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Unbiased Vortex Impact 4000 Laser Rangefinder Review – 17 Problems Buyers Can Expect

You can’t trust most reviews anymore because most are written by “social media influencers” who earn money from your purchases. They won’t tell you about any of the issues and problems with the Vortex Impact 4000.

This is an unbiased review and summary of the problems, and our conclusion is “Don’t buy one.” Read on to learn about 17 reasons you shouldn’t buy one. And we’ll offer an alternative that’s arguably better and less expensive.

Problem #1. Excessively bright LCD display wreaks night shooting
LCD display is too bright for night shooting. When you range your target, the display lights up your rifle and your face, and the target will immediately be alerted to your presence and your position when you glow like the sun.

This gives some idea:

Yeah, we can see how that would be a problem for night hunting.

The excessive brightness has many users trying to jury-rig some kind of window tint to dim the display. Sadly, they then discover that with the tint, they are no longer able to see the range display during the daytime.

Problem #2. Display slows down and can stop working in cold weather

Problem #3. Battery life is far shorter in cold weather
There’s multiple threads about cold weather, here’s one. “Recently I took the unit out for some training in winter conditions. 15 degrees F, light snow cover. Noticed almost immediately that battery life MAX was about 15 minutes, no backlight use. Also, when the laser was fired, the screen would go blank momentarily before turning back on and displaying the range. Once the Low Battery icon flashed the consistency/accuracy of the target ranges became very suspect and unreliable.”

Problem #4. Button presses and menu navigation slower in cold weather

Problem #5. Calibration an insurmountable barrier for some
Just scan though the comments in this video and you’ll see many are unable to complete the time-consuming calibration process. Moreover, the difficult procedure must be repeated every time you re-locate?! How much calibration nonsense can you tolerate? This is an unnecessary step on most other rangefinders.

Problem #6. Location of power button problematic
“The amount of times I missed an opportunity on a coyote trying to find the power button and ranging it were unreal.” Some are even gluing rubber nipples on the Vortex Impact 4000 just to try and mitigate the problem:

Problem #7. Large front lens reflects sunlight and moonlight, putting shooter in spotlight
It’s such a problem for users that a 3rd party has introduced a tacky plastic cover to suppress the glare. Anyone digging this?

Uh, no thank you. I think we’ll take a pass on that.

Promoters of the ARD cover write “Introducing our new ARD cover for the Vortex Impact 4000. The Impact has a large front objective lens that attracts a lot of glare. If being spotted or glare is an issue for you, this is your solution.”

Really?

How ’bout this for a solution: Don’t buy a Vortex Impact 4000.

That way:
You avoid needing a tacky ARD cover.
You avoid having to glue a rubber nipple on the power button.
You avoid having to glue window tint on a LCD display.
You avoid spending hours waving it around trying to “calibrate” it.

After all, who wants to buy a $2000 hunk o’ junk that just introduces more problems into their life?

But wait, we’re not done. There’s 9 more problems to report.

Problem #8. Chews though expensive batteries
Uses the CR123A battery, which is about $4 each.

Problem #9. Makes rifle too tall to fit in rifle case

Problem #10. Trouble getting the bluetooth remote to connect
“The blinking red light is like being water boarded.”

Problem #11. Data collection and privacy concerns
The phone app will not work if you disable location services on your phone.

Problem #12. Lack of stability when zeroing
“Upon zeroing, I found the visible aiming laser elevation adjustment jumps and wanders sporadically. I press the “settings” button to exit the zeroing function and the laser’s elevation moves higher and does not return to zero after the button had been pressed. I re-entered the zeroing process with the aiming laser to find that the elevation was off even further. I could do this any number of times and it would move.”

Problem #13. Issues with the bluetooth remote
“I wish they would use a remote cable connection rather than bluetooth to connect the remote. Would of eliminated the “here I am” flashing red LED beacon, any possible connectivity issues, less battery drain for constant remote connection, and the need for another battery to need replacing. The first battery didn’t last long, and it’s not even cold out yet. Also unable to turn the unit on/off via remote. Want to turn unit off to preserve battery and not get blinded from the screen. But then it’s difficult to turn the device back on quickly because it’s a Bluetooth remote. It needs the signal first, so the only option is to to try and find the power button on the unit. I can’t find the power button with gloves, it’s not distinguishable enough from the other 4 buttons.”

Problem #14. Divergence between visible aiming laser and IR ranging laser
Users reporting inability to zero because the visible laser diverges too far from the IR ranging laser.

Problem #15. Requires an expensive scope ring replacement / scope ring diving board mount
Many Vortex Impact users either already own or spend $500 on Spuhr rings with the special “diving board” mount for the rangefinder. If nothing else, you can at least say the Vortex Impact strongly impacts your wallet.

Problem #16. Struggle to accurately range small targets and skyline targets
Infrared photos of the Vortex Impact 4000 IR laser shows a distinct lack of focus, and the dispersion causes increasing scatter as distance increases. This tranlates into trouble ranging small objects and objects on the skyline.

Problem #17. Problems ranging through openings in trees or behind shrubs/bushes
Perhaps related to problem #16. Multiple people reporting this problem.

One positive is the Vortex Impact 4000 comes in a variety of colors, our favorite being…. fudgesicle brown? Feast your eyes on this beauty:

So what do we propose as an alternative?

An Alternative
Obviously there are other WMLRF options, but there’s also the option of buying a Sightlok RF-1 and using it to mount your existing rangefinder. In our case, that’s what we did. We replaced our Vortex Impact 4000 with a Sightlok RF-1 rangefinder mount paired with a Sig KILO BDX rangefinder. Looks something like this:

Benefits are integrated support for Kestrel windmeters, better accuracy, Applied Ballistics (Ultralite or Elite, depending on the rangefinder model), and a slew of other features that come with the Sig Sauer KILO BDX rangefinder. At about 1/5 the price. And although every solution has drawbacks, this one eliminates nearly all of the problems exhibited by the Vortex Impact 4000.

Concerned about recoil damaging your rangefinder?

Sightlok RF-1 clamps use a specialized anti-shock rubber that is specifically designed to help isolate and protect rangefinders from recoil-related damage. While we don’t guarantee every rangefinder will stand up to the recoil of every rifle, here’s a documented test of the mount with the Sig Sauer KILO1000BDX rangefinder versus .308 rifle recoil:

Here’s a test of the mount with the Sig Sauer KILO1000BDX rangefinder versus 6.5 Creedmoor:

If you don’t need a ballistics calculator, the Laserworks LE-032 is another low budget WMLRF that works with the Sightlok mount, cost is about $160 instead of $2000. The mount that comes with the Laserworks LE-032 is floppy and unusable, but the rangefinder itself is functional enough when combined with a Sightlok RF-1 mount, which stabilizes it. Looks like this:

To learn more about the Laserworks LE-032, click here.

To learn more about the Sightlok RF-1 mount, click here.

Or watch an independent, uncompensated review of the Sightlok RF-1 by the famous and brilliant long range shooter MarkandSam AfterWork here.

Disagree with our review? We want your opinion! Voice it below.

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