Took the opportunity the slap a bunch of optics alongside the scope today. It is definitely a different scope optically.
I think I learned the most from my buddies XTRIII, a 7-35 ATACR, and a 25x Leupy MK5. The XTRIII and MK5 have always had better brightness than a lot of the sub 2k/Japanese optics, to my eyes. That was the case today. The MK5 and XTRIII had good brightness compared to the PRO and ATACR. But clarity and color was definitely better on the latter two. My friend who owns the NF and another shooter looking through them with us felt the PRO was a hair brighter than the NF, I didnt really see it that way, they looked super close to me.
So four of us bounced back and forth through the optics. We all pretty much came to the conclusion that the glass on the Pro was neck and neck with the ATACR. I honestly couldn't find a distinguishing factor between the 3 targets we looked at. They looked the same to me. But the eyebox is better on the Burris. Looking through the MK5 and ATACR after owning an XTR is like looking through a tunnel. Lots of big black ring surrounding the glass at the end.
So I'm really excited to hear what some of the experts say when they get a chance to review one of these. It sure looks to me like the optical quality is edging awfully close to some of those 3k optics for a significantly lower price point.