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While you may be correct that looking through a pair of $100 bins "all day" would give many a headache, I have to say that in all my years of hunting the mountains I never spent all day sitting and glassing. Even if I spent several hours glassing I was not always looking through the glasses.
I think that overall a medium priced glass, in the $400 - $600 range, offers the best value. I mentioned the Vortex Viper which is in that range, and has a good reputation in my own readings. I have never seen one. Nikon and others make a similar quality bin. The Viper 8x32 would be ideal for me if I were still hunting. So far I am pleased with the Vortex Vanquish 8x26. There is a limit on size and weight that I find acceptable in a hunting binocular.
I have to say that the only bins I ever used were Bushnells. One an 8x30 purchased in 1958, and the other a pair of 7x26 Custom Compacts purchased in 1965. I never got a headache or eye strain when using them from the sheep mountains in Alaska to the desert SW of NM. I never felt the need for more clarity or light gathering ability before or after legal shooting time.
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I agree that the medium price range offers the best value.
I used Bushnells for years then upgraded to $300 Leupolds which I really like. A few weeks after using them I looked through the Bushnells and could not believe I was using them for so long..
Before I bought my Leupolds I looked through as many binoculars as I could in my price range. I noticed each make had different hues, lighting and clarity. Some had nice clarity but I didn't like the hue, some had nice hue but I didn't like the clarity. The Leupolds just felt nice on my eyes.
So did more expensive ones but they were out of my price range.
I was lucky and had access to a few stores that had a decent selection of display binoculars to look trough some had windows to look outside also.
I looked through some Vortex binoculars they were nice I liked the Leupolds better, they were lighter, felt better and I liked the glass.
But I ended up buying a Vortex spotting scope the other year I like a lot and I didn't really like the Leupold scopes.
Vortex is a very nice mid range brand. I like my scope a lot, it is nice for a $600 scope.
I do a lot of birding so some outing I will spend a good amount of time looking through glass at the finer details, is that a Lincoln sparrow or a swap sparrow..? ahhh.. it just jumped in a bush.