 2.0 Thermal Monocular Review

Last updated: 08/07/2025

Review

HikMicro Falcon FQ35 2.0 Thermal Monocular Review

The HikMicro Falcon FQ35 2.0 is compact, robust, and businesslike, and you might even say it is a little boring, but what it does, it does well. The tubular design slips easily into a jacket pocket, and inside the tidy magnesium shell lies some serious tech: a 640x512 sensor with a sub-15mK NETD, a 35mm f/1.0 lens, and an OLED HD display that produces a superb wide-angle image courtesy of the unit’s 1.9x base magnification.

This isn’t a flashy thermal; it’s built to do a job. Whether you’re stalking deer or scanning a lambing field at first light, it’s the kind of tool you quickly stop noticing until it spots something you didn’t, and it will.

What is the Image Quality and Viewing Experience Like?

The Falcon feels like a sweet spot in terms of performance and price, excelling in the 100–500m range and performing superbly for close quarters and woodland work, courtesy of its wide-angle lens, with enough left in the sensor to zoom in when necessary. That’s the trade-off with a low base magnification; you can cover lots of ground quickly, but identifying at extreme distances isn’t really its forte.

Overall, the level of detail is impressive. Subtle temperature shifts courtesy of the very low NETD – a twitching ear behind a hedge, the telltale flick of a tail – pop out on screen with surprising definition. The shutterless 25Hz calibration system (HSIS) provides uninterrupted scanning. Here’s a top tip: go into the settings straight away and switch from a round display to a square one, as it gives you a lot more field of view at the flick of a switch.

story continues below...

How Are the Controls, Battery, and Features Designed?

The rear-mounted focus wheel is a very nice addition, as it’s easy to operate one-handed, while the layout of the buttons is predictable and perfect. Hik has also nailed things under the hood with a great interface, along with short and long click combinations that are obvious, even to a new user.

The battery life is good, with the chunky 21700 battery churning out over 6.5 hours per charge. A spare is supplied, plus there is the option to hook up a power bank via USB-C. There’s also the usual selection of colour palettes, and built-in video (with audio) and photo capture. The 64GB of onboard storage is certainly generous, while Wi-Fi connectivity lets you link up with the Sight app for live streaming, firmware updates, and file transfers.

Does the Falcon FQ35 2.0 Have a Laser Rangefinder?

There’s no integrated laser rangefinder, but with the ever-growing band of digiscopes and thermal scopes boasting built-in LRF and ballistics, that’s much less of a concern than it used to be. If you’re confident in judging range or already use a traditional rangefinder, it’s no big loss. This isn’t a ‘do-it-all’ device but rather a part of a suite of tools, some of which you probably already own. At the end of the day, it’s thermal image quality that counts, and in that regard, this unit scores highly.