Pulsar Thermion 3 LRF: XT60 and XR60 Thermal Scopes

Last updated October 2026 · By Nick Hall, who covers thermal riflescopes and night hog hunting gear for USA Gun Shop readers

Quick take: Pulsar has opened pre-orders for the Thermion 3 LRF, the follow-up to its Thermion 2 thermal riflescopes, in two models on a 30 mm tube. The XT60 gets a 1280×1024 sensor for $6,699.97, and the XR60 pairs a 640×480 core with 4-40x zoom for $4,699.97.

• What it is: Two thermal riflescopes, the Thermion 3 LRF XT60 (PL76590) and XR60 (PL76589), each with a 60 mm F1.0 lens and a laser rangefinder that reads to 1,200 m.
• Price: Pulsar lists the XT60 at $6,699.97 and the XR60 at $4,699.97, and neither comes with a mount.
• Where: Both went up on Pulsar’s US store on October 28, 2026 as pre-orders, with no ship date printed.
• Why it matters: The rangefinder reaches 400 m further than the 800 m unit in the Thermion 2 LRF scopes, and the XT60 sensor outresolves the current 1024×768 XL60 flagship.

Most thermal scope refreshes are either a spec bump you need a loupe to find or a new body that makes your rings and your muscle memory obsolete. Thermion 3 is pitched as neither. We pulled the spec tables straight from Pulsar so you don’t have to.

Table of Contents

What Pulsar Put in the Thermion 3 LRF

Pulsar published the XT60 product page and the XR60 page on October 28, 2026, and its Thermion 3 landing page sells the line in five words: “The original thermal scope. Perfected.”

Both models share most of the hardware. That means a 60 mm F1.0 objective, a 2560×2560 AMOLED display, 65 mm (2.6 in) of eye relief and a Class 1 laser rangefinder with a 1,200 m (1,312 yd) maximum, tied to a ballistic calculator built into the scope.

Recording is on board too. Video and photos save to 128 GB of built-in memory, and recoil-activated video starts recording on the shot, so the hit is on file without you thumbing a button in the dark.

The body is aluminum alloy, 391x96x90 mm and 1.3 kg (45.9 oz). Pulsar rates it IP67, good for 6000 J of recoil on rifled weapons, and lists an operating range of minus 25 to plus 50 °C, which is minus 13 to 122 °F.

Power comes from a swappable APS5 battery, with USB-C input at 5 V or 9 V for external power on long sits. The scopes talk to the Stream Vision 2 and Stream Vision Ballistics apps over 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi plus Bluetooth.

XT60 vs XR60: The Thermion 3 LRF Spec Split

The XT60 is the flagship. It runs a 1280×1024 sensor at a 12-micron pitch, NETD under 20 mK and a 50 Hz frame rate, with 2-24x magnification and a 14.6-degree field of view, which works out to 25.7 m wide at 100 m.

The XR60 uses a 640×480 sensor at the same 12-micron pitch and 50 Hz, with NETD under 18 mK. Magnification runs 4-40x across a 7.3-degree field of view, or 12.8 m at 100 m, so the XT60 sees twice as wide.

Pulsar’s own FAQ frames the choice well enough: the XT60 is “for maximum detail and a wide view while you scan,” and the XR60 is “for more reach and longer sits.” Battery life backs that up, at 8.5 hours on the XT60 against 14 hours on the XR60. Click values split the same way, 20 mm at 100 m on the XT60 and 10 mm on the XR60.

If you hunt hogs across open crop fields and need to pick a sounder out of a wide pasture, the XT60’s field of view is the reason to pay up. If you sit one long sendero for coyotes all night, the XR60 gives you more zoom, more runtime and a lower NETD for $2,000 less.

One number to read carefully. The spec tables on both product pages list detection range at 2,800 m, while the landing page quotes 3,100 m (3,390 yd), so treat the bigger figure as the marketing number until Pulsar squares the two.

How Thermion 3 Stacks Up Against the Thermion 2 LRF

The fair comparison is Pulsar’s own current flagship. The Thermion 2 LRF XL60 page lists a 1024×768 sensor at 12 microns, 2.5-20x across an 11.7-degree field of view, 64 GB of memory and a 905 nm rangefinder that “measures to 875 yards (800 m)” with plus or minus 1 m accuracy.

Put the XT60 next to it and the jump is real: about two-thirds more pixels, half again the laser reach, double the memory and an extra 1.5 hours of rated runtime on a swappable pack, where the XL60 runs 7 hours on a built-in battery plus a replaceable APS3. Detection range on the spec table stays at 2,800 m.

The cost is weight. The XL60 lists 1.16 kg, so the XT60 carries roughly 5 extra ounces on top of the rifle.

And here’s the kicker on price. The XL60 shows $4,999.97 on Pulsar’s store right now, down from $6,999.97, which makes the Thermion 2 flagship $1,700 cheaper than the XT60 today and the XT60 $300 under the XL60’s regular price.

The XR60 has its own twin in the Thermion 2 LRF XG60, which shares the 640×480 resolution and 12-micron pitch but stops at 4-32x, NETD under 20 mK, 800 m on the laser and 7 hours. Pulsar has the XG60 at $4,499.97, so the XR60 costs $200 more for the longer zoom, the 1,200 m laser and twice the runtime.

Our Pulsar Thermion 2 review covers ten Thermion 2 models if a discounted Gen 2 is tempting.

Mounting a Thermion 3 on the Rifle You Already Own

Pulsar kept the classic riflescope layout, and that is half the appeal. The landing page describes zoom and focus rings and a top turret focus wheel, “built on a 30 mm tube that mounts like the riflescope you already trust.”

Pulsar’s FAQ is blunt about the box: “Thermion 3 is sold without a mount.” It fits standard 30 mm rings, so budget for a set if your rifle does not already wear 30 mm hardware.

Pulsar’s line on the controls is “Nothing new to learn at the bench or in the dark.” For anyone setting up a dedicated night hog rifle, a scope that rides in ordinary rings means you can swap it with a day scope without changing the base.

Zeroing profiles live in the menu too, with windage and elevation set on screen. Picture-in-picture puts a magnified window over the aim point while the full field stays in view. No surprises there.

When You Can Get a Thermion 3 LRF

Right now you can only pre-order one. Both product pages carry Pulsar’s banner, “Now available for pre-order,” and neither page prints a ship date, so the date the first scopes reach customers is still Pulsar’s to announce.

The prices show as a “Regular price” on Pulsar’s store, not as an MSRP, so treat $6,699.97 and $4,699.97 as Pulsar’s list price. Pulsar backs both with a 3-year warranty, 5 years with registration, and 15-day returns on new-condition units.

If you want to see where these land against the thermal scopes from ATN and AGM, our best thermal scopes roundup has the field. Until production units ship, every figure above is Pulsar’s.

More pixels. Half again the laser reach. The same 30 mm rings you already own.

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