Hello all, i have noticed there is not much info about the Eotech VUDU 5-25x50 scope, and like many i was very interested in the scope. This scope boasts some impressive stats, in an unbelievably compact package and a very reasonable price point. So I took the plunge and bought a VUDU 5-25 with the H59 reticle. To preface, I am not paid or endorsed buy any optic mfg and purchased this scope at full price (although i do live near Eotech HQ in Ann Arbor, MI) . As an abstract I will be comparing the VUDU to a few other scopes i also own and have on hand, these are the Nightforce ATACR F1 7-35x56, NIghtforce NXS 5.5-22x56, and the Vortex Razor Gen2 4.5-27x56 of which i have two.
First off, this scope is likely made by LOW in Japan, which also makes scopes in the Nightforce ATACR and NXS line, the Vortex Razors, and various others like some Bushnell and Trijicons. The Vudu comes nicely packaged with the needed 2032 battery, hex key, sunshade, bikini covers, and manuals. The box is IDENTICAL to the Razor Gen2 packaging and sleeve, albeit black instead of grey.
The scope was mounted into some Nightforce ultralight rings 1.12" height that i had on hand and was tested on various rifles, including a Tikka .223 trainer, AI AT in 6.5 creedmoor , and my trusty old .308 custom rifle.
First impression- This scope is COMPACT! Photos don't do justice to how small this is. I found the controls to be very user friendly and easy to navigate. Overall well thought out, and feels like a quality piece.
Internal Travel- The 34mm main tube gives this scope good internal travel, Eotech advertised 33mils, mine has 34.7mils actual by counting clicks. This is more internal travel than the Razor gen2 at 28.5mils and on par with my ATACR 7-35 which yielded 33.8mils. Mounted and zeroed on my Tikka .223 with a 20MOA base it gave me 22.5mils of useable elevation.
Turrets- The turrets feel good spacing and click feel are similar to the ATACR as far as stiffness, the Razor gen2 is significantly stiffer than both. Clicks are clean, tactile and positive. The windage turret is capped similar to the ATACR, but can be ran without and still be waterproof. The elevation turret is an easy push/ pull locking turret similar to the Razor Gen2 but requires less effort to actuate but it's not too light either. There is an easy to set zerostop, which requires the included 1.5mm hex key to adjust. The zerostop can be set anywhere in the adjustment range which is nice, if you want it at zero or .2 or.5 below like i prefer. The elevation turret has 10 Mils per revolution, a second and third revolution indicator pops up in the middle of the turret (visual ans tactile) and requires no tools to reset zero which is an AWESOME feature! The markings on the turret line up perfectly with the line on the scope body and there is ZERO play or slop in the turret.
Parallax and Illumination- The Parallax and Illumination are a combo turret on the Left side of the scope. A cr2032 battery powers the reticle illumination, which is daylight visible but not as bright as the Razor Gen2. Its controls are blister buttons on front and back for brightness and onr on top to turn it off, not as simple as the Razor Gen2 dial but definitely better than Nightforce Digillum in my opinion. There is an battery saving auto shut-off feature, at 2hrs i believe. I cant comment on the battery life as i haven't had the scope log enough to find out. Parallax adjustment is stiffer than the ATACR, similar to the Razor Gen2 and adjusts from 45 yards to infinity. I found the corresponding yard marks to line up well with actual target focus. When parallax is focused there is good depth in the field of view,which I found suprising with such a short optic.
Magnification Ring- The mag ring runs smoothly, the entire ocular rotates similar to the Nightforce. The mag ring is threaded for an included throw lever- a nice feature but i haven't needed it. The resistance in the mag ring is not as tight as the Razor gen2 but not too light either, call it goldilocks.
Glass- This is the most subjective part as everyone sees things differently. I feel the glass on the VUDU is great, true to color, little to no CA, great depth of field and resolution through the magnification range. The field of view is on par with any scope in this mag range. There is slight tunneling from 5-6x but none after that and 25x is very useable, The tunneling is not as drastic the 7-35 ATACR or the S&B 5-25. The eyebox is forgiving, and stable through the magnification range on the VUDU- its similar to the ATACR and much better than the NXS although the Razor Gen2 is by far the easiest to get behind. The VUDU's image is brighter and color is better than the NXS, i believe the Razor Gen2 is slightly brighter, and the 7-35 ATACR is by far the brightest except at the upper mag range. This is probably due to the ATACR and Razor gen2 using 56mm objective lens compared to the VUDU's 50mm objective lens. The VUDU was very useable in low light conditions, in the twilight well after sunset it was still able to resolve well.
Tracking-This is the MOST important part of any scope in my opinion! I did one tall target test and several return to zero tests with the VUDU and tracking was perfect- not much else to say about that.
Reticle- As stated i choose the Horus H59 in this scope, and i am happy with my choice. The Horus reticles are very polarizing with some finding them too busy but i enjoy the versatility of being able to dial or have precise holdovers. I also really like the .2mil subtension on the vertical and horizontal stadia for wind holds. A shooting buddy of mine has a VUDU with the MD3 reticle and it seems well thought out with .2mil sub and floating center dot like the h59 but without the grid. I don't find the h59 too thick for smaller targets as some have eluded to.
Overall- I feel the Eotech VUDU is a fantastic value at its current price of ~$2100, and slightly cheaper with the MD3 reticle. Eotech hit it out of the park with features and quality on this scope and could easily have charged more and it would still be worth it. I look forward to spending more time behind the scope and running it in some upcoming matches. It really makes you question whats possible in optical design, with no apparent compromises in this scope. I would recommend picking one up if you are in the market for a 5-25x scope, at 29 ounces this scope should makes its way onto many rifles.
Cheers
First off, this scope is likely made by LOW in Japan, which also makes scopes in the Nightforce ATACR and NXS line, the Vortex Razors, and various others like some Bushnell and Trijicons. The Vudu comes nicely packaged with the needed 2032 battery, hex key, sunshade, bikini covers, and manuals. The box is IDENTICAL to the Razor Gen2 packaging and sleeve, albeit black instead of grey.
The scope was mounted into some Nightforce ultralight rings 1.12" height that i had on hand and was tested on various rifles, including a Tikka .223 trainer, AI AT in 6.5 creedmoor , and my trusty old .308 custom rifle.
First impression- This scope is COMPACT! Photos don't do justice to how small this is. I found the controls to be very user friendly and easy to navigate. Overall well thought out, and feels like a quality piece.
Internal Travel- The 34mm main tube gives this scope good internal travel, Eotech advertised 33mils, mine has 34.7mils actual by counting clicks. This is more internal travel than the Razor gen2 at 28.5mils and on par with my ATACR 7-35 which yielded 33.8mils. Mounted and zeroed on my Tikka .223 with a 20MOA base it gave me 22.5mils of useable elevation.
Turrets- The turrets feel good spacing and click feel are similar to the ATACR as far as stiffness, the Razor gen2 is significantly stiffer than both. Clicks are clean, tactile and positive. The windage turret is capped similar to the ATACR, but can be ran without and still be waterproof. The elevation turret is an easy push/ pull locking turret similar to the Razor Gen2 but requires less effort to actuate but it's not too light either. There is an easy to set zerostop, which requires the included 1.5mm hex key to adjust. The zerostop can be set anywhere in the adjustment range which is nice, if you want it at zero or .2 or.5 below like i prefer. The elevation turret has 10 Mils per revolution, a second and third revolution indicator pops up in the middle of the turret (visual ans tactile) and requires no tools to reset zero which is an AWESOME feature! The markings on the turret line up perfectly with the line on the scope body and there is ZERO play or slop in the turret.
Parallax and Illumination- The Parallax and Illumination are a combo turret on the Left side of the scope. A cr2032 battery powers the reticle illumination, which is daylight visible but not as bright as the Razor Gen2. Its controls are blister buttons on front and back for brightness and onr on top to turn it off, not as simple as the Razor Gen2 dial but definitely better than Nightforce Digillum in my opinion. There is an battery saving auto shut-off feature, at 2hrs i believe. I cant comment on the battery life as i haven't had the scope log enough to find out. Parallax adjustment is stiffer than the ATACR, similar to the Razor Gen2 and adjusts from 45 yards to infinity. I found the corresponding yard marks to line up well with actual target focus. When parallax is focused there is good depth in the field of view,which I found suprising with such a short optic.
Magnification Ring- The mag ring runs smoothly, the entire ocular rotates similar to the Nightforce. The mag ring is threaded for an included throw lever- a nice feature but i haven't needed it. The resistance in the mag ring is not as tight as the Razor gen2 but not too light either, call it goldilocks.
Glass- This is the most subjective part as everyone sees things differently. I feel the glass on the VUDU is great, true to color, little to no CA, great depth of field and resolution through the magnification range. The field of view is on par with any scope in this mag range. There is slight tunneling from 5-6x but none after that and 25x is very useable, The tunneling is not as drastic the 7-35 ATACR or the S&B 5-25. The eyebox is forgiving, and stable through the magnification range on the VUDU- its similar to the ATACR and much better than the NXS although the Razor Gen2 is by far the easiest to get behind. The VUDU's image is brighter and color is better than the NXS, i believe the Razor Gen2 is slightly brighter, and the 7-35 ATACR is by far the brightest except at the upper mag range. This is probably due to the ATACR and Razor gen2 using 56mm objective lens compared to the VUDU's 50mm objective lens. The VUDU was very useable in low light conditions, in the twilight well after sunset it was still able to resolve well.
Tracking-This is the MOST important part of any scope in my opinion! I did one tall target test and several return to zero tests with the VUDU and tracking was perfect- not much else to say about that.
Reticle- As stated i choose the Horus H59 in this scope, and i am happy with my choice. The Horus reticles are very polarizing with some finding them too busy but i enjoy the versatility of being able to dial or have precise holdovers. I also really like the .2mil subtension on the vertical and horizontal stadia for wind holds. A shooting buddy of mine has a VUDU with the MD3 reticle and it seems well thought out with .2mil sub and floating center dot like the h59 but without the grid. I don't find the h59 too thick for smaller targets as some have eluded to.
Overall- I feel the Eotech VUDU is a fantastic value at its current price of ~$2100, and slightly cheaper with the MD3 reticle. Eotech hit it out of the park with features and quality on this scope and could easily have charged more and it would still be worth it. I look forward to spending more time behind the scope and running it in some upcoming matches. It really makes you question whats possible in optical design, with no apparent compromises in this scope. I would recommend picking one up if you are in the market for a 5-25x scope, at 29 ounces this scope should makes its way onto many rifles.
Cheers
Last edited:
