There are some really exciting options available these days in the world of micro red dot sights…
They’re exciting because they won’t really cost you a lot of money, but at the same time, they perform at a very high level…
And today we’re going to be comparing 2 very popular options:
- The Sig Sauer Romeo 5 (Check Price On Palmetto State Armory – Over 2,710 Reviews)
- The Vortex SPARC AR (Check Price On Amazon – Over 715 Reviews)
Both of these red dots have a lot to offer, and in this Sig Romeo 5 Vs Vortex SPARC AR comparison we’re going to see how they 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 2 sights I prefer, and you should have all the information you need to determine if either of these red dots are the right optic for you…
Let’s get started!
Durability And Toughness…
Sig Romeo 5
The Sig Romeo 5 is a very durable little red dot sight. To start off with, the sight housing is made from aircraft grade aluminum, and it has an anodized finish that helps protect it from the elements.
In addition to that, the sight housing comes up over the elevation and windage turrets and that protects them from being accidentally snapped off, which is something that can happen with some red dots.
The Romeo5 is also fog proof, shockproof, and waterproof in up to one meter of water, and it will hold up easily if you mount it on a high-powered rifle, a shotgun, or a pistol caliber carbine.
So all in all, I think it’s a very durable micro red dot sight.
Vortex SPARC
The Vortex SPARC AR is also a very durable micro red dot. Once again the sight housing is made from aircraft grade aluminum…
…and just like with the Romeo 5, the sight housing is raised up to protect the windage and elevation turrets from being snapped off accidentally.
It’s also shockproof, fog proof, and waterproof, and it has a rubber cover that also gives the optic a little bit of added protection (it’s removable if you don’t want to use it).
All in all, the SPARC AR is also a very durable red dot sight.
Durability And Toughness Conclusions…
In the end, I think both of these sights are pretty durable… They’re both made from aircraft grade aluminum.
They both have frames that protect the windage and elevation turrets, and they’re both waterproof, fog proof, and shockproof. So in this category, I think we have to call it a draw.
Winner: DRAW
Lens Clarity And Reticle…
Sig Romeo 5
The lens clarity on the Sig Romeo 5 is very good. It gives you a very clear sight picture and you don’t get any of the bluish or greenish tint that you sometimes have with other red dot sights.
In addition to that, the reticle is a simple 2 MOA (Minute Of Angle) dot. I think a 2 MOA dot is a great reticle to have on a red dot sight…
It’s large enough so that you can easily pick it up (with your eye) if you need to make a quick shot, but it’s also small enough so that you can still aim precisely at targets in the distance.
I really like it, and I’m glad that Sig decided to go with a 2 MOA dot rather than a larger 4 MOA or 6 MOA dot on the Romeo 5.
Vortex SPARC
The lens clarity on the Vortex red dot is also very good. Just like with the Romeo 5, the lens is very clear and you don’t have any of that annoying bluish or greenish tint.
Also just like with the Romeo 5, the reticle is a simple 2 MOA dot, and like I’ve already mentioned, I think that’s a great reticle to have on a sight like this because it’s fast, easy-to-use, and precise.
Lens Clarity And Reticle Conclusions…
So once again we have a lot of similarities between these two sights (that makes sense because they are natural competitors in the marketplace)…
Both have a very clear lens, so you can get a good sight picture and both have a simple 2 MOA dot reticle.
In this category they really are neck-and-neck, and even though I don’t want to… I have to call it a draw once again (don’t worry, they won’t all be draws).
Winner: DRAW
Battery Life And Brightness Settings…
Sig Romeo 5
The battery life on the Sig Romeo 5 is really fantastic. It uses one CR2032 battery which is going to last you for 50,000 hours (5 years).
I’m a big fan of ultra long battery life like this on my red dot sights because you don’t want your optic dying on you in the middle of a trip to the range (something I’ve had happen to me with other red dots).
In addition to that, long battery life like this allows you to keep your optic turned on all the time. This is important because if you ever need to use your rifle in an emergency situation…
…you won’t have to fiddle around with buttons trying to turn it on before going out to deal with the threat.
Now in addition to that long battery life, Sig also includes a feature called the MOTAC system, which stands for Motion Activated Illumination.
It basically means that the Sig Romeo 5 will automatically turn off after 120 seconds of non-use, and it will automatically turn on as soon as it senses any motion at all.
I really love this feature because it saves your battery life, which is already very long, even more, and the motion activation is sensitive enough that it will easily turn on if you simply pick up your rifle.
So it’s saving you battery life, and it turns on automatically if you even touch your firearm. I think that’s pretty cool.
Now with the Romeo 5, you get 8 daylight brightness settings and 2 night vision settings for your reticle.
The daylight brightness settings get extremely bright on the higher end, and you won’t have any problems seeing the dot in extremely bright conditions.
For example, I go shooting in the Nevada desert, and the Romeo 5 is very bright even during the summer months.
Also, even though most people won’t use the 2 night vision settings, I do like that they’re included because…
…some people will want to take advantage of them, and they don’t really add any additional cost.
Vortex SPARC
The battery life on the Vortex SPARC is not as impressive as the battery life on the Sig Romeo 5…
First of all, it uses a triple A battery (AAA), which some people will like because it’s a little more common than the CR2032 battery used by the Sig.
And it powers the SPARC for 300 hours on the maximum brightness levels and for 5,000 hours on the lowest brightness setting.
That’s actually very disappointing to me because most red dot sights in this price range offer much longer battery life than that.
Now the SPARC does turn off after 12 hours of non-use which will help you save your battery life, but it’s not a motion activated red dot like the Romeo 5…
…so you’ll have to manually press the buttons to get your sight working again. Last, just like the Sig Romeo, the Vortex SPARC has 8 daylight brightness settings and 2 night vision settings.
Again, the daylight brightness settings get very bright, and I like that the night vision settings are included at no extra cost.
Battery Life And Brightness Settings Conclusions…
As for the brightness settings, these two micro red dots are very similar, but things change very quickly when we start talking about battery life.
The Sig uses a CR2032 battery and the SPARC uses an AAA battery. I prefer the CR2032 battery because it’s lighter and less bulky than the AAA battery used by the Vortex SPARC.
In addition to that, the battery life on the Sig is 50,000 hours as opposed to 5,000 hours (at best) on the Vortex SPARC…
And we can’t forget about the MOTAC system included with a Sig, which will automatically turn the sight off after non-use and automatically turn it on when it senses motion.
All in all, I think the easy winner in this category is the Sig Romeo 5.
Winner: Sig Romeo 5
Extra Accessories Included With The Optic…
Sig Romeo 5
The Sig Romeo 5 comes with a few pretty cool accessories. First of all, you get a bikini style lens cover which you can use when your rifle is being stored.
In addition to that, you also get 2 mounts… a low mount and a high mount.
The high mount is perfect if you intend to use this sight on an AR-15 because it sets you up for a lower 1/3 cowitness with your backup iron sights.
And the low mount will allow you to use the sight on shotguns, AKs, and even on some pistol caliber carbines. So I really like that you get 2 very useful mounts with this optic.
Vortex SPARC
Like I mentioned before, the Vortex SPARC comes with a rubber cover that helps protect the body of the optic, but it also has lens covers attached to it.
I think this is a pretty cool accessory to include with the sight because it offers protection for your lens AND for the sight housing.
In addition to that, you also get a mount with the Vortex SPARC. Now, this sight is officially called the Vortex SPARC AR which means it’s intended to be used on an AR platform rifle…
…and the mount that you get sets you up for either an absolute cowitness or a lower 1/3 cowitness with backup iron sights on an AR-15 (the mount can be adjusted for either type of cowitness you prefer).
Extra Accessories Conclusions…
Both sights come with rubber lens covers, but the Sig comes with 2 mounts as opposed to the 1 mount you get with the Vortex SPARC.
And because having 2 mounts gives you greater flexibility when choosing which firearm to place your sight on, I’m going to give the slight edge in this category to the Sig Romeo 5.
Winner: Sig Romeo 5
Price Comparison…
Unfortunately I won’t be able to give exact numbers in this category because the prices of these optics are changing all the time.
That being said, in general, you’ll find the Sig Romeo to be 20 to 50 bucks less expensive than the Vortex SPARC. So the winner in this category is, again, the Sig Romeo 5.
Winner: Sig Romeo 5
Sig Romeo 5 Vs Vortex Sparc AR – Conclusions…
So to sum it all up, in the Durability and Toughness category both of these sights were neck and neck and we had a draw. In the Lens Clarity And Reticle category we also had a draw.
When we got to the Battery Life And Brightness Settings category the Sig Romeo 5 was the clear winner. Next, the Romeo 5 edged out a slight win in the Extra Accessories category…
…and last, the Sig Romeo 5 won in the Price Comparison as well.
So which of these sights do I prefer? I prefer the Sig Romeo 5.
I like the Romeo 5 better because it has much better battery life than the Vortex SPARC and uses a CR2032 battery rather than an AAA battery.
But in addition to that, it comes with a low mount and a high mount so it can be used on many different firearms platforms, rather than just on ARs…
And it’s also less expensive than the Vortex SPARC by a significant margin.
Additional note: Sig has a version of the Romeo 5 using AAA batteries as well (check it out by clicking the Sig Romeo 5 button above).
Now some will still prefer the Vortex SPARC for a variety of different reasons, and that’s ok because it’s still a great sight.
Either way, I hope this helped you understand the differences between these two budget-friendly red dot sights!