Acro battery life thread

[GJM]

For a beat cop or soldier I can see, and understand, the concerns over battery life. For the hobbyist, home defender or competitive shooter it shouldn't really that big a deal. Do you leave your bedside pistol at home during the day? Turn the dot off. Carry it to and from the grocery store? Turn it off when back home. Turn it back on when you get into bed and plug your cell phone in. Same goes for the weekend shooter. Put the gun in the safe with the dot turned off and don't worry about it until you take the gun out for your weekend match or range session.

I have a different take. I don’t see this as a hobbyist optic, as $500+ is way more than the hobbyist red dot alternatives. I don’t see this as a competition optic, as the window is too small. I also don’t see it on a home defense gun where you have to turn on and adjust a red dot.

I see this as a LE/hard use EDC optic. It is expensive, bulky, has a relatively small display, and in exchange for that, you get a sealed emitter, with Aimpoint’s reputation for durability, and Aimpoint’s proven battery life. Aimpoint advertised 1.5 years on level 6, and I assumed that meant months at least, as I would use it. If Aimpoint told me this would last a week on high, or less than a month on the setting most realistically would use, I am not sure I would have had a VP9 direct milled, and bought three of these.

[Sigfan26]

Me, too. They're on the right track here with the enclosed emitter. But right now they're a victim of their own reputation.

It really wasn't that long ago that the EO Tech had something like a 72 hour battery life. People shut them off when not actively in use and nobody made too big a fuss about it. Nobody really liked it but it was the cost of doing business. Then along comes Aimpoint and we now expect a year's worth of runtime on a usable setting.

For a beat cop or soldier I can see, and understand, the concerns over battery life. For the hobbyist, home defender or competitive shooter it shouldn't really that big a deal. Do you leave your bedside pistol at home during the day? Turn the dot off. Carry it to and from the grocery store? Turn it off when back home. Turn it back on when you get into bed and plug your cell phone in. Same goes for the weekend shooter. Put the gun in the safe with the dot turned off and don't worry about it until you take the gun out for your weekend match or range session.

With all the above said, Aimpoint might want to look into some type of motion sensor if they are handcuffed to the little battery and/or reduced life.

I’m not with you on this with regards to a self defense firearm. The optic should be capable of being left on for extended periods with zero concern about it working. There should be some faith in the company’s claim, as well (claiming a 1.5 year battery life on setting x but getting less than 30 days on setting Y is not good. It also breeds distrust among new buyers of your product)


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[Sigfan26]

I have a different take. I don’t see this as a hobbyist optic, as $500+ is way more than the hobbyist red dot alternatives. I don’t see this as a competition optic, as the window is too small. I also don’t see it on a home defense gun where you have to turn on and adjust a red dot.

I see this as a LE/hard use EDC optic. It is expensive, bulky, has a relatively small display, and in exchange for that, you get a sealed emitter, with Aimpoint’s reputation for durability, and Aimpoint’s proven battery life. Aimpoint advertised 1.5 years on level 6, and I assumed that meant months at least, as I would use it. If Aimpoint told me this would last a week on high, or less than a month on the setting most realistically would use, I am not sure I would have had a VP9 direct milled, and bought three of these.

I’m not with you on this with regards to a self defense firearm. The optic should be capable of being left on for extended periods with zero concern about it working. There should be some faith in the company’s claim, as well (claiming a 1.5 year battery life on setting x but getting less than 30 days on setting Y is not good. It also breeds distrust among new buyers of your product)


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It would seem we are on the same page as far as this issue. Somewhat strange, lol


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[breakingtime91]

I have a different take. I don’t see this as a hobbyist optic, as $500+ is way more than the hobbyist red dot alternatives. I don’t see this as a competition optic, as the window is too small. I also don’t see it on a home defense gun where you have to turn on and adjust a red dot.

I see this as a LE/hard use EDC optic. It is expensive, bulky, has a relatively small display, and in exchange for that, you get a sealed emitter, with Aimpoint’s reputation for durability, and Aimpoint’s proven battery life. Aimpoint advertised 1.5 years on level 6, and I assumed that meant months at least, as I would use it. If Aimpoint told me this would last a week on high, or less than a month on the setting most realistically would use, I am not sure I would have had a VP9 direct milled, and bought three of these.

That is where I am at and honestly its a little discouraging to see so many give them excuses. The way they labeled this optic it was supposed to be the most durable and reliable. The sealed emitter may be more durable then the RMR but the battery life isn't even close.

[Sigfan26]

That is where I am at and honestly its a little discouraging to see so many give them excuses. The way they labeled this optic it was supposed to be the most durable and reliable. The sealed emitter may be more durable then the RMR but the battery life isn't even close.

It gets 10 years on setting 1...


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[Tokarev]

I’m not with you on this with regards to a self defense firearm. The optic should be capable of being left on for extended periods with zero concern about it working. There should be some faith in the company’s claim, as well (claiming a 1.5 year battery life on setting x but getting less than 30 days on setting Y is not good. It also breeds distrust among new buyers of your product)


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Do we know yet that the long life on a medium setting is incorrect?

I'm not saying that the battery life shouldn't be a consideration for someone who might be looking to purchase. What I am saying is you might have to change your expectations. Turn the sight off when not actively using/carrying the gun. Or at least turn it down a bit.

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[Tokarev]

I have a different take. I don’t see this as a hobbyist optic, as $500+ is way more than the hobbyist red dot alternatives. I don’t see this as a competition optic, as the window is too small. I also don’t see it on a home defense gun where you have to turn on and adjust a red dot.

I see this as a LE/hard use EDC optic. It is expensive, bulky, has a relatively small display, and in exchange for that, you get a sealed emitter, with Aimpoint’s reputation for durability, and Aimpoint’s proven battery life. Aimpoint advertised 1.5 years on level 6, and I assumed that meant months at least, as I would use it. If Aimpoint told me this would last a week on high, or less than a month on the setting most realistically would use, I am not sure I would have had a VP9 direct milled, and bought three of these.

I prefaced my post by saying the cop or soldier needs to be aware of battery life going in.

Also, I do not use hobbyist in any way shape or form as a derogatory term. I am a law enforcement officer but I consider myself a hobbyist. 99% of the people on this forum are hobbyist. People who take firearms and related matters as a hobby. A subject to be studied and enjoyed.

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[Matt O]

Do we know yet that the long life on a medium setting is incorrect?

I'm not saying that the battery life shouldn't be a consideration for someone who might be looking to purchase. What I am saying is you might have to change your expectations. Turn the sight off when not actively using/carrying the gun. Or at least turn it down a bit.

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Doesn't that then relegate it to a range or practice gun, as opposed to the duty/ccw setup it was touted as being most suitable for? If I need to draw the gun outside of practice, it's likely going to be in a hurry and I'd prefer the optic wasn't stuck in condition 3.

[Sigfan26]

I prefaced my post by saying the cop or soldier needs to be aware of battery life going in.

Also, I do not use hobbyist in any way shape or form as a derogatory term. I am a law enforcement officer but I consider myself a hobbyist. 99% of the people on this forum are hobbyist. People who take firearms and related matters as a hobby. A subject to be studied and enjoyed.

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That being said, there are any number of optics costing less that they could pick that would work as well in the hobbyist application. This optic is priced and advertised to beat the pants off the competition (I doubt that GJM is the only one who killed a slide thinking this was an RMR Killer), but it isn’t. It’s unique in it’s closed emitter design, but the battery life isn’t long enough to justify the design. Instead of worrying about the possibility of use in rain, you just need to worry about the optic being dead.


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[Tokarev]

Doesn't that then relegate it to a range or practice gun, as opposed to the duty/ccw setup it was touted as being most suitable for? If I need to draw the gun outside of practice, it's likely going to be in a hurry and I'd prefer the optic wasn't stuck in condition 3.

Not really.

If you carry one of these as a duty gun you might have to make it a habit to change the battery every time you submit your payroll docs or some other biweekly activity that can serve as a reminder. Or set your phone to remind you.

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