ATN X-Sight 4K Pro Smart Hunting Scope

My use case: I opted for getting this with the ABL range finder accessory. I'm very happy with this product so far. Great value for the price. Worth the money even if interested in only one or two of its many features. I use this on a high powered 25 cal PCP air rifle for hunting rabbits birds etc. Prior to the ATN, I didn't like how fiddly it was to pick up a range finder, range a target, put the info into Chairgun/Strelok (Ballistics calculator), determine hold over/under, the set scope for the shot, awe... the animal is gone... This seemed like a better, faster way. A bit of a steep learning curve for the ballistics calculator. I was NOT disappointed, this IS a better way . Memo to the traditionalists: Glass scopes will always have a place in the industry. However, this type of technology will inevitably overwhelm the market space in much the same way DSLRs now dominate the SLR/film camera market or how electric cars are gradually taking over the roads as battery endurance improves. This technology has arrived! now go enjoy it. Be sure to bias that enthusiasm with my section on optical quality though =] Night Vision This is an IR camera based night vision technology not a thermal camera and performs fantastically! There are some great YouTube videos distinguishing the difference. IR illumination is required. Mine came with an illumination device in the box. The Illuminator takes CR123a batteries and are not re-chargable. After market re-chargeables may be available. Stock illuminator is very adequate out to 150-200 yards or so, target identification gets a little tricky out past that distance depending on animal size, deer vs racoon, vs rat, etc. Optical Quality The optical quality for this scope is probably the weakest element of this still fantastic product. It is not as good as a comparable 5x20 glass scope of similar price point. That said, its good enough to identify your target (hunting) and if tuned correctly, take a very extended ethical shot. If you want to admire an animal from a distance with this, it may not be for you (though i do enjoy bird watching with it at my feeder). I was happily surprised that this product will digital zoom past 20x all the way to about 50x (grainy but nice to have) Software stability I have read numerous articles about this scope crashing etc. It crashed and crashed hard on me the first day i got it. The customer service and support for the product was excellent (available Saturdays by email), as are the user guides are posted on YouTube. After a factory software install, i was back in business. I have only had this scope for a few days, so stability jury is still out. Another nice feature is you can save your ballistics data to the SD card, have several profiles ballistics for multiple rifles. I recently switched between rifles and found the one shot zero feature very nice (i still took a couple of shots, but zeroing is a breeze). Ballistics Calculator (Built-in vs ABL Ranger finder) This was my primary motivation for this product. Again, i bought the ABL range finder accessory for this. IF you are not familiar with ballistics calculation theory in general, you WILL most likely fail at using this feature with any success. This scope will expedite the calculation and aimpoint but it will not make up for lack of knowledge in this subject. There is a built-in range finder but its method of calculation uses measuring the height of a known object at a distance. The height must be known for this to work. There are some built in presets (deer, and other animals). The laser range finder is fantastic. There are also some great YouTube videos contrasting these two methods. A great feature; if you are zoomed way in, range a very distant target compared to your scope's zero, the aimpoint shift, rather than dropping out the bottom of the field of view, the image frustum is adjusted to the aimpoint at the same zoom level. This may be confusing at first but an excellent user interface choice by the designers. I would recommend tweaking the BC between very short and very long distances (distances you expect to shoot at) to ensure that the bullet drop matches what its supposed to be. This feature takes a bit of time and effort to tune it in, but once it is it will not disappoint. The ABL range finder has an aimpoint that is different from the scope's aimpoint so when you range the target, the rangefinder crosshair will likely be slightly off center from your scope's zero, its not bad at all but a bit confusing at first. UPDATE: when the ballistics calculator is turned on, it will report the number of inches of drop and windage based on the range and shooting angle inputs. You can use these numbers against your trusty old ballistics calculator to sanity check weather everything is working right. Try this a several distances (i did 25,75,100,150 yards). Since i use for pellets not bullets the GL ballistics model was chosen, still different from pellet. using my GS model in chairgun, i biased the BC on the ATN scope till the two calculators matched within a half inch or so. PUNCHLINE, you can make the GL model work for pellets this way. Ease of use (Hunting, Weight, User Interface) Scope with laser rangefinder and ir illuminator starts to get heavy, over 3lbs. so consider if you want to lug 3+ lbs around with you on a hunt. (UPDATE: Ive been using this now for a while and don't mind the weight) User interface is a little busy but there are a lot of features packed into this scope. Software designers did a fairly decent job of it (custom shortcuts would be nice). Once you learn your way around its not so bad. Once setup correctly, quickly ranging a target and getting the aimpoint figured out is fast and hassle free. The ABL range finder aim point will not likely be in parallel with the scope's zero. The result is the apoint for accurate range readings will likely change over distance, calibrate ABL range finder aimpoint to the center of the range of distances you expect to shoot and you'll be good. Using the scope at night leaves one of my eyes' night vision ruined while the other in tact, so when pulling away from the scope, it leaves me a bit wonky eyed for a bit (My eys are 43 years old so your results may vary) The daytime brightness of the screen is great no issues seeing it during the day. There is a rubber boot that covers the view screen and helps screen viability during day while pointed into the sun. Video/Photo recording: haven't messed with this really. There are lots of videos out there on this that illustrate this, check then out Really nice and easy to take videos and photos through the scope though in comparison to aftermarket products to bolt a go-pro, cellphone, or camera to your glass scope, many of which cost upwards of an additional 300$. This product is way easier to use in that regard and cheaper all around. UPDATE 4/29/3030 Cell phone app: Obsidian 4 version 1.42 I found this app to be pretty worthless. Lots of video lag unusable for shooting with. It wont let you enter ballistics BC below 0.1 (pellets typically are 0.02-3ish). NOTE: you can enter correct BC through the scope itself. not sure why the app doesnt match this. you cant edit all the features through the app and the user interface is slightly different.