I’ll grant you testing batteries for five years is unfeasible, and of course this is different from MPI or HP testing of a bolt. Still, it suggests the specter of “batch testing” or “random audit” versus an absolute standard.
I’m okay with that as long as it’s disclosed.
I’m not in any way knocking Aimpoint’s quality, and three years instead of five years of battery life is certainly nothing to sneeze at. I’m just saying they should be more specific in where they arrive at their claimed battery life.
Batteries have amp hour ratings, they know how much current their unit draws at different settings & at what voltage it shuts off so it is simple math to get a theoretical run time. I would be surprised if they ran any for a dedicated battery life test
I would hesitate to leave an Aimpoint on all the time. But not to save batteries. The red LED does have a lifetime, although very long (circa 100,000 hours), it does get dim with time over the years.
Until someone puts something better out there, you can’t escape the fact that the Aimpoint Micros are the cream of the crop. Battery life is just one of the good things. They are designed so intelligently and manufactured so well, the price tag shouldn’t stop you from getting one or two. For those who look to red dot optics on go-to firearms and believe the best is only logical to have, it’s worth it to save until you can plunk down the cash.
I recently picked up a Holosun, somewhat out of curiosity to compare it to my Aimpoints, and find it to be what I expected. I don’t have enough time with it to say anything about long-term ruggedness and reliability, but I’ll be using the rifle I put one on quite a bit in coming months so I’ll chime in once in a while when I see more discussion on it. Because of the auto-off / auto-on features, it might last longer than an Aimpoint that stays on continuously. But it will take time to find out.
Good points on the Holosun:
[ul]
[li]Nice sleek countours, no big knobs sticking out.[/li][li]Intuitive to use.[/li][li]Adequate range of brightness settings for most purposes.[/li][/ul]
Some of the downers are:
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[li]Battery changes will require taking the optic off of the rifle and separating the mount from the optic – there are 4 hex screws involved in this. But you shouldn’t have to change the battery much. Still, the comparative ease of changing the battery on an Aimpoint Micro is far more desirable.[/li][li]The auto-on feature requires a somewhat energetic movement of the rifle. A quick side-to-side wiggle is working for me. I much prefer an always-on red dot, at least for my one Colt that I assign to the home defense role.[/li][li]There don’t seem to be any quick-detach mounts made for it (yet). You could attach the Holosun and its low mount to a quick-detach riser just for getting the optic off of the rifle quickly.[/li][li]Markings on the body; but I don’t care about that. Some do.[/li][/ul]
I wouldn’t put one on the same “serious” rifles that have the T1 or H1, but so far it works.
I see no problem with this method of obtaining a useful run time for a product. I wonder though, if battery “shelf life” is factored into the equation. It does no good advertising 50,000 hours of run time if the battery only has a shelf life of 5 years when non-used. Anyone know about this?