This monocular is worth the money, with optical clarity that is impressive at this price point and with an objective lens of this size.
I use very expensive binoculars and telescopic rifle scopes, but there are situations when I need something light, small, and fast that I can drag through the mud without worry. This unit is perfect for such occasions.
This little scope has one problem - but it's a biggie. The focus ring is both too narrow and placed too closely to the adjustable eye piece, causing interference with both parts, and some difficulty in utilizing the focus ring. This poor design feature is why I dropped a couple of stars off of the rating.

Very happy with this Vortex (Solo, 10x25). I considered paying twice as much for the larger lens (36mm) but I'm glad I did not. The brightness on this device is great. Magnification is crazy good too. I can see wildlife on the water at 150 yards in perfect detail (couple of otters moved into the lake behind our house). I don't have a problem steadying it with one hand. The focus ring adjustment works very well. It's resistant enough to prevent it from being jostled out of focus but not too tight to adjust. Eye relief is also great, the eyepiece has two settings, closed or extended with a positive "click" holding either selection in place. Build quality feels top notch and yet it's surprisingly light in the hand. Included soft sided carry case with velcro closure, cleaning cloth and neck lanyard.

Purchased mine a month ago and have been extremely impressed with the optical clearness and well thought-out solidity of the design. I formerly sold sporting optics and became a firm believer in the clarity of Nikon binoculars and rifle scopes, purchasing a half-dozen or more examples over the years as a result. A quality, usable monocular alternative to my Nikon compact binoculars had become the holy grail, so to speak, and I think I've finally found it with this Vortex monocular. Their customer service, I might add, is also exemplary, as I called to inquire about the availability of a shorter neck strap, which they very promptly provided, free of charge. Kudos to both Vortex and their product line!

I really wanted to like this. I spent hours researching all possibilities before going with the Vortex Solo Monocular. Received the product only today and enjoyed it from our balcony at the beach. Then the cons came to light.

Cons:
1. The rubber eye piece came off in the first day of gentle (house and porch) use.
2. The case is a poorly made Chinese koozie rather than the any kind of durable one (contrary to the instruction manual even, which showed a nice carrying case).
The cons are enough for me to wish to return this item and avoid further purchases from Vortex.

Things that are almost cons: a) no eye piece cover (which became a bigger deal because of the poor case) and b) no long distance focusing.

Pro:
Great quality of view. I mean great.

Again I really wanted to like this but when it is falls apart in your house, with gentle use, then enough said.

UPDATE: Day two, the focusing wheel stopped working. It now requires excessive force to turn.

UPDATE: Fixed the above issues with a little know how. High quality viewer but problems as well.

The awful pouch that others have mentioned should probably lower this rating to four stars, but this monocular is the one I have sought for years and finally found, so I am five stars worth of happy. In ten seasons as a volunteer federal ski ranger, I learned the value of equipment that can be brought to hand without removing and sorting through a pack, particularly in deep powder in the back country. Snow eats things. They disappear and cannot be retrieved, Many inexpensive, competent monoculars are little more than thumb-sized, and can fit in a knife or magazine case, attached to a pack shoulder strap. This is an ideal, often unused, location for something about that size. However, eyeglasses, snow goggles, etc., must be removed to use these tiny monoculars, thus involving finger fumble, which does not always work with ice-encrusted mittens. Excellent, glasses-friendly, monoculars by Brunton and (surprisingly) Barska are just too big to ride comfortably on a pack strap. The only one small enough for my purposes was, I thought, a Zeiss at around $350. I was nearly ready to buy one when I saw this. A day's trial on a summer hike to 12K feet brought nothing but joy. If it fogs up or freezes in the cold next season, I'll revise the review. However, I have never had that sort of trouble with any modern optic and hope the best for this Vortex. On trust, i ordered another one. EDIT: The second one arrived with a much better case -not entirely worthless like the first case. Dare one hope that the importer actually listens to feedback and reviews?