Miniature reflex sights are becoming more popular these days, and it’s easy to see why…
They’re being mounted on pistol slides because they help you shoot faster and more accurately, and they even have a role as a super compact sight on carbines as well…
And because they’re so popular, more and more companies are starting to produce these mini red dots…
Two of the companies that seem to be getting things right when it comes to optics are Holosun and Vortex, and right now, two of their most popular models for this style of sight are…
- The Holosun 507c (Check Price On Amazon – Over 415 Reviews)
- The Vortex Venom (Check Price On Amazon – Over 2,560 Reviews)
So in this Holosun 507c vs Vortex Venom comparison, we’re going to put these two little optics up against each other and see how they stack up in the following 6 categories…
- Durability And Toughness
- Lens Clarity And Reticle
- Size Comparison
- Battery Life And Brightness Settings
- Extra Accessories Included With The Optic
- Price Comparison
In the end, I’ll tell you if I personally prefer the 507c or the Venom, and you should have a clear idea as to which one will work best for you…
Let’s start by taking a look at the durability of these two little red dot sights…
Durability And Toughness…
Holosun 507c
The Holosun 507c is a very durable little optic. For starters, the sight housing is made from 7075 T6 Aluminum, so it’s very robust…
And it also has an anodized finish which will help protect the optic from the elements. In addition to that, the windage and elevation turrets are recessed into the sight housing…
So they can never be bumped or snapped off accidentally. The 507c is also waterproof in up to 1 meter of water. So it can easily handle rainy, snowy, and wet conditions…
And its also shock proof, so it can withstand the beating that an optic takes when its mounted on a pistol slide…
All in all, the Holosun 507c is built like a tank with a thick aluminum sight housing, and it really inspires a lot of confidence in terms of how robust the optic is.
Vortex Venom
The Vortex Venom is also a pretty tough little optic. It has a sight housing that is constructed out of a high-quality aluminum, and it also has a matte anodized finish that will help protect it from the elements…
The windage and elevation turrets on the Venom are also recessed into the sight housing. So they can never be accidentally snapped off…
And it’s also waterproof. So it can handle rainy conditions without any issues at all. On top of that, the Venom is also shockproof and can handle being mounted on a pistol slide…
And it has a tough, scratch resistant coating on the lens, which Vortex calls ArmorTek. All in all, the Venom is also a pretty durable miniature reflex sight…
Durability And Toughness Conclusions…
Alright, so on paper both of these sights have a lot in common when it comes to their construction. They are both made from high quality aluminum….
They are both anodized. They’re both waterproof and shockproof, and they both have windage and elevation turrets that are recessed into the sight housing…
The big difference is in the amount of material used in the sight housing. As I mentioned above, the Holosun 507c has a very thick sight housing, and it really is built like a tank…
It also has a reputation as one of the toughest miniature reflex sights you can get…
On the other hand, the Vortex Venom has a much thinner aluminum housing and doesn’t have the reputation for durability that the Holosun has. So in this category, the clear winner is the Holosun 507c…
Winner: Holosun 507c
Lens Clarity And Reticle…
Holosun 507c
The Holosun 507c has a very clear lens. It doesn’t have much of a distinct blue tint the way some other optics do (like the Trijicon RMR), and overall, you get a very clean sight picture when looking through the optic…
Now as for the reticle, the 507c has a feature called the MRS or Multiple Reticle System. Basically, this feature means that you get 3 different reticles that you can choose between on your optic (the Holosun 407c just has 1 reticle). The 3 reticles are…
- A 2 MOA dot with a 32 MOA ring surrounding it (The Holosun Circle Dot)
- A 2 MOA dot
- A 32 MOA Ring with no dot in the center
Let’s start by discussing the 2 MOA (minute of angle) dot with a 32 MOA ring surrounding it, which is also called the Holosun Circle Dot Reticle…
I love it… It’s pretty much my favorite reticle on this style of optic because it does everything well…
The big 32 MOA ring is very quick for your eye to pick up which translates to you shooting faster, but at the same time you still have that small 2 MOA dot in the center…
…which gives you precision when you’re aiming at small targets or targets that are off in the distance.
So I think it’s the best of both worlds, and I really like it. That being said, you also get the 2 MOA dot option, which I also like…
This is a great option if you want to keep things simple because your eye can still pick up the dot pretty quickly, and you still have that small 2 MOA dot aiming point…
Last, you get the 32 MOA ring with no dot in the center option. Personally this is my least favorite option, but a lot of folks out there really like it…
It’s very fast because your eye picks up the 32 MOA ring very quickly, but because there is no dot in the center, you’re able to see your entire target…
In the end, all 3 reticle choices that come with the MRS have their strengths and weaknesses, but as I said my favorite is the Circle Dot reticle.
One last detail I want to mention in this category is that you can get the 507c with a red reticle or with a green reticle (the green dot model is called the HE507C-GR)…
Personally, I prefer the red version because, for me, it catches my eye just a little bit quicker, but that being said, there are a lot of shooters out there who really like the green dot version.
Vortex Venom
The Vortex Venom also has a very clear lens, and just as with the Holosun 507c, it allows you to get a very clean sight picture when looking through the optic…
Now as for the reticle on the Venom, there are actually 2 different versions of the optic that you can choose between…
You can get the model with a 3 MOA red dot reticle or the model with a 6 MOA dot reticle…
Personally, I prefer the 3 MOA dot version of the Venom because I feel like my eye catches the reticle quickly enough, and the smaller dot gives you a liittle bit more precision for small targets and targets at further distances…
But the 6 MOA dot is also a good size reticle for a pistol optic because it’s probably just a little bit easier for your eye to pick up…
The downside is that you lose a little bit of precision with the larger MOA dot, but again for a pistol optic, I don’t think that’s the end of the world…
Many people actually like using 6 MOA dot reticles in handgun competitions. So there really is an element of personal preference when it comes to your reticle size.
Lens Clarity And Reticle Conclusions…
So in this category, we have some major differences between these two sights…
First of all, they both have pretty a pretty clear lens that allows you to acquire a clean sight picture, but they’re very different when it comes to their reticles…
I prefer the MRS system that comes on the Holosun 507c over either of the 2 fixed reticle options that come on the Vortex Venom…
It just gives you more flexibility in terms of the reticle you choose to run, and it’s all built into the same optic…
On top of that, my personal favorite reticle for this style of optic is the Circle Dot Reticle. So I’m going to give the win in this category to the 507c…
Winner: Holosun 507c
Size Comparison…
Holosun 507c
The Holosun 507c is pretty standard in size when it comes to miniature reflex sights (if you’re looking for a smaller sight for a single stack concealed carry gun, you’ll want something smaller like the Holosun 507k model)…
That being said, the 507c has a height that measures in at 1.54 inches, a width that measures in at 1.24 inches, and a length that measures in at 1.78 inches…
In addition to that, the 507c weighs in at only 1.5 ounces. So it’s pretty lightweight.
Vortex Venom
The Vortex Venom is a similar size to the 507c, but it does have different dimensions…
The height on the Venom measures in at 1.02 inches. The width measures in at 1.11 inches, and the length measures in at 1.9 inches…
In addition to that, the Venom weighs in at only 1.1 ounces.
Size Comparison Conclusions…
As I mentioned earlier the Holosun 507c has a more beefy sight housing. So it is a little bit taller and wider than the Vortex Venom…
However, the 507c is a bit shorter than the Venom in terms of length. In addition to that, the Venom is also just a little bit lighter than the 507c when it comes to weight…
The fact that the 507c is shorter overall makes it tempting for me to call it a draw in this category, but in the end, I’m going give the slight win here to the Venom because it’s smaller in every other dimension…
Winner: Vortex Venom
Battery Life And Brightness Settings…
Holosun 507c
The Holosun 507c uses one CR1632 battery which can power the sight for up to 50,000 hours (when the optic is on setting 6)…
That’s several years worth of battery life, which I think is fantastic! I think super long battery life like this is a must have on a red dot optic…
…because I’ve had red dots die on me at the range before (which is pretty annoying), but more importantly, you don’t want your optic dying on you if you ever need to use it in a defensive situation.
With 50,000 hours worth of battery life, thats very unlikely to happen, especially if you swap out your battery once a year, which is what most people usually recommend…
Speaking of swapping out batteries, the 507c has a side loading battery tray. This is actually a very important feature for me because it means you can replace your battery without taking the sight off of your gun…
With other optics you’ll have to remove the entire optic from your gun, replace your battery, re-mount your optic, and then re-zero your optic…
That ends up being a huge hassle just to change out the battery, and luckily with the new versions of the 507c, its just a quick and easy battery change on the side of the optic…
Now on top of that long battery life, the 507c also has something called the Shake Awake feature. Basically, this means that your sight will automatically turn off after a period of non use, and it will automatically turn on as soon as it senses any motion at all…
I love this feature because it saves your battery life even more, but at the same time, your optic is always ready to go because it will turn on as soon as you touch your gun…
Another cool feature that you get with the 507c is the addition of the Solar Panel. This is a really cool feature because you can actually run the sight even without a battery as long as you have some sunlight to power it…
And the reticle will automatically adjust to the brightness conditions that you find yourself in when you’re using the solar power setting too.
Now as for the brightness settings, you get 10 daylight brightness settings and 2 night vision settings. The daylight brightness settings get very bright…
So you shouldn’t have any problems with your reticle washing out even on a sunny day, and even though most people won’t use the 2 NV settings…
… some people with NV equipment will take advantage of them, and they don’t cost you anything extra. Last, the newer models of the 507c (the HS507C X2) feature a Lock Mode…
The Lock Mode means that you can lock up the brightness settings on your sight, so that even if some of the buttons get accidentally pushed as you carry your gun around…
… the brightness setting that you chose, will stay locked in. So again, you wont have any surprises if you ever need to use your gun in a life or death scenario…
All in all, I love the value that you get with the Holosun. It really is packed with a ton of useful features, and many of those features can’t even be found on more expensive miniature reflex sights.
Vortex Venom
The Vortex Venom uses 1 CR2032 battery which is able to power the sight for 30,000 hours on the lower settings and 150,000 hours on the higher settings…
That’s awesome because once again, you’re getting years worth of battery life out of your optic, which as I mentioned before is a must-have feature for me…
Now the Vortex Venom is set up to have its battery changed from the top of the optic. This is a great feature as well because once again, you do not need to remove your optic from your gun just to swap out the battery…
So again, you get to avoid the hassle of removing your optic, changing out the battery, re-mounting you optic and then re-zeroing the optic…
Another cool feature included with the Venom is the auto-brightness mode which means that your sight uses a sensor to determine the ambient brightness around you, and it will adjust the reticle brightness to the appropriate setting…
I like this feature, but if you’d prefer to adjust your brightness setting manually, you can program your sight to adjust manually as well…
Now with the Venom you get 10 daylight brightness settings. Once again, the settings get very bright, and you won’t have problems with your dot washing out on a sunny day.
There are no NV brightness setting included with the Vortex Venom, but I don’t really think thats a big deal because most people would never end up using them anyway.
Battery Life And Brightness Settings Conclusions…
Alright, so here we have some more major differences between these two sights…
Both of them have super long battery life, but I think the 507c blows away the Venom in terms of other features…
I mean, you get the Shake Awake feature, th Solar Panel, the Lock Mode feature, and NV settings on the 507c…
None of those features are found on the Venom. So the clear winner in this category is the Holosun 507c…
Winner: Holosun 507c
Extra Accessories Included With The Optic…
Holosun 507c
The Holosun 507c comes with some pretty cool accessories. You get the usual items that come with an optic such as a battery, a lens cloth, and a battery tray tool…
But in addition to that, you get a low picatinny rail mount. This is a cool addition, and I’ll explain why in just a moment…
First, I should let you know that the Holosun 507c footprint is the same as the footprint on the Trijicon RMR…
To me this is a really important (and desirable) feature of the 507c because the Trijicon RMR footprint is the most common footprint out there for this style of optic…
Many aftermarket handgun slides are already cut for the RMR, and many handguns that come from the factory set up for an optic will include a plate that will allow you to mount an RMR. So the 507c will work with all of those options, which is very, very cool…
It’s also important because it means that you will have a ton of options when it comes to mounting your optic even if it’s on a carbine or a .22 rifle or any other type of gun, and it’s not gonna end up being a huge hassle just to get your sight set up the way you want it…
Now back to the included mount, I like that they’ve included it because, as I just mentioned, not everyone wants to mount their mini reflex sight on a handgun slide…
Some guys like mounting them on shotguns, pistol caliber carbines, and small personal defense weapons too…
So if that’s the case for you, you won’t have to go searching around for a mount (unless you want to) and end up spending more money, just to get your sight mounted.
Vortex Venom
The Vortex Venom also comes with some pretty cool accessories. Again, you get a battery and a lens cloth…
But just like with the Holosun 507c, you get a low mount, so you’ll be able to mount your optic on a shotgun, a pistol caliber carbine, or a personal defense weapon right out of the box…
Again, I really like that Vortex includes the low mount, and I think it offers you a lot of value. Another cool accessory that you get with the Venom is a protective rain cover, which will come in handy if you want to add a bit more protection for your optic when you’re not using it…
Now I mentioned earlier that the Holosun 507c comes with the same footprint as the Trijicon RMR. Unfortunately (in my opinion) the Vortex Venom has its own footprint…
It’s not the end of the world, because the Venom is a popular optic, so the aftermarket has responded with many Venom compatible options…
And handguns that are cut for optics from the factory usually come with a plate that will allow you to mount the Venom…
But that being said, the Venom footprint is nowhere near as common and the RMR footprint. So aftermarket support for mounting your Venom is much more limited.
Extra Accessories Conclusions…
In this category, we have a few more important differences between these two sights. First of all, they both come with a battery, a lens cloth, and a low mount, which is awesome…
But the venom also comes with a protective rain cover. I think that’s cool, but honestly, I usually just rely on the durability of the optic as protection, so it’s not that important to me…
What is much more important is the ability to easily mount your sight, and the 507c comes with the RMR footprint…
The RMR/507c footprint is way more common than the Venom footprint, and that means that the 507c is going to be much easier to mount…
So because of that, I give the edge in this category to the Holosun 507c…
Winner: Holosun 507c
Price Comparison…
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to give you exact numbers in this category because the prices of these sights are known to change as the market fluctuates…
But with that being said, you’ll usually find that the Holosun 507c is around 50 to 60 bucks more expensive than the Vortex Venom…
That’s not a huge amount of difference in my opinion, but it could be a significant amount of money for you if you’re trying to save some cash…
So if you’re on a budget, just know that the Venom is going to be the less expensive option for you.
Winner: Vortex Venom
Holosun 507c Vs Vortex Venom – Final Thoughts…
So in the end, in the Durability And Toughness category, both optics are made from high quality materials, but the Holosun 507c is one of the toughest miniature reflex sights out there, so it was the clear winner…
In the Lens Clarity And Reticle category, both optics have a very clear lens that gives you a clean sight picture…
But the Holosun 507c has the MRS with 3 reticle choices, and the Vortex Venom is limited to a fixed reticle. So I gave the win here to the 507c…
In the Size Comparison, I gave the slight win to the Venom because it has a shorter height and width than the 507c, and it’s also just a tiny bit more lightweight…
In the Battery Life And Brightness Settings category, both sights have super long battery life and their batteries can be changed without removing the sight from your gun…
…but the 507c is packed with features such as the Shake Awake feature, the Lock Mode feature, and the Solar Panel. So it was the clear winner once again.
In the Extra Accessories category, both sights come with a low mount for a picatinny rail, but the 507c has the same footprint as the Trijicon RMR which is more common than the Vortex Venom footprint. So again, I gave the win to the 507c…
And last in the Price Comparison, the Venom is around 50 to 60 dollars less expensive than the 507c…
So which of these sights do I prefer? I prefer the Holosun 507c…
I prefer the Holosun 507c for a few reasons. First of all, the 507c is incredibly durable. It’s simply gonna hold up better than the Vortex Venom when it’s put under tough use…
In addition to that, I love that you get 3 reticle choices with the Multiple Reticle System, and in particular, the Circle Dot Reticle is awesome…
…because it allows you to shoot very fast, but still gives you a lot of precision with the 2 MOA dot in the center.
I also love that you get the Shake Awake feature with the 507c because it helps save your battery, but also keeps your optic ready to go at all times…
And the Solar Panel is cool because it will help you extend your battery life as well and back up your optic if it does run out of batteries…
I also really like the Lock Mode feature too because it prevents your brightness settings from being accidentally changed from where you want them…
And last, I love that the 507c uses the Trijicon RMR footprint because that means it’ll be very easy to mount, and you’ll have a ton of aftermarket support for your optic as well…
Now if you’re happy with a little bit less durable sight because it’s just for fun at the range, and you don’t mind the fixed reticle options…
Then feel free to go with the Vortex Venom because it’s still a pretty good optic…
But I definitely favor the Holosun 507c because it gives you a much more robust sight and a ton of cool and useful features.