Athlon Ares new version VS Vortex Razor

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How does the Athlon compare to the Razor? Is the Razor considerably better with the higher price? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Highlands Hunter]

I have owned both. I bought the Razor in 2016 and sold it this year and bought the Ares. They are very close in optical quality. The color is warmer and more natural in the Ares; the Razor is cooler in color, giving it a grayish appearance.
The Ares is much more compact and I believe it is weights less than the Razor.
The one thing I liked about my first gen Razor, was the fine focus knob. The Ares has the barrel focus wheel on the body of the scope. It works well and I have no problem refining the picture. However, I like the location of the first gen Razor focus knobs better.
Given the price difference, there is much more value in the Ares than the Razor. I would steer you towards the Ares.

 

[Elk botherer]

I agree with Highlands, I’ve had the vortex 65mm and the 85mm versions of the razor and I also had the Ares. The razor is slightly better but if I had to pick one to buy at regular price it would be the Athlon ares hands down. I also highly prefer the razor 1st gen dual focus knobs over the barrel focus. The razor does work better for digiscoping, but that’s it. Good luck.

 

[Kyle Wheeler]

This is a good question! I have compared the razor and Athlon Cronus. The Cronus was sharper but they honestly felt like they were built at the same factory and specs. They both took the same eye piece as well.. That being said I don’t think there is a huge difference in glass. The Ares seems to get high praise and the Gen 1 Ares was quite a bit lighter in the 15-45. I would focus on eye relief, field of view and weight. For example even though the Cronus was sharper than the razor Gen 1 20-60x85 the razor had better eye relief and was more comfortable to use but the Cronus packed much better due to the design. If you are looking at a razor gen 1 vs Ares in the 20-60 I’m pretty sure the Vortex will have a wider field of view. Lastly the Athlon glass seems to pop with their coatings and the Vortex has a slight blue or gray tint. I’ve heard the razor is better with glare due to the tint but I haven’t tested glare much. Something to consider as well. Hope this helps some!

 

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Thank you for your replies!