You'll have to ask yourself a few questions first....
1) What conditions will they mostly be used? Sunshine, cloudy, low light etc...
2) What kind of things will he be looking at? Birds? Sporting events? Single objects, etc...
3) Compact vs Bigger binocs....is small size important? (ie hikers may want smaller ones if space is a premium)
Binoculars are described with 2 numbers....for eg 10x50. The first number is the magnification amount...so in this example, it will magnify something 10 times..or make an object look 10 times closer. The higher the magnification, the higher that first number. The trade off is that the field of view will decrease.
The second number is diameter of the objective lens (the bigger of the two). The larger the objective lens, the more light it can gather so that the image will be clearer. This is the number that will decrease in compact binocs.
Now, for examples of who would use them....for a 10x binoc, if someone likes to look at individual birds that are motionless, you can get great detail. However, if you are trying to track something in the sky, it will be harder to find cause the field of view is smaller. Another example would be if its being used to watch live sports. You'd want a smaller magnification so you could see multiple people during a play...not zooming in on a players elbow. The objective lens size wont be much of an issue, since sporting events are well lit. You'd prob go with a compact version for sports. The faster the pace of the sport, in general, the less magnification you'd want, cause it's easier to keep focused on them.
Low light conditions will require a larger objective lens (second number), but they are bulkier units.
Bushnell is a good brand...but not premium, and just fine for most people. With binocs, you get what you pay for. Premium binocs may have special optic coatings for greater clarity, scratch resistance etc.... Cheap ones will try to get you on price, but quality is compromised.
Anyhow, this is just an intro in binocs....goot luck!