ATN X-Sight 4K Pro Review: Initial Impressions
The first scope I looked through was on my grandfather’s deer rifle. It was a Redfield scope from the ’60s. By this point in the late 80s, the glass was foggy and not much better than iron sights. I’m sure the first experience for a lot of people was similar. Or maybe your first experience with a scope was looking through one at your local hunting goods store. As technology advances, so do optics for rifles.
One of the innovations that have gained in popularity and become more viable over recent years are digital scopes. That leads me to the ATN X-Sight 4K Pro. I have seen them in the stores for a few years but haven’t had a chance to use them until recently. If you aren’t familiar with the ATN X-Sight, it is a digital scope, so there are not the traditional crosshairs that you see in conventional scopes. Instead, you are looking at a screen inside a device that looks mostly like a scope. The X-Sight has advantages over a traditional scope that we will cover below.
What is the ATN X-Sight 4K Pro?
The ATN X-Sight 4K Pro is marketed as a Day and Night riflescope that can shoot/hunt at night due to digital night vision. Digital night vision differs from traditional analog night vision in several ways. Analog night vision uses ambient light, such as moonlight or starlight, and amplifies it in the image to allow you to see at night. Digital night vision works like a camera and requires more light to see clearly. Most use an illuminator or some sort. The ATN X-Sight includes an IR light that produces light on a wavelength of 850 nm. This will be invisible to most animals.
Think of attaching a light to your day scope and looking through it at night. The area is lit up, and you can see where the light is shining. This is basically how the ATN X-Sight works, except it has a little longer distance, and the light is invisible when you aren’t looking in the scope.
The advantage of the digital scope is that it can work day and night. Analog night vision will only work at night, and if it is used during the day, then the image intensifier tube is ruined, and so is the scope. Digital night vision doesn’t suffer from flaws and allows for other things like onboard recording. The ATN X-Sight has onboard recording for both day and night modes. Additionally, you can do a host of other things inside the scope or on the ATN app, including:
- stream video
- one shot zero
- setup multiple profiles for different bullets
- enable the rangefinder
There’s more you can do with this scope, but I’m not going to go into each since there is a manual for you to sort it all out.
The model that I chose is the ATN X-Sight 4K Pro 5-20X. As the name implies, it has a 4K sensor with a magnification range of 5x to 20x in .1 increments. I mentioned some of the capabilities above, but here is what I found interesting from a spec perspective.
- On board video recording in 1080p @ 30/60/120fps
- Eye relief is 3.5 inches, so there is a lot of room to find the right position
- Built-in range finder and compass for shooting at night
- A battery life of 18+ hours
Unboxing the ATN X-Sight
Upon opening the box, I was impressed with how thorough ATN is with the instructions on the box and on the scope itself. I can tell that they aim to make the install and use of the scope as easy as possible for those not familiar with how digital scopes work. Honestly, I was impressed with the packing, which might seem like a small thing, but considering how other scopes are presented this was a welcome change.
The X-Sight itself has stickers placed on the various points of the scope to help you understand each piece and what they do. For example, on the objective lens there is a sticker that tells you the ring is to focus to distance. On the inside of the box there is a specific part dedicated to customer service should you run into any issues or have questions. Touches like this help someone who is new to the world of scopes, or shooting in general, be able to get up and running quickly.
Inside the box there is a set of scope rings that will work with picatinny rails, a sunshade for the objective lens, an IR light and batteries, a mount for the IR light, a scope cover, and a power cable. It’s everything you need to set it up and start shooting.
ATN X-Sight Setup
The first thing you want to do is charge up the unit with the included power cable. The cable is plenty long enough to charge the scope, even with it mounted on the firearm. Install a micro-SD card (not included) format the card and then check the to make sure you have the latest firmware. The manual covers all of this and it is straight forward. After you mount the scope on your gun, then it is time to zero it. This is where the ATN X-Sight has another leg up on the competition. Take a shot at the target, then go into the menu and select the zero-reticle function from the menu. From there, just hold the zero on the center of the target and move the crosshair to where the bullet hit. Save and exit, then shoot another shot to confirm and make any small adjustments.
Field Use
Since I just picked up the sight, I haven’t had time to do anything other than zero it. Look for the next article that covers how the scope performed in the field as well as my final thoughts about the quality and features of the ATN X-Sight 4K Pro.
Key Features: ATN X-Sight 4K Pro
Magnification: 3-14x 5-20x
Micro-Display: 1280×720
HD Display Eye relief: 90 mm
Video Record Resolution: 1080p @ 30/60/120 fps
Ballistic Calculator: Yes
WiFi (Streaming, Gallery, & Controls): iOS & Android
Smart Range Finder: Yes
RAV (Recoil Activated Video): Yes
Night Vision Mode: Yes
Reticles: Multiple Patterns & Color Options
Microphone: Yes
Mount: 30 mm Standard Rings (included)
IR Illuminator: Included
Battery life (Li-ion): 18 + hrs
Dimensions (body only): 14.9″x3″x3″/ 379x76x76 mm
Weight: 2.1 lb / 0.94 kg 2.2 lb / 1.01 kg
Warranty: 2 years
Jeremy Mallette is co-founder of International Sportsman. An avid hunter and outdoorsman, he has spent more than a decade in the outdoor industry, from hiking and camping to silencers and hunting. His father taught him to shoot at age six, and he received his first firearm at age eight — a 1942 Colt Commando .38 special revolver. He enjoys yearly trips to Kansas for pheasant hunting, spending time with his children at the deer lease, and collecting unique firearms.
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