This is a review of Owlset HEIM ES X-Nano XPD Mini Thermal Sight Wi-Fi (VEOT-RSS08) from the-answer-is-42.
Alright guys here it is. I bolded headings, combined photos, and looking 'professional' I hope I was sick this week after taking this thing outdoors and to the range after receiving it so I've had plenty of time to write up a bunch of thoughts. Hopefully this covers all the bases
The Owlset VEOT-RSS08 is the second mini-thermal of its kind on the market that I can recall. The Infitac Mini FM-series which was released a few years ago was the first model and has had a good reception as an auxiliary thermal sight. Mini thermal sights have been photographed being used in multiple ways for both civilian and law enforcement needs so as my first thermal sight model I wanted to start small to see what having one was about.
From what I can see the RSS08 incorporates many of the same features as the Infitac Mini but also introduces additional settings and modes into its firmware and features of the unit. I believe it also has some internal differences based on their spec sheets.
You can see in the above post that the price of the RSS08 can be less than $500 with coupon codes available online which is about $175 less than the lowest sale price of the Infitac Mini FMP at around $649 which I think makes the RSS08 the most budget thermal on the market.
These mini thermal sights were initially marketed as pistol optics, but in my opinion that’s a very small use case and they are much better suited as secondary scanning devices to your main optic or used as the main thermal optic for close-distance varmint hunting.
The RSS08 settings and preferences are fully touch screen and can also be navigated with the rubber buttons (shown below in the side photo) on the side of the unit with short and long presses. Using the touch screen to change modes or settings is very easy on this unit and the ‘home’ screen allows you to swipe between reticles, zoom, and thermal modes with ease.
Battery Power and Mounting
The RSS08 uses the newer 3.7v 16280 battery from the higher-priced Infitac FML model – and not a small and hard-to-find CR2 which the original Infitac FMP (and really old EOtech?) used. This is a very positive spec for the battery and Owlset includes not one but three lithium rechargeable batteries with the unit as well as a .5A USB-C charger in the box.
The RSS08 will charge while off using the USB-C port on the side of the unit while plugged into a wall charger or with an external battery pack. This is a very cool feature especially if you need to charge the unit in the field while hunting and negating the need to the external charger if you don’t have it.
I did not have any issues with battery life while using the unit and after an hour and more of use only one bar was missing from the battery monitor icon shown below.
The RSS08 uses an ACRO footprint which is borrowed from the Aimpoint ACRO. It does not have changeable plates to adapt to various red dot footprints like the Infitac Mini but the ACRO is available in many mounting options and the RSS08 does include an ACRO-to-Picatinny mount in the box as well.
Thermal Modes, Settings and Additions
Note: The images shown do not look as good enlarged on our computer screens as they do on the unit itself with the smaller screen. They are much sharper on the native small screen.
A full color range of thermal modes is available on the RSS08 and they are easily switchable with a swipe from the home screen. See the below image for all choices along with a green reticle choice I added to the screen. In additional to the usual modes a ‘cold color’ mode has been added (shown above right with the turkey) which shows cold in a greenish hue and hot in a purple/white gamut of colors. In the other image above, you can see a car traveling down a wooded forest road at about 70 yards with hotspot detection and a crosshair green reticle turned on.
You can see a turkey here in these trees at about 30 yards (the reticle is on the turkey) and showing every single color mode available on this unit:
The RSS08 incorporates a new feature of being able to choose multiple reticle colors which I don’t believe the Infitac has. You can choose from yellow, blue, white, red and, green to overlay onto the thermal image. Green was chosen above in the test images.
Hotspot tracking is probably the nicest firmware addition to this unit which inserts a box onto the screen and automatically centers itself on the hottest item it is detecting. The Infitac Mini does not have this feature in its spec sheet. Here are two images showing squirrels and a turkey at around 30 yards away using hotspot tracking in both black and white hot modes:
The RSS08 (vs the RS08) is a wifi version which means it has a local wifi network that you can connect to with your cell phone and use to act as a second larger screen or a way to download your photos and videos and manage the device. It’s very handy to have this app availability for this mini thermal and I could see some additional uses like the larger screen with a picatinny cell phone holder for stationary varmint hunting.
All images shown here were taken natively on the unit itself and then downloaded via wifi and the iPhone app.
Another novel setting option which Owlset has added is called “Pure Mode” that removes all widgets from the screen to show only the thermal image and none of the setting icons or watermarks/dates/etc giving you a “pure” unobstructed view and is a nice added feature for those using this unit only as a scanning device.
Usage and Future Upgrades
The screen on this unit is good for being so small. It is large enough to identify items on the thermal screen while still being compact, and I don’t think moving up to a 300+ resolution screen on these units would do much in favor of that. The contrast is adjustable but leaves a little to be desired along with the minor amount of smear/lag when moving due to the 50hz refresh rate. As with the previous mentions these are also part of having such an affordable and small unit so it’s up to the purchaser to decide if the trade-offs are worth it.
One minor detractor for this unit is the field of view in close quarters and close-in areas. The unit needs a bit of space to really see anything properly which backs up my theory that this really isn’t a good fit for a tactical pistol unless you are using it for varmint hunting at 5+ yards away with a pistol at nighttime for rodents, hogs, or etc on something like a .22LR. Below is an image of a turkey in a tree line at about 30 yards in both no zoom (.5x zoom) and full digital zoom (1x zoom):
Some additional features I would like for this unit are shake-awake and the ability to add/save/remove settings profiles to the system. Shake-awake is a given these days with devices and would be a huge benefit to battery life on this unit - though I can see that since this is such a niche item that is purpose-built it may not be 100% necessary.
I found myself wanting settings profiles several times while using this unit. It’s not a deal breaker but having to go back to the settings screen and change reticle colors or etc would have been nice in a full profile change rather than using the quick swipe method on the touch screen. Maybe these can be taken care of with firmware updates in the future from Owlset via the phone app?
This RSS08 is also only 1000g shock rated as opposed to 1200g for the Infitac FM-series line and is only a 50hz refresh rate vs the 60hz of the Infitac line.
The NETD (Noise Equivalent Temperature Difference) is a thermal scope sensitivity rating (lower is better) and this unit comes in at a rating of 40 where the Infitac units have a rating of 25. I don’t feel this is a huge issue again given what Owlset is trying to accomplish with this unit but it’s something to keep in mind if that is important to you and your thermal imaging journey.
Conclusion
What can I say? For a sub-$500 thermal sight (with a $599 street price) when purchased with discounts this unit is just a crazy good deal to get into the thermal optics game. I think you need to be realistic in your comparisons of these mini units and what you want to accomplish with them. Are they as good as $2000+ clip-on units or other 256+ units in that thousands-of-collars price range? Of course not.
Would I put this on a 12:00 piggyback mount to scan at night or even during the day for thermal signatures? Absolutely. Would I put this on a .22LR for varmint hunting? Absolutely. Can you add this to a .300BLK for hog or coyote hunting? Absolutely. Could law enforcement in rural areas use this in a 45 degree, 12:00 piggyback, or parallel side-mount for scanning to find heat signatures? Absolutely. Is this a precision instrument? Probably not.
The Owlset RSS08 packs a ton of features into a small thermal package and in my opinion is a great starting point and absolutely a force-multiplier that everyone should have in their equipment and if you’re looking at the Infitac Mini line this unit is a welcome addition to the space.
As I get more time on this unit and bang it around outdoors I will provide future updates.
If you are interested in original review, please click here to view all.
