Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Vortex continues to expand its enclosed emitter lineup with the new Venom Enclosed Micro Red Dot. Built on a DeltaPoint Pro footprint, the Venom Enclosed is designed to handle the elements while remaining simple and affordable. With a street price of around $200 and options for a 3 or 6 MOA dot, it’s positioned as an easy upgrade for shooters who want enclosed reliability without breaking the bank. I’ve been running it on my M&P M2.0 to see how it stacks up.
Table of contents
Out of the Box
The Venom Enclosed ships with a CR2032 battery, a custom tool, a rubber cover, lens cloth, and the most common screw sets. The optic measures 1.84 inches long, weighs 1.75 ounces with the battery installed, and mounts utilizing the DeltaPoint Pro footprint. It’s housed in a 6061 aluminum body that fully encloses the emitter, offering solid protection against dust, debris, and weather.
I had the Venom Enclosed mounted to my S&W M&P M2.0 for the entirety of this review. Utilizing a DPP footprint, I just selected the right S&W shim, used the screws Vortex included in the package, and then properly torqued the screws down and called it a day.
Glass and Reticle
The Venom Enclosed uses an aspherical lens to cut distortion and present a clear sight picture. The viewing window is large and easy to track a dot through during quick transitions. Voretx is selling two variants, so you can choose between a 3 MOA or a 6 MOA dot. For my review, I tested the 3 MOA model. I am typically a fan of smaller, finer dots, so the 3 MOA was a great fit for me.
Brightness adjustment spans 12 settings, with 10 daylight levels and 2 night-vision levels. The dot holds up well in full sun, and the lowest levels are usable for low-light and NV shooting.
The top-mounted buttons are a nice touch. They give audible and tactile clicks, with a raised bar in the center that keeps them from being pressed accidentally. I’ve accidentally bumped protruding side buttons on other carry optics while concealed carrying, but I haven’t had a single unintended brightness change with this design.
Parallax
Parallax performance was better than average in my testing. I locked the pistol down and shifted the dot through different parts of the window while aiming at a target. Across the bottom 80% of the glass, side to side, there was no observable shift. The dot stayed true to the point of aim. At the very top of the window, however, I did measure distortion. The dot moved about 3 inches at 45 yards, or roughly 6.4 MOA, off the target.
In practice, this means if you keep the dot in the bottom 80% of the glass, your rounds will hit where the dot is pointing. For practical pistol shooting and defensive use, this will never really be a problem. Though shooters making extremely precise shots should be mindful of dot placement in the window. Most people can’t hold a 3” group at 45 yards anyway, so this slight deviation is more of something to just be aware of.
Controls and Adjustments
Windage and elevation are adjusted in 1 MOA increments. The turrets are audible but not tactile. I could hear the clicks, but each adjustment felt like steady resistance with no distinct detents. There are also no tick marks, so I’d recommend adding witness marks once you’re zeroed to ensure nothing shifts unnoticed.
The side-loading battery tray is a highlight here. You never have to remove the optic or disturb your zero to swap batteries. The single CR2032 battery provides up to 20,000 hours of runtime at setting 6 with auto-shutoff disabled, which is excellent.
The optic sits fairly high in its housing. Even with raised sights on my M&P M2.0, I wasn’t able to co-witness irons. For some shooters, this won’t matter, but those relying on backup sights will need to purchase extra-tall irons or use a pistol with an extra-deep optic cut.
Power System
The Venom Enclosed uses a straightforward battery system. It does include motion activation and an auto-shutoff feature, which can help stretch battery life. With auto-shutoff enabled, the dot powers down after 10 minutes of inactivity and automatically reactivates when motion is detected. If you prefer a “constant on” setup, you can disable the feature, but you’ll sacrifice some battery run time.
Durability
The enclosed aluminum housing keeps the emitter sealed from rain, dust, and pocket lint. In testing, it proved extremely reliable. Through hundreds of rounds, the Venom Enclosed never flickered, lost zero, or showed any instability, shrugging off recoil without concern. While the taller housing design prevents me from using factory sights on my setup, the tradeoff is worthwhile since the sealed emitter provides confidence in all conditions. I can also always purchase taller sights if I want to run backup irons.
The 6061 aluminum body also extends past the lens, creating a protective lip that shields the glass if the optic is dropped or racked against a hard surface. This design detail adds real-world durability that matters for both carry and range use.
For those who want to see this red dot in action, I posted a short video to my Instagram page below from some of my testing:
READ MORE HERE: NEW Trijicon RMR Green Dot Reflex Sight – Hands-On Impressions
Final Thoughts
The Venom Enclosed Micro Red Dot delivers solid performance at an accessible price. The glass is clean, and the parallax is well controlled through most of the window. Top-mounted buttons are a subtle but meaningful upgrade for concealed carry. I would like to see more tactile turret feedback and a slightly lower profile to allow compatibility with more iron sights, but for $200, this is one of the most competitive enclosed dots currently available.
Vortex now offers both the Venom Enclosed and the Defender Enclosed series, giving shooters the choice between a simple, affordable option or a more feature-rich optic with solar assist and multi-reticle modes. Either way, Vortex provides reliable red dots backed by their unconditional lifetime warranty. After testing both this Venom Enclosed Micro Red Dot and their Defender-CCW Enclosed Solar Micro Red Dot, I have no hesitation recommending either.
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Mitchell Graf is a dedicated hunter, competitive shooter, and firearms enthusiast. As a former instructor and president of Oklahoma State’s Practical Shooting Team, he has a strong foundation in marksmanship and competition shooting. These days, he spends as much time as possible chasing pigs and coyotes with night vision and thermal optics.
When he’s not in the field or on the range, Mitchell works as a full-time Mechanical Engineer in the Aerospace and Defense industry and manages a part-time farming operation. Whether he’s behind a rifle, designing parts, or working the land, his drive for precision and performance remains the same.
Experience:
– Mechanical Engineer – Full-time professional in the Aerospace/Defense industry.
– Competitive Shooter & Instructor – Former President and Instructor of Oklahoma State’s Practical Shooting Team.
– Night Vision & Thermal Hunter – Passionate about night time predator and hog hunting.
– Part-Time Farmer – Working to provide for my family, and raise food for this great nation.
Fantastic and thorough review! The Venom Enclosed looks like Vortex is really pushing the value proposition in the enclosed emitter market. It reminds me of the early days of the RMR, where its ruggedness made people start asking, “What else can we do with this besides put it on a pistol?”
That thinking is exactly what led to the rise of magnifiers. I remember when the primary option was the bulky EOTech G33, but now, the market for compact, high-quality magnifiers has exploded. It’s opened up a whole new world of versatility. Throwing a red dot like the Venom Enclosed on a PCC or a lightweight rifle and then pairing it with a modern flip-to-side magnifier from a solid selection creates what I call a “budget battle rifle” setup.
You get the lightning-fast target acquisition of a red dot for close-in work, and with a simple flip of the magnifier, you have a 3x or 5x scope for making precise shots out to 300 yards. It’s a game-changer for a “one rifle to do it all” philosophy without spending a fortune on a high-end LPVO. The fact that we can now build such a capable and durable system around an affordable optic like the Venom Enclosed is a testament to how far the industry has come.