1. HIKMICRO Alpex 4K Lite LRF – Best all-round digital scope for air rifles

• Compact and genuinely suited to air rifles
• Ballistic LRF is hugely useful with pellet trajectories
• Strong daytime image
• Excellent night usability at real pest-control distances
• Aggressive pricing
• Feels like a modern solution, not a compromise

 

2. DNT Zulus HD V2 5-20x LRF and 3-12x LRF – Best lightweight alternatives

Best for: shooters who want compact size, light weight and ballistic LRF in a DNT package
Current price: £549.99 for the LRF versions

These should absolutely be grouped together.

The Zulus V2 models have been massively popular because they do a lot of what the Alpex Lite does from a buying point of view. They are compact, light, easy to use, and the LRF versions are overwhelmingly the ones people want.

The split between the two models is simple.

The 5-20x LRF is generally the more popular option because people like the higher base magnification. It makes a lot of sense for general rabbits, longer-range air rifle work, and shooters who prefer a more zoomed-in digital image.

The 3-12x LRF comes into its own for ratting, shorter-range rabbits, pigeons, and anyone who wants the wider field of view. It is the quicker, easier close-range choice, and for some types of pest control it is actually the better tool.

Which Zulus V2 should you buy?

Go 5-20x LRF if you want:

Go 3-12x LRF if you want:

Why they sit just behind the Alpex Lite

Because the Alpex Lite still feels slightly more complete as the true air rifle day-and-night replacement scope. But there is no question, the Zulus V2 LRF models are among the best buys in the category.

 

3. HIKMICRO Alpex 4K Lite non-LRF – Best value digital scope on the market

• Cheapest current serious digital scope in the market
• Compact and modern, not bulky and dated
• Huge step up from old budget night vision designs
• Gives budget buyers a proper route into current digital optics

 

4. HIKMICRO Alpex PRO – The best ergonomic digital rifle scope on the market

Best for: shooters who want premium image quality with the most traditional rifle scope handling on the market
Current price: £699.99 for A50P / £849.99 for A50PL LRF

The HIKMICRO Alpex PRO is not just about better image quality, although it is a huge part of the story. One of the biggest reasons this scope series stands out is the massive improvement in ergonomics.

For a lot of shooters, this is what makes the Alpex PRO such a clever bit of kit. It is built around a traditional 30mm tube design, side focus, and the magnification is adjusted in the normal way via a rear zoom ring on the eyepiece. That matters, because it means the scope handles much more like a proper conventional day scope than most digital optics ever have.

Rather than feeling like a digital device that happens to sit on a rifle, the Alpex PRO feels like a serious rifle scope first, just with premium digital capability built into it. Those traditional handling features are explicitly highlighted in current product listings, including the 30mm tube, rear magnification ring with throw lever, and side focus adjustment for a more traditional optic experience.

And that is why, from an ergonomic point of view, the Alpex PRO is arguably the best digital rifle scope on the market right now. The transition from a conventional optical scope into digital feels more natural here than it does on almost anything else.

Mounting is straightforward thanks to the standard 30mm tube format, the scope sits properly on the rifle, and the control layout is familiar straight away if you are used to traditional glass. Making it a massive selling point for shooters who want digital performance without giving up the feel of a normal rifle scope.

Of course, the Alpex PRO backs that up with performance. The 12MP sensor, 50mm F1.8 lens, and Light Pro image processing make it one of the best-looking digital scopes on the market in daylight, twilight and low light.

Official product information highlights the 12MP CMOS sensor, 50mm F1.8 lens, and a lightweight streamlined design, with current retailer specs also noting that it is 27% lighter than the Alpex 4K, which helps explain why it feels so much more at home on smaller rifle systems.

For pure air rifle use, we still would not put it above the Alpex 4K Lite LRF as the default first recommendation, simply because the Lite remains the better all-round fit for the widest number of air rifle shooters.

But if you want a scope that combines elite image quality with the best traditional ergonomics in the digital market, the Alpex PRO is for you.

 

5. DNT Zulus 4K 3-24x LRF – Great all-in-one, but a step away from ultra-compact

Best for: longer-range rabbits, foxes, centrefire use, and twilight deer stalking

Why it still matters: one of the best outright night performers in the market

Current price: £699.99

This scope absolutely should not be written off for air rifles.

In fact, from a pure night vision performance point of view, the Alpex 4K LRF is one of the strongest digital night vision scopes on the market. Alongside the Alpex PRO, it sits right at the top when outright low-light and night performance are the main priority.

The reason it sits lower in an air rifle-specific ranking is not because it lacks performance. Far from it. It is because once you put it on lighter compact rifles, many shooters now prefer the smaller, tidier and more streamlined options.

It’s not that the Alpex 4K LRF has been forgotten; far from it. It is still a superb choice, and if your shooting leans toward centrefire, longer-range rabbits, foxing, or twilight deer stalking, it remains hugely relevant. It just is not the automatic first recommendation for the average air rifle buyer in the way the Alpex Lite LRF is.

 

Why LRF models are dominating the market

This is one of the biggest changes in the whole digital optics category.

The reason LRF variants are now so dominant is that they solve a real problem, especially for airguns. Once pellet drop becomes a meaningful part of the shot, ranging errors start costing you quickly. That is why scopes like the Alpex Lite LRF, Zulus V2 LRF models, Zulus 4K LRF, and Alpex PRO LRF have become so appealing.

For a lot of shooters, once you have used a compact digital scope with an integrated rangefinder and ballistic support, it is very difficult to go back. It stops feeling like an extra feature and starts feeling like the natural way an air rifle digital scope should work.

Final verdict

If we are recommending one digital day and night vision rifle scope for air rifles in 2026, it is still the HIKMICRO Alpex 4K Lite LRF.

Not because it beats everything at every distance.
Not because it has the biggest objective lens.
Not because it is the outright king once it goes pitch black.

It wins because it gives the average air rifle shooter the best overall package: compact size, low weight, modern 4K day/night performance, integrated ballistic LRF, strong value, and a form factor that actually suits the rifle.

That is why it is the best all-rounder. 

If you want the best compact alternatives, the DNT Zulus V2 5-20x LRF and 3-12x LRF are right there. If you want a bigger all-in-one digital scope, the DNT Zulus 4K is a strong shout. And if you want the best outright night vision performance, especially for centrefire, longer-range pest control, or twilight deer stalking, the Alpex PRO and Alpex 4K LRF absolutely deserve to be in that conversation.

Click Here to Shop the Alpex 4k Lite LRF

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