I can see this becoming the standard for RDS

One thing I have never understood about electro optics is why they all don’t have some kind of rudimentary battery level or check. Doesn’t have to be some kind of display on the glass or anything just a “hold these two buttons” or some such and a tiny LED or something shows red green or yellow or the reticle blinks so many times etc.

Some of Holosun's RDS have that function. The dot starts blinking once battery charge drops below a pre-determined voltage. I know that a couple of mine did.

Are the small coin batteries these things normally use that expensive or not lasting?

They are cheap. The last an OK time; really depends on settings and reticle used. When I used RMRs, for my preferences the lauded battery life was only 4 months, and then dismount and remount. I would not ever buy another sight that doesn't have an accessible battery compartment. At the same time, I am not a huge fan of many of those battery compartments designs. I will be watching RDS wireless charging developments closely.

I’ll stick with replaceable batteries, thanks.

That's actually kinda cool. I like the charge meter feature. With a 70k hour battery life, you wouldn't have to charge it very often, either. Looks like a pretty low deck height, with a nice large window. Price point isn't bad, either. I'm probably not going to run out and buy one, but I'd have no qualms about trying one on a budget/range gun if I was in the market.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
With a 70k hour battery life

I think he misspoke. I think he was referring to the potential life-span of the battery, not its runtime. 70,000 hours is just shy of 8 years.

Would this mean they can make a RDS more low profile, or fit more features without a typical battery compartment?

If you're just using the gun at a range, this would work JUST fine. We charge our cell phones, watches, earbuds, ipads, tablets, etc. for temporary use, why not a RDS.

For a carry weapon, personally I wouldn't have a RDS, but if one did, just buy a battery-powered model.

Like has been mentioned, this is one of those things that seems it would have been a no brainer from the start.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
With a 70k hour battery life

I think he misspoke. I think he was referring to the potential life-span of the battery, not its runtime. 70,000 hours is just shy of 8 years.

Could be he misspoke, but the Holosun 407c has an advertised battery life of 50,000 hours, and that's on a single 1632 cell. No saying what they've got built into this thing, but it's within the realm of possibility that it could last that long on its lowest setting if they built a large enough battery into it.

I've been very impressed with the battery life on all of the micro RDSs I've used. I remember my first exposure to and RDS...it was a tube-type optic on an AR that belonged to somebody at my local gun club. He was very intentional about turning it off every time he was done using it to save the battery. Apparently it was a big problem for him. That wasn't that long ago, but these days I can't remember the last time I turned off a red dot optic. Even if it's going to sit in the safe for months, I just leave 'em on. Some have MOTAC, which puts them to sleep on their own, but even the ones that don't have never died between annual battery changes.

From the website..
"Industry's First Magnetic Charging Cover: Osight introduces a pioneering magnetic charging cover featuring a battery display that reveals the precise battery levels for both the cover and the optic, making uncertainty certain. (70,000+ hours runtime on lowest mode, 17+ days on the brightest mode, extended to 70+ days with the charging cover.)"
https://www.olightstore.com/os...IsuQx-UaAgWXEALw_wcB

I've been thinking about an offset RDS for one of my rifles, I may give that a spin.

quote:

(70,000+ hours runtime on lowest mode, 17+ days on the brightest mode, extended to 70+ days with the charging cover.)"
https://www.olightstore.com/os...IsuQx-UaAgWXEALw_wcB

Well, either those numbers don't jive, or it consumes drastically more power on the brighter settings. 17 days is only 408 hours. I get way, way more than that with every sight I currently own, and most of them are left on the brighter settings all the time.

17 days doesn't seem long but I don't run mine at full blast like a flashlight.
Usually around the half mark.
If it gets 37 days at half that isn't bad being constant on with a rechargeable.
I'm pretty sure at some point you will have enough time to pop the cover on and charge it.

As for keeping the cover charged..
Most have some means to charge a phone these days when out and about with charge packs or solar so it's not like you'll be buying more stuff to support it.
Though I would see about getting a spare cover for it.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:

quote:

(70,000+ hours runtime on lowest mode, 17+ days on the brightest mode, extended to 70+ days with the charging cover.)"
https://www.olightstore.com/os...IsuQx-UaAgWXEALw_wcB

Well, either those numbers don't jive, or it consumes drastically more power on the brighter settings. 17 days is only 408 hours. I get way, way more than that with every sight I currently own, and most of them are left on the brighter settings all the time.

The numbers track for me. It will run 70,000 hours on the lowest setting, which nobody will use. On the maximum setting it will only last 17 days.

Trijicon, Aimpoint, Holosun, Sig, Vortex, and basically the rest of the industry that is quoting 20-50k hours are generally quoting a low-medium setting. Top brightness on many of these optics is known to be in the days or weeks. Most people are not using the very top brightness setting either. Many of them use shake-awake or adjust to ambient light after X hours to stop or reduce current draw.

Okay, I was impressed with the engineering. Answered my first concern of having a charging wire to the rds while mounted on a weapon.

It took me a while to warm up to the idea of flashlights with charging ports. But I bought into the idea of having multiple batteries and just swapping out batteries.

I realize this thread is about RDS tech, but I'm gonna talk about lights for a bit before coming back to the RDS topic.

Most guys in my department used Streamlights on their duty guns. A few had Surefires. I never used a handgun light, but my flashlight was a Streamlight Stinger DS. When I left my dept., I kept the Stinger, used it nearly every day (walking dog, working on cars, chores around the house, hikes/camping, etc.), and it is coming up on 15 years of running after I had to replace the battery a couple years ago. It is severely banged up, but it runs. I recently got the newer 2020 Stinger, which is a true upgrade in design and, therefore, a superior tool.

I mention that because, in spite of my really positive experience with Streamlight, when I started putting WMLs on my personal rifles and pistols, I went with Olight. I thought the Olights were more innovative than the Streamlights or Surefires (or others) specifically because of the magnetic charging adapter, which was important to me at the time. Plus, Olights were cheaper, so I was willing to take the plunge. I ended up collecting a few Olights (2 Odins, 1 Odin mini, 1 Sigurd, 2 Valkyries). I've also EDC'd an Arkfeld for a while and have given them out as gifts.

The Arkfelds are neat, but they are not as bright as Olight advertises. My Surefire Stiletto is far superior, even if the charging port is cumbersome.

After a few years, the Olight weapon lights, sadly, proved unreliable. I simply do not trust them, and I've started slowly replacing them with Streamlights and Surefires. I've had to send 2 back to Olight (my expense) for new batteries after less then 2-3 years of ownership and minimal use--for some reason, sending the whole light back to Olight was what they told me to do, so I was without a light for what felt longer than if they had just sent a battery. Recently, another light, the Sigurd, has become temperamental about whether it wants to turn on when you, well, push the button to turn it on--for that one, I've been too unmotivated to rectify it with Olight. Also, like the Arkfelds, the Olight WMLs simply do not seem as bright as my Streamlights/Surefires--I'm comparing advertised lumens here, and I understand a lot more goes into it, but personal experience counts, and I'm ultimately not impressed with the Olights when compared to others side-by-side. Not sure if there is a trade-off between the charging tech and the power output.

(Also, not related to power delivery, but I feel compelled to point out that the metal that Olight uses for their WML mounts is chintzy--this is noticeable when handling, and especially obvious when compared to Streamlight/Surefire--I haven't broken anything, even with hard use in day-long trainings, but I remain unconfident in the durability of how Olights connect to the weapon.)

So back to the topic at hand. Olight is innovative, especially when it comes to charging options. But I've noticed that the more reputable competitors in the light industry haven't tried to copy/mimic Olight's charging tech. I'm not sure why. Patent? Maybe they don't see the market (yet)? Maybe it factors into the overall durability of the design? Maybe it affects the brightness potential of the light?

While I agree that the charging tech for the RDS like Para posted could be the future, I wonder if it might be longer before it becomes the "standard." If Olight is the only company doing this with red dots, then it's a hard pass for me. If it catches on, I'm open to it if other companies also adopt.

When I first saw the screen shot of the video I thought the sight was going to be huge, but im pleasantly surprised.

I have a Holosun SCS which is solar charged. I dont know if one method is more reliable over the other.