Pistols with red dots mounted on them have really started to become popular in recent years…
The reason why is that more and more, gun companies are offering handguns that are cut (from the factory) for use with optics…
And the truth is that most people (as long as your marksmanship fundamentals are squared away) can shoot their pistol faster and more accurately with an optic…
Right now, two of the most popular options when it comes to miniature reflex sights (pistol red dot sights) are:
- The Trijicon RMR (Check Price On Amazon – Over 250 Reviews)
- The Vortex Venom (Check Price On Amazon – Over 800 Reviews)
So in this RMR Vs Venom comparison, we’re going to examine how these two pistol red dots stack up against each other in the following categories…
- Toughness And Durability
- Lens Clarity And Reticle
- Battery Life And Brightness Settings
- Extra Accessories Included With The Sight
- Price Comparison
In the end, I’ll tell you which of these two sights I prefer, and you should have all the information you need to determine which of these optics will work best for you…
Let’s get started!
Durability And Toughness…
Trijicon RMR
The Trijicon RMR is a very durable red dot sight. Trijicon has a reputation for making some of the toughest optics in the world (even for the US military)…
…and RMR actually stands for Ruggedized Miniature Reflex sight. Now the RMR Type 1 did have some problems when mounted on pistol slides.
It had an unsecure battery connection, and because of that, it was common for the reticle to flicker on and off intermittently due to the force of the slide reciprocating.
Those problems have been completely eliminated by the Trijicon RMR Type 2 which is able to easily handle the recoil from high powered rifles, shotguns, pistol caliber carbines, or pistol slides…
Now the sight housing on the RMR is made from a military-grade aluminum alloy and the windage and elevation turrets are recessed into the sight housing…
To me, this is an important feature because it means the adjustment turrets can never be snapped off or spun accidentally, which is something that can happen with some other red dot sights.
Last, Trijicon puts multiple coatings on the lens of the RMR to make it scratch-resistant, and for such a small optic, it really is built like a tank and has a long track record of success behind it.
Vortex Venom
The Vortex Venom is also a very tough miniature reflex sight. To start off with, the sight housing is made from high-quality aluminum, and just as with the RMR…
…the windage and elevation adjustments are recessed into the sight housing. In addition to that, the Venom is O-ring sealed and waterproof…
And because it’s shockproof, it can easily handle the recoil from high-powered rifles, shotguns, pistol caliber carbines, and pistol slides.
Last, the lens is toughened up by a special coating that Vortex calls ArmorTek, which makes it scratch-resistant, and even though it doesn’t have the track record of the RMR, it’s a pretty durable sight.
Durability And Toughness Conclusions…
Even though both of these sights are made from high-quality materials, the RMR’s reputation and long track record for durability come into play here.
In addition to that, the protection around the lens is more rugged on the RMR than the Venom… So in this category, I’m going to give the win to the Trijicon RMR.
Winner: Trijicon RMR
Lens Clarity And Reticle…
Trijicon RMR
The Trijicon RMR lens clarity is very good. You do get a slightly bluish tint when looking through the optic, but Trijicon says this gives you better contrast (which there is some truth to)…
…and you still get a very clean sight picture. As for the reticle, there are two different models of the RMR that you can choose between.
There is a 3.25 MOA (Minute Of Angle) dot reticle model, and a 6.5 MOA dot reticle model. Personally, I prefer the smaller 3.25 dot reticle for a pistol red dot sight like this…
…because it’s large enough for you to pick up (with your eye) very quickly, but at the same time, it’s small enough that it allows you to aim precisely at smaller targets or targets that are off in the distance.
The 6.5 MOA dot reticle can still work well, but again, I just prefer the precision of the smaller 3.25 MOA dot.
Vortex Venom
The Vortex Venom lens clarity is also very good. Again, you get a slightly bluish tint when looking through the sight, but it’s not very distracting and you still get a very clean sight picture.
Just like with the RMR, there are two models of the Vortex Venom and the one you get is based on the size of the reticle you prefer.
There is a 3 MOA dot reticle model and a 6 MOA dot reticle model. Again, I prefer the 3 MOA dot reticle over the 6 MOA dot because I feel it’s just as fast but more precise.
Lens Clarity And Reticle Conclusions…
Both of these sights have very good lens clarity and give you a clean sight picture with a slightly bluish tint, so they’re pretty even in that respect.
In addition to that, both have two models to choose from based on the size of the reticle you prefer…
Again, in both cases I prefer the smaller 3 MOA or 3.25 MOA dot because they are more precise than the larger dots, but still easy to see.
All that being said, there isn’t a lot that separates these two sights in this category, so I’m going to have to call it a draw.
Winner: DRAW
Battery Life And Brightness Settings…
Trijicon RMR
The Trijicon RMR uses one CR2032 battery which powers the sight for up to 4 years…
For me, ultra long battery life is extremely important on a sight like this because it means you can leave your sight turned on all the time.
All you really have to do is remember to swap out your battery once a year, and you can leave your sight turned on and be ready to go in any emergency situations that might pop up.
Now the RMR has 8 daylight brightness settings, 2 night vision settings, and 1 extra bright setting…
The daylight brightness settings give you a clearly visible reticle (even on a bright day), and if the conditions are really bad, you’ve got the extra bright setting.
Also, Trijicon includes an automatic brightness adjustment feature with the RMR. This feature allows the sight to automatically adjust to whatever lighting conditions you find yourself in.
I really like this feature because it helps you get a crisp and clear sight picture in any lighting conditions, without having to worry about pressing buttons to get your reticle set on the right level of brightness.
That said, if you don’t like this auto adjust feature you can turn it off, and manually adjust the brightness exactly how you like it.
Last, even though most people won’t use this optic with night vision equipment, some people will, and I like that Trijicon includes the 2 NV settings at no additional cost.
Vortex Venom
The Vortex Venom uses one CR1632 battery, and it’s able to power the sight for 150 hours on the highest brightness setting and 30,000 hours (3 years) on the lowest brightness setting.
That’s not quite as long as the Trijicon RMR, but it’s pretty close, and I think it’s still very adequate battery life. Now with the Vortex Venom you get 10 brightness settings…
There are no night vision settings included, but the higher brightness settings get very bright, and you won’t have any problems seeing your reticle even in very bright conditions.
Just like with the RMR, the Venom includes an auto brightness feature that will adjust the brightness intensity of your reticle to whatever the ambient lighting conditions are.
Again, I like the auto brightness adjustment feature, but if it doesn’t work well for you, it’s easy to swap the sight over to its manual adjustment setting for brightness.
Battery Life And Brightness Settings Conclusions…
Both of these sights have great daylight brightness settings and an automatic brightness adjustment feature. So they’re definitely pretty even in that area.
That being said, the RMR does have night vision brightness settings whereas the Venom does not, and even though that won’t matter to most people, it could be an important factor for some.
In addition to that, the battery life on the Trijicon RMR is better than the Vortex Venom because it gives you 4 years of battery life instead of 3 years.
Now 3 years of battery life is still very good, but in this category I have to give the win to the Trijicon RMR.
Winner: Trijicon RMR
Extra Accessories Included With The Optic…
Trijicon RMR
The standard Trijicon RMR Type 2 doesn’t really come with any extra accessories unless you’re willing to pay a higher price for a sight and mount combination.
To me, that’s not really a problem because I think miniature reflex sights like this are best used on pistols rather than being mounted on rifles like AR-15s or AKs (I prefer micro red dot sights for that)…
And included with most pistols that are cut for optics, you get mounting plates that allow you to mount your red dot directly onto the slide of the gun (so you don’t actually need a mount).
All that being said, it is a little bit disappointing that Trijicon doesn’t include any extra goodies when you purchase a standard Trijicon RMR.
Vortex Venom
The Vortex Venom comes with a couple of pretty cool accessories. First of all, it comes with a protective rain cover…
I like this accessory because I think it’ll come in handy when you want to give a little bit of added protection to your sight.
In addition to that, the Venom comes with a low mount that attaches the sight to a picatinny rail. Now because it’s a low mount, it’s not really useful for mounting this sight on an AR-15…
….but it could be very useful if you wanted to mount this sight onto something like a shotgun, an AK, or a pistol caliber carbine.
Again, I personally wouldn’t mount a mini reflex sight like this on anything other than a pistol, but if you did want to mount this sight onto one of those larger firearms platforms…
…I think it’s pretty cool that a mount is included.
Extra Accessories Conclusions…
The Vortex Venom comes with a rain cover and a low mount, and those two things are included at no additional cost.
The Trijicon RMR comes with no additional accessories unless you’re willing to pay more for a sight and mount combination.
Even though I wouldn’t use a picatinny rail mount with either of these two sights (because for me they are both strictly pistol optics)…
…it’s still nice to get extra goodies included with your sight because things like protective covers and mounts give you more value for your money and more options when it comes to your optic.
So in this category, the clear winner is the Vortex Venom.
Winner: Vortex Venom
Price Comparison…
Unfortunately I won’t be able to give you exact numbers in this section because the prices of these two pistol red dot sights are changing all the time…
That being said, in general, the Vortex Venom is around 200 to 250 bucks less expensive than the Trijicon RMR…
That’s a pretty significant difference, so the clear winner in this category is the Vortex Venom.
Winner: Vortex Venom
RMR Vs Venom – Conclusions…
So to sum it all up, here’s how the categories broke down…
In the Durability and Toughness category, I gave the win to the Trijicon RMR because of its long track record for durability and reliability.
In the Lens Clarity and Reticle category, I called it a draw because these two optics were about the same.
In the Battery Life and Brightness category, I gave the win to the RMR because of it’s longer battery life and NV settings.
In the Extra Accessories category, the Vortex Venom came out on top because it comes with a low mount and a rain cover.
And last in the Price Comparison, the Venom was, again, the clear winner because it’s nearly half the price of the RMR.
So which of these two sights do I prefer? I prefer the Vortex Venom.
I prefer the Vortex Venom (3 MOA dot reticle model) because it has great battery life and gives you a clean sight picture…
It’s also plenty durable (even though it doesn’t have the track record of the RMR) and it comes with some useful accessories (the low mount and the rain cover)…
And don’t forget, it’s around half the price of the RMR!
Now if price isn’t a big factor for you, and you want the toughest mini reflex sight possible, then I recommend you get the Trijicon RMR because it is the more durable option of the two…
Either way, I hope I was able to show you the major differences between these two awesome pistol red dot sights!