EOTech is a pretty popular name in the gun, airsoft, and even the video game world!

They made a name for themselves with their iconic holographic sight. How does it compare to a $35 Made in China knock-off?

Fake vs Real EOTech

At first glance, they both look practically the same.

It’s obvious that the real EOTech 552 (left) uses a higher quality plastic around the housing and battery compartment than the fake EOTech (right).

It is not clear whether the $35 fake EOTech has any water or heat resistance. I would venture to say it has very little, but that will soon be tested when we visit the hot deserts to test these two out in an upcoming article.

Most likely, the fake version was designed for airsoft.

Optical Differences

The real EOTech is the hands down winner when it comes to optics.

Reticle sharpness is also apparent when viewing the two side by side. I think the biggest dead giveaway however is the brightness of the image through the sight.

EOTech clearly has better optics (no pun intended), as the image which comes through the sight is bright and crisp. The fake EOTech darkens the image as light passes through various layers of low quality glass.

The quality of the glass may also lead to the reticle looking less sharp.

BONUS: The Fake EOTech allows you to change from red to green!

Parallax Issues

There are many who swear by EOTech as being 100% “parallax free” while others have voiced their complains on various gun forums and youtube videos.

In our case, testing a real EOTech 552 Holographic Sight, there was definitely parallax and it was only about 50% less than the fake EOTech.

While the fake EOTech spans the entire length of the 4 inch coffee mug, the real EOTech covers about half that distance.

This was a huge surprise for us, not something we were expecting prior to making this comparison.

This is the Best Replica

Surprisingly, for the difference in price, I would have expected the core function of the red dot to be spot on!

I’ve seen many other red dot sights that have near perfect alignment, even towards the edges.

Perhaps newer EOTech sights work better? I believe what most users are paying for is the durability, reliability and the brand name, because the parallax issue on this real sight is pretty bad!

I would still put my money on the quality of a real EOTech, as I expect that this fake one will break within the first 1 – 6 months of field / range use.

The constant recoil and desert heat will probably destroy the circuitry very quickly. (This would be my best guess, but has yet to actually be tested!)

Still, this is one of the best replicas I have seen. The fact that it is even comparable to its $589 counterpart is pretty impressive.

You might be able to find a cheap used 552 EOTech from eBay!

Note: This is not a scientific comparison, and I don’t claim to be an optics expert! If you have insight into the true differences between these sights, I’d love to hear them. Post in the comments below! We do not advocate for the support of fake Chinese products. This was done for educational purposes only.