Sightmark’s Wraith HD series is a winning night vision scope series.
It’s so popular that Sightmark decided to release another model based on this design, the Wraith 4K Max.
It’s feature-packed where it needs to be but also scaled-down where it needs to be.
The Wraith is a straight-shooter, and whether it’s day or night, the Wraith will perform.
Quick Overview...
What We Like: Price
What We Don’t Like: Poor battery life
Best Uses: Night Shooting, Day Shooting, Tactical Use, Hunting, Scouting, Varmint Control, Digital NV, Close-Range Detection
- Sensor: CMOS 1920x1080
- Magnification: 4-32x
- FOV: 21 ft/100 yds
- Display Resolution: 1280x720
- Eye Relief: 2.4”/60 mm
- Color Modes: 3
- Battery: 2-4 hours
- Dimensions: 10.5 x 1.9 x 3”/2.3 lbs
Our Verdict: If you’re a buyer that looks for approval from other real-life users in the market, then you have it with the Wraith HD. Some digital scopes do better than others, and the Wraith is one that leads out on top. With quality where it matters and high performance when you need it, it’s a winner. Add to that its low price point, and it’s a champion.
Who is the Sightmark Wraith HD 4-32x50 Best Suited to?
Cost-conscious hunters. This is who the Wraith is made for. There is no doubt that its specs shout varmint hunting, and its low price point puts it within a budget that no buyer can turn away from.
It’s not the absolute cheapest night vision scope out there, but it sure is the cheapest scope without performance and quality compromises. Can you do better than this for the price? Most definitely not.
How Does the Sightmark Wraith HD 4-32x50 Perform?
The Sightmark Wraith HD has what we call foundational quality. The major components are well-built and designed in such a way to provide the exact feature you’re looking for – visibility in the dark.
The Wraith has a high-resolution 1920x1080 sensor and a high-resolution HD display of 1280x720. With a large 50 mm lens, all this equates to a high-resolution image when you’re shooting or observing at night.
As a digital scope, it’s well-equipped with the features necessary to be used in the day, for example, it has a Day Mode that is displayed in color.
Unfortunately, the Wraith is power hungry, and it takes old-school AA batteries. This may be preferred over the CR123 batteries required for newer digital scopes because they’re easily available everywhere. But it may just be a matter of preference as they do add a ton of weight. You’ll also need to keep plenty on hand.
Features & Benefits
Price
The Sightmark Wraith HD night vision scopes are one of the only brand name products in this price range that provides real quality in a standalone platform for rifles.
As a night vision rifle scope under $500, it has a good list of digital features that are comparable to scopes that within the under $1000 price range. With that in mind, you can appreciate its fantastically low price point as it gives those on a tight budget a chance to own real night vision without compromising on performance.
Detection Range & Imaging Quality
The Wraith HD has a 200-yard detection range that is also the same rating the Wraith HD 2-16x28 model has. Seeing as this has a larger objective lens, you can likely achieve a lot more resolution and better clarity with detailed sharpness through this larger model. It may even allow for a slightly longer detection range up to 300 yards.
With a high-resolution sensor and display and with the included 850 nm IR flashlight, you’ll have plenty of seeing without major image degradation. The exception to this is high magnification that halves the resolution. In night modes, imaging quality becomes grainy and blurry at high power, so crank it down and use the IR to get the best image without compromising too much on resolution. It’s worth knowing that this is true of all digital scopes especially so for those that have color sensors.
However, it’s not rated for extreme distances and this is one of the highest praised digital scopes in the market. It doesn’t crash, it’s cheap, and it performs excellently for the distances advertised.
Varmint Night Vision Scope
For its close-range detection and quality imaging, you can confidently hunt coyotes in the dark, hogs, skunks, rabbits – all types of invasive species and varmints.
Since it can be mounted on rifles with calibers up to 308, it will fit most hunting rifles for varmints and predators. Your rifle will require a Picatinny rail as the mount included is designed to fit Picatinny rail slots.
Digital Features
Most high-end scopes don’t offer color displays for good reason, but the Wraith HD is able to execute Color, Green, and Black/White displays reasonably well considering its low price point.
There are only a handful that produce a Day and Night mode in the same scope and even less that produce all three display modes like the Wraith HD.
You can also adjust the brightness of the display, choose a reticle within 10 pattern types, choose a reticle color with 9 options, and adjust for zero with digital adjustments to get on point.
The Wraith may not have audio recording, but it does video record and take photographs. You can select the level of resolution between 1080 and 720 quality, play back the recording on the scope, and save it to the micro SD card for uploading to a device when you’re back home.
Decent Warranty
Sightmark offers a decent warranty on the Wraith HD. It comes with a 3-year warranty which is longer than the 1-2 years of other brands. For the price, it’s well worth it to have it covered for this long.
However, there is a catch to being able to take advantage of the warranty – you must register the Wraith with Sightmark within 30 days of purchase. Keep your proof of purchase too.
The warranty is non-transferable which means it only applies to the original owner of the scope, essentially the person who registers the scope with the manufacturer.
This is not unlike other optoelectronic warranties, but at least your have a year or two of extra coverage. Just because the Wraith is affordable, it doesn’t mean it should be without protection. It’s still an investment after all.
Limitations
Poor Battery Life
Both Wraith HD scopes suck a lot of power. When the scope requires 4x AA batteries, you have a lot of weight for a short period of time. At max power, the Wraith will last only a short two hours. To conserve battery life, you’ll need to use the Sleep Mode and keep settings below their highest levels.
The Wraith has a USB port to plug in an external battery source, and you can always keep rechargeable AA batteries on hand to extend hunting hours.
Popular Questions
While both Wraith models have the same features, they’re very different when it comes to specs and size. The Wraith 4K Max has a different CMOS sensor, longer battery life, wider field of view, is lightly larger but lighter in weight, and has a dial interface.
The Sightmark Wraith does not come with a quick detach mount. However, Sightmark does sell the Wolfhound Locking Quick Detach Mount that is compatible with the Wraith HD.
The Wraith HD comes with the usual accessories such as an IR illuminator, lens cap, Picatinny mount, and user manual. Most buyers mention receiving 2x CR123A batteries for the illuminator but no AA batteries for scope operation.
Unfortunately, no carry case of any sort is included in the package.
The Wraith HD night vision scope is only rated for caliber recoils up to a 308. As such, it is not compatible with slug guns as most 20-gauge slugs come in just over the recoil energy of a .308 and 12-gauge slugs are definitely out of the question.
The Sightmark Wraith HD night vision scope is designed in the United States but is manufactured in China.
Conclusion
The Wraith HD offers a lot for its meager price point, and it’s worth the buy if you want night vision in hand for the lowest price possible from a brand-name manufacturer.
It’s not decked out with too many features that it feels overwhelming or tedious to use in the field. In fact, it’s equipped with just enough to make productive nights at around 200-300 yards.
Even though there’s a new model out for the Wraith series, the Wraith HD still holds value and proven performance. If you want to save a few hundred dollars and get hog hunting tonight, this is all you’ll need.
Further Reading
The sightmark wraith is a nightmare for customers who have never used a digital scope. First make sure you have the latest firmware “Y” axis will be a challenge. Sightmarks suggestion is shim the back of the scope not a real good option seeing as its a single mount.