The big question for a lot of crossbow hunters looking to upgrade to electronic sighting is how the Burris Oracle X matches up against the Garmin X1i. In a niche market of electronic crossbow rangefinding scopes on the market. Knowing which device is better suited to your needs could help you bring home that trophy buck.
Sight In Process
In our Burris Oracle X review, we mentioned that the sight-in process takes a little longer than the Garmin. That’s because, to fully sight-in the Oracle X, you can set up to 4 aim points to provide an accurate ballistic curve. I typically set my first point at 40 yards and every 20 yards after that out to 100 yards.
The Garmin X1i has an electronically assisted sight in process based on the speed of your bow. You’ll need to set a zero at 20 yards then follow the prompts to finish sighting in your scope.
Magnification
The 2-7x magnification on the Burris Oracle X is a significant improvement over Garmin’s fixed 3.5x magnification.
For targets beyond 50 yards, the 2-7x magnification is a huge advantage. For this reason the Burris wins out in magnification.
Glass
The glass on the Burris Oracle X is high quality, but the Garmin has a slightly clearer glass.
Reticle Color and Options
Garmin is the clear winner in reticle color options providing hunters with a choice of red, green, yellow, orange, purple, and blue. The Burris trails with only a red reticle option. With the Garmin, you can also choose what your aim point looks like (crosshairs, an X, dot, etc.).
The thing to remember is that both scopes incorporate ambient light sensors to automatically adjust the brightness of the reticle to the conditions around you. The aim point will be visible, so the color choices are more for personal preference rather than a functional advantage.
Eye Relief
Although it is a much longer scope, there is plenty of adjustment for eye relief with the Burris. The Garmin X1i simply slides onto a weaver or Picatinny rail and is clamped down with two bolts. The Burris mounts in the same way, but it has a secondary rail that gives you additional fore and aft movement (about an inch more) to get the eye relief just right.
Remote Control
Both scopes use remote controls designed to be easily reached by either hand without removing them from the stock and trigger.
The Garmin remote control is a much smaller button. The only downside is that the button is tethered to the scope with a cable.
The Burris remote is Bluetooth, so it’s completely wireless. While this is great, it does mean that the remote is a lot bigger. There are velcro strips and zip ties available so you can get creative with placement.
Ranging
The Garmin has to be ranged to view anything through the scope because all of the metrics and reticles are digital. So, if you don’t press anything, you will be looking through a completely blank piece of glass. Once set, your range crosshair will be visible for 30 seconds before the unit goes to sleep.
The Burris has a fixed reticle so that you can be confident that you can shoot at 20-yards without clicking any buttons meaning your finger can stay on the trigger. This is great in tight heavily wooded situations. Plus, if your battery runs out on a hunt, you always have a reticle to fall back on. The Oracle X stays awake for two minutes giving you more time to get the perfect shot.
Warranty
There is really no contest when it comes to warranties for the two scopes. The Garmin x1i comes with a one-year warranty, and the Burris comes with a no questions asked forever warranty.
We rarely see any issues with Garmin and they have been great at taking care of issues beyond the 1 year warranty limit.
Conclusion
Both the Burris Oracle X and Garmin Xero X1i are incredible advanced optics upgrades for your crossbow that offer unrivaled capabilities in reducing the time it takes you to get your shot off.
It’s hard to recommend one over the other. For this reason we have tried to describe the kind of hunter that will prefer each system.
Hunter A is looking to completely customize your sighting preferences, range your target instantly, and know exactly where the perfect shot is. A hunter who wants to optimize the time they have to hunt and isn’t afraid of paying a bit extra for it. They’ll probably love tech too!
Hunter B wants a simple and easy to understand functionality, and reassurance that their investment is always going to perform. This could be a hunter at any level who is upgrading from a traditional optic and is adamant in getting the best value for money they can when investing in crossbow equipment.
Hunter A, you’re going to absolutely love the Garmin X1i.
And Hunter B, the Burris Oracle X is about to change your crossbow game forever. Whichever hunter you may be, we are happy to stock both the Garmin X1i and the Burris Oracle X which you can check out in person at our store in Milford, IN, or send us a message if you have any more questions about either scope and we’ll be happy to help out.
