I'd check out bird watcher reviews on Vinod in your price range or look through the one available locally. Everyone is different though so ergonomics and controls… even glass quality is going to be subjective within a price point. I run Leica Geovid Pros for my Bino's and a Kowa Spotting scope. I can recommend either brand but Zeiss, Swaro, and the Vortex UHD are all optically great as well. If you have credentials like being former military or a first responder there are usually extra discounts to be had as well with most brands.
I guess the thing is that great optics will always be great. This is an area where it pays not to go too cheap. If you can spend a bit more then do it. Few regret spending a bit more on better optics.
If your budget is under $500 many like the Nikon, Athlon, Carson, or Hawke options.
Under $700 then I'd add Tract, Sig Sauer, and Vortex to the list.
Under $1k gets tricky because for a few hundred more you can add premium options than make a bigger difference so I would look at the ~$700 range unless you can get to the $1200-1500 mark where the Vortex UHD, older Swaro, or Kowa Genesis can be had.
At $2k+ take your pick of Swaro, Leica, or Zeiss. Optically I like Swaro the best but functionally I liked Leica best for Rangefinding binoculars. At this level you're simply nitpicking optics and everything gets subjective. Zeiss is nice too but most of my scopes are a mix of Leica and Swaro so I tend to stick to those brands.
