Hikmicro Alpex Pro Review and Image Quality

Most people looking at a digital day-and-night scope are trying to work out one thing: whether they can run a single optic instead of a glass scope for the day and a separate device for the night. The Alpex line makes that decision harder than it needs to be, because three models look close to identical on paper and sit within about a thousand dollars of each other.

This review is Bristle Up’s answer to that. We shot our own footage at 10, 50, 100, 200 and 300 metres — day, night and last light — with the Alpex Pro, the Alpex 4K and the Alpex 4K Lite side by side, on the same targets and the same nights. Everything below comes from that testing, not from a spec sheet.

The full comparison is in the video below.

Shop Now: Hikmicro Alpex Pro
How this was tested. Same three scopes, same targets, same nights [except the 4k], at measured distances of 10, 50, 100, 200 and 300 metres. Night footage was shot with the two IR torches named below, day and last light on separate sessions. Where a comparison was not clean — different coloured animals, different settings, a torch sitting in a different spot — it is called out in the text rather than smoothed over. Bristle Up sells these scopes, which is worth knowing when you read any dealer’s review, so every figure below is labelled either measured or manufacturer and you can tell the two apart at a glance.

The short version

• The Alpex Pro is a genuine day-scope replacement. Daytime image quality is where it clearly beats the Alpex 4K, especially under zoom at longer distances.
• At night, out to about 300 m, you can still make a confident identification and place an accurate shot with the right caliber and a decent IR torch.
• The Alpex 4K is still the pick if price is the deciding factor, or if maximum long-range night performance is your number one priority.
• The Alpex 4K Lite is the pick for rimfires, air rifles and close-range work — it is around 400 g lighter and roughly 160 mm shorter.
• It weighs 889 g (manufacturer), starts in about 3 seconds, and finally drains the removable battery before the internal one — which was the single biggest gripe people had with the Alpex 4K.
• You do not get a mount or an IR torch rail in the box.

Which Alpex should you buy?
Jesse’s Picks As at 07/09/2026

If you…   [ www.bristleup.com.au ]	Go
Want one optic that genuinely replaces a glass scope during the day and still works hard at night	Alpex Pro
Are shopping on price, or long-range night performance is your single highest priority	Alpex 4K
Run a rimfire or air rifle, or want the lightest, shortest setup for close and mid-range work	Alpex 4K Lite
Need to spot animals fast, through grass and light cover, more than you need to identify them	A thermal, not an Alpex
Hunt in daylight as much as darkness	Alpex Pro — thermal is the weaker choice in harsh daytime conditions

Night vision image quality: 10 m to 300 m

All night footage was shot with an IR torch fitted. We compared the Z-Vision NV 303, a 3-in-1 torch, against the Darnox Thumper, a fixed 850 nm illuminator.

For most hunters, 850 nm is all you will need. It generally gives you better clarity and more distance. The main benefit of 940 nm is less visible glow from the front of the torch, which can help at very close range on easily spooked animals — but outside that, most hunters probably will not need it.

Distance	What the Alpex Pro gives you at night
10–30 m	Field of view is quite good and image clarity is exceptional. Ideal for close-range rabbits, and for pest control on rats and birds.
30 m+	Enough field of view to comfortably track a moving target until it stops.
50 m	Field of view opens up further while still holding excellent image quality. Finer details are clear even under zoom. Identifying and taking a shot at this distance is a walk in the park.
100 m	Field of view is no longer a concern — plenty of room to track a moving target, and even a running shot would be manageable. A slight drop in image quality, but more than enough detail for confident identification and accurate shot placement. For kangaroo harvesters, a precise headshot is no problem.
200 m	A more noticeable drop, but the animal is still clearly identifiable with enough detail for accurate placement. We deliberately used a black dog here — animal colour makes a real difference to how easily you pick a target up.
300 m	This is where clarity takes the biggest hit. It is still impressive how much detail you can make out, even under high zoom, and you can still make a confident identification.

Our assessment on range. Taking out a fox at around 300 m is quite possible. 350 m or more may still be achievable for a skilled hunter with the right gear using the built-in ballistics calculator. At those distances you are relying on eye shine a lot more, and precise shot placement becomes increasingly difficult once you move past the 250 m mark.

Animal colour is a real limitation of night vision. A black animal at 200 m is harder work than a light-coloured one at the same distance. That is a limitation thermal does not share.

Getting the torch right matters as much as the scope. The torch you put on the front changes your night image more than most people expect, and it is the part buyers most often get wrong. Bristle Up stocks everything you need — IR torches, mounts, rails and the devices themselves — so you can get it all in one place and know it works together. Browse our IR torches and mounts

Daytime image quality

HIKMICRO’s goal was not to make just another day-and-night optic. They wanted a digital scope with enough daytime clarity, even under zoom, to be a genuine alternative to a traditional glass scope. To be perfectly honest, I think they have pulled it off.

• Late afternoon, general: the level of detail is impressive. Colour and vibrance are not overprocessed or blotchy — it looks very clean and natural.
• 50 m: the detail is impeccable, even under high zoom.
• 100 m: genuinely excellent, with more than enough detail for identification and accurate shot placement.
• 200 m: detail remains very respectable. You can clearly identify the target, see its position, and read enough of the surrounding area to understand what is happening before you take the shot.
• 300 m: the limits of digital magnification become noticeable. The image starts to soften and some finer detail disappears, but it remains very usable and the target is clearly identifiable.

A quality glass scope will always have the advantage overall, especially at longer distances and under higher zoom. But for the average hunter, at the distances most people actually shoot, this is a very usable image with plenty of detail for confident identification.

Last light performance

Last light is where a day-and-night scope earns its keep. The Bristle Up test started about 30 minutes before dark.

Time	What we could see
6:38 pm	Sun already dropping out of sight. Image quality still holding up well in day mode.
6:44 pm	Getting darker by the minute; visibility in day mode still very good.
6:49 pm	I could barely see a kangaroo hopping nearby with my own eyes. The Alpex could still see quite well.
6:51 pm	Switched to night mode as day mode started to struggle. Image goes black and white, and detail improves noticeably.
~6:56 pm	Black dog at 200 m still visible. Cream dog at 300 m getting difficult.
6:59 pm	Dog at 100 m still reasonably clear.
7:05 pm	Dogs at 200 m and 300 m now very hard to see.
7:07 pm	Even the dog at 100 m had become difficult to make out. Time to put the IR torch on.

The Alpex Pro is clearly very capable in last light, which is the window a lot of hunting actually happens in.

Alpex Pro vs Alpex 4K

During the day, the Pro is the clear winner. At 50 m the difference is already noticeable — look closely at the dog and the surrounding grass and the Pro holds significantly more detail, while the 4K looks much more pixelated. At 100 m, once you start zooming, the Pro is simply ahead: better overall image quality, more realistic colours, noticeably better clarity on both the target and the background. At 200 m the gap widens again; the 4K still performs extremely well, but under more zoom the image suffers and becomes considerably more pixelated.

At night the two are closer, and the comparison is not clean. At 50 m both are similar in brightness, but the Pro holds noticeably more detail on both the animal and the background. At 100 m we were using different coloured dogs — the 4K appears slightly brighter, the Pro seems to retain more detail, and some of that could come down to settings on the day. At 200 m it is not apples for apples either: the Pro was working harder on a black dog while white patches on the other dog reflected more IR light back into the 4K. The 4K appears to hold slightly more brightness and background detail at that distance, but settings and IR torch position could account for some of it. We do not have a 300 m recording from the 4K.

The general consensus in the community is that the 4K has slightly better image quality at night at longer distances, likely because of its bigger lens. We are reporting that as consensus, not as something we measured.

What the Pro changes

Change	Why it matters
Drains the removable battery first	The 4K drains the internal battery flat first, then switches to the removable one. The internal batteries are not user-replaceable, so the 4K wears out the part you cannot swap. This is the single biggest fix on the Pro.
Around 350 g lighter [?]	You notice it immediately once an IR torch is on the rifle. (Your intro says ~350 g, the comparison section says ~300 g — which figure do you want published?)
45% more pixels, 22% larger display (manufacturer)	Better resolution and a bigger screen; the main reason daytime quality pulls ahead.
Side focus wheel	An improvement over reaching forward on the 4K.
Front throw-lever zoom	Quicker to locate than the 4K’s dial.
Magnetic lens cap	Replaces the clip on the 4K.
Rigid top cap	The 4K’s top cap flexed. It never affected performance, but it felt wrong.
5 GHz and 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi	A good upgrade for streaming to a phone or tablet.

What the 4K keeps: a lower price, longer battery life, and the consensus edge at long-range night work — at least until new firmware lands for the Pro.

For most hunters, the Alpex Pro is the better overall package and the clearer winner as a genuine day-and-night optic. If you want something that can replace a glass scope during the day while still performing extremely well at night, the Pro is the one I would recommend.

Still torn between the two? Give Bristle Up a call or send us a message. We will ask what you shoot, how far, and how often you are out in daylight, and tell you honestly which one fits — even when that is the cheaper one.

Alpex Pro vs Alpex 4K Lite

The Lite is a more compact day-and-night scope designed mainly for rimfires and air rifles, though it can still be used on larger calibers. Its wider field of view makes it especially well suited to close-range shooting on rabbits, rats and birds.

	Alpex Pro	Alpex 4K Lite
Weight	889 g (manufacturer)	Just over 500 g with removable battery
Length	~440 mm	~280 mm
Priority	Detail, low-light performance, longer range	Field of view, compact size, value
Best on	Centrefire, day-and-night all-rounder	Rimfire, air rifle, close to mid-range

At night: at 100 m the Lite does not have the Pro’s clarity, but it is still more than good enough to identify the target and place a shot accurately. At 200 m things get quite a bit more challenging — there is still enough clarity to identify most targets, but a black dog at that distance really makes it work. At 300 m it starts to struggle considerably; you can still pick up eye shine well, but detail on the target is very limited, which makes confident identification and accurate placement much harder. Past 200 m, the Pro is clearly the superior performer.

During the day it performs surprisingly well. Clarity is very good, and the wider field of view makes close-range shooting easier by helping you get onto target faster. At 100 m there is more than enough detail for confident identification and precise shot placement — I would have no problem putting this on my .223 and taking shots out to 100 m. At 200 m the Pro is still the clear winner, but the Lite is not far behind, and in the right hands that is still a very capable distance. At 300 m clarity drops more noticeably and the colours are not quite as good, though it is holding up far better than it did at that distance at night.

The Lite is extremely hard to beat on value. For its price and size it is a very capable little scope, and I would still treat it as a close-range scope even though it clearly punches above its weight during the day.

Night vision or thermal?

We get asked this constantly, so here is the honest answer.

Where night vision wins

• Price. At this price point, a similarly priced thermal does not come close to the clarity and identification ability of a good night vision scope.
• Identification. Night vision gives you a much more natural image with better detail for identifying both the animal and the species. That is one key reason a lot of kangaroo harvesters use them.
• Daytime usability. A digital day-and-night scope works properly in daylight. A thermal does not, reliably.

Where thermal wins

• Spotting. Thermal lets you find your target much faster, especially through light obstructions like grass. With night vision it takes longer to locate a target and get onto it, particularly if the animal is sitting behind cover, because it blends in.
• No torch needed. Thermal works at night with no additional support. Night vision needs an IR torch, which is extra bulk, extra weight and another device to keep charged.

The simplest way to put it: night vision is the equivalent of being able to see in the dark with your own eyes like with a spotlight — you still have to find and identify the target yourself. Thermal makes the target jump out so you can get on it quickly. We put a HIKMICRO Stellar SX60LS and the Alpex Pro side by side in a paddock with semi-high grass, and the difference was night and day.

Thermal in daylight. In the right conditions — early morning, late afternoon, some ground cover, overcast weather — thermal can still be useful during the day. But on a hot summer’s day in Queensland they quickly become borderline useless, especially around stumps, rocks, termite mounds and bare dirt, where hot spots make identifying your target much harder. If you can already see the animal with your own eyes and then point the scope at it, you will likely be able to take the shot. Turn burn protection on if you are using a thermal in daylight, and never point it at the sun — that can damage the sensor.

The practical answer for most people is both. With return-to-zero quick detach mounts being as reliable as they now are, swapping a day scope off for a night scope is easy and dependable. Run a thermal and a glass scope and swap between them, or a thermal and a day-night digital like the Alpex. Or just keep using the Alpex if that is all you have — it sits in a really good spot as a balanced all-rounder.

This is the call worth making before you spend the money. Night vision or thermal is the decision people most often get wrong, and it is not a decision a spec sheet can make for you. Our team at Bristle Up works very hard to provide honest advice and genuine product reviews, helping hunters choose the right gear for the job. Tell us what you hunt, where, and what you already own, and we will tell you which way to go — and if you need a quick detach mount so you can run both, we stock those too.

Talk to us before you buy — phone or message, no pressure. If you are in the market for thermal or night vision, please consider making your next purchase through us. We stock everything you need, from IR torches, mounts and rails right through to the devices themselves.

The hardware

It is a very slim, good-looking piece of equipment, and a big upgrade from the previous Alpex — much, much lighter.

• Magnetic lens cap that fully opens, with the laser rangefinder above it.
• Side focus wheel, textured and comfortable to operate.
• Top dial for the quick-access menu, colour palettes and main menu navigation.
• Battery cap on the right — twist and pull, held on by a rubber tether. Easy in and out.
• Zoom with a removable throw lever. I think this is going to be the part rough users break off. It is not necessary, it unscrews, and I would recommend removing it if you are hard on your gear — the plastic housing it screws into is not removable.
• Charge port charges the internal battery only. You need the supplied charger for the removable 18650.
• Dioptre adjustment and eye cup at the rear.
• Eye relief is very good. I could sit back about a hand’s length and still see everything I needed on the screen.
• Recoil-activated recording, plus 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi streaming to a phone or tablet.

Reticles: five main profiles, five sub-profiles, ten reticle types at the time of recording (HIKMICRO add more over time), five opacity levels, and colour selection — white, red, blue, yellow, green — with a separately selectable centre colour on reticles that have an obvious centre. Ballistics calculation and freeze-frame zeroing are both done in the scope. A full setup and zeroing walkthrough is a separate video.

What we did not test

Worth stating plainly, so you know where this review stops:

• No 300 m night recording of the Alpex 4K. That comparison is missing, and it is the exact distance where the 4K is said to hold an advantage. We have not verified that claim either way.
• The recoil rating. HIKMICRO quote it; we have not put it on anything serious enough calibres to test it.
• 120 Hz refresh and reticle thickness adjustment. Both were unavailable when we filmed, so we cannot tell you how they perform.
• Long-term durability and battery ageing. This is a new release. We will know more as more of them get out in the field, and we will update this review when we do.

What we would still like fixed

• Battery life. 7 hours with the removable battery is decent, but 10 or 11 would have been nice. The quick-release battery does mean you can carry spare 18650s and swap them.
• 120 Hz refresh was not selectable at the time of recording — HIKMICRO list it as coming by firmware. Higher refresh usually costs some image quality, so it is a trade-off we cannot judge until it is testable. [?: is 120 Hz live now?]
• Reticle thickness adjustment was promised but not available when we filmed. [?: available yet?]
• No mount and no IR torch rail in the box.

What is in the box

Manual, hard case, scope sock, one removable battery and a charger. No mount. No Picatinny rail for an IR torch. Worth knowing before you order.

That is why we build these as bundles. A scope on its own is not a working setup. Bristle Up puts together Alpex Pro packages with the right IR torch, torch mount and rail already matched, so nothing turns up missing and nothing turns up that does not fit. We also price match, or you can make us an offer. See the Alpex Pro bundles

Specifications — HIKMICRO Alpex Pro A50PL

Every row carries where the number came from. Manufacturer means HIKMICRO published it and we are repeating it. Manufacturer claim means it is a marketing figure we have no way to verify. Anything we checked ourselves says so.

Spec	Figure	Source
Sensor	4512 × 2512 CMOS (12 MP)	manufacturer
Lens	50 mm, F1.8	manufacturer
Low-light claim	Light Pro algorithm — equivalent F0.9 brightness, up to 3× signal-to-noise improvement	manufacturer claim
Magnification	4.0×–24.0× (6× base), 2.3× lossless	manufacturer
Field of view	7.2° × 4.0° — 12.6 m × 7 m at 100 m	manufacturer
Display	1920 × 1080, 0.6 in AMOLED, 50 Hz (120 Hz stated as coming by firmware)	manufacturer
Laser rangefinder	1200 m, ±1 m accuracy (A50PL only)	manufacturer
Detection range	Up to 1500 m, daytime	manufacturer
Battery	Two internal lithium cells plus one replaceable 18650; removable drains first	manufacturer, confirmed in testing
Runtime	7 hours continuous at 25 °C	manufacturer
Startup	~3 seconds	manufacturer, matches our use
Weight	889 g with external battery	manufacturer
Dimensions	442.8 × 83.5 × 90.5 mm	manufacturer
Eye relief	55 mm	manufacturer
Protection	IP67, −30 °C to 55 °C	manufacturer
Recoil	1000 g / 0.4 ms on the spec sheet; HIKMICRO also quote up to .375 H&H	manufacturer claim, untested by us
Storage	64 GB internal eMMC	manufacturer

We have not tested the recoil rating. On a .223 or a .308 it is not going to be a problem, and I do not expect issues on a .338 either. HIKMICRO quote essentially the same recoil rating across the Alpex range, and we have had no reports back from customers running the 4K or the Lite on heavier calibers.

Common questions

Is the Alpex Pro worth the extra over the Alpex 4K? For most hunters, yes. The Pro has clearly better daytime image quality, especially under zoom at distance, it is lighter, the display is bigger, and it drains the removable battery first. The 4K is the better buy if price is the deciding factor or if long-range night performance is your single highest priority.

Can the Alpex Pro replace a day scope? Yes, for the distances most hunters actually shoot. A quality glass scope still has the advantage at longer range and higher zoom, but at 100–300 m the Alpex Pro gives you a very usable image with plenty of detail.

How far can you shoot with the Alpex Pro at night? A fox at around 300 m is quite possible with a decent IR torch and the right caliber. Past 250 m you rely on eye shine more, and precise shot placement gets harder.

Do you need an IR torch? Yes, for full darkness. In last light it will work on its own for a while, but once it is properly dark the torch goes on.

850 nm or 940 nm? 850 nm for most hunters — better clarity and more distance. 940 nm is for very close range on easily spooked animals, where the reduced glow from the front of the torch matters.

Does it come with a mount? No. No mount and no IR torch rail. You will need to add both.

Night vision or thermal? Night vision for identification and daytime use on a smaller budget. Thermal for spotting animals fast through grass and cover. If you can run both, that is the best answer — quick detach mounts make swapping reliable now.

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Still not sure? Talk to a real person

If you are still unsure, or you want help getting a package deal with the right IR torch and mounts, jump on our website and send us a message, or give us a call. We will get it happening for you at a great price.

We are a small Australian business, and what you get from us is true blue, honest advice based on real-world testing — so you get the right gear the first time. We hunt with this gear ourselves and we shoot our own test footage rather than repeating manufacturer claims. If the cheaper option is the right one for you, that is what you will be told — there are two places in this review where the cheaper model wins, and we left them in. It takes a lot of effort to make these reviews, so if this helped you, we hope you will get behind us and buy through Bristle Up.

• Free express shipping with transit cover on orders over $200, Australia-wide
• Price match, or make us an offer
• Loan unit available if your device ever goes away under warranty
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Shop night vision and thermal at Bristle Up

More from us: in-depth image quality comparisons, pros and cons, walkthrough guides and IR torch reviews.

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Written and filmed by Jesse Farr, who runs Bristle Up — a HIKMICRO thermal and night vision dealer at 13 Garden Street, Yuleba QLD, supplying hunters, pest controllers, farmers and graziers across Australia. Youtube