Shooters and hunters alike are looking for better scopes to help them be more efficient and have a faster target acquisition.
And that’s where holographic sights come in …
Finding the best holographic sight can be hard, just like trying to filter out any type of optic to find the best one for you.
And like all other optic reviews, we are dedicated to finding the best holographic sights for the money so that you can have the best value combined with the highest quality possible.
Top 5 Best Holographic Sights
- EO Tech 512
- EO Tech XPS2-0
- EO Tech G33 Magnifier
- EO Tech HHS 2 EXPS2-2
- EO Tech XPS3-0 night vision
If you noticed, the best holographic sights are dominated by EO Tech. We will get into the reason why a little later, but the point is that if you really want the best holographic sights, you shouldn’t move away from EO Tech.
With that being said, that are a lot of other really good red dot sights out there made by other companies. Depending on what you like, red dot sights may be better for you as a shooter.
But if you are looking for the best holographic sight, we’ve narrowed the list down to the top 5. These are the best EOTech holographic sights you can find on the market today.
Best Holographic Sights in 2024 – Top 5
You may not think these are the best EOTech holographic sights out there. But not only were we looking for quality, we were also looking for the best holographic sights for the money. There are some other more expensive holographic sights out there, but we wanted to make sure that we review the optics that have the most value.
| Best Holographic Sights | Price | Rating | |
| EOTech 512
(Editor’s Choice) |
$$$ | 4.7 / 5 | Check Price |
| EOTech XPS2-0
(Editor’s Choice) |
$$$ | 4.4 / 5 | Check Price |
| EOTech G33 Magnifier
(Best Magnifier for Holographic Sight) |
$$$$ | 4.7 / 5 | Check Price |
| EOTech HHS 2 EXPS2-2 | $$$$$ | 4.5 / 5 | Check Price |
| EOTech XPS3-0 Night Vision | $$$$ | 4.4 / 5 | Check Price |
Don’t Be Fooled!
There are other sights on the market today that are labeled as “red dot sights” and “reflex sights”, and they’re not the same thing as holographic sights.
Yes, holographic sights are considered red dot sights, but red dot sights aren’t considered holographic sights.
Let’s explain the difference between these different sights:
- Holographic sights: The reticle typically has a ring or circle around a small red dot for more efficient targeting projected on the glass by lasers. Holographic sights are dominated by EOTech who makes the holographic sights with a rectangular shaped heads up style sight. This is for a wider field of view when looking through the sight. When zooming in, the aiming dot in the center remains the same size while the reticle enlarges, providing greater precision in aiming. In most cases, there is also no parallax effect, so that the reticle is always on the target.
- Red dot sights: Typically just a red dot in the center that is illuminated and that is all. However, you can find some red dots that have different shapes. The dot is usually a little larger than the dots in a holographic sight. Red dot sights are typically made using the tubular style scope, but you can find red dots with a rectangular heads up style as well. When magnifying, the red dot also increases and can sometimes get too big and cover up the area of the target you need to be focusing on.
- Reflex sights: Reflex sights are similar to holographic sights, but LEDs are used instead of lasers. However, it uses the typical tube shape that is similar to most scopes, meaning that they take up more space on the mounting rail.
Where Did The Holographic Sight Come From?
The first company to introduce holographic sights into the market technically was Bushnell, who created the Holosight.
Then a company called EOTech acquired the rights to the holosights and spearheaded the holographic sights, making them much higher quality so that shooters and hunters could have access to a sight that could provide even faster target acquisition.
It was inspired by the red dot sight, which was created to provide shooters the capability of keeping both eyes open while aiming. This eliminated tunnel vision for the most part so a shooter could see and scan additional objects and targets while aiming.
EOTech also improved the design, creating a quick release mount that allowed the holographic sights to be fully compatible with the Picatinny rail system found on most rifles. EOTech is the top manufacturer of holographic sights and makes some of the best holographic sights on the market.
Military and law enforcement use these sights a lot because of the reliability and high quality that the sights bring.
Now, most AR shooters equip EOTech sights on their AR rifles as holographic sights are some of the best sights you can put on your AR rifle.
A lot of younger generations are even aware of EOTech holographic sights because of their common existence in videos games like Call of Duty.
Considerations to Find the Best Holographic Sights
Finding the sight isn’t as simple as just choosing an EOTech holographic sight. Though you won’t go wrong choosing a sight by just looking at EOTech, there are also some factors to consider when trying to find the best holographic sight for the money.
What are you using the sight for?
Make sure you get a holographic sight for the right function. Holographic sights are usually meant for tactical usage and target shooting.
Using a holographic sight would not be a good idea if you are primarily a hunter. Hunters need options for different magnification power. This is called a variable scope, and a holographic sight is a fixed scope.
However, you can attach a magnifier in front of a holographic scope to add longer distance shooting capabilities. The reticle works great when accompanied with magnifier. A great magnifier to use is the EOTech G33. I’ll review the G33 later below.
If you hope to use the sight in low light conditions, like night shooting or for home defense, you will want to find a holographic sight that has night vision capabilities.
The holographic sight reticle can be seen at night, since it is a laser light hologram projected onto the glass, but it could make seeing the target difficult. Sometimes without night vision capabilities, illuminated reticles create a halo affect if the reticle is too bright, making it even more difficult to see the target.
Look For Quality
You won’t have a problem in this area when buying an EOTech, but if you can’t afford an EOTech, make sure that you look for a holographic sight that is the most accurate and the hardest to break.
You want a very strong sight because the laser mechanisms inside the sight are pretty fragile. But if you have a durable and strong sight, you will be fine and the optic will last a long time.
Find a holographic sight that is resistant to corrosion and harsh weather conditions as well. Shock-proof and temperature proof are some additional features that you can find, but aren’t necessary if looking for the best holographic sight for the money, but they will bring longevity to the life of the optic.
Looking through the sight
Your holographic sight should be able to eliminate blind spots and shouldn’t hinder your peripheral vision.
It should give you a wide field of view so that you can see a lot of ground through the sight to maximize your chances of spotting a target and aim at it fast to fire.
Battery Life
The battery life is something that you will want to consider if you want to buy a holographic sight. Lasers suck up a lot of battery juice, so holographic sights typically don’t have very long battery life when compared to other red dot sights.
Because of this, look for holographic sights that use AA batteries, as these are simple to install, easy to carry around, and they are very affordable., but if you are worried about optic size, a lithium battery will work.
Lithium batteries last a little longer than AA batteries as well, but are much harder to get and are more expensive than AA batteries.
Price
Finding the best holographic sight for the money can be a chore. The good ones aren’t cheap and the ones that profess that they are cheap probably aren’t even holographic sights, but just simple red dot sights.
It pays to do a little extra research on finding the best all around holographic sight that gives you great quality, but also doesn’t break the bank.
It’s typical to find a holographic sight in the $300 – $1000+ range. The highest quality holographic sights that we recommend are the sights in the $400 – $600 price range.
In this price range you will likely find a holographic sight that is high quality and will last a long time and do what you need it to do.
Best Holographic Sight Reviews
Here we are at the holographic sight reviews. Hopefully you find them worthwhile. We might as well have called this post the best EOTech holographic sight reviews, cause honestly, we believe EOTech has made the best holographic sights on the market today.
1. EOTech 512 Review – Best Holographic Sight in 2024
We’ve covered the EOTech 512 extensively in other articles and the EOTech 512 even has its own full optic review. Check out our EOTech 512 review for more info.
But if you just want to scan our thoughts on the EOTech 512, here we go.
We believe the 512 is the best holographic sight for a few reasons:
- High quality scope that has stood the test of time
- One of the lowest priced scopes by EOTech (best holographic sight for the money)
- Simple to use and easy to install
It uses an A65 reticle, like most EOTechs, meaning that the reticle consists of an outer circle at 65 MOA and a red dot in the center at 1 MOA.
The red dot in the center also doesn’t magnify when you try to adjust the size of the reticle.
Overall, the EOTech 512 is an amazing scope and the best holographic sight that you can find on the market today.
2. EOTech XPS2-0 Review – Best Holographic Sight for Mobility
The EOTech XPS2-0 is one of the best holographic sights if you are looking for a sight that is lightweight and compact. This is perfect for mobility whether you are using the sight for tactical use or even hunting.
Due to its smaller size, it requires a single 123 lithium battery. Typically I like holographic sights that use AA batteries because of how fast holographic sights tend to run out of juice, but with the lithium battery, it provides a longer battery life.
Reducing the battery size was important to shrink the size of the sight. It allows for more rail space on the top of the gun so that you can add more rifle accessories or a magnifier if you want to.
It also has a o-ring seal covering the battery that keeps the sight lasting a lot longer.
It has 3 reticle options which is nice to be able to choose for personal preference when shooting.
One drawback is that it does not come with night vision. And even though the lithium battery replaced the AA batteries, the battery life is still low. Lithium batteries are also more expensive to replace.
Taking the sight out to the range for the review was fun. My first impression was how small it was compared to to other EOTech sights.
It was super easy to mount. I mounted it as far forward as I could on my AR-15 which gave me the widest field of view.
The best use I had was shooting targets that were around 10 to 15 yards away. This is usually the case with all red dot sights and holographic sights. Close range is where these sights have the advantage.
But I still sighted it in easily at 50 yards and was hitting targets as far as 100 yards away. I put a few hundred rounds through it and it held zero as expected.
The reticle was easy to see with both eyes open, something I expected with a quality holographic sight helping me to maintain a larger field of view.
It’s also parallax free, a feature that EOTech tries to implement in all of their holographic sights so that the firearm is always on target.
Overall, an amazing holographic sight. It’s not the cheapest scope out there, but you are still getting the best holographic sight for its size and for the price out there on the market.
Pros
- EOTech high quality
- Very small and lightweight. Perfect for mobility
- Longer battery life with lithium battery
- Easy to mount.
Cons
- Lithium battery is more expensive than AA batteries
- No night vision options.
3. EOTech G33 Magnifier Review – Best Magnifier for a Holographic Sight
It may seem odd to include a magnifier in the realm of best holographic sights, but we did. And technically, it is supposed to work with EOTech holographic sights and make them better, so we had to include the G33.
If you are searching for the best holographic sight with magnifier, well the magnifier to choose is the EOTech G33
The EOTech G33 offers a lot of nice features for being so small. If you aren’t sure what it’s designed to do, it’s to magnify the target and is supposed to be used with a holographic sight making the whole experience even better.
The G33 gives the shooter more versatility. They aren’t stuck at a fixed magnification power at a fixed range. With the G33, a shooter can zoom on on a target and be able to shoot at even longer distances!
It’s very possible to be able to shoot a moving target at 200 yards away using the G33 with your holographic sight. Geez, you could probably even do it at 300 yards.
More added benefits of the EOTech G33 is the ability for even faster target acquisition. Without any magnification power, you may find it difficult to search and assess a target with just a 1x holographic sight.
The EOTech G33 3x magnifier can magnify 3 times more than the normal eye. This can come in handy at longer distances.
My first impression of the EOTech G33 was very positive.
It was super easy to mount. It has a quick detach lever which is awesome, and what’s nice is if you need to push the magnifier out of the way for any reason, all you need to do is apply some pressure to the side of the optic and it will swing out of the way.
The G33 felt very strong and sturdy. It’s obviously made very well since it’s an EOTech, but worth the mention.
As far as the product goes, there was nothing negative that I found in my EOTech G33 magnifier review. BUT, I have to mention the cost here. It’s a little pricey and something that you’ll have to take into consideration if you’re going to use this to accompany a nice high quality holographic sight.
When testing it out, I used the EOTech 512. I had to re-zero the 512 to so that the both would work properly together. I didn’t have to adjust too much, if anything I just confirmed the zero.
Once zeroed, I had to adjust the magnifier using the vertical and horizontal adjustments to adjust the reticle back to the center of the magnifier.
The first thing I noticed when shooting the targets was how much more quickly I was able to aim and fire at the targets I was shooting.
At 50 yards, aiming was super easy. At 100 yards, it was still not bad at all. At 200 yards it got a little more difficult, but still was possible with the magnifier.
What I loved was the fact that I could see the targets very easily at long distances. Something that would be nearly impossible without the holographic sight magnifier.
At 20 yards and under I found the EOTech G33 to be pointless. With both eyes open, the target was just too big, so I pushed it to the side and used the 512 exclusively at the closer ranges.
In short, if you want more versatility with your holographic sight, you need a magnifier. The EOTech G33 magnifier is one of the best on the market. As a matter of fact, I loved it so much, I ended up purchasing it.
Pros
- EOTech high quality
- 3x magnification for longer distances
- Makes the reticle appear in HD
- Can be moved to the side if no needed
Cons
- Cost. It’s an expensive magnifier, though the quality is definitely there.
4. EOTech HHS 2 EXPS2-2 with G33.STS Review – Best Hybrid Holographic Sight
If you are planning on buying an EOTech AND the G33 magnifier, EOTech has made it easier to purchase both at the same time.
They’ve equipped an EXPS2-2 and the G33.STS together to create a hybrid HHS 2.
The HHS 2 helps to ensure accurate shooting from 0 to 300 yards by being able to use the G33 quick switch to side magnifier mount.
The operating buttons are on the side of the ESPS2-2 making it easy to use in conjunction with other rail accessories.
Overall, the EXPS2-2 holographic sight itself is exactly like the XPS2-0 with one small differences:
- In the EXPS2-2 , the -2 part describes the different type of reticle. it means that there is a second red dot placed just below the center red dot in the reticle. This allows for much longer distances (300+ yards).
- The -0 in the XPS2-0 simply means that there is only 1 center red dot in the reticle.
Basically, if you want to bundle the purchase of an XPS2 with the G33 magnifier, EOTech has allowed shooters to do so. It’s a little cheaper if you buy them both together.
5. EOTech XPS3-0 – Best Holographic Sight for Night Vision Capabilities
The EOTech XPS3-0 is exactly the same as the XPS2-0 except for one main feature:
The XPS3-0 offers night vision mode, something that no other EOTech holographic sight offers.
With the night vision options, you get 10 additional settings to help adjust to the brightness level that you like for low light conditions.
I found myself not seeing a huge difference in the XPS3 compared to an XPS2 in brightness levels and I’m sure you could find a brightness level in the XPS2 that will work well at night.
But if you want to make sure you have all of the brightness levels available to you, the XPS3-0 is a great option.
Final Thoughts – Best Holographic Sights Reviews
Holographic sights are pretty awesome optics. As you can see, they are definitely worth using depending on your use.
In our opinion, EOTech makes the best holographic sights in 2017 and nobody really comes close.
If you can handle the higher price tag of EOTech, I would definitely consider buying the EOTech 512. It’s the best holographic sight for the money, and one of the best EOTech holographic sights in general.
If you’re finding that these are too expensive for your budget, consider looking into a good red dot sight, as they are very similar to holographic sights, but you can find some that are much cheaper.
We hope you found this article helpful.
Stay safe and happy shooting.