The Vortex Venom is one of the latest mid-range units from the popular Vortex brand. Although this sight has received mostly positive reviews, it does have some drawbacks. The most notable one is its problems with the red dot that some users report.
While most users have been satisfied with the Venom, there are some issues that you should be aware of. Below are the main problems of this light. Is the Vortex Venom worth the money?
Vortex Venom Red Dot Issues
First of all, the Venom has a cluster of dots instead of a single dot. Some customers have reported that the dot is not very crisp. The experience is described as seeing a cluster of dots instead of one sharp dot.
It’s pretty obvious that this does not make it easy to aim if you experience these issues!
Vortex Venom Elevation Issues and Windage Problems
Other customers have described issues with elevation adjustments. In some cases, the adjustments for elevation and also windage do not work.
In the usual case that the windage and elevation do work, the reported problems relate to the fact that the screws do not provide click feedback when doing the adjustments. There’s no feedback as you usually get from adjustments. It also can result in problems for the Venom to hold zero.
Durability Issues with the Vortex Venom
Some customers have reported issues that the Venom suddenly stopped working after a while. Vortex does offer a great warranty, and you should therefore not have a lot of issues sending it in and getting it fixed.
However, it’s a hassle, and you won’t have a sight for your rifle during that time. It’s also often not easy to return a defective sight to the online store from where you bought it. Many online stores have pretty short return windows.
If the sight breaks after that return window has expired, you’ll have to deal with Vortex directly to get the Viper repaired. That can take the option to simply get your money back away.
Battery Life
Vortex provides a range for the battery life spanning between 150 to 30,000 hours. That’s quite the range, and that’s also most likely why some users complained that the battery runs out very quickly.
As with all red dots, the battery life will be the shortest if you keep the sight on the highest brightness. Most other sights do not have such a large span, though.
If you accidentally keep the optic on the highest brightness setting, then 150 hours (which realistically might be less) is pretty short. With most red dots, you won’t remember when you last changed the battery. With a 150-hour battery life, you most likely will remember when you changed it last, and that will make users unhappy.
Battery Compartment Issues
There are quite a few complaints to be found about the process of replacing the battery. In addition, there are many complaints about how cumbersome and complicated it is to close the cover without stripping the threads.
Some users reported that it took them an hour or even longer to replace the battery and get the cover back on without breaking anything. This is even more frustrating if you have to change the battery quite often due to the rather short battery life at high brightness settings.
Switching off Randomly
Users have reported that the Vortex Venom randomly shuts itself off after a few shots. That’s certainly nothing you want to experience and is more than just a little annoying.
The bigger issue seems to be that at least one person experienced that he could not switch the sight back on. Talk about a wasted trip to the range!
One remedy that has been reported is to tighten the battery covers. That seems to have helped at least some users.
The good thing, though, is that Vortex does offer a great warranty. If it happens to you, you can contact Vortex to get the issue with the sight corrected.
Other Issues Reported
It seems to be common nowadays to complain that a sight is not made in the USA. The Venom is typically not coming from a US manufacturing plant, and therefore, if you insist on only buying US-made sights, you’ll be better off looking elsewhere.
Lastly, and that is probably true for pretty much any sight, people have complained about the price. The Venom is not an overly cheap sight but certainly also not the most expensive optic you can get.
The price is what it is. Can you get better sights in that price range? Yes, you can, but it will depend on what specific uses you’re looking for. The Venom is worth its cost for many shooters, so don’t get too hung up on comments you can read about the sight being too expensive!
On a positive note, the Venom does mostly and overwhelmingly get positive reviews. So, don’t let our problem list from above fool you. It by no means is indicative that this Vortex sight is a bad optic.
It’s not.
The biggest issues we’ve encountered are the relatively short battery life and that the switching of batteries has its own problems. The battery life can be extended dramatically if you ensure that the brightness level is set to a lower intensity. That will extend the life of the battery and reduce the need to change it.
You can also check out our review of the Vortex Venom red dot sight. We also compared the Venom to the Vortex Viper. Lastly, check out whether the Burris Fastfire 3 is better than the Vortex Venom!
Overall, we and the vast majority of owners think that this is a great optic at a reasonable price.
