Trijicon and Eotech are two of the biggest names in optics…
They both offer high quality equipment, and they both have reputations for producing durable and dependable sights…
Two of the most popular optics available from these companies right now are…
- The Trijicon MRO (Get Best Pricing Here!)
- The Eotech XPS3 (Get Best Pricing Here!)
So in the Trijicon MRO Vs Eotech 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 two sights I prefer, and you should have all the information you need to determine if either optic will work well for you…
Let’s get started!
Durability And Toughness…
Trijicon MRO
The Trijicon MRO is a very durable optic. First of all, Trijicon has built up a reputation for creating extremely tough sights.
The Trijicon ACOG is actually used by the U.S. Military, and has proven to be extremely durable even when being used in war.
So Trijicon knows what they’re doing when it comes to building tough optics, and the MRO (Miniature Rifle Optic) is no different.
Now the sight housing on the MRO is made from forged 7075-T6 aluminum, and it’s hard anodized to help protect it from the elements…
In addition to that, the windage and elevation turrets are recessed into the sight housing, so they can never be snapped off accidentally.
The MRO is also waterproof for up to 100 feet (30 meters), and it can easily handle the recoil from high-powered rifles, shotguns, and pistol caliber carbines.
Last, the MRO only weighs 4.1 ounces which is pretty incredible considering just how rugged it actually is.
Eotech XPS3
The Eotech XPS3 is also a very durable sight. A few years ago, Eotech was taking a lot of heat because some of their optics were having problems, especially in extremely cold weather.
Those problems have been completely fixed, and the Eotechs that are being produced now and very tough optics.
Now the sight housing on the XPS3 is made from a high quality aluminum, and the lens is guarded by a tough aluminum protective hood.
Just as with the MRO, the windage and elevation turrets on the XPS3 are recessed into the sight housing (so they can never be snapped off accidentally), and it’s waterproof in up to 33 feet (10 meters) of water.
It can also easily handle the recoil from shotguns, high-powered rifles, and pistol caliber carbines, but it’s a little bit chunkier with a weight of 11.2 ounces.
Durability And Toughness Conclusions…
Both of these optics are very tough… In fact, I consider both of them to be among the toughest red dot sights that you can currently get.
But that being said, the MRO is a little bit more waterproof, and actually comes in at a much lighter weight than the XPS3…
So in this category, I’m going to give the slight edge to the Trijicon MRO
Winner: Trijicon MRO
Lens Clarity And Reticle…
Trijicon MRO
The lens clarity on the Trijicon MRO is pretty good. First of all, it has a 25mm objective lens which is very unique for a “micro red dot sight”…
That large objective lens gives you a larger field of view when you’re looking through the optic, and I think that’s important because it allows you to see more of what’s going on down range.
In addition to that, there is a noticeable blue tint when looking through the MRO. Trijicon says this tint is intentional because it gives you greater contrast when looking through the sight…
There is a little bit of truth to that, but I personally would prefer a more clear view with no tint. That all being said though, the blue tint isn’t too distracting, and I don’t think it’s a deal breaker.
The reticle on the MRO is a simple 2 MOA (minute of angle) dot, which I think is a good choice for a red dot sight.
I much prefer a 2 MOA dot reticle over something like 4 or 6 MOA dot on optics like this because a 2 MOA dot is small and precise, but still pretty easy to see quickly.
All in all, I think it was a good choice by Trijicon to go with a 2 MOA dot because it’s a simple and effective reticle.
Eotech XPS3
The lens clarity on the Eotech XPS3 is very good. First of all, it’s a holographic sight, and because it uses holographic technology to project the reticle, the lens is crystal clear without any bluish or greenish tint.
In addition to that, the sight window is HUGE… It’s very easy to acquire a clean sight picture, and you can see a lot of your target area down range.
Now the reticle on the XPS3 will depend on which specific model you choose to go with. With the XPS3-0 model, you get a 1 MOA dot surrounded by a 68 MOA ring…
With the XPS3-2 model, you get 2 stacked 1 MOA dots surrounded by a 68 MOA ring… And with the XPS3-4 model, you get 4 stacked 1 MOA dots surrounded by a 68 MOA ring.
The stacked dots on the XPS3-2 and XPS3-4 models are basically BDCs (Bullet Drop Compensators), and are going to become useful if you use your optic with a magnifier…
I tend to use low powered scopes when I want magnification (rather than a red dot and magnifier combination) so my prefered model is the XPS3-0…
This model uses the reticle that Eotechs are famous for, and honestly, it’s my favorite style of reticle on a red dot sight.
The 1 MOA dot in the center gives you a lot of precision when aiming at small targets in the distance, but at the same time, you have the large 68 MOA ring that draws your eye in extremely fast.
In fact, at large targets up close all you have to do is put the 68 ring on target and you’ll hit your mark (assuming the optic is zeroed and your marksmanship fundamentals are solid).
So like I said, I really like the XPS3-0 because the circle dot reticle is extremely fast and precise…
…but if you intend to use your optic with a magnifier, the reticles on the XPS3-2 and XPS3-4 models are also very effective and useful.
Lens Clarity And Reticle Conclusions…
Ok, in this category we have some major differences. First of all, the MRO has a large objective lens even though it’s still a very compact sight…
It also has a slightly blue tint when looking through the optic, and it uses a 2 MOA dot reticle, which is a good option for a red dot sight.
On the other hand, the XPS3 has a huge sight window, a crystal clear lens, and a lot of really cool reticles to choose from depending on the model you go with…
In my opinion, the Eotech was built for this category, and I think it’s the clear winner here because of the clear lens, large viewing window, and very useful circle dot reticles.
Winner: Eotech XPS3
Battery Life And Brightness Settings…
Trijicon MRO
The Trijicon MRO uses one CR 2032 battery which is able to power the sight for 5 years (on daylight setting 3).
Ultra long battery life like that is very important to me because it means that you can leave your sight always turned on.
The reason why this is important is because it allows you to grab your rifle in an emergency situation and simply go to deal with the threat.
You won’t have to fumble around with buttons trying to get your sight turned on before going out and dealing with a problem.
It makes things simple, which is something that I like, and as long as you swap out your battery once a year, you’ll never have any problems with your battery dying on you.
Now the MRO has a total of 8 brightness settings. That includes 2 night vision brightness settings, 5 daylight brightness settings, and 1 super bright setting.
The daylight brightness settings are very bright, and they’re easy to see even on a sunny day. If the lighting conditions are very extreme, you’ve also got that extra bright setting which will definitely still be visible.
Now most people won’t use the 2 night vision settings, which require NV equipment to be able to see, but some people will take advantage of them, and I like that Trijicon includes them at no additional cost.
Eotech XPS3
The XPS3 uses a CR123 battery which is able to power the sight for around 1,000 hours. That’s OK battery life…
…but to be honest, I would like to see a lot more hours of battery life especially since the Eotech is a premium optic. One feature that Eotech includes to try to offset the mediocre battery life is an automatic shutdown.
That means the optic will automatically turn off after a certain period of non use (either 8 hours or 4 hours depending on what you program the sight to do).
Now the XPS3 has 20 daylight brightness settings to choose from and 10 night vision settings…
The 20 daylight brightness settings get very bright on the higher settings, and you shouldn’t have any problems with your reticle washing out even in bright daylight conditions.
Also, having 10 night vision settings is pretty impressive, and it’s one of the features that distinguishes the XPS3 from the Eotech XPS2, which only has daylight brightness settings.
Usually you’ll find the XPS3 is a little more expensive than the XPS2 so that is an additional feature that you end up paying for, but at least you have a wide variety of capabilities with the 10 NV settings.
Battery Life And Brightness Settings Conclusion…
These two optics are very different in this category… The MRO uses a CR2032 battery, whereas the XPS3 uses a CR123 battery…
Also, the MRO has 5 years worth of battery life whereas the XPS3 only has 1,000 hours. Now they both have bright daylight settings and NV settings…
…but I really like that the MRO has a lot longer battery life and uses a less bulky battery. So for me, the easy winner in this category is the Trijicon MRO
Winner: Trijicon MRO
Extra Accessories Included With The Optic…
Trijicon MRO
The MRO comes with a factory high mount or a factory low mount depending on which version you choose to pick up…
And the included factory mounts are actually pretty high quality, which isn’t always the case when you get an included mount with a red dot sight.
The high mount is perfect for use on an AR-15 because it sets you up for an absolute cowitness with back up iron sights (which is what most people will do)…
But if you intend to run it on a shotgun, an AK, or any number of other firearms platforms, you’ll definitely want to go with the low mount.
Also, because the MRO is a pretty popular optic, there are a lot of companies who make aftermarket mounts for it.
So if you’re looking for something like a QD (Quick Detach) mount, it won’t be difficult to find one that is very high quality.
Eotech XPS3
Like most Eotech optics, the XPS3 has a mount already built into the sight housing, and if you’re mounting the sight on an AR-15, you’re set up for an absolute co witness with your back up iron sights.
In addition to that, the included XPS3 mount is a QD (Quick Detach) mount, which I think gives this sight a pretty nice bump in value. That all being said, there is one downside…
Mounting an optic on an AR-15 means that you’re mounting it rather high, and because the mount is built into the sight housing, you don’t have any way of lowering it.
Again, this isn’t a problem is you intend to use this optic with an AR, but if you ever wanted to use it with something like an AK or a shotgun, you’d have to keep your sight mounted high, which is less than ideal.
Extra Accessories Conclusions…
So in this category, we have the MRO which can be purchased with either a high or a low mount, and we have the XPS3, which comes with a mount built into the sight housing…
Both optics give you added value by including a mount, which is something I like because they’re not always included, and both optics will pair nicely with an AR-15…
But I think the MRO gives you more flexibility because it can be mounted easily on an AK, a shogun, and many pistol caliber carbines (if you go with the low mount)…
So for that reason I’m going to give the edge here to the Trijicon MRO…
Winner: Trijicon MRO
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 usually find that the Trijicon MRO is around 200 bucks less expensive that the Eotech XPS3…
That’s a pretty significant chunk of change, so the clear winner in this category is the Trijicon MRO.
Winner: Trijicon MRO
Trijicon MRO Vs Eotech – Conclusions…
Ok, so here’s a summary of how it all played out. In the Durability and Toughness category, I gave the slight edge to the MRO because it has a bit better waterproofing and comes in at a much lighter weight.
In the Lens Clarity and Reticle category, the clear winner was the XPS3 because of it’s super clear lens and awesome reticle options.
In the Battery Life And Brightness Settings category, the MRO was the clear winner because it has much longer battery life.
In the Extra Accessories category, I also gave the slight edge to the MRO because you can get it with a high mount or a low mount.
And last in the Price Comparison, the MRO came out on top by a significant margin…
So which of these sights do I prefer: I prefer the Trijicon MRO…
Click The Button Below To Learn More About The Trijicon MRO:
I prefer the MRO for many reasons. First of all, it’s built like a tank so you can definitely rely on it in tough conditions, but at the same time it’s actually pretty lightweight.
It also has really long battery life, which I like because it means you can keep the sight turned on (and ready to go) all the time, and I think the 2 MOA dot reticle was a good simple choice by Trijicon.
On top of all that, it’s significantly less expensive than the XPS3…
Now if you don’t mind the battery life and really like the circle dot reticle options from Eotech, then feel free to go with the XPS3 because it’s still a great optic…
Click The Button Below To Learn More About The Eotech XPS3:
Either way, I hope this comparison was able to show you the major differences between these two awesome red dot sights!