HOLOSUN DRS-NV

Night vision, everyone wants it, but unfortunately, night vision devices are anything but cheap. However, the more affordable digital night vision is catching up. This is where the HOLOSUN DRS-NV comes in, as it offers you a classic red dot combined with a digital night vision device. We took a closer look and will tell you what you can expect from it.

Contents and First Impressions

The DRS-NV is delivered in a sturdy plastic case along with some accessories:

• Lens cleaning cloth
• T10 Torx screwdriver
• 11 mm hex key
• Battery compartment tool
• Magnetic USB charging cable
• 2x battery 18350
• Cleaning pen HS-LENS-CLEANING-PEN
• Manual and additional documents

The DRS-NV is not lightweight at 230 g without batteries, but you get two optics in one. On the left side, you'll find the mounting screw, the control buttons for the red dot, the windage adjustment for the red dot, and the charging and data cable connection.

On the right side, you have the elevation adjustment for the red dot and the battery compartment.

The battery cover is designed to be very sturdy.

The DRS-NV is powered by two 18350 batteries or two CR123A batteries. The batteries are included and provide enough energy to operate the night vision device for up to 6 hours. If you only use the red dot, it can last over 50,000 hours.

This is what the charging cable looks like. One end is USB and the other is a magnetic flat connector.

The cable connects to this port under the rubber cover.

Thanks to the magnet, it can only be plugged in at one position. The cable holds very loosely and comes off quickly if you accidentally touch it. This eliminates the possibility of charging while on the prowl. You can also download the photos and videos from the digital night vision device using the same cable, but more on that later.

The mounting of the DRS-NV is done using a traditional Picatinny rail with a very well-designed, stable clamp mount. We really like it.

The Red Dot

The DRS-NV is primarily a red dot of the usual HOLOSUN quality. It has a lens size of 23x30 mm and a selectable reticle with either a 2 MOA dot, 65 MOA ring, or both simultaneously. In the image, you can see the dot plus the ring.

The operation of the red dot is simple and is done using the two side buttons. The adjustment screws on the sides offer a click adjustment of 0.5 MOA in a range of ±50 MOA.

The DRS-NV is equipped with fixed lens caps at both ends. The back has a sight window, while the front is opaque plastic. It may sound strange at first, but it makes sense.

Night Vision

The digital night vision device sits on top, and the image is displayed in the red dot through an OLED display with 1024x768 pixels. This means you don’t need to adjust anything anew. The image from the night vision device is displayed in green in the red dot window. The color cannot be changed.

What we noticed right away is that the field of view of the night vision device is quite narrow and is only suitable for aiming. For observing or even navigating, the field of view is simply too small.

The digital night vision device delivers a resolution of 1024x768 px at 60fps. This means that the small image you see through the red dot appears very sharp and fluid. Of course, photos and videos can also be taken, like the forest path above. However, the pictures and videos are not green but in grayscale. The image shows the field of view at about 50 m.

The night vision device of the DRS-NV also perceives infrared light, so you can see IR lasers very well with it. The bright spot in the image.

What the digital night vision device can also do is display a digital reticle. Here, you can choose from three different variants.

What is also practical is that you can digitally zoom in, with up to 8x magnification. The digital reticle enlarges accordingly. Here at 2x, ...

... 4x magnification, ...

... and 8x magnification, the maximum. The stopping points for different distances are clearly visible.

Of course, you can activate or deactivate the red dot at any time, as both functions actually work independently of each other. The night vision device also works during the day, without any risk of damage.

Usage

The Red Dot is just as effective to use as any other Red Dot from HOLOSUN. The control buttons on the side are nice and large, making them easy to operate even with gloves on. Unfortunately, the control panel for the night vision device at the top is a bit different. The buttons for zoom, brightness, and settings are quite small and close together, making them difficult to operate with gloves.

At the very top is the large on-off button for the night vision device. It is also easy to push even with gloves on.

The Red Dot and the night vision device can, as mentioned, be used independently of each other. Since the night vision device has its own lens, you do not need to flip down the front cover of the Red Dot. Therefore, it is also not transparent.

You can aim using the crosshair of the night vision device as well. This fact raised the question for us: "Do I even need the Red Dot?" We can't really answer that. On one hand, the DRS-NV works very well as a Red Dot when combined with magnifiers, while on the other hand, the digital night vision device also offers the possibility to zoom in, even more than with a magnifier.

Unfortunately, it also has the same weaknesses as all previous digital night vision devices, namely the still insufficient image amplification. In moonlight, the DRS-NV provides very good image quality, but as soon as you go into dense woods, you absolutely need an additional IR light source, otherwise, you won't see anything with it. Current analog night vision devices still outperform here, but digital ones are improving continuously.

Conclusion

The HOLOSUN DRS-NV attempts to merge a Red Dot and night vision sight. It actually does quite well and at the same time, not so much. The image quality is generally very good, but unfortunately, the field of view is extremely small. The Red Dot itself is excellent, and we can only praise it. Here, HOLOSUN showcases its strengths.

The digital night vision device is technically very impressive and provides good image quality, but due to the small control buttons, the overall experience suffers a bit. Overall, the DRS-NV can be used very well as a targeting device, and it is certainly an interesting option for hunting.

The HOLOSUN DRS-NV is available at Holosun.eu from €1,259.90