Are CV Life Optics Any Good?
If you’ve been following our blog for any amount of time you know that I’m not afraid to try and review budget optics. While there’s no doubt, you typically get what you pay for, the quality of optics on the lower end of the budget spectrum has just been getting better and better. Yet with my own experience generally, I’ve had terrible luck with variable powered optics under two hundred dollars.
The 4-12x Optic that Looked Promising
So when a rep from CV Life, a company that primarily sells budget optics and firearms accessories on amazon, reached out about reviewing an $80, 4-12x scope, I was skeptical. I responded respectfully that I would be willing to review the optic, but I will not pull punches. Integrity is at the core of CRACKSHOT.tv. We don’t shill for manufacturers. The rep responded that they agreed with and absolutely support that philosophy.
They want honest product feedback and emphasized that they want honesty so that they could improve their product line. I absolutely respect that. So we agreed to move forward with this review. To be clear CRACKSHOT doesn’t accept monetary payment for any product reviews, although the optic was provided free of charge for review purposes. So with full disclosure, let’s hop into the review.
CV Life Optics
CVLife produces budget optics that have surprisingly quality for the price. Like most budget optics, theirs run for about 40-50% of the price of more expensive competitors while delivering 70-80% of the performance.
Comparison against a Higher Budget Vortex Optic
When the optic first arrived I quickly got to work comparing it to the the most similar optic that I own, which is a two hundred dollar Vortex Diamondback HP 4-16x. I have a full review of this other optic on my channel. The diamondback optic cost a little more than twice that of the CVLife.
The diamondback is the better optic, but is it twice as good considering that it is over twice the price? Or does the law of diminishing returns apply even on the budget end of optics? We were going to find out.
Dimensions and Weight vs Competitors
The CV Life optic is dimensionally extremely similar to the vortex diamondback, being just a little longer. They weigh about the same. The included scope mount rings are basic, but its nice that they are included. The vortex doesn’t come with any mounting hardware. In the case of the Vortex, in order to mount it comfortably on an AR-15, the eye relief is so long that the optic needs to be mounted with a cantilever mount.
Eye Relief and Eye Box
The eye relief is shorter on the CVLife. Meaning that it is just barely useable with the included scope mount rings on an AR-15. The stock on a carbine buffer must be fully extended to use the optic effectively, and the optic needed to be mounted as far forward as it could be without bridging the optic to the handguard.
The eye relief listed on the amazon said approximately 3.5″. In my experience its actually closer to around 3″. With the eye relief being shorter, this is actually better on a low recoiling platform like the AR-15, as there isn’t a risk of the scope smacking you in the eye, yet it allows the included scope rings to be used without bridging the optic to the handguard. Still yet, I’d recommend investing in a cantilever scope mount.
Good Quality Controls
The optic windage and elevation is 1/4 MOA at 100 yards, which is pretty typical. The scope was easy to get sighted in at home, then easy enough to sight in at the range with live ammo later. The controls are tactile and actually I’d say snappier than the Diamondback.
The scope has a diopter adjustment that seems to work well.
BDC Reticle and Good Glass Clarity
The reticle appears to be a BDC reticle. It actually looks exactly the same as the vortex diamondback as far as I can tell.
For glass clarity, at 4x, the scopes are roughly the same. At 12x, the diamondback does beat the CVLife, but I wouldn’t say that its twice as good. The glass clarity on the CVLife is the best I’ve seen on any scope sub one hundred dollars no doubt. The glass is usable even at 12 X. The diamondback has by comparison an adjustable parrallax, which is a rare feature for any entry level scope. For ten dollars more, you can get a model with adjustable parallax from CVLife, although I don’t have any experience with that model so I can’t speak to it.
The extra one hundred twenty dollars spent on the Vortex optic is paying for Filipino made glass, as well as Vortex’s lifetime warranty, quality control, and customer service. With CV Life, you get a 1 year manufacturers warranty, which is a little bit lackluster as compared to warranty offerings from competitor companies like Vortex and Bushnell. So other brands have CV Life beat on warranty.
Poor Light Transmission at Night
Light transmission on both optics is great during the day. However, light transmission on both these scopes is poor at dusk. Neither have illuminated reticles, which is where much of the cost savings comes into play. To be fair, I wouldn’t be comfortable shooting with either scope after dusk, so this isn’t the best option for varmint control if that is your use case.
Range Performance
Now let’s take this scope out to the actual range.
Overall range performance was descent once I had it dialed in. The optic was usable at close ranges on 4x, shooting at targets between 10 and 35 yards yards away.
My outdoor range where I normally shoot is closed indefinitely unfortunately, so the best I could do was this indoor rifle range at 35 yards. I’m in the process of getting a membership at a local private outdoor range that i’ll leverage in future reviews, but at the moment I’m stuck using indoor ranges until I can find a suitable outdoor range to film at again in Central Florida.
Scope is Hard to use with included scope rings, recommend upgrading to a cantilever mount
As discussed earlier, the eye relief is a little long on this optic considering the included mounting hardware. Once I got to actually utilizing this, If you’re going to mount this on an AR platform, a cantilever mount is an absolute must have. I could only shoot this with stock fully extended in the longest position. I prefer to be 1 click in on a carbine buffer, but even with stock fully extended, I had to place my cheek weld pretty far back to get a clear sight picture.
Eyebox itself honestly is not bad at all at 12 X. In fact, it beats the vortex diamondback at its max magnification of 16 X. Shooting at a target 35 yards away with 12 X is way too much magnification so you see a bit of blur understandably in this footage, but being second focal plane, you have to sight this in at max magnification.
This image doesn’t do the optic clarity justice as at 12x, with this optic, you’re probably practically shooting at targets out to 300 or 400 yards, so this 35 yard example isn’t ideal, but it is what I had to work with.
Optic has held zero well on an AR-15
However, I will say the optic held zero well with AR-15 recoil. I shot a few magazines through it and the optic performed very well in this regard. I don’t know if I’d mount it on something with heavier recoil, like an AR-10, but I think this optic may have a place with AR-15 and smaller recoiling rifles. This would be a very high performer on a twenty two.
Once dialed in I was able to get descent groups with the optic. I had some issues with the blurring given the distance, and this wasn’t exactly precision shooting target being just a 2 inch circle. But the optic performed very well for a sub one hundred dollar optic, and I’d venture to say this is a very good buy compared to anything else in that price point. There are a lot of crap optics on amazone, but this is not one of them. It is a basic scope, but it does what it does well. Just consider upgrading the mounting hardware.
Conclusion, a Descent Quality Optic for a Budget Range Build
So in comparing to competitor brands, the CV Life punches above its weight compared to optics in the $200 range. It isn’t as good as some more expensive options, but it is does well and is close. So at half the price of competitors, it is a really great value. I think at its eighty dollar price point, you likely won’t be able to find a better optic.
So all of that said, if you are on a budget and are looking for something that will be basic, but descent quality for a budget build, this seems to me to be a good option. It hits above its weight class as compared to other sub one hundred dollar options. It’s a basic scope, but I was reasonably impressed at the price point. It isn’t as good as say the two hundred dollar Vortex Diamondback HP, but it delivers maybe 80% performance for less than half of the price, making it a very good value. It’d be a good option for plinking or potentially even hunting. I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a basic scope, but it works. If you’re on a budget this certainly isn’t a bad optic for your consideration.
CV Life Optics
CVLife produces budget optics that have surprisingly quality for the price. Like most budget optics, theirs run for about 40-50% of the price of more expensive competitors while delivering 70-80% of the performance.
