Aimpoint ACO VS PRO: Flip Side of The Same Coin?

Aimpoint is a company that often ends up cannibalizing its product by releasing a better one in a short span. That’s why, you will often find yourself comparing two or more Aimpoint products at a time. Right now is the same scenario as well

In this Aimpoint ACO VS Pro comparison, you will learn more about each sight and find out what sets them apart. Will help you to come to a conclusion on which one is better suited for you and your gun. Let’s find out.

Aimpoint ACO/ PRO – Outlooks

Aimpoint ACO/ PRO – Specs

Specs	Aimpoint ACO	Aimpoint PRO
Magnification	1X	1X
Mounting system	Picatinny	Picatinny
Reticle	2MOA	2MOA
Size	4.8 x 2.2 x 2.2 in	4.8 x 1.9 x 1.9 in
Weight	190 grams (battery included)	220 grams (sight only)

Difference Between Aimpoint ACO & PRO

The two of them are more similar than you would think. Despite that, they do have their differences among them. Let’s take a look at them briefly.

• Aimpoint ACO is slightly lighter than Pro. Pro is much heavier than ACO with the system installed in.
• Aimpoint ACO is slightly bigger than Pro.
• Aim Point Pro offers night vision capability which ACO doesn’t.
• Aimpoint Pro offers better battery life.
• Aimpoint Pro comes with flip-up lens covers.

In Depth View

Finding this out is a bit difficult. After all, they share a lot of similarities and dissimilarities. You just saw the specs sheet and now know a bit more about each sight. Let’s know them a bit more and decide on which one you should go for.

Mounting Style

ACO: Like most of the Aimpoint sights, this one is here made to be used with Picatinny rails as well. Out of the box, it fits on a Picatinny rail and makes itself home. The fixed height mount provides you with absolute co-witness with your iron sight. If you are someone who still likes to use their iron sight, you are in luck.

Pro: The Pro also supports Picatinny rail. On top of that, it comes with a QRP2 mount and spacer. It’s an integral mounting system that allows you to swap between any Picatinny rails by twisting the knob thrice. That’s right, it’s a quick detach mechanism that Aimpoint came up with to support their sights.

If QRP2 is important for you and you remove your sight a lot from your gun, then you are better off going with the Pro.

Lens Clarity

ACO: One of the key parts of any optic is its lens. They are often made out of glass and sometimes out of plastic on cheaper optics. Aimpoint has been making sights for so long now they made their name in the sports optics industry. The lenses used in ACO are fully multi-coated. They are some of the cleanest-looking lenses you will ever come across. The clarity and field of view is really good on this unit as well.

Pro: Aimpoint Pro has been recommended to any AR and SMG owners looking for a red-dot optic. That’s all due to how great of a performer this is. The Aimpoint Pro uses a pair of glass to construct the lenses from. They are fully multi-coated. Making them brighter in lower lighting conditions and they are excellent for short-range hunting and sports.

Both of them are made out of the same quality glasses. They are great performers and they are great at low-light. But, Pro takes the cake in low-light condition. If low light is your priority, go with Pro.

Weight and Durability

ACO: The weight of ACO is around 190 grams. That’s quite light considering it includes the weight of the mount built-in. 190 grams on top of a rifle won’t feel that much. Don’t let the lightweight fool you. It’s one of the most durable red dot optics you will ever come across. Aimpoint uses high-quality aluminum that has a hard anodized finish to it. It’s also water and fog-proof. Rest assured, you are going to have a blast with this one.

Pro: Aimpoint Pro is just ever so slightly heavier than ACO. The weight of Pro without any mounting system is 220 grams and with the QRP2 mounting system, it weighs at 360 grams. That might seem like a lot, but it isn’t. QRP2 is an excellent quick detach mounting system that everyone should try once. Trust me, you can’t go back after you start using this. It is made out of high-quality aluminum as well. It will outlast the warranty period with ease.

In terms of build quality, they are equal. But if you are judging by the weight, then ACO will be a better option if you want something co-witnessed and won’t bother buying a QD mount down the line.

Reticle and Battery

ACO: The reticle on ACO is a red dot sized at 2 MOA. It doesn’t have any circles around it. The red dot is etched on the glass directly. You can see it clearly during the day and with the highest brightness setting, you can see the dot during low-light scenarios as well. As it has adjustable brightness, you will need a battery to run it. One DL1/3N battery will be included in the package. That battery will run you for 10k hours at a low-brightness setting.

Pro: The pro has more night-vision settings than ACO and it’s a tad bit brighter as well. The reticle however is the saem 2MOA on Pro as well. It’s etched on the lens and gets extremely bright and vibrant during both day and night-time. Naturally, the low-light performance is amazing on this unit. All this sounds like a low-battery life, right? Wrong, it has nearly 30k hours of battery rating with the same DL1/3N battery.

In terms of battery and low-light performance, there is no competition. Pro is outright better. If battery life and night-vision is your concern, might as well buy the Pro right now and log off.

Magnification

ACO: The ACO is a fixed magnification red dot sight. The base magnification is 1x and you are stuck as it is. But, it’s not supposed to be used as a rifle scope alternative. I mean, red dots have their use case. I’m sure you will find out their use soon enough. As no glare and fogging issue is present on the sight, you will find 1x magnification is more than enough.

Pro: Like the ACO, this one is fixed at 1x magnification. You can try pairing this with a magnifier and see how it works out, but that’s not necessary. As this device is capable of night vision, this makes it a bit more viable than ACO despite having 1x magnification. For range practice and short-range sports competitions, this is perfectly fine.

As you can see, they are both at the same magnification level. You cannot decide which is better based on magnification. They both are the same.

Summary

And with that, we have concluded. Did we manage to find the best one between Aimpoint ACO vs Aimpoint Pro? Yes, we did. I have managed to show you the differences between the two and which one comes on top in respective genres.

If battery is your priority and night vision is a necessity, without a doubt Pro is better. But if you want lighter than ACO. I hope you found this useful. Tune in later for more and I will see you guys later.