Definitely not a vortex - Athlon Optics Argos BTR Gen II 10-40X56mm BLR Rifle Scope

I watched a couple of reviews on YouTube, one by “Survival Defense Lab” and another by “Glen Butler” where they were comparing the Athlon Argos BTR to the Vortex Viper. I own several Vortex scopes and I’ve had a Viper PST for several years, and I love it, so I was impressed that at this price range I could get a 1/8 moa scope that some people are comparing to the Viper, and that the scope comes with a lifetime warranty (just like the Vortex has). After I got it I realized that the glass is nowhere near the quality of the Viper. At full power the glass seemed to get a little darker, and the focus lost some of its crispness. On top of that, it has a nice reticle that looked really good against lighter targets, but when I tried to see it against darker targets, it got lost in the background, so I couldn’t see where I was aiming. I called Athlon and told them the model that I bought, and asked them if I was doing something wrong, they told me to turn on the illuminated reticle and told me where “it was located”. After I told him that there was no mention of an illuminated reticle in the owners manual, he then told me that it didn’t have one. I then asked him if there was any adjustments or anything that would make it better, and he told me “no”. I asked him if he was telling me that I’m stuck with a scope that I can’t see the reticle on when I shoot darker targets, and he said “ basically, that’s it”. I messed with the scope some more and after I got my parrallax set up, I found that at 48 yards I can see the center dot on the reticle if I turn the scope up to 40X but the sight picture isn’t nearly as clear as it is at lower powers. With my Vortex scopes I see the reticle just fine at any magnification setting. In closing, I must say that not only was the scope nowhere near the quality of my Vortex scope, but the customer service wasn’t anywhere near it as well. Based on the customer service I received, I would not feel comfortable sending a scope back to Athlon if I had a problem with it. For somebody who has better eyesight, and a tight budget, or for someone who feels that having a lot of feature is more important than the quality, this scope might be just the thing they‘re looking for. The bottom line is that with shooting optics, you get what you pay for, and this scope is definitely NOT a Vortex.