rico rs75 vs trijicon UTC-xii vs Halo-x review

[Oxranch]

I currently own a Rico Rs75, Halo-X LRF, and Trijicon UTC-Xii, and while I never planned on doing a review and didn't take any notes, I figured I'd do a quick review based off my recent observations.

The Rs75 significantly outperforms the Halo-X LRF and UTC-XII by a very significant margin on image recognition, distance, and FOV. I've never seen a thermal picture as smooth, crisp, and enjoyable as the Rs75's, even when comparing it to a Hiss-XLR! The image recognition isn't as good as a Hiss-XLR, but it is prettier to look through and has a smoother / less grainy overall picture from the 1280 x 1024 resolution and insanely wide FOV!

The Halo-x and UTC are superior when it comes to their 60mhz refresh rate vs. Rs75's 30 MHZ . You won't notice the lag on the Rs75 until you start scanning, but when you do, you start feeling it could make you sick if you did it long enough.

The Rs-75 offers better image recognition than the UTC-XII as well; however, if I'm looking to reach out past a few hundred yards, I'd choose the UTC-Xii clip-on to be able to dial in my shot using my Raptar-S ballistic solution. A few inches in shot place is the difference between a wounded animal or even a miss so simple holdovers on the Rs75 aren't going to cut it at a distance with live targets . I'd love to see the next version of the Rs75 have a built-in ballistic calculator and 60mhz refresh.

I occasionally use the UTC-XII Traceir functionality; however, the UTC-XII polymer and small base mount results in it flexing too much to be reliable. I live in Texas and my UTC requires a nuc every 5 minutes or so since the UTC-XII doesn't have auto nuc built in. I have to put the cap on it and press the Nuc button, and unfortunately, pressing the button puts enough force on the UTC-XII to move the traceir out of alignment. I have an AXSR so am confident that the rail isn't the problem with the flex. I love the concept of the TRACEIR but on the UTC-XII it's all but worthless in my opinion.

I'm in the process of putting a deposit down on the new x-ELR MK2 and am looking to replace my UTC-XII simply for the luxury of not having to manually NUC anymore. I can't tell you how many targets I've missed spending half my time in the field struggling to reach the end of the Xii to put the cap on it and nuc it. The other big gripe I have on the UTC-xii is that it has terrible POI shift as a result of it's 1.31 optical center vs a standard 1.5 center.

This leads me to a few questions I have on POI shift with thermal clipons..........

Let's say I own the x-ELR MK2 which has a 1.5 centerline and pair with with a scope base that has a 1.5 inch height. Clipping the thermal on would normally would result in in 0 POI shift from my daytime scope....

1. What would happen if my day scope base had a 13 mil inclination built in? Would the 13 mil inclination affect POI on the thermal vs my daytime scope POI?

2.Many guns have inclination built into the rail these days. If the thermal is 1.5 and the scope base is 1.5 what happens to POI if it's put on an mrad with a 10 mill inclination built in? Would this result in POI Shift?

3.If you have a scope base that has 13 mil inclination and put it on a gun such as the Mrad with 10 mil built into the trail how does this affect POI shift from daytime to thermal?


I've looked long and hard and couldn't find any information on the above three questions; hopefully, someone here knows. thanks!!

 

[TheHorta]

I don’t have any experience on the Chinesium HD, but it seems reasonable that it would / should out-resolve anything out there in 640 land. When they come down below $10K, which should be later this year or early next year with the introduction of 1280 competitors, I’ll definitely snag one. I have spent a fair chunk of time behind an FWS-C 1280HD, so I imagine the iRay isn’t too far behind that, if at all. My Xii experience differs considerably from yours. I can use 1.5” mounted scopes with the 1.35” UTC and have never experienced any appreciable POI shift with the 4 units I’ve owned, and rail flex hasn’t affected it either, and I use TracIR routinely with the Raptar-S.

That said, I’ve seen some shift in UTC-X’s I’ve owned over the years, so I’m sure it must exist in some Xii’s — I just haven’t experienced it personally.

The xELR is great, and I’ve owned 2 different units now while eagerly anticipating availability on Gen 2 units. Both of my ELRs have ~1 MOA shift, a little more on my first unit. Easy to compensate for.

Zero POI shift on any of my Voodoos (S or M) and I own or have owned 4 S (2 now) and 2 M’s (still have both). The UTM-X is an awesome unit still and holds zero very well.

I’m still fond of the Andres TigIR, but there seems to be considerable deviation unit to unit.

Big fan of N-Vision stuff. Love my halo.

My BAE FWS-S and FWS-i are both absolute zero shift on any gun in front of any optic.

Chynah will drive the future of these devices. General consensus is that they could dump $5K 1280 HD Thermals and still make a solid profit. Current ridonkulous prices are more market driven than reflective of actual value / COGS.

 

[BurtG]

Trade you a LWYS-LR for the Utc-Xii

 

[300NIMP]

Horta is what scope cap is that for the utcxii ? Would like to get rid of rubber factory one.

 

[BurtG]

Ill

Horta is what scope cap is that for the utcxii ? Would like to get rid of rubber factory one.

Vortex defender iirc

 

[TheHorta]

Horta is what scope cap is that for the utcxii ? Would like to get rid of rubber factory one.

It’s the biggest one Vortex makes. Snug fit, but works awesome, and provides a measure of protection for the front bell.

Vortex Optics Defender Riflescope Flip Caps https://a.co/d/9ZXRnkd

 

[TheHorta]

I currently own a Rico Rs75, Halo-X LRF, and Trijicon UTC-Xii, and while I never planned on doing a review and didn't take any notes, I figured I'd do a quick review based off my recent observations.

The Rs75 significantly outperforms the Halo-X LRF and UTC-XII by a very significant margin on image recognition, distance, and FOV. I've never seen a thermal picture as smooth, crisp, and enjoyable as the Rs75's, even when comparing it to a Hiss-XLR! The image recognition isn't as good as a Hiss-XLR, but it is prettier to look through and has a smoother / less grainy overall picture from the 1280 x 1024 resolution and insanely wide FOV!

The Halo-x and UTC are superior when it comes to their 60mhz refresh rate vs. Rs75's 30 MHZ . You won't notice the lag on the Rs75 until you start scanning, but when you do, you start feeling it could make you sick if you did it long enough.

The Rs-75 offers better image recognition than the UTC-XII as well; however, if I'm looking to reach out past a few hundred yards, I'd choose the UTC-Xii clip-on to be able to dial in my shot using my Raptar-S ballistic solution. A few inches in shot place is the difference between a wounded animal or even a miss so simple holdovers on the Rs75 aren't going to cut it at a distance with live targets . I'd love to see the next version of the Rs75 have a built-in ballistic calculator and 60mhz refresh.

I occasionally use the UTC-XII Traceir functionality; however, the UTC-XII polymer and small base mount results in it flexing too much to be reliable. I live in Texas and my UTC requires a nuc every 5 minutes or so since the UTC-XII doesn't have auto nuc built in. I have to put the cap on it and press the Nuc button, and unfortunately, pressing the button puts enough force on the UTC-XII to move the traceir out of alignment. I have an AXSR so am confident that the rail isn't the problem with the flex. I love the concept of the TRACEIR but on the UTC-XII it's all but worthless in my opinion.

I'm in the process of putting a deposit down on the new x-ELR MK2 and am looking to replace my UTC-XII simply for the luxury of not having to manually NUC anymore. I can't tell you how many targets I've missed spending half my time in the field struggling to reach the end of the Xii to put the cap on it and nuc it. The other big gripe I have on the UTC-xii is that it has terrible POI shift as a result of it's 1.31 optical center vs a standard 1.5 center.

This leads me to a few questions I have on POI shift with thermal clipons..........

Let's say I own the x-ELR MK2 which has a 1.5 centerline and pair with with a scope base that has a 1.5 inch height. Clipping the thermal on would normally would result in in 0 POI shift from my daytime scope....

1. What would happen if my day scope base had a 13 mil inclination built in? Would the 13 mil inclination affect POI on the thermal vs my daytime scope POI?

2.Many guns have inclination built into the rail these days. If the thermal is 1.5 and the scope base is 1.5 what happens to POI if it's put on an mrad with a 10 mill inclination built in? Would this result in POI Shift?

3.If you have a scope base that has 13 mil inclination and put it on a gun such as the Mrad with 10 mil built into the trail how does this affect POI shift from daytime to thermal?


I've looked long and hard and couldn't find any information on the above three questions; hopefully, someone here knows. thanks!!

My thoughts on you 3 questions:

1) Some collimated thermals handle offset better than others. My Xii’s, Voodoos, and FWS units don’t seem to appreciably affect POI if the day optic is in a mount with a cant. I’ve gone up to 20 MOA, so can’t vouch for higher.

2) If both the scope and the thermal are on the same rail, it won’t matter.

3) The net effect would still be 13 MIL, which is a huge 46 MOA, I’m not sure… try it and get back to us.

 

[Oxranch]

I'm not interested in any trades at this time. I may sell it in the future and if so will post it up on here. thanks!

 

[rlsmith1]

Thanks for the write up, and I've got one question @Oxranch , what do you mean by image recognition? I thought you meant resolution and then you used resolution later on. I've got a NOX18 and love what NVision put together

 

[Oxranch]

When I say image recognition I'm referring to how well I can make out a target.