If you’ve ever tried getting into birdwatching, you learn quickly that the hard part isn’t spotting birds. It’s knowing what you’re actually looking at. By the time you pull out a guide or open an app, the moment is usually gone. That’s the gap Solvia is trying to close, and after spending time with the binoculars at CES, I came away thinking their approach feels genuinely useful.
Solvia keeps the core experience simple. You use these like any other 8x32 binoculars, and nothing about the view feels digital or distracting. When something catches your eye, you can tap the onboard AI to identify it. Solvia’s offline model can recognize more than 10,000 bird species in about one second, along with basic background information. Solvia says accuracy can reach up to 98 percent as long as the bird occupies a reasonable portion of the frame and lighting is good. And it works completely offline. No signal, no app juggling, no losing the moment.
For beginners and casual birders, that removes the biggest barrier to enjoying the hobby. Instead of hesitating or guessing, you get the information in real time, right when curiosity hits.
The binoculars also include a built-in camera that’s aligned with the optical system, so your photos and videos reflect exactly what you see through the eyepiece. You just press the button and keep watching. The camera captures 2880 × 2160-pixel stills and HD video, and offer electronic image stabilization and a 2.8-inch touchscreen on the back for reviewing what you captured. Solvia ships with a 64 GB memory card, which is more than enough for long outings.
And if you prefer to share the experience, Solvia streams live footage to a phone or tablet using the companion app. The app also unlocks cloud-based recognition for animals and plants, along with automatic AI enhancements like low-light boosting and deblurring.
Despite all the added tech, Solvia is lighter than I expected. At 560 g, it’s easy to hold and the weight feels evenly distributed. They’re IP64 rated for dust and water resistance and nitrogen-filled to prevent fogging. The 2600 mAh battery provides up to 12 hours of runtime and you can extend that with an optional add-on module.
Optically, Solvia uses ED glass, which helps cut chromatic aberration and keeps colors more natural. The optics themselves don’t surpass premium birding glass, but that isn’t the point. Plenty of binoculars offer sharp views. What Solvia does differently is remove the friction between seeing something and understanding it.
For families, I can see this being especially helpful. Kids are naturally curious, but parents aren’t always walking field guides. Solvia makes it easy to turn an afternoon walk into something interactive without juggling a phone.
After seeing the system in person, I think Solvia lands in a smart place. It still feels like a real pair of binoculars, not a high-tech distraction. And if you’ve ever wished birdwatching came with a patient assistant who whispers the right answer without interrupting, this is as close as I’ve seen.
Pre-orders for Solvia will open soon via the MatataLab website.
[Image credit: Techlicious]
