Originally Posted By: cmateraI could have been happy for a long time with my Photon XT. I can live without audio, although I shouldn't have to, but the lousy battery life is a deal breaker. After experiencing the battery life of my Pulsar Trail XP38 I cannot go back.
I agree completely that we shouldn’t have to do without audio, given that technology has advanced so much in NV scopes. It just makes no sense to me that Sightmark would build a good scope from scratch and not have audio. As well, ATN has raised the bar regarding battery life with their new 4k. I have yet to run the battery down after charging it one time, and I have used the scope quite a bit. That should be the standard and not have to continue feeding scopes AA’s and CR123 batteries that only last 2-4 hours.
Regarding ATN, most of us have bashed them a lot over the years, and a lot of it was warranted due to less quality and poor customer service. Things do seem to be improving, however. I have phoned ATN three or four times in the last 6 months regarding warranty / repair and once to help me with a question about my scope. Every time I had a rep on the phone in short order and received good help.
For now I can’t think of a better digital scope than the 4k. I had high hopes for the Wraith but the audio deal has killed it for me. The 4k has great battery life as mentioned, audio is very good plus the scope has a ballistic calculator that the Wraith does not. Sightmark is on the right path but has a way to go to catch up to the 4k. The two redeming features of the Wraith are resolution and price.