It's time to talk about a great company, but a terrible product; Vortex AMG UH-1. This is a holographic weapons sight (HWS). I bought it because I wanted something that would work close up as well as out to 200 yards for my Tavor X95.

I ordered mine in July of 2020 from Sport Optics in Hammond, LA. It was on back order, but the sale was good so, I was willing to wait. I received it on 25 Aug 2020. I also bought a 3x flip-up magnifier to go with it.

The combination of the HWS and magnifier was great. The reticle on the UH-1 is the best I've seen. It has a very clear display with a 1MOA dot and a 65MOA circle with a triangle at the bottom for use at 10 yards and closer. The window is the largest on the market and offers super fast target acquisition and a wide field of view. I found the HWS in combination with the 3x magnifier to be great for targets 100-200 yards away.
The optic and magnifier do make for a large set up. It's not small and both together weigh in at just over a pound (18.55oz). Not insignificant, but similar to most variable power scopes.

I found them to be quite durable and easy to operate. The HWS has three buttons on the rear. Two to adjust the brightness of the reticle and one for night vision (I have no need for that). The HWS is turned on by pressing either button and will come on at the last intensity used. Once on, it will stay on for 14 hours. I like this feature. It's long enough to stay on all night, through a full day of class or a full shift if you're a professional. But, it will turn itself off to conserve battery life if you forget. The claimed battery life is 1,500hrs at the middle brightness setting. This is where the problems started.

I got it in August 2020 and used it a little to zero and just general practice. Went out at least 7 times between Sep and Dec. As I was preparing to go to a 4 day class in Jan 2021, I found the battery was dead. I had used it for less than 50 hours and the battery should still be strong. So, I called Vortex. True to form they didn't hesitate to send me a return label so they could fix it. Because I was close to the class, I kept it and used it at the class without issue.

Sent it to Vortex for repair and didn't expect to get anything quickly because they'd have to test it for a while to check battery drain. I was surprised to get a new UH-1 in the mail about a week later. Mounted it and zeroed that weekend. Took it out once more the first week of Feb 2021. Then the weather went to **** here and I just didn't feel like shooting for a while. Then, in May I took the gun out again and found the battery was dead. Grrrr, this time I hadn't even used the optic for more than a couple hours and the rest of the time was just sitting in the safe.

Called Vortex again and spoke with the same rep. She profusely apologized and this time sent me a new one with the agreement that I'd send mine back as soon as the new one arrived. This way I wouldn't be without an optic. Again, good customer service. Also, I got a note from one of their engineers saying that there was something they found in the software which caused a battery drain. They assured me the new one wouldn't have that problem. The new one arrived on 24 May 21 and I mounted it and zeroed it on 29 May.

Last Monday, 14 June, I took it out again to have some fun at the range. Lo and behold the battery was dead yet again. This is unacceptable. I had used it less than an hour and the battery was dead in less than a few weeks while just sitting in the safe. This time I asked Vortex for a refund. They notified me that they had pulled all their stock of this item and sent them back to the factory for repair. Apparently, I'm not the only one who had this issue. They apologized again, sent me a return label and will issue a complete refund once they receive my optic back. Yes, they are refunding for both the HWS and magnifier.
It's a shame this has happened. To date this has been my favorite 1x optic. I like it better than the EOTech and Trijicon MRO which is saying a lot because both of those are fantastic. Alas, if it kills batteries in only a couple of weeks, while off, it's completely useless to me as this is supposed to be a defensive rifle.

I harbor no ill will toward Vortex. I think they have some kind of design flaw in the software. I've dealt with issues like this at work and an engineer friend and I have a running debate about the value/detriment of putting something to sleep with software vs shutting it off with a physical switch. I'm on the side of an off switch. When the circuit is open, there cannot be any drain on the battery. When it's asleep, there is always some drain. The benefit is it can do things with memory you can't do if it's off. In this type of device I see no value in sleep mode. It is my hope that Vortex will exercise the demons and put this back on the market with a more robust battery management.

For me, I'm probably going to go with an ACOG. No batteries and tough as nails.

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Freedom isn't free.

Seems like the higher tech electronics get, the more chance of a problem. I have a question. During the incidents of battery failure after using the sight, did you manually turn it off each time, or did you depend on the automatic timed mode? If the latter, since you otherwise liked the sight so much, I might have just turned it off after each use, not depending on that particular feature.

For what it's worth, I have about a half dozen various Vortex optics, and have had no issues, and like the quality. Never had to use customer service, but I have heard it is excellent.

I might also mention that Vortex has a program, only available thru authorized dealers, that offers a 40% discount off retail price on all optics for LEO and former LEO. Not sure if it includes military and first responders. That's why I have acquired so many Vortex brand items lately, and have saved quite a bit of money over similar items from other manufacturers who don't offer the same discount.

Larry

Yes, I turned it off each time. I never rely on automatic shut down. While at the range I always leave it on the whole time. So, for example, while at the training class it was on for 8-9 hours at a stretch each day. This shouldn't be a problem for an optic like this.


Yes, it includes active duty and veterans.

Vortex is one of the few companies I will endorse. Not that my endorsement means anything, but it means they are absolutely top shelf as a company.

I was having trouble with a rifle's accuracy (turned out to be a bad barrel). Because I couldn't think of anything else, I called Vortex and chatted with an engineer about the scope. Both of us thought it unlikely that it was the scope, but they told me to send it in anyway so they could check it to be sure. They gave me a shipping label for free and I sent it in. Of course the scope was/is good, but it speaks to the depth of their service that they'd do this for free.

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Freedom isn't free.