ATN X-Sight II

ATN began its corporate life in a burned-out California bank building, where a few gung-ho guys assembled night vision optics. Skip ahead to today and the company is worth $40m, employing some 50 people. CEO James Munn is one of them. And he’s got a winner on his hands. “We sold 30 thousand X-Sight I’s,” the former Army Specialist told TTAG. “We’ve already received 30 thousand orders for X-Sight II. We’re shipping them as fast as we can make them.” No surprise there . . .

Screen Shot X-Sight II

A $699 day/night vision scope is a wonderful thing. But the X-Sight II goes well beyond that remit. Although it doesn’t pull the trigger for you, the X-Sight II does everything else a multi-thousand dollar Tracking Point scope does  — and then some.

For example, the X-Sight features recoil-activated high-def video. I know what you’re thinking: if the gun’s recoil activates the video it’s too late. And it would be — if the X-Sight II didn’t constantly buffer the video signal, saving the ten seconds of data before the gun was fired, and 20 seconds of video afterwards (or more). Clever eh?

Wouldn’t it be nice if the X-Sight II had Bluetooth to quickly transfer the resulting video to a smart phone and thus to social media? Done. How about inputting all that data via the phone rather than fiddling with buttons on the unit? Done. Range-finder? Done. Ballistic calculator with input for ammo types? Done.

X-Sight II

How about the ability to input the probable target size (e.g. four-feet for a hog) and wind so that the sight’s computer can calculate the ideal “shooting solution”? Pshaw! The X-Sight II will do all the calculations and automatically adjust the reticle to show you the ideal place to aim given the target’s range and size, the wind and ammo specs. Now how much pay?

Oh right: $699. Of course none of that’s much good if the resolution sucks. The X-Sight II improves the old unit’s line pair resolution from 60 to 140. So it doesn’t suck. In short, aside from the eternal Keurig question and potential icon overload, what’s not to love? We’ll see when our T&E unit arrives in the mail.

Our man Cleckner — sniper guru and author of Long Range Shooting Handbook — has agreed to put the X-Sight II through its paces. “It’s either the best thing ever or a piece of junk,” Ryan reckons. Meanwhile, as Aladdin and Jasmine sang, it’s a whole new world. Welcome to it.

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28 COMMENTS

  5. Yeah, I’d like to see a review against a real pure optical system. This is essentially a video camera, and I’d like to hear how the resolution compares to crisp pure optics. If it’s “there” already, then I’d be highly interested. Your review of the original version made it sound like much more of a cute toy rather than a real replacement for real optics. Tripling the resolution is a good start though; would love to hear how it works in real usage.

  6. So, this is solid state, not an imaging tube?

    Buffering the video is using an old crash recorder trick.

    I’m interested in how it performs…

  7. Seems pretty slick, but then again I’m a sucker for gadgets. Does it have range finding and wind reading capabilites on board, or does the user plug that in?

  8. No thermal vision overlay, or meld?

    The sensors are cheap and available enough to be on cell phones.

    http://www.catphones.com/en-us/phones/s60-smartphone

    IIRC, someone’s releasing one in a 1″ tube around $700. Not sure of it’s ruggedized or not, But I’m sure some optics company will deliver one at around $1K pricepoint. FLIR (the company) already has a ruggedized small-sized scope, but they’re still too expensive $3500..

    http://www.flir.com/hunting-outdoor/display/?id=62677

  9. Would be amazing if in like 10 years these were as common as aimpoints and for like $400… Gotta start somewhere though.

    • 2-3 years, tops. FLIR has a factory in China – since you (by law) have a Chinese partner – all your proprietary tech goes right out the door. Or over the web, whatever.

      FLIR has a new series of low-cost heads the call Boson. I guarantee at least 2 Chinese companies are preparing to crank them out at half the price. Part of the savings will be quality, but most will be never having to do R&D.

      Prepare for the explosion of devices offering high-quality thermal imaging for relative chump change. That Cat phone? $699 and much tougher than an iPhone for that money.. Early adopters have had this stuff for a year or so with add-ons for cell-phones and such.

  11. I’m interested. especially if it can handle something with some stout recoil. Looking forward to the review.

  13. About 2 months ago, a spokesperson from atn came to my sporting goods store with some of the scopes which i was allowed to look through. And i will have you know that i would get one of these over vortex any day of the week.

  14. At 2lbs, I’ll wait for a lighter version. I suspect it is an excellent product, but want one for a light stalking rifle.

  15. This is why I bought a cheap DIY NV setup, 1) I’m a cheap bastard 😀 and 2) Digital NV technology is going to advance at the speed of smartphones from a few years ago or digital cameras 10-15 years ago. Unless I used the NV every month it just wouldn’t be worth it for me to buy something that will be obsolete in 2 years. For all those people buying and using NV today, thank you, you are the reason this tech is getting so much more affordable.

  16. Atn is absolute trash. A sucker and there money are easily parted. There nv gear is way over priced and under performs. Do not waste your soon to be Harriet tub man’s on there Chinese made trash

  17. Sheesh. And piggies are mostly active at night? I may need one of these, Texas may need hundreds, I fear we’re losing to the hogs.

    Spellcheck just changed “losing” to “loosing”, I noticed and changed it back. Why do we have people producing spellchecks, if they cannot spell? I have also seen “led” (past tense of verb lead) changed to “lead”, whether the metal or present tense I dunno, but why not leave it alone?

    • “loosing” can be a word, maybe – “gerund or present participle: loosing”:

      loose
      lo͞os/
      verb
      gerund or present participle: loosing

      set free; release.
      “the hounds have been loosed”
      synonyms: free, set free, unloose, turn loose, set loose, let loose, let go, release; More
      untie, unchain, unfasten, unleash
      “loose the dogs”
      antonyms: confine
      untie; unfasten.
      “the ropes were loosed”
      relax (one’s grip).
      “he loosed his grip suddenly”
      synonyms: relax, slacken, loosen; weaken, lessen, reduce, diminish, moderate
      “the fingers loosed their hold”
      antonyms: tighten

      Origin
      Middle English loos ‘free from bonds,’ from Old Norse lauss, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German los .
      Translate loosing to
      Use over time for: loosing

  18. Thanks for your nice sharing. I also want one. I read on this topic in a site. Their website translator site leads little information on this topic. I was not satisfied but now i am. Anyone here got a first hand review.
    If you want you can visit their site for more information.

    Thanks again……………

  19. I am an X-sight 2 (3-14)owner. Not satisfied and much so.
    Features as advertised does not exist on my scope, and that is not just mine.
    This includes the so called “Smart shooting solution”. This is the little icon just right of the SD card icon on the pig photo. So does the bluetooth icon also not exist, and yes,i know have to switch those functions on. IT DOES NOT EXIST even with firmware 2.1.03.554.
    This render the ballistic calculation and reticle adjustment useless. You can enter what you like for ballistic data. IT DOES NOT WORK
    It is just a movie-photo camera on your rifle with all sorts of gauges that play no role in helping with accuracy. Apart from the reticle on the scope you can just as well mount a GO-PRO.

    Read rededit, atnowners forum and there is actually more on the XS 2 to read as you may think.
    Think 5 times before you buy and do your research very well.

  20. For those in doubt and has one on a rifle you can test the smart shoot solution.
    Do this. Enter all your ballistic data as accurately as possible. Thus, bullet weight,BC velocity etc. Now zero the rifle at 50m (50m so we can assume once zeroed the next shot will cut the zeroed shot) Right test it and yes, nice shot, you made the cut. Zero is good.
    Now change the ballistic data and shoot a shot at the zero point. OOps you have shot the same cut again. Rifle remained zeroed with changed parameters. Makes you think.
    Or zero at 50m and shoot at 150m or 200m: Hmmf, 25mm low from aim point. WTF
    Apart from, I would like to see a X-sight with a 1.5inch sight height.

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