Hurley's Gold

X-Sight 4K Pro- First impressions

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  • Younggun

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    I was the 3rd owner of a Gen 1 X-Sight until it just died. It seemed to have died in its sleep because it took it out to use it and it did nothing.


    Fast forward 6 months and I’m looking at the 4K Pro reviews. Normally I’d steer away after my experience with the first one, but it was great for night hunting without thousands tied up in night optics.


    It’s smaller than the old ones and weighs about as much as a Vortex Viper PST. More of a scope profile than a brick. Easy enough to see in the pictures online. It comes with a set of cheap rings which worked out well because it wouldn’t fit in the SSALT mount I have. Also has a sunshade and eye cup.

    I turned it on, liked through it. Turned it off. And downloaded the firmware update.

    What works so far: The image is amazing for a digital scope. The menus seem fine, buttons aren’t bad, the issue with SD card coming out or a gap for it to fall in the scope body have been resolved, and in playing with the menus and going outside after mounting to look around I had no lock ups.

    It does connect to my phone via the app but it’s a pain. You have to first connect through the phones WiFi settings, the. Go to the app and connect again. Didn’t kill me, but annoying. It also connects fairly slow compared to other devices.

    The photo gallery works to view pictures taken but they are slow to load and there is no “save to phone” option. I took screenshots to save a few.

    The scroll wheel for zoom is a YUGE improvement.

    The focus can be turned without twisting the rifle upside down and bending the scope rings. It’s actually pretty good.

    What doesn’t work so far:

    Streaming to the phone is a total failure. Takes about a minute to load the live image and then it’s just that. A frozen image. Maybe it will get fixed in a later update but for now it’s not a working feature, at least not on an iPhone 7.

    Personal issue here maybe, but I don’t like the rail mount on the included rings. It’s too short and it has a rail on each side making the front ring very bulky. It should also be on top instead of one on each side so when using a highly focused IR light you aren’t required to adjust both windage AND elevation as distance changes. I have mounts to correct this and may end up just cutting off the ears on the scope ring. Probably not an issue if you use the cheap IR light included, but then you will be severely limiting the usefulness of the scope (I assume. Haven’t tried the included light but I bet it’s no good past 75 yards).

    These were taken at 175 yards. The screen says 109 because I was playing without reading the manual.

    5X Optical
    b9dbdbe28ed8ff6e2109641ce738cac7.jpg


    20X using digital zoom

    e4c230aad991350c85b4769e5f34dc75.jpg


    52X extended digital zoom

    7583e5b9bd9206d8f0c7c070e27831ad.jpg


    I’ll update as I use it more and test the 1 shot zero, recoil activated video, and night capability using both the included light and my Wicked Hunting Lights IR light.


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    IXLR8

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    Great report! Thanks for the post.

    I have the previous model, and it streams to my iPhone 6 very well. I agree that if you want some night capability but don’t want to spend a fortune, not a bad way to go.

    I wonder what will be new at Shot Show this year...
     

    Younggun

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    My Gen 1 streamed really well too. Not sure if it’s due to the higher image quality (more data) or what.

    Hopefully I can get out after dark and see how it picks up light with the new tube design.


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    Younggun

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    Smartasses.



    Just got in from a quick night time test.

    IR lights used were the included cheapo light and a Wicked Hunting Lights A48 Ambush with IR bulb.

    The scope performed very well. I doesn’t have the issue of the Gen 1 where anything catching a lot of light up close would completely darken the background. On 5X I could easily see everything from the nearest ground in the viewfinder to the mesquites at the fence line 175 yards out. That was one of my biggest issues with the Gen 1. Catch anything up close and lose the background.

    I tried switching between low and high sensitivity but saw no appreciable difference. Too bright at first but then it would balance itself and tone things down to near “low sensitivity” levels. Although there may be a catch...

    Pictures: I took about 10 pictures and all but 2 were almost totally dark. The ones that did have something were far darker than what I was seeing. A picture of horses at 50 yards and one of cows at about 100. The horses were clearly visible but little else and the cows were mostly eyes. They were distinct in the viewfinder. After dinner I will try to test using the high sensitivity setting.


    Video: The video came out much better than the pictures. The back fence at 175 yards is visible but everything is a good 50% darker than what I saw. Will retest this on high sensitivity going to Upload to YT but I have terrible service at the house so may or may not happen tonight.

    IR Lights: I made my prediction about the cheap POS light that was included and mostly have to eat crow. The light uses to CR123 batteries, has 3 brightness settings, and an adjustable beam. I was able to see the full 175~ yards to the back fence clearly with it. If you don’t mind buying batteries you could run this light for a while.

    That said, it IS a cheap light on a cheap mount. It uses a single ring setup that is meant to allow for alignment and I imagine the slightest bump will change it. Also, when fully focused (and this one actually focuses pretty well) you need to adjust the POA of the light as distance changes due to the offset from the scope. Gonna be tough to do, but I was able to see clearly with the focus backed down as mentioned before.

    The light is 100% plastic bodied with a twisting end cap to select between 3 power levels and off. Overall it just doesn’t inspire confidence. But it does work. I will keep it and probably take it along on hunts as a spare in case I forget to charge the batteries or something on the A48.

    Will try to get vid up later tonight, although it doesn’t really do justice to what I could see.


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    IXLR8

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    I confess I do not understand the logic in the design. It has a 4K imager, and 720P display. It records at 1/4th of the imager resolution, 1080p.
    Typically lower resolution image sensors can collect more light for better low light performance.
    Hmmm...
     

    Younggun

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    I confess I do not understand the logic in the design. It has a 4K imager, and 720P display. It records at 1/4th of the imager resolution, 1080p.
    Typically lower resolution image sensors can collect more light for better low light performance.
    Hmmm...

    It has a 4K imager because it uses a digital zoom. If it was a 720p imager the picture quality would become unusable pretty quick as you zoomed in.


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    Younggun

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    Short update on things I’ve tested.

    Tried out the internal ballistic calculator using .223 and 55gr Dogtown bullets. As best I can tell it was dead on at 100 and 230 yards. Round 1 was fired at 230 yards. Then moved to 100, set distance in scope, and fired round 2.

    4be0dac2a781089f2824e9ff55a50c48.jpg


    It does take a little twisting to get the range adjusted. Would be nice if the yardage went in increments of 10 just to speed things up, but it’s not too bad.

    Tried the recoil activated video but had no luck. My AR is a little heavy as a varmint build. Heavy 18” barrel, LuthAR adjustable stock, and Omega suppressor. There’s not much felt recoil and apparently not enough to trigger the recording function. At least not when shooting from a bench or prone position.

    I did take some vid of a fox while hog hunting. Had the IR intensity set to low and I’ve found it doesn’t appear as bright in recorded video as it does through the scope. Can’t find that vid now, so here is some video of crows I recorded before the sun went down. Distance was 50 yards.



    I’ll try to figure out where I put the fox vid.




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    Younggun

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    I didn’t shoot it. Was trying to be vewy vewy quiet.



    Should have shot it though. Hogs never came in anyways.


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    gshayd

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    I have a Gen 1. A guy built me an IR flashlight with a micro USB connector instead of batteries. I purchased a stockholder pouch for the batteries and two of those big arse storage batteries 24,000 milliamps? no more batteries. Mine first one would not start up but it finally came on. I look forward to hearing about the newer one is it any lighter?
     
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