Vortex Optics Defender-CCW Micro Red Dot Sights

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1. wtresq Verified Buyer – 8 July 2024

   Great price and deal. Placed on my CCW weapon, and it was zeroed out of the box. Love the Vortex products. I own several optics from them, and they are a fantastic, high-quality product at a reasonable price point.
   

2. Ratheon Verified Buyer – 28 July 2024

   Update 4/18/24: I have had this red dot since March of 2023. I have shot probably 3000 rounds through my shield plus with this red dot installed. It has never lost zero. This is not my carry gun and seems to go through batteries every six months. My only complaint is the battery life. I have not drop tested it yet or been real rough with the red dot. Seems very reliable and you just need to watch your battery life. Very good purchase. This is by far the best Vortex red dot yet. Now, that’s not saying much. I have this mounted on a shield plus. Pros: It appears to be a very solid optic. There are some brutal torture tests on Youtube for this optic. The top load battery is amazing! The amazing included screws, seriously all optics should come with this. The included tool is nice. The glass is clear, the site picture is amazing. It co-witnesses just fine with the factory shield plus sights. The dot is super bright! Cons: The dot is very low res, it’s crisp. The blinking can be annoying though. The windage and elevation turrets click, but it is not very audible and not tactile at all. The 14 hour auto shut off is very weird. Most dots are an hour or less. I will never understand that time frame and that definitely has an impact on the battery life. I have shot about 300 rounds so far with this on the shield plus and it has held zero no problem. The flickering led emitter is kind of annoying, but it hasn’t impacted my shooting. Based on the built quality alone, I will keep it. If the only bad thing is that the battery lasts a year and it flickers, I won’t have much to complain about. Update: Six months in and no issues, battery just died. Having the battery die within six months is not great. I do not carry this and I would have thought it would have lasted longer. Luckily the batteries are cheap and top load.

   

3. Sam Verified Buyer – 23 September 2024

   I have been using this Dot for about 3 weeks now so I cant speak to battery life but there have been some changes with this model. The Auto Shutoff is now 10 min not 14 hrs and I have tested that and it works. The Shake Awake is very sensitive so if you are wearing this on an EDC it will probably always be on. I like that I can turn it off or on when using it at the range or keeping it in the safe to help preserve battery life and activating the Auto shutoff or Shake Awake is simple but you do have to set the brightness that you anticipate needing because it does not have Light sensing. The factory Shield + sights co-witness very nicely. The sight is just slightly wider than the slide and I did have 1 problem. After about 300 rds the dot went out. After a few choice words and trying to power back up I realized the battery cover had started to come loose, I tightened it back down about 1/2 turn and everything started working again. I dont know if I was too gentle when I installed the battery trying to protect the threads or the recoil just loosened it and I will have to keep an eye on that but having the battery cover on top so I dont have to dismount the whole dot to replace it is worth it. I have been feeding the gun a steady diet of SD ammo and if my hand is any gauge the dot has taken quite a beating and has not changed POI. So far so good. I think Vortex has a winner with this one.
   

4. Jeff Verified Buyer – 6 January 2025

   Great quality red dot. I have had zero issues and carry it every day.
   

5. Henry Dawson Verified Buyer – 26 January 2025

   I really like these optics. The fit is perfect. The optics arrived packaged very nicely. One great thing about this is that you can co-witness your sights. You do not need to buy supressor height sights with these optics when for a Glock 43X MOS. The product was new and fully operational. You must read the manual to understand how to use the controls so that you do not make a mistake and think your optics are not functioning. The optics were as described. The screws included with the optics are very good quality. One concern I have is that Glock advises to only use 8mm screws for mounting and the kit included 9.8mm screws in the Glock screw bag. I called vortex and they didn’t see a problem with that as I was told they use it with no problem on their Glock 43X MOS. The red dot can be very bright and there can also be bloom or starburst. Make sure to adjust the brightness to your liking. Overall I am impressed and very happy with the price I paid for this.

   

6. NAJ Verified Buyer – 9 February 2025

   I put this optic on a Shadow Systems CR920X which I carry either holstered OWB or appendix on a daily basis. It dropped right in without adapter plates. It has held its zero through 500 rounds perfectly. Sight picture is great and co-witnesses with factory sights. The Vortex warranty and quality make it the perfect package. I am a Trijicon RMR loyalist but they don’t fit on the subcompacts properly so when it comes to this niche, the Vortex is great. I avoid Holosun optics because they are failing in the field and -while popular due to lot of paid endorsements- they are not of the same built quality.
   

7. Michael Anthony Perelka Verified Buyer – 28 February 2025

   Let me start this interview with the fact that the description is wrong. It’s a 10 minute shut off now not a 14 hour. And the emitter is different now as well and doesn’t flicker the way YouTube and people on here have said. I’ve experienced no flicker. The dot is a perfect circle. It’s perfect. These dots hold zero. That’s something they did get right on YouTube. As for battery life. It says 9500 hours (about a year) on 6. 6 is very bright. And you should replace your batteries every year anyhow so it’s perfect. The only drawback I can say with the 6moa dot is it can halo pretty hard if you go to 7 and above in lower light settings. So if it’s sunny sure to make it higher. If it’s not. 6 will do. Also if you are a hellcat, hellcat pro etc owner. It cowitnesses perfectly. It’s the perfect dot for the platform. Buy once cry once people. Just do it if you have a hellcat and want something quality. And vortex has the best warranty in the game. From what I’ve heard cause I never had to return a vortex.

   

8. Dan J. Verified Buyer – 26 March 2025

   Vortex is awesome no matter what. I have other big name brands like Eotech and Trijicon. I still go back to ole faithful. Lifetime unconditional warranty. I have called and asked for extra screws and they just send em to you without question. I have broken other products by accident and have had replacements shipped within 3 days! Top notch quality and customer service from a top notch American company.
   

9. Eduardo M Verified Buyer – 8 April 2025

   First Optic. Very Impressed. You get a lot out of the box. PLUS THE VORTEX WARRANTY!!! The texturing on the front is a nice touch. Very Bright. I wish vortex would make a green dot option. But other than that im loving it for my EDC