Pixfra Pegasus 2 LRF vs HikMicro Stellar: Which Thermal Riflescope Should You Buy?

Pixfra Australia Field Journal · Buying Comparison

Draw up a shortlist for a serious thermal riflescope in Australia and two names keep landing on it: the Pixfra Pegasus 2 LRF and the HikMicro Stellar. Both are conventional 30mm-tube scopes, both come from companies that build their own thermal sensors, and both are genuinely good. So this isn’t a story about one being clever and the other being a con — it’s a story about where your money actually goes.

Here’s the honest short answer: with the current Stellar 3.0, sensitivity and detection are effectively level with the Pegasus. Where the two part ways is price, whether a laser rangefinder comes standard on every configuration, and who fixes it if it ever goes wrong. On all three counts, the Pegasus 2 LRF makes a strong, straightforward case.

At a glance: Pegasus 2 LRF vs HikMicro Stellar 3.0

Last verified 22 July 2026. Competitor specifications and Australian street prices below are indicative and change often — confirm current pricing with the retailer.

Pixfra figures are current Australian retail incl GST. HikMicro figures are indicative Australian retail at the time of writing; they vary between retailers and over time — confirm current detail with the relevant seller. Where a competitor figure is uncertain it is marked “around” or “from roughly”.

Who makes the Pegasus 2 LRF and the HikMicro Stellar?

This is the part where a lot of comparisons quietly cheat, so let’s be clear from the start: both of these scopes are built around sensors their makers design and manufacture themselves.

HikMicro is part of the Hikvision group and designs and manufactures its own VOx thermal sensors in-house. That’s not marketing spin — it is genuinely one of the best-known thermal riflescope families on the market, and a deserved benchmark. The current Stellar 3.0 pairs a fine sensor with a crisp 2560×2560 AMOLED, the Image Pro 2.0 and HSIS shutterless engine, recoil-activated recording and onboard ballistics. It’s good kit, and if you already own one, you’re in capable hands.

Pixfra is also a genuine thermal sensor manufacturer, part of the Dahua group — one of the world’s largest imaging manufacturers. So there is no “real maker versus rebadger” argument to be had here, because it wouldn’t be true. Both companies make their own detectors. That actually makes this comparison cleaner: with the sensor-provenance question settled honestly, the differences that remain are the ones that matter to your wallet and your peace of mind.

What does NETD mean, and why does it matter?

NETD (noise-equivalent temperature difference, measured in millikelvin) is a measure of how small a temperature difference a thermal sensor can resolve. Lower is better: a lower NETD figure means the scope can pick a fox out of a cold paddock, or a pig against damp scrub, with more separation and less mushy noise. It’s one of the numbers that genuinely tells you something about real-world image quality. We explain it fully in what is NETD in thermal.

Now for the honest part. Older HikMicro Stellar 2.0 units ran at <35 mK, and you’ll still see comparisons leaning on that. But the current Stellar 3.0 runs at <15 mK — the same sensitivity class as the Pegasus 2 LRF, which holds ≤15 mK across its entire range. So on NETD, this is a genuine draw. We’re not going to pretend the Pegasus has a finer sensor than the current Stellar, because it doesn’t. Both sit in the top sensitivity tier, and in the field the difference between them on sensitivity alone is not what will make or break your night.

Does the HikMicro Stellar have a laser rangefinder?

Some of them do. The Stellar’s 640 (SQ) models come with a 1,000 m rangefinder as standard, and it’s a good one. But the entry 384 model — the SH35 — has no rangefinder at all. To get ranging on a 384 Stellar you have to step up to the SH35L, which costs more.

The Pegasus 2 LRF takes a different position, and it’s the feature we’re proudest of: a 1,000 m laser rangefinder is standard on every single configuration, right down to the $2,890 P335-LRF entry model. The LRF also feeds the onboard ballistic calculation, so you’re not just reading a number — you’re getting a firing solution.

Why does that matter in the dark? Because thermal flattens the world. At night, through a thermal tube, a pig at 180 metres and a pig at 280 metres can look almost identical, and misjudging that gap is how clean shots turn into wounded animals or clean misses. A rangefinder removes the guesswork. That’s exactly why we rate it so highly — see the cheapest thermal scope with a rangefinder and our guide to detection, recognition and identification range for the full reasoning.

How far can each detect game?

Detection range is set mostly by the lens, not by brand badges, so at equal lens the two scopes are effectively matched. Both are quoted at roughly 1,800 m detection on a 35mm lens and around 2,600 m on a 50mm lens. “Detection” here means picking up a heat signature — not identifying it — so treat these as spotting distances rather than shooting distances.

The practical takeaway: don’t choose between these two on detection, because there’s nothing meaningful to choose. Pick your lens for the country you hunt — 35mm for closer, wider scrub work, 50mm for open paddocks and longer identification — and know that both brands will give you similar reach at the same focal length. There’s more on how lens, resolution and sensitivity trade off in resolution vs lens vs sensitivity.

How do the two compare on price?

This is where the honest, matched picture above turns into a clear decision. When two scopes are level on sensitivity, level on detection, both own-sensor, and both mount on standard 30mm rings, price stops being a tie-breaker and becomes the tie-breaker. Here’s the class-by-class comparison.

Pixfra prices are current Australian retail incl GST. HikMicro prices are indicative Australian retail at the time of writing; they vary between retailers and over time — confirm current detail with the relevant seller. The Pegasus also offers a flagship P650-ILRF at $4,990.

Look at that entry line again, because it’s the sharpest one. For $609 less than a Stellar SH35 that has no rangefinder, the Pegasus P335-LRF gives you a 1,000 m LRF as standard. Compare like-for-like against the LRF-equipped SH35L and the gap opens to around $1,100. Move up the range and the differences widen to roughly $1,900 and $2,000 for the 640 classes.

None of that makes the Stellar overpriced — it’s a premium, well-supported product and you’re paying for a strong brand and network. But it does illustrate our core view: you shouldn’t pay too much for thermal. Pixfra’s whole positioning is well-priced, not cheap — the same sensitivity class, the same detection, more standard features, at a fair price rather than a premium tax. It isn’t the cheapest thermal on the market and it isn’t trying to be; it’s simply priced honestly for what it delivers.

How are the two built?

Physically, these scopes have more in common than not, which is another reason the decision lands on price and features rather than hardware philosophy.

Tube and mount. Both use a conventional 30mm main tube, so both drop into any quality set of 30mm rings. Neither locks you into a proprietary mounting system — a genuine convenience if you already have rings you trust, and no hidden accessory cost either way.

Power. The Pegasus runs a dual 18650 setup — a rechargeable internal cell plus a replaceable external one — for around 9–10 hours of runtime, with USB-C charging. The Stellar 3.0 uses a comparable dual internal-plus-18650 arrangement for around 9 hours. In practical terms you get a full night out of either, and you can hot-swap a spare on both.

Toughness and features. Both are rated IP67 against dust and water. The Pegasus adds a 1,000 g recoil-shock rating, 64 GB of onboard storage, WiFi, recoil-activated recording, picture-in-picture and six colour palettes. The Stellar brings its 2560×2560 AMOLED, recoil recording, onboard ballistics and WiFi. Both are well-equipped, modern thermals — you won’t feel short-changed on core features with either.

Is the Pegasus 2 LRF warranted in Australia?

Yes — and this is one of the quiet differentiators worth weighing. The Pixfra Pegasus 2 LRF carries a manufacturer warranty of 3 years on internal components and housing, plus 1 year on the rechargeable battery. More importantly, it’s distributed and serviced in Australia by C.R. Kennedy, a name trusted in the optics trade since 1934.

What that means in practice is that if anything ever needs attention, your scope is assessed and repaired here in Australia — never shipped overseas. No months-long freight cycle, no international RMA, no wondering where your gear is. It’s looked at and looked after locally.

To be fair to HikMicro, its warranty is genuinely strong on paper — commonly 3 years on the device, up to 10 years on the sensor, and 1 year on the battery — and it’s backed by a broad, well-supported Australian dealer network. That’s a real strength and we won’t pretend otherwise. The point isn’t that one is unsupported; it’s that with Pixfra, local assessment and repair through a long-established Australian distributor is the standard path, and for a lot of hunters that certainty is worth a great deal.

Which thermal riflescope should you buy in 2026?

Let’s give HikMicro its due first, plainly: the Stellar 3.0 is a very good thermal riflescope from a company that makes its own sensors, with excellent core imaging, a strong warranty and one of the widest support networks in the country. If you buy one, you have not made a mistake.

But this comparison was always going to come down to the honest facts, and here they are. NETD is a draw — both sit in the ≤15 mK class. Detection is matched at every lens. Both make their own sensors, both mount on standard 30mm rings, and both run around nine hours on dual batteries. When two scopes are that evenly matched on the fundamentals, the decision moves to the things that actually differ: price, features and service.

On all three, the Pegasus 2 LRF leads. It is materially cheaper at every class — roughly $600 to $2,000 less depending on configuration. It puts a 1,000 m laser rangefinder on every config, including the $2,890 entry where the equivalent Stellar has none. And it’s serviced in Australia by C.R. Kennedy, assessed and repaired here rather than sent abroad. That’s the case, made honestly: not a finer sensor, not longer reach, but the same performance class for less money, with more standard kit and local support. Well-priced, not cheap.

If you’d like to see how both of these stack up against a third heavyweight, our Pixfra vs HikMicro vs Pulsar three-way breakdown is the natural companion to this piece. And if you’re still narrowing your Pixfra choice, which Pixfra thermal is right for you walks through the range.