New Product Highlight: Vortex Defender & Venom Enclosed Pistol Red Dots
Vortex is entering the enclosed pistol red dot market with Defender and Venom optics. Catch the details here.
PPT Editor. Marine vet, hunter, and long-range shooter. Articles in 10+ major publications
We review products independently. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a commission to help support our testing. Learn more.
We’ve been big fans of the Vortex Defender line of pistol optics since they launched, and now we have not one but two enclosed options on the menu.
The Vortex Defender enclosed solar micro red dots carry on the Defender tradition, with advanced features and rugged durability.
The Vortex Venom enclosed solar micro red dots bring the price down significantly for shooters on a budget.
I got my hands on one of each, so let’s take a closer look!
Vortex Defender Specs & Features
Specs
- Reticle: Red multi reticle (3-MOA dot, 32-MOA ring)
- Brightness Settings: 10 daytime, 2 night vision
- Mounting Footprint: Shield RMS (Defender-CCW), DeltaPoint Pro (Defender-ST)
- Battery: CR2032
- Weight: 1.3 oz (Defender-CCW), 1.62 oz (Defender-ST)
- Country of Origin: China
- MSRP: $299 (Defender-CCW), $379 (Defender-ST)
Features
- Solar power
- Multi reticle
- Right-side battery compartment
- Left-side buttons
- Hardware and tools included
New to the Defender line of duty-grade optics are enclosed versions of the Defender-CCW and Defender-ST.
The big change is the enclosed emitter. This style is popular with people who are concerned about debris getting onto the optic and obscuring an exposed emitter.
The enclosed Defender-CCW and Defender-ST also get a new multi-reticle that lets you choose a 3-MOA dot, a 32-MOA ring, or both.
Both enclosed Defenders feature 10 daylight brightness settings and two for night vision. The open-emitter Defender-CCW has eight daytime settings and two for night vision.
There’s a solar panel up top that automatically takes over for the CR2032 battery when adequate sunlight is available, dramatically increasing battery run time – up to 150,000 hours!
Button placement is a personal choice, but I appreciate having both on the left side. The right side of the optic houses the battery compartment.
Familiar features include Fast-Rack texture on the front of the optic housing, 10-minute automatic shutoff and motion activation, button lockout, and a parallax-free window with excellent glass.
The Defender-CCW uses the Shield RMS footprint and the Defender-ST uses the DeltaPointPro footprint. All mounting hardware, tools, and instructions are in the box.
Vortex lists an MSRP of $399 for the Defender-CCW and $529 for the Defender-ST enclosed solar micro red dots.
Vortex Venom Specs & Features
Specs
- Reticle: 3-MOA red dot, 6-MOA red dot
- Brightness Settings: 10 daytime, 2 night vision
- Mounting Footprint: DeltaPoint Pro
- Battery: CR2032
- Weight: 1.75 oz
- Country of Origin: China
- MSRP: $199
Features
- Top buttons
- Motion activation and auto-shutoff
- Hardware and tools included
Looking for something more affordable? Shortly after the enclosed Defenders launched, Vortex followed up with a Venom enclosed micro red dot. Looks kind of familiar, doesn’t it?
Vortex kept the price affordable by skipping the Fast-Rack texture, multi-reticle, and solar panel.
You still get 10-minute automatic shutoff and motion activation, your choice of a 3-MOA or 6-MOA red dot reticle, button lockout, and an aspherical lens.
The Venom is meant for full-size pistols, so it uses the DeltaPoint Pro footprint like the Defender-ST and a CR2032 battery.
As always, tools, hardware, and instructions are included.
Vortex lists an MSRP of $289 for the Venom enclosed micro red dot.
What do you think of the new, enclosed Vortex Defender-CCW and Venom pistol red dots? Let us know below. For more great red dots, check out our guide to the Best Enclosed Emitter Pistol Optics!