- Alfred Mendoza
- February 7, 2022
When hunting at night, it is almost impossible to see your game in the dark without the best thermal scope. There’s no need to worry — our team of experts has listed some of the best thermal scopes under 2000 that were personally tried and tested.
- Affordable
- High detection range
- Good graphics resolution
- It has a long-lasting battery life
- It has a wireless remote control
- Can be used in the day without unmounting from the rifle
- It has the ability to record your view and shots
- It has a clean vision
Table of Contents
Top 3 Thermal Scopes Under $2000
1. Pulsar Digisight Ultra N455
The Pulsar Digisight Ultra N455 is our number one pick on this list. This thermal imaging rifle scope has a 1280 x 720 CMOS sensor bonded with a 1024 x 768 AMOLED display for better nighttime detection, with a range of up to 600 yards.
It is established for most shooting tasks and hunting activities because of its Iris technology, which also significantly improves detection. This product ticks all the boxes of the best thermal scopes under 2000 as it is also lightweight and waterproof.
Everything you might need is also included in the package. The product is sold with a protective cover, port plug, cleaning cloth, and a battery charger with MicroUSB cable.
PROS
- Affordable
- High detection range
- Good graphics resolution
CONS
- It has a fixed magnification
2. ATN ThOR 4 384 x 288
This ATN ThOR 4 thermal rifle scope has a solid-state design. It is a good thermal scope for both day and night hunting operations without removing it from the rifle.
Its ultra sensitive next gen sensor captures clear and crisp images even at the furthest ranges. It has a high sensitivity for targets and comes with smooth gradations in total darkness.
Our experts say it boasts of a superior imaging resolution and magnification in comparison to other cheap thermal scopes in addition to its desirable size and weight, although it has a higher price as well. It is highly customizable though, with intuitive buttons and a menu.
PROS
- It has a long-lasting battery life
- It has a wireless remote control
- Can be used in the day without unmounting from the rifle
CONS
- It is expensive
3. ATN ThOR LT 320 2-4x
This thermal riflescope made it to the list as one of the best thermal scopes due to its Obsidian Core design, which allows it to run sensor suites and process heavy files at high speed.
It also features a WiFi GPS image stabilization range finder ballistic calculator and iOS app that determines exact ballistics for long-range and angle shots.
ATN THOR LT 320 2-4x is also a high-resolution thermal vision scope. It has a high rate of frames per second which makes it a good pick for active hunting exercises. The ATN X Sight 4K Pro Smart HD is another NV-compatible scope that provides digital imagery at the same time.
Like the ATN Thor HD 384 smart thermal riflescope, this thermal scope ensures accuracy, especially on moving targets. You can also easily document your successful targets with its Recoil Activated Video (RAV), a high res video WiFi GPS image video recording function.
PROS
- It has the ability to record your view and shots
- It has a clean vision
CONS
- Its interface is digital and complex
- Bad customer support
Buyer’s Guide

Magnification of the Thermal Scope
Most thermal scopes have a range of 1x to 16x digital zoom, and are reliable at up to 300 yards. The range you often shoot at will determine which thermal scope is best. Some rifle scopes offer high-quality captures, clip on thermal capability, high res video recording capacity, easy to use Wi Fi function, and other features (iOS and Android apps) that provide a better hunting experience.
Display Resolution
You should always go for a thermal scope with a clearer display resolution [1]. Preferably, it will be best to go for a thermal scope with built-in pixel smoothing software. A thermal imaging rifle scope (e.g., Pulsar Core RXQ30V thermal riflescope or Armasight by Flir) for instance, is a weapon sight that has better field of view and refresh rate.
Thermal Imaging vs Night Vision
Thermal imaging and night vision scopes have something in common: they are both used at night. However, they vary in many other aspects.
Thermal imaging uses heat radiation to detect a target, and it does not require any ambient of light. Thermal imaging also has a longer reach and can be used even in daylight, but a night vision scope isn’t ideal in the same condition. You’ll also need to check if it’s legal to use thermal scopes in your state.

and the #1 Thermal Scope Under $2000 is...
According to our experts’ verdict for the best thermal scopes under 2000, we have the Pulsar Digisight Ultra N455 as the top option. This thermal scope has a simple design but it has a pretty good range and a quality resolution to back it up.
Our #1 Recommendation
Pulsar Digisight Ultra N455
- Affordable
- High detection range
- Good graphics resolution
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