Detox Destroyed
Any of you that follow my YouTube channel (The Deercast) will know that I have a little bit of a love affair with my Kipplauf rifle. Recently, I’ve been struggling to find a reason not to upgrade the scope on my beloved Kipplauf to a lightweight Swarovski Z6i. It’s not something I need to do, but rather one of those things you accidentally find yourself researching whilst doom scrolling in front of the TV.
My detox had been going well, until, out of the blue, I received an email from Swarovski asking if I’d like to test the new TX Encounter. I was also told they’d send me a Z6i or Z8i to pair it up with. Perfect. Detox ruined.
Familiar But Improved
All joking aside, I was quite keen to try the TX Encounter because I’d tried its earlier predecessor, the TM35+, and whilst I was impressed with it, there were a few niggles that I was curious to see if they’d been ironed out with the new TX Encounter.
Crisp Focus, Finally
As soon as the TX Encounter arrived it was obvious that one of my niggles had also been spotted by Swarovski and immediately solved. The TM35+ was a good thermal, both as a handheld and clip-on unit.
However, I had always struggled to get the perfectly crisp image that I was used to with my own Pulsar unit. The TM35+ had an automatic focus feature, and no way of manually adjusting focus at different ranges. Perhaps my eyes are a bit more fussy than most, but I’d never got on with the automatic feature and found that whilst I could easily spot animals, the outline of them was always a bit fuzzy.
Swarovski have tackled this with the addition of a small manual focus wheel on the left-hand side of the TX Encounter. This transforms the image produced by the TX Encounter compared to the TM35+.
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom
One of the other big improvements over the TM35+ is the ability to deploy additional digital magnification. The old TM35+ had 1x optical magnification and 2x digital magnification. The TX Encounter has the same 1x optical magnification, but also has 2x, 4x, 6x or 8x digital magnification. For those that really like to study their quarry through a thermal before deploying the binoculars or rifle this is going to be a major plus point.
Snap, Record, Repeat
Talking of studying your quarry, one of my slight disappointments with the TM35+ had been the lack of ability to take photos or video through the unit. Again, this functionality has been solved with the TX Encounter.
You will need to download an additional App to do this though — the ‘Swarovski Optik Outdoor’ app, not the ‘Swarovski Optik Hunting’ app that most users will be familiar with that is used to calculate ballistic profiles and pair with EL Range binoculars. Once you have this app you can view any footage that you’ve taken with the unit, or has been automatically captured by the TX Encounter when a shot is fired.
Recoil Activated Recording
Obviously, the latter feature only works when the TX Encounter is used as a clip-on, not a handheld thermal, and uses ‘Recoil Activated Video’ (RAV) to ensure you’ll never not have footage from that one critical shot you want to re-watch.
Eyes On, Together
Really interesting is the ‘live stream’ function available via the TX Encounter. If you were hunting in pairs and wanted your ‘spotter’ to see what you were looking/shooting at, they could download the app and have instant access. I’m always skeptical about how well systems like this work, especially in the field when you have no internet or data, but when we trialled this it all did seem to go smoothly… I did have an initial issue pairing the TX Encounter with my iPhone, but after a few firmware and software updates I think all is solved.
The Smallest of Gripes…
If I was going to be REALLY picky (sorry Swarovski), I’d suggest a further tweak to the side focus wheel and somehow incorporate it into the buttons on the top so that the unit can be operated one-handed. What I mean by that is that if you are a right-handed user and have the TX Encounter in your right hand whilst scanning the horizon, if you need to adjust the focus you need to use your left hand to simultaneously do so.
This probably sounds fairly feeble of me, but for a deer stalker I often have my quad sticks in my left hand, so for me, adjusting focus on the TX Encounter meant putting my quad sticks down or leaning them up against something whilst doing so. It just adds a further element of hassle that complicates an otherwise uncluttered and beautifully simple piece of equipment. I probably sound very ungrateful with that ‘complaint’, as after all Swarovski have listened and added the side focus wheel I wanted in the first place…
Marginal Gains
The additional functionality of the TX Encounter has only had a marginal impact on the overall weight, size and battery life compared to the TM35+. Battery life has been reduced from 6.5 hours to 3.5 hours, start-up time has increased from 3 seconds to 4 seconds, weight has increased from 495g to 694g and the TX Encounter is 24mm longer and 15mm wider.
If I’m honest, if no one had told me I wouldn’t have noticed the longer start-up time, larger dimensions or the increased weight. A 3.5-hour battery life is also plenty long enough for most of my stalking outings, and for those outings when I need something slightly longer I’ll just remember the additional spare battery that is supplied with the unit. The ‘Swarolight’ function we all know from most Swarovski rifle scopes also means that 3.5 hours will be usable time, not wasted time when the unit is accidentally left on in a pocket or binocular harness.
Black Ops Look
The TX Encounter is supplied in black, rather than the ‘Swarovski Green’ of the TM35+, which I can only presume is an homage to the “Own the Night” catchphrase the TX Encounter has been launched with.
Compatible… Kind Of
Other technical specifications such as exit pupil, field of view, screen resolution, objective lens size and refresh rate are unchanged. Also unchanged is the method of attachment of the thermal unit to a rifle scope, via a ‘TMA Quick Adapter’. This is a very simple system, and when tested preserved zero. With the TX Encounter, if zero isn’t perfectly preserved then there is the ability to tweak it once attached via the unit.
Swarovski say the TX Encounter isn’t compatible with other brands of rifle scope, but being the cantankerous individual I am I did give it a try on a few other makes. The TMA Quick Adapter can be made to fit other brands of rifle scope as most have fairly similar dimensions, but the TX Encounter has clearly been designed to work with the specific lens coatings applied to Swarovski rifle scopes and I found the image quality varied significantly with other non-Swarovski scopes.
Feels Premium Because It Is
Quality is something that needs to be mentioned when discussing the TX Encounter because this isn’t a ‘normal’ thermal, it is a Swarovski thermal. What I mean by that is that everything has been produced to Swarovski standards. From the packaging to the instruction manual, the App and the unit itself feels high quality. This is a connoisseur’s thermal for someone that wants a high-quality unit.
Two Birds, One Scope
In my opinion, the TX Encounter has two potential major benefits – the first is that it allows you to retain a high-end conventional rifle scope for daytime use, but have a thermal sight when required. By retaining the conventional rifle scope you don’t have to buy two sets of quick release mounts and you retain an optic that will be unrivalled for daytime use.
Less Kit, More Capability
The second major benefit is that it helps reduce the amount of kit and equipment you need; if you invest in a TX Encounter you remove the need for an additional thermal riflescope / clip-on AND a handheld thermal, as it covers both of those bases. However, to reap these rewards you do need to be someone that has a requirement for a thermal rifle scope, so if you are like me and don’t, its main use is really only as a handheld spotter.
Eyes on the Future
We're not currently allowed to use thermal optics for culling deer at night, even under licence, so the market for the TX Encounter is limited for deer stalkers. I use the word ‘currently’ deliberately, as I suspect that as the technology continues to improve we might see Natural England change their thoughts on this.
If or when legislation does change I must admit I would be very tempted by the TX Encounter, despite the hefty £3,900 price tag, as I would be able to transform my existing rifle scope into a thermal version with very little effort or fuss, and I think this is where Swarovski have neatly cornered the market with this product.
To see the TX Encounter in action, check out Tom Cackett’s full video review here. And if you’d like to explore the TX Encounter for yourself, you can take a closer look at the product here.
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