Vortex Razor vs Strike Eagle: Which One Is Better?

Vortex Optics is an American veteran and family-owned firm that began in the late 1980s as Eagle Optics, producing bird-watching binoculars. In 2005, they introduced the Vortex brand of binoculars for hunters, extending into hunting scopes. Because of their success, this became their primary source of income.

Vortex manufactures a wide range of scopes. In late 2009, they introduced their first “premium grade” rifle sight, the Razor HD. It was favorably received, although Leupold and Nightforce controlled the long-range precision scope market.

Vortex Razor vs. Strike Eagle

The long-range obsession has spread into the hunting world, bringing all the accessories that long-range shooters like adding to their rifles and gear.

Vortex, which already makes excellent riflescopes for both hunters and long-range shooters, recognized a gap in the market for a hunting scope with a few modern features such as a locking, adjustable elevation turret, and illuminated reticle, and side-parallax adjustment while remaining relatively lightweight and simple to use. Vortex reduced the weight of an otherwise feature-heavy riflescope by removing the exposed windage turret and replacing the illumination dial with a thin push-button enclosure.

Model	Vortex Razor	Strike Eagle
Length	14.4  inches	10.5 inches
Battery Life	Up to 30,000 hours	50,000 hours or more
Magnification Range	27–60x	1-6x
Objective Lens Diameter	42mm	24 mm
Weight	24.8 ounces	18.5 oz

Detailed comparisons between Vortex Razor and Strike Eagle

Durability

Vortex Razor: From a mechanical standpoint, the spotting scope performs admirably. The protective rubber armor is of extremely excellent quality – its somewhat rough surface adheres to your hands as it should. Yet, it isn’t loose, adequately protecting the gadget. All mechanisms function properly.

A built-in retractable sunshade may be effortlessly extended, showing the spotting scope’s metal chassis and covering the front elements hidden inside the optical tube around 6 cm deep. The tripod mounting shoe, as already indicated, and the focusing collar both operate admirably. The mount and its interior and the region around the prisms are all black and matt, with no openings or gaps. You’re dealing with a piece of weather-sealed equipment here.

Strike Eagle: The Strike Eagle scope is well-known for its durability, contributing to its accuracy and precision. An aircraft-grade aluminum body protects the sight from physical harm and harsh weather. Thanks to O-ring sealing and nitrogen purging, it’s also waterproof and fog-proof. It is applicable in all circumstances.

Glass Clarity & Reticle

Vortex Razor: Calculate it using the simplified formula. At 27x, it reaches 60 degrees, and at 60x, it rises to a very respectable 78 degrees. Such figures are quite impressive.

Let us now move on to the key optical and mechanical properties of the Vortex. The manufacturers claim a lens with high-density (HD) extra low-dispersion (ED) glass within the objective.

Furthermore, the APO letters indicate that you are dealing with a fully apochromatic performance. The number of reflections suggests three components arranged in two groups. However, there are additional elements on this side of the instrument – near the prisms; there is a casing with a focusing element. 

Strike Eagle: The glass is visible, providing clear and bright viewing. Flip-up covers completely cover all lenses, keeping the glass healthy and free of natural wear and strain. We come upon a great BDC reticle as we move through the glass. Bullets in the 223/5.56 mm and.308/7.62 mm calibers. It is located in the secondary focus plane. This means that the reticle size does not vary when the magnification is altered.

It also features an 11-setting illumination capability that makes seeing in low-light circumstances simpler.

However, there are two small drawbacks:

To begin with, as the reticle brightens, it gets increasingly difficult to see in normal daylight situations, transitioning from a dark red to a vivid red-orange.

Turning off the light solves the problem; the contrast of the reticle in black works well on bright days. Second, it lacks an “auto turn-off” option, which might drain the battery if accidentally left on. I’d know because it’s something I almost always do.

I’d pack extra lithium metal batteries in your luggage just in case.

Eye Relief & Eye Box

Vortex Razor: The first one addresses my concerns about the absence of 20x magnification or anything similar. When combined with the 85 mm spotting scope, the Razor HD LER eyepiece provides 22x magnification and a field of vision of 2.5 degrees. That implies its apparent field of view is 55 degrees.

It’s a shame it’s not 60-65 degrees, but you get a great eye relief of up to 31 mm. The Razor HD Reticle is the other available eyepiece. Although it has a different look than the previous one, it has the same specifications, including magnification, the field of view, and eye relief. It will not fit a Vortex spotting scope with a 65 mm objective lens.

Strike Eagle: It provides a comfortable 3.5″ of eye relief. That’s enough space to use this at 1X with both eyes open comfortably. It performs admirably at close range. My Burris AR-536 prismatic sight allows me to get on target quickly. However, the eye box may get a touch tight at higher magnification settings.

Parallax & Magnification

Vortex Razor: The most significant modification is still the eyepiece’s field of vision. The designers understood it would be challenging to have a large focal range while still providing a wide field of vision that was nicely corrected from edge to edge. They opted to reduce the zoom range — as a consequence; and the Razor provides magnification ranging from 27-60x, which is lower than the Viper’s range of 20-60x.

I occasionally use my Pentax 80D with a 30 mm eyepiece that offers 17x magnification. I love the brilliant and nicely contrasted images that spotting scopes of this kind can generate at lower magnifications. We must say that the Razor’s capabilities in this area are quite restricted.

Strike Eagle: The magnification range of 1 – 8X is perfect for close-range shooting. The most sensitive aspect is that the eyesight remains clear throughout all powers. There is little distortion and blurriness at the highest magnification, but it is still acceptable. Parallax was also not an issue.

However, because the Strike Eagle is a Second Focal Plane optic, your BDC will be calibrated only at the maximum magnification. The zero may be used at any magnification, but to reach out with the BDC, you must be at 6x.

Final Verdict

Finally, while we tested the angled version of the spotting scope, there is also a straight variant available in the Vortex lineup.

The Razor HD line-up comprises not just 85 mm class goals but also 65 mm and 50 mm objectives. If the price of 85 mm versions appears to be prohibitively expensive, you may be interested in smaller spotting scopes from that series. They should be entirely recommendable if their optics and mechanics equal the quality of the model tested here.

The field of view is enormous, the glass quality is excellent, and with over 4 inches of eye relief, it performs like a real red dot at 1x. The price is on the expensive side, but it is worth it with all of the benefits.

The Viper is a more reflective glass than the Razor. It’s not much, but it’s brighter. The Viper has a somewhat higher distance resolution than the Razor. Overall, Razor Models deliver crisper photos with improved color and a substantially greater depth of field.