MonstrumAres Open Reflex Red Dot Sight for Rifles and Long Guns | with Shake Awake Illumination

I plan to keep this review updated.Current Summary (updated 12/15/24): 5 Stars- Once you put the battery in (+ up) securely, *then* begin to adjust brightness using the Increase button. It takes several iterations to get the brightness to be visible indoors!- Mounts solidly. Contains all the subcomponents and items it should. Controls work, primary functions appear to work (hold of zero undetermined).- Auto Off Works. Shake Awake works. The sensors are very sensitive, and don't *appear* to work.- Works well in "cold" weather.- (Range Test and Initial Zero Hold): Still pending.- (Zero after 500 rounds): Still pending.LOG:12/15/24 I was hoping for subzero temps. The best I was able to find outdoors was 12-16 degrees F.At T minus 72h I placed the device in my home freezer (19 F).At T minus 8h I placed the device and a digital thermometer outside. I turned the device ON. At the time I placed the device it was 14 F.At Validation time, the temp was 15 F, and the Ares switched on as I picked up the thermometer to read it (Shake Awake is sensitive). "Cold" weather test OK (which is a credit to the battery and the device), but I'm hoping someone will test the Ares in subzero F!12/2/24 After a failure with initial testing of AO/SA, I grabbed a second unit and put on a shelf in a corner. The Shake Awake is even more sensitive than the Sig Romeo 5 - the slightest vibration resets the Auto Off/Wakes the sight. After this revelation, I discovered the first sight *also* had functional, though sensitive AO/SA.12/1/24: Auto Off does not seem to work, so it is difficult to make a precise statement on Shake Awake, unless the threshold for Shake Awake (vibration/motion) is absurdly low OR the timeframe for Auto Off is absurdly long. Monstrum reports Auto Off at 1h. I placed the optic, mounted, standing in a vice, on a table and turned the optic to ON with the keypad. I could see the reticle from over 6 feet away - the idea was to isolate the optic from vibration after failed attempts to observe Auto Off. I then checked the reticle every 30 minutes for 2.5h. It remained On. I then extended the pause for 8.5 h. Still On after 11h total. As a result of these experiments, and that Monstrum advertises Shake Awake when there is no Shake Awake, I still give 5 stars, because I can only give 5 stars. It is a $29.99 Optic that is otherwise solid, or potentially so!Initial Review: 5 Stars*** I thought it was a DUD: It turned out that the initial brightness is VERY LOW. Keep elevating brightness after the battery is installed (+ side UP)! ***This Open Reflex Red Dot with Shake Awake is priced competitively with the BB gun/Airsoft items. My purchase was $29.99.Mine came with [2] cleaning cloths, [1] battery (CR 2032?) and all the wrenches/gizmos necessary to attach to a firearm.The rest of this review is *relative* to the very capable and much more expensive Sig Romeo MSR.TLDR: The Sig MSR and Monstrum ARES are both very capable not-warfighter red dot sights. There are very real differences between these two products (TX CAPITALISM!) and many more distinctions-without-a-difference. I can, and did, purchase [3] ARES sights for the same price I (happily) purchased a discounted MSR. I do not YET know if the ARES will hold zero - the MSR absolutely does.- Both sights have good warranties, and I've used both a SIG and Monstrum warranties.- Both sights use Torx wrenches for fitment. The MSR Torx is way cooler as it also has the flat driver needed for elevation and windage adjustment. The Ares uses the same Torx for W/E adj. The Ares attaches to the pic rail with two bolts, and two indexing surfaces for the pic rail 'valleys'. The MSR has one bolt and a spring loaded clamp. Both mount solidly.- Both are quite aesthetically pleasing, and solidly overbuilt, although in very different ways. The MSR looks like a deadly dieselpunk artifact, with turrets and a skeletonized riser. The Ares looks like it is Starfleet Marines kit.- Both have absolute co-witness on Milspec ARs, both work exceptionally well in bright light (MSR is tube-style), Ares has a *laser* diode (vs LED). What I don't know is if one is brighter than the other in an extreme situation I am unlikely to face at the local marksmanship range.- Both are IPX-7 for fog/water resistance.- Both have 2 MOA dots; the Ares complements the 2 MOA dot with a bull ring and crosshairs.- Both are a bit fidgety to dial in brightness - the Ares seems like it is OFF at lower illumination. The MSR, with an analog dial lets you know otherwise, but the dial is very firm.- Both are intended for 100-ish m. The Ares, with the ring and crosshair provides an index for Kentucky elevation at greater ranges, lacking on the MSR. Below 100m it is preference (some might find the Ares reticle distracting, some might have difficulty using the MSR dot under stress).- Ares has 'shake awake' illumination, MSR does not (the Sig Romeo 5, at 20% more than the MSR and 400% more than the Ares, does). The Ares uses a much more common battery (CR 2032) than the MSR's (CR1632). I do not know which battery will last longer in practical usage.- The MSR does come with see through lens caps, which are also semi-integral, quick to deploy (and fidgety to close). The Ares does not. A rubber band and a plastic bag on the Ares serves as a field expedient solution for those who need to protect their IPX7-rated sights.- The MSR holds zero, rock solid, over hundreds of rounds (and my ROMEO5, over thousands). I'll report back on the ARES once I have the real-world practical experience.

Perfect height for adding a reflex sight to a picatinny rail. It is easy to co witness with pop up sights. Long life means you can leave it on and not worry about it being either dead or off when you grab the gun. I have put this on several pistol carbines and am fairly pleased with the quality. One thing I have noticed after mounting several of these is the brighness of the reticle is not uniform. Half the reticle is a little brighter than the other half.

Really good. Love the product

Better than expected...

First I haven't got a lot of time as of yet but will update with progression.The fit and finish are top notch even on par with much higher priced units like eotech and holosun.the controls are very easy to manipulate and are quite intuitive in their function.The reticles defentley gets daylight bright and also checked the low brightness settings which where not visible to the naked eye in a dark environment , but functioned flawlessly when viewed thru my pvs-31 nvg .it didn't say in description or online but center dot is 2 moa with an 68 moa outer ring which is the same as eotech and numerous other optics the reticle is clean and has very good definition and sharpness.I 100% RECOMEND THIS SIGHT.no it's not an eotech but the price differences,unless you an operatorand using it for deploymentsthis fits the bill perfectly and will work for anybody wants to use it on the range home defense or any other use it's greatare their any drawbacks not really would love for it to have a protective hood and a button for nvg useI own countless monstrum tatical products and their customer service is top notch and without the big price tag you reciever a lifetime warranty.

The sight will not hold it's zero and needed to be adjusted to keep it on target.

Solid budget optic. Its an open emitter, but the glass is nice. Good eye relief. I cant get mine to shut down automatucally, but the shake awake works. I have this mounted on an ARP. It has held zero.pretty solid construction, ive beat on it, too!

My Monstrum Ares Open Reflex Red Dot Sight, is perfect! Some folks are 'optics snobs', and won't use anything but the high end scopes. I have awakened in the past year, to the fact that the average person does not have to spend $1,000+, to buy an EXCELLENT SCOPE OR RED DOT SIGHT. Monstrum scopes are VERY affordable, and of excellent quality... sturdy metal, flawless glass and reticle. with easy adjustments.Back to my Monstrum Ares Open Reflex Red Dot Sight in particular... the above applies to this red dot also. It is well constructed, yet light weight, has 8 reticle types, and 11 levels of brightness, and adjustments are very easy to make. And like all Monstrum products, it has a LIFETIME WAARRANTY! If you are reading this, you are obviously looking for a red dot sight, and I STRONGLY recommend the Monstrum Ares Open Reflex Red Dot Sight! Why spend $350 on a Holosun or Vortex red dot, when you can have a Monstrum Ares Open Reflex Red Dot Sight for <$35?