Aimpoint T2 vs Holosun HS515GM

[rocsteady]

I refuse to buy china crap if there is ANY other alternative. If that means spending more, then I'm spending more. Where battery life is concerned, I replace batteries in my optics and WMLs yearly so it's not an issue no matter how bright I want to leave something. Lastly, I keep firearms around for an answer to terrible situations and cost is not a factor in that calculation either. I am serious about the well-being of this country and supporting our enemies doesn't work for me at all. Not to mention that using my firearms in a defensive situation, anything made in china is just not a choice for me.

[Wake27]

I refuse to buy china crap if there is ANY other alternative. If that means spending more, then I'm spending more. Where battery life is concerned, I replace batteries in my optics and WMLs yearly so it's not an issue no matter how bright I want to leave something. Lastly, I keep firearms around for an answer to terrible situations and cost is not a factor in that calculation either. I am serious about the well-being of this country and supporting our enemies doesn't work for me at all. Not to mention that using my firearms in a defensive situation, anything made in china is just not a choice for me.

It actually is an issue. Per Aimpoint CS, battery life on setting 11 is 6,250 hours and setting 12 is 3,125 hours. Both of those are under a year.

[1168]

Wake, as far as I can tell, Aimpoint batteries simply last forever. I can’t even remember the last time I changed the batteries in the ones I own. The brightness settings get left wherever I have them at when shooting. On the other hand, the only rifle optic I own with shake awake has failed to be on when I picked it up, twice. Romeo 4T. Does that affect Holosuns too? I dunno. That Sig optic shares an awful lot with a Holosun for a “not Holosun”. Point is, I’m not convinced that the battery life related features on Holosuns are NOT a gimmick….that Aimpoints seem to work well without.

My pistol Holosuns, though….so far so good. I’m a little conflicted about that.

[rocsteady]

It actually is an issue. Per Aimpoint CS, battery life on setting 11 is 6,250 hours and setting 12 is 3,125 hours. Both of those are under a year.

"it's not an issue, no matter how bright I want to leave something." As I never have them on that setting, much less leave them that way, but if people do leave them in the safe or wherever on that setting, then yes, some consideration has to be made for changing batteries more often. I don't have a giant gun collection so everything I have gets used pretty often, battery life is not an issue for me.

[georgeib]

Life is full of tradeoffs. I, for one, am thankful we live in a country where we can weigh those tradeoffs and make the decision that appeals to our own particular bent. I think the nice thing about an Aimpoint vs Holosun debate is that regardless of which one chooses, he will find himself well served. Yes, there are compromises to be made regardless of the choice, but when is that ever not the case?

Buy what you want, and go shoot.

[Wake27]

Wake, as far as I can tell, Aimpoint batteries simply last forever. I can’t even remember the last time I changed the batteries in the ones I own. The brightness settings get left wherever I have them at when shooting. On the other hand, the only rifle optic I own with shake awake has failed to be on when I picked it up, twice. Romeo 4T. Does that affect Holosuns too? I dunno. That Sig optic shares an awful lot with a Holosun for a “not Holosun”. Point is, I’m not convinced that the battery life related features on Holosuns are NOT a gimmick….that Aimpoints seem to work well without.

My pistol Holosuns, though….so far so good. I’m a little conflicted about that.

This is the email I got from Aimpoint in 2018 after I told them that my T2 is dying quickly.

"Your leaving your sight on too high. The 50,000 hour battery life is judged at position 8 on the switch. As we increase brightness we increase drain on the battery exponentially. Position 9 = 25,000. 10 = 12,500. 11 = 6,250. 12 = 3,125. Factor in environmental and psychical influence on the battery as well. I always recommend to professionals and end users using our sights on their go to guns to keep their sights a little lower, and do an annual battery swap as general maintenance."

I had a T1 before it that would never last as long as I expected either. The Sparc Solar (and I assume others) is similar in that with every increase of brightness setting, the battery life is cut in half. I actually started a battery log because my Aimpoints would never last as long as I expected. Below is what I have.

24 FEB 18: dot was noticeably dim, replaced battery and full brightness restored
21 AUG 18: dot was noticeably dim, replaced battery and full brightness restored
Summer 19: dot was dead
11 OCT 20: dot was dead
5 SEP 21: dot was dead

Aimpoint dots dim as the battery gets weaker so if someone doesn't understand that, they may just turn up the brightness one level, thinking that it was just at a dim setting last time it was checked. That kills it even faster. Without a low battery warning, or some type of auto-off, even the advanced models eat batteries way faster than 50k hours at anything above level 8. That's fine if everyone knows that but in the same way that everyone can shoot 1/2" groups at 100m with M193, everyone has Aimpoints that have had the same battery for 7 years. Its not published in a manual so it took years of me wondering what was going on with two different optics before I finally reached out and got a real answer that should've been in the manual all along, or at least common gun forum knowledge. I don't doubt that people have been on the same battery for years. But they must've had it at what I'd consider to be a low setting for most of that time.

I want Aimpoint to make a T2 with shake awake. I don't want to pay for it but I'd have several even if all it did was give me comfort in knowing that it should work well. I have to send in at least one of my Sparc Solars right now for battery drain which is a huge bummer. Being made in China is a huge bummer as well. But for the price you can get them for, and the apparent "equal to" or "better than" performance for what I need, I'll take 3-4 of these over one T2.

"it's not an issue, no matter how bright I want to leave something." As I never have them on that setting, much less leave them that way, but if people do leave them in the safe or wherever on that setting, then yes, some consideration has to be made for changing batteries more often. I don't have a giant gun collection so everything I have gets used pretty often, battery life is not an issue for me.

Ok sure I guess, as long as you never want to leave it on a higher setting.

[coolcraigster]

I’m honestly not real concerned with battery life. I do not leave my sight on when I’m not using it and I originally came from an Eotech so anything has great battery life in comparison. Things I’m curious about when comparing them is glass clarity, build quality and such. I honestly don’t care about the little bells and whistles like the shake awake, solar panels and multiple reticles. I just want something simple that works and is reliable. I have “read” of people saying the Holosun has glare issues compared to T2 and even though I would not use the circle dot reticle on the Holosun I have also “read” a few reviews of people saying the reticle was crooked within the sight. That refers my mind back to build quality. Of course the general consensus is that the Aimpoint is of better build quality but I honestly have no proof of that.


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[titsonritz]

This is the email I got from Aimpoint in 2018 after I told them that my T2 is dying quickly.

"Your leaving your sight on too high. The 50,000 hour battery life is judged at position 8 on the switch. As we increase brightness we increase drain on the battery exponentially. Position 9 = 25,000. 10 = 12,500. 11 = 6,250. 12 = 3,125. Factor in environmental and psychical influence on the battery as well. I always recommend to professionals and end users using our sights on their go to guns to keep their sights a little lower, and do an annual battery swap as general maintenance."

I leave mine on 9 or 10 and change batteries annually and have never pick up one of carbines with a dead Aimpoint. The only time I go up to 11 or 12 in on bright sunny days, I then put back on 9 or 10.

[B Cart]

We are spoiled to have so many good RDS options these days. It wasn't that long ago when it was pretty much either a few high quality expensive red dot sights, or junk red dot sights, with not much in-between. Now we have a lot of good reliable options that don't require people to drop $500-$800, but that you can trust to work in harsh conditions. And I, for one, love the increased innovation and new features coming out on rifle and pistol red dots, and Holosun has probably done more innovation in this regard than most lately.

As for buying Chinese, it's hard to completely avoid these days, but there are plenty of options, so run what makes you feel best. I run run everything from Aimpoints to Eotechs to Holosun, Trijicon, Vortex, Sig, and Primary Arms, and the lower end sights have performed just as well as the high end ones, even through a lot of abuse. I just hope the innovation from companies like Holosun pushes higher end manufacturers to continue innovating as well, especially in the pistol dot market.

[Wake27]

I’m honestly not real concerned with battery life. I do not leave my sight on when I’m not using it and I originally came from an Eotech so anything has great battery life in comparison. Things I’m curious about when comparing them is glass clarity, build quality and such. I honestly don’t care about the little bells and whistles like the shake awake, solar panels and multiple reticles. I just want something simple that works and is reliable. I have “read” of people saying the Holosun has glare issues compared to T2 and even though I would not use the circle dot reticle on the Holosun I have also “read” a few reviews of people saying the reticle was crooked within the sight. That refers my mind back to build quality. Of course the general consensus is that the Aimpoint is of better build quality but I honestly have no proof of that.


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I’m sure most of us would agree that Aimpoint quality and QC are both better than most of the other options.

I leave mine on 9 or 10 and change batteries annually and have never pick up one of carbines with a dead Aimpoint. The only time I go up to 11 or 12 in on bright sunny days, I then put back on 9 or 10.

I’m pretty disappointed in the battery drain with one of my Sparc Solars and I’m open to letting it get fixed once but if this is a recurring issue and nothing better comes to market in the meantime, this is probably what I’ll go back to doing. I’m not stoked about my primary HD being down.

[QUOTE=B Cart;3070267]We are spoiled to have so many good RDS options these days. It wasn't that long ago when it was pretty much either a few high quality expensive red dot sights, or junk red dot sights, with not much in-between. Now we have a lot of good reliable options that don't require people to drop $500-$800, but that you can trust to work in harsh conditions. And I, for one, love the increased innovation and new features coming out on rifle and pistol red dots, and Holosun has probably done more innovation in this regard than most lately.

As for buying Chinese, it's hard to completely avoid these days, but there are plenty of options, so run what makes you feel best. I run run everything from Aimpoints to Eotechs to Holosun, Trijicon, Vortex, Sig, and Primary Arms, and the lower end sights have performed just as well as the high end ones, even through a lot of abuse. I just hope the innovation from companies like Holosun pushes higher end manufacturers to continue innovating as well, especially in the pistol dot market.

Fully agree. There really was not much innovation from most of the major players for several years and then Holosun came out with a whole bunch of stuff in fairly reliable optics. I’d love to see Trijicon, EOT, and Aimpoint incorporate some of the stuff that the “budget” brands do now.


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