Vortex Anarch Rangefinder Review

[Redd]

Finally got my AirTag order in and installed on the Anarch. I wasn’t a fan of the (idea of the) tag holder dangling and really felt like it would be a distraction from the word “go” but when I’m using the Anarch, the AirTag goes completely unnoticed as it magnets to the side of the unit. To be completely honest, as silly as it may be to some, the hinged tab of the battery compartment not sitting flat bothers me far more than the addition of the AirTag w/holder.

 

[Muchmore]

I'm getting close to finishing up the Internet Invitational and with all the drama going on with the rangefinder, I realized how beneficial it is to have the green led that the Anarch has showing that slope is on.

ZERO question when it's on or not. I love the feature

 

[Muchmore]

Finally got my AirTag order in and installed on the Anarch. I wasn’t a fan of the (idea of the) tag holder dangling and really felt like it would be a distraction from the word “go” but when I’m using the Anarch, the AirTag goes completely unnoticed as it magnets to the side of the unit. To be completely honest, as silly as it may be to some, the hinged tab of the battery compartment not sitting flat bothers me far more than the addition of the AirTag w/holder.
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In case you (or anyone reading) hadn't read the whole thread previously, the battery tab is like that for ease of use. No needing to fuss getting the tab up and turned. Purely a quality of life adjustment they made with it

 

[Redd]

In case you (or anyone reading) hadn't read the whole thread previously, the battery tab is like that for ease of use. No needing to fuss getting the tab up and turned. Purely a quality of life adjustment they made with it

I should have touched on this when I made mention earlier: I get the why, and it makes perfect sense, but more just mean something as menial as that tab not sitting flat "bothered" me more than the AirTag holder. I wasn't very clear, so I appreciate you picking up my slack there.

 

[Fades]

In case you (or anyone reading) hadn't read the whole thread previously, the battery tab is like that for ease of use. No needing to fuss getting the tab up and turned. Purely a quality of life adjustment they made with it

I didn’t even think about this until I got to fiddling with my NX7. It is a PITA is to get battery out, you almost have to use a tee or something with a point to get the tab up.

Another +1 for Vortex.

This is the tab on the NX7. No bueno.

 

[Redd]

Flawless round with the Anarch this morning. I am really enjoying the rounds with the Anarch and today was more of what I’ve experienced thus far: top notch optics w/image stabilization, fast yardages, PinSpotter worked well, and the slope feature proving trustworthy all continue to make using the Anarch a very pleasant experience overall.

On a side note, when using the Anarch side by side with a rangefinder that lacks image stabilization, it cements the fact that I am sold on image stabilization in the rangefinder. I can operate without it( but the experience isn’t near as sweet.

 

[BigMac]

Flawless round with the Anarch this morning. I am really enjoying the rounds with the Anarch and today was more of what I’ve experienced thus far: top notch optics w/image stabilization, fast yardages, PinSpotter worked well, and the slope feature proving trustworthy all continue to make using the Anarch a very pleasant experience overall.

On a side note, when using the Anarch side by side with a rangefinder that lacks image stabilization, it cements the fact that I am sold on image stabilization in the rangefinder. I can operate without it( but the experience isn’t near as sweet.

I haven't tried one yet, but image stabilization will be my biggest criteria next time I buy a new rangefinder.

 

[Redd]

I haven't tried one yet, but image stabilization will be my biggest criteria next time I buy a new rangefinder.

It’s something I had never given thought to, and while I could still use a rangefinder without it, I don’t want to go without image stabilization moving forward. I love it.

 

[Redd]

I feel like I finally had an opportunity to really put the Anarch through its paces a bit better this weekend after being a bit more limited than I'm used to, recently. Short game practice and range on Friday night, 18 holes Saturday morning, and 36 holes yesterday allowed me to not just use the Anarch but do so in a variety of ways and with far more reps. It also allowed me to put the Anarch in the hands of a variety of golfers and hear their initial thoughts so I could compare them with my own. I am happy to report that the Anarch shined all weekend.

PinSpotter - I've yet to have any sort of negative experience with the PinSpotter mode on the Anarch. It is locking on and providing haptic feedback at a highly consistent clip and with very few exceptions. I appreciate the haptic feedback, but am not dependent on it to feel confident that I am seeing numbers for the correct target. The combination of the visual feedback and haptic feedback are working very well.

Slope - Whether talking about the slope calculations themselves or about the green LED lights when slope is turned on, I find the slope mode to be convenient and consistently trustworthy. My home courses don't have quite the elevation changes that I know so many THP members see on a consistent basis, but having the information provided when I need it proves invaluable. I have yet to see a slope calculation given that caused me to pause and recheck the target. As far as the LED lights, I have not been in a position where I had to turn off slope, but I can imagine no simpler way to communicate whether slope is on/off. It just makes sense.

Image stabilization - I feel like I've mentioned this feature more than any other during my time with the Anarch, but it's the feature that most won me over. I now look at having image stabilization as one of those things that you're likely to never realize how valuable it is until you experience it. I would have never wanted for a rangefinder with I.S., or ever known it was a thing, but now that I've enjoyed having it I don't want to go back to doing without. For me, it's one of the top reasons the Anarch deserves "premium" label. It also happened to be the thing most mentioned by any of the guys that tried the Anarch this weekend (and I mentioned nothing about it before letting them try the rangefinder; completely unsolicited comments regarding I.S.)

Optics - The optics on the Anarch have been discussed ad nauseam, but they are the star of the show for me. While I don't have the hunting background of some here, my experience with photography means that optics are extremely important to me. I believe I have high standards for what I expect from an optical device and the Anarch blows those expectations out of the water. What makes this even better is that I came into this with lofty expectations of the Anarch's optics due to all I had read here on the forum, yet I was still blown away.

Build - The Anarch breeds confidence. The chassis is absolutely robust, but isn't heavy, and allows me not think about handling it with kid gloves. The combination of the chassis and the comfort guard have ensured that my grip on the Anarch is always solid but also that it can withstand the "abuse" that can come during any given round. The magnet has proven very strong. limiting the number of falls from the cart, and adds to the piece of mind that comes with the overall build. Having incredible optics and features would mean very little if this rangefinder was fragile.

Across all 54 holes this weekend I had one instance when I tried to shoot a pin but the Anarch gave me distance for the group of trees in the background. Once. I don't expect the Anarch to be perfect, but I do expect it to be dependably consistent. I can say with absolute certainty that Anarch has met and exceeded those expectations. It has provided a pleasant user experience, has been dependable, and happens to be backed by the best warranty on the market and a customer service team that appear to be nothing short of top-notch.

***As a side note, since it's not technically part of the Anarch - I truly expected to be bothered by the addition of the AirTag holder to the unit. I didn't love the idea of the execution, but felt it wise to make sure I had a tag on it in case I leave the unit somewhere. I didn't notice it once over the past two days and I cannot stress enough how bothered I am anything that is out of place and/or annoying. It remained against the magnet when the Anarch was in hand and dangled when the Anarch was on the cart. I was never bothered in any way by its existence.

 

[MikeG]

I feel like I finally had an opportunity to really put the Anarch through its paces a bit better this weekend after being a bit more limited than I'm used to, recently. Short game practice and range on Friday night, 18 holes Saturday morning, and 36 holes yesterday allowed me to not just use the Anarch but do so in a variety of ways and with far more reps. It also allowed me to put the Anarch in the hands of a variety of golfers and hear their initial thoughts so I could compare them with my own. I am happy to report that the Anarch shined all weekend.

PinSpotter - I've yet to have any sort of negative experience with the PinSpotter mode on the Anarch. It is locking on and providing haptic feedback at a highly consistent clip and with very few exceptions. I appreciate the haptic feedback, but am not dependent on it to feel confident that I am seeing numbers for the correct target. The combination of the visual feedback and haptic feedback are working very well.

Slope - Whether talking about the slope calculations themselves or about the green LED lights when slope is turned on, I find the slope mode to be convenient and consistently trustworthy. My home courses don't have quite the elevation changes that I know so many THP members see on a consistent basis, but having the information provided when I need it proves invaluable. I have yet to see a slope calculation given that caused me to pause and recheck the target. As far as the LED lights, I have not been in a position where I had to turn off slope, but I can imagine no simpler way to communicate whether slope is on/off. It just makes sense.

Image stabilization - I feel like I've mentioned this feature more than any other during my time with the Anarch, but it's the feature that most won me over. I now look at having image stabilization as one of those things that you're likely to never realize how valuable it is until you experience it. I would have never wanted for a rangefinder with I.S., or ever known it was a thing, but now that I've enjoyed having it I don't want to go back to doing without. For me, it's one of the top reasons the Anarch deserves "premium" label. It also happened to be the thing most mentioned by any of the guys that tried the Anarch this weekend (and I mentioned nothing about it before letting them try the rangefinder; completely unsolicited comments regarding I.S.)

Optics - The optics on the Anarch have been discussed ad nauseam, but they are the star of the show for me. While I don't have the hunting background of some here, my experience with photography means that optics are extremely important to me. I believe I have high standards for what I expect from an optical device and the Anarch blows those expectations out of the water. What makes this even better is that I came into this with lofty expectations of the Anarch's optics due to all I had read here on the forum, yet I was still blown away.

Build - The Anarch breeds confidence. The chassis is absolutely robust, but isn't heavy, and allows me not think about handling it with kid gloves. The combination of the chassis and the comfort guard have ensured that my grip on the Anarch is always solid but also that it can withstand the "abuse" that can come during any given round. The magnet has proven very strong. limiting the number of falls from the cart, and adds to the piece of mind that comes with the overall build. Having incredible optics and features would mean very little if this rangefinder was fragile.

Across all 54 holes this weekend I had one instance when I tried to shoot a pin but the Anarch gave me distance for the group of trees in the background. Once. I don't expect the Anarch to be perfect, but I do expect it to be dependably consistent. I can say with absolute certainty that Anarch has met and exceeded those expectations. It has provided a pleasant user experience, has been dependable, and happens to be backed by the best warranty on the market and a customer service team that appear to be nothing short of top-notch.

Thanks for this rundown. This one and the ShotScope have jumped to the top as the models I am looking at to add to my bag. I am finding more and more that GPS is great but I need a rangefinder more than I thought.

 

[Redd]

Thanks for this rundown. This one and the ShotScope have jumped to the top as the models I am looking at to add to my bag. I am finding more and more that GPS is great but I need a rangefinder more than I thought.

In a very similar situation, I had almost completely stopped using a rangefinder when I started wearing my SS V5 watch, but I missed having the rangefinder for targets other than the flags. Also, we just need to figure out how to get together soon and I will let you test side-by-side the Anarch and SS ProZR.

 

[Fades]

Looks like my return was delivered to Vortex today. I'm patiently awaiting an email to see what's next.

I'll get some thoughts posted on the rangefinder this afternoon, but let's just say I cannot wait to have this thing back in my bag!

 

[Fades]

So while I wait to hear back from Vortex, I want to touch on a few things regarding the Anarch and why it’s replacing my NX7.

First and foremost, stabilization and quickness. I’m lumping these together because I think they compliment each other pretty well. I know I’ve bragged on it multiple times, but it really is that great. Not having to worry about shaky hands or windy conditions is a huge plus and makes the round so much smoother. Also, I find myself shooting flags, trees, etc multiple times because it’s so quick to lock and give a reading. A majority of the time you’re going to get the same number each time and not have to worry about figuring out which number is correct.

Secondly, the clarity. The display on this unit is second to none. It’s crisp, clear, and super easy to read. Pair that with the auto-brightness feature and you won’t have any issues trying to decipher what it’s telling you. Being able to flip between all the brightness levels or leave it on auto is a nice touch. I had a few outings where the level 3 brightness came in clutch during evening hours. I’ll also throw in that menu is super easy to navigate. It’s also a cool feature that they give you the option to choose which crosshair you want to use, giving you three different choices to choose between.

Now comes the build quality. Once you unbox it, you’ll realize why this is a premium rangefinder. It is a little hefty, but in a good way. The outer shell has a texture that reassures you it isn’t going to slip out of your hands. The only flaw I could find with that is it does collect dust/glove particles rather easy. However, it’s easy to wipe off and be on your way if that’s something that bothers you. The buttons are in a good position and are easy to find and press when you’re looking through it. They don’t “blend” into the rangefinder like I’ve seen some do.

You may be wondering why I had to send mine in if the build quality is so great. Honestly, I think it was a one in a million instance that something broke. As I mentioned before, I’ve seen this same model dunked in water and have read several comments about it withstanding tumbles all while still working perfectly. So, don’t think too much of it. But, in that same regard... their VIP warranty process seems to be the bees knees. They responded quickly to my email and the repair/replace process was in the works instantly.

Moral of the story, I’ll be recommending Vortex to everyone I know looking for a new rangefinder.

 

[Muchmore]

So while I wait to hear back from Vortex, I want to touch on a few things regarding the Anarch and why it’s replacing my NX7.

First and foremost, stabilization and quickness. I’m lumping these together because I think they compliment each other pretty well. I know I’ve bragged on it multiple times, but it really is that great. Not having to worry about shaky hands or windy conditions is a huge plus and makes the round so much smoother. Also, I find myself shooting flags, trees, etc multiple times because it’s so quick to lock and give a reading. A majority of the time you’re going to get the same number each time and not have to worry about figuring out which number is correct.

Secondly, the clarity. The display on this unit is second to none. It’s crisp, clear, and super easy to read. Pair that with the auto-brightness feature and you won’t have any issues trying to decipher what it’s telling you. Being able to flip between all the brightness levels or leave it on auto is a nice touch. I had a few outings where the level 3 brightness came in clutch during evening hours. I’ll also throw in that menu is super easy to navigate. It’s also a cool feature that they give you the option to choose which crosshair you want to use, giving you three different choices to choose between.

Now comes the build quality. Once you unbox it, you’ll realize why this is a premium rangefinder. It is a little hefty, but in a good way. The outer shell has a texture that reassures you it isn’t going to slip out of your hands. The only flaw I could find with that is it does collect dust/glove particles rather easy. However, it’s easy to wipe off and be on your way if that’s something that bothers you. The buttons are in a good position and are easy to find and press when you’re looking through it. They don’t “blend” into the rangefinder like I’ve seen some do.

You may be wondering why I had to send mine in if the build quality is so great. Honestly, I think it was a one in a million instance that something broke. As I mentioned before, I’ve seen this same model dunked in water and have read several comments about it withstanding tumbles all while still working perfectly. So, don’t think too much of it. But, in that same regard... their VIP warranty process seems to be the bees knees. They responded quickly to my email and the repair/replace process was in the works instantly.

Moral of the story, I’ll be recommending Vortex to everyone I know looking for a new rangefinder.

Would price deter you at all if you were buying?

 

[Fades]

Would price deter you at all if you were buying?

If I were in need of a new rangefinder, I would probably splurge for the Anarch, or any of the other Vortex models simply due to the VIP warranty. The way I look at it is if I’m going to spend $200 or so on a rangefinder, an item I’m not upgrading every few seasons, it would make the most sense to spend $400 on a premium item that is covered under a lifetime warranty.

Buy once, cry once. That’s my motto.

 

[Fades]

Got an email from Vortex regarding my repair. They mentioned in the service order that the device was unable to be repaired and a replacement will be sent out free of charge. That all happened pretty quick!

 

[Muchmore]

Got an email from Vortex regarding my repair. They mentioned in the service order that the device was unable to be repaired and a replacement will be sent out free of charge. That all happened pretty quick!

VIP showing its worth!

Wonder what happened to it to completely fry it lol

 

[Fades]

VIP showing its worth!

Wonder what happened to it to completely fry it lol

No idea, but I’m curious too. I’m just thankful for the warranty! That’s a huge relief.

 

[dirty-d]

I don’t need another rangefinder (have a Leica I use while bow hunting) but man the image stabilization sounds so cool. Vortex makes good stuff. They have a loooong history in the birding world and then got into hunting/ shooting optics 15-20 years ago. Have great reputations in both and lifetime warranties. Kinda like a Leupold of old.

 

[jdtox]

Got an email from Vortex regarding my repair. They mentioned in the service order that the device was unable to be repaired and a replacement will be sent out free of charge. That all happened pretty quick!

Customer service is so good with Vortex

 

[Redd]

I don’t need another rangefinder (have a Leica I use while bow hunting) but man the image stabilization sounds so cool. Vortex makes good stuff. They have a loooong history in the birding world and then got into hunting/ shooting optics 15-20 years ago. Have great reputations in both and lifetime warranties. Kinda like a Leupold of old.

Not coming from that world, I was ignorant to that reputation or even that they existed but I have been impressed all the way around. I can't speak for the experiences of anyone else, but I my own experience has been extremely positive.

 

[Redd]

No idea, but I’m curious too. I’m just thankful for the warranty! That’s a huge relief.

Man, I know we've seen the VIP warranty be honored more than once, including in your own situation, but it honestly still blows me away that it's real. I realize that might sound silly, but over-promising and under-delivering seems to be the name of the game with so many companies any more. The fact that Vortex Golf absolutely delivers on a HUGE promise is both refreshing and encouraging!

 

[Fades]

I just got the email that it shipped and it seems they’re overnighting it, the tracking says it’ll arrive tomorrow.

I emailed them ONE TIME. That’s all it took and everything was handled. That is incredible customer service!

 

[JTinMO]

I just got the email that it shipped and it seems they’re overnighting it, the tracking says it’ll arrive tomorrow.

I emailed them ONE TIME. That’s all it took and everything was handled. That is incredible customer service!

Vortex has been that way since day one with customer service and warranty, from what I hear. I've never had to use it, but have comfort in reading about the experiences from others that have.

 

[JTinMO]

I finished out the second half of the year with an Anarch, and love it.

I also added the Air Tag thing, and like @Redd recapped above, it just sticks to the magnet side and you never notice it is there. (Remember to pull it from your bag and keep it in your carry on when traveling, or remove the Lithium battery at a minimum)

The biggest feature I have noticed is the image stabilization. It just works, and works well. I grabbed my old Bushnell rangefinder from my daughter on one recent round to snap some distances, and noticed right away that I am used to the image stabilization of the Anarch. It's a little feature that results in an impactful user experience.