Overall I am happy with these binoculars for the price and I am glad I paid a little extra to get the 10x over the 8x. They are a good set of binoculars if you want something small, compact and light. If you don't mind something a little heavier and bulkier (and paying a little more) I would get something even more powerful in hindsight. So far I have used them for bird watching out the back window and also at an airshow. They were great for the airshow because they were easy to carry on my belt without being a nuisance. I definitely enjoyed my time at the airshow and better knew what was happening on the ground because of them.