In addition to the age-old surety of death and taxes, it’s also a sure thing that red dot sights on defensive handguns are here to say (at least until some new even hotter hotness comes along). Of course, not everyone wants an actual red dot, and that’s where other colors come in.
In most cases, that tends to mean green—which certainly works, and is great in daylight, too—but it’s always nice if there are other options. This is where the Lucid Optics E7 enclosed reflex sight—referred to as “Blu” thanks to its dot color—comes in. I’ve been running the E7 and I’m here to report how it works and why Blu should be part of your dot sight collection.
What’s the Lucid Optics E7?
The Lucid Optics E7 is an enclosed reflex sight—yes, it’s still referred to as a red dot sight. Like Kleenex, it’s kind of become a generic term. Enclosed reflex sights have front and rear lenses that protect the emitter which is located between the two. Thanks to that design and the housing that surrounds it all, the emitter is protected from the elements, ensuring use in all kinds of conditions. Some shooters find the enclosed design helps them find and focus on the dot more quickly as well. And, of course, the Lucid Optics E7’s dot is blue.
One of the reasons blue hasn’t really been a thing for reflex sights is the fact that it’s been cost prohibitive to mass produce them. Even so, Lucid seems to have pulled it off. It’s true that the market is dominated by red dot sights, but as time goes on, a growing number of shooters are looking for other options. Green, which is much more readily visible to the human eye, took some time getting a foothold but has definitely gained popularity with shooters, including myself includelf. So why not blue if that’s what you prefer?
What are the details of the Lucid Optics E7?
The E7 has a larger, rectangular housing due to its being a reflex sight—which contrasts with the more diminutive, rounded designs of many red dots. The housing itself is made from 7075 aluminum that delivers 90 percent of the strength and ruggedness of steel at one-third the weight. That kind of weight reduction with fantastic durability is a must for a dot sight. A matte black finish on the housing provides resistance to wear and cuts down on glare during use.
The sight has an overall length of 1.78-inches with height varying a bit based on the mount being used. It weighs 2.65 ounces and it’s powered by a single CR2032 battery. According to Lucid, the sight’s battery life is up to 50,000 hours (a feature that’s helped along by auto-off and shake-awake features).
It’s parallax-free outside of three feet and has a 60-foot field of view at 100 yards. The blue reticle is Lucid’s M5 reticle. The M5 features a 4 MOA dot, a 32 MOA horseshoe and a pair of 45-degree, 14 MOA lines angling toward the dot.
The reticle is designed to draw the eye with greater speed to encourage rapid target acquisition. Light transmission is 95 percent and the lens is FBMC multi-coated (fully broadband multi-coated). Windage and elevation are 90 MOA adjustable and brightness can also be adjusted.
What guns does the Lucid Optics E7 work on?
The E7 isn’t just a pistol dot, it works great for rifles and shotguns, too. It’s made to be versatile across different platforms, and it pulls it off. Yes, it’s an ideal (if larger) handgun sight and has withstood varied testing including 20,000 rounds of .40 Smith & Wesson, but that doesn’t mean it can’t do more. Lucid states the E7 can handle the G-force generated by handguns, rifles, shotguns, and lever-actions—basically, you can mount it to whatever you want that goes bang.
How does the Lucid Optics E7 work?
I mounted the E7 to more than one gun to verify those versatility claims. For handguns that was the Cosaint COS21 DS in 10mm and on the lever gun side it had to be the Marlin 1895 Trapper (because it’s so awesome). For an AR-15 I dropped it onto my Acme Machine AM-15 build in 6mm ARC. Spoiler alert: it worked great on every gun.
Mounting the Lucid E7 with the included ACRO mount is straightforward and zeroing is easy—and typical for a dot sight. Thanks to the 90 MOA adjustment range for both windage and elevation, you have plenty of room to work with. Brightness can be changed as needed and that’s a useful feature as well.
The E7’s reticle is supposed to speed target acquisition by up to 30 percent, and that details are going to depend on the user. The manufacturer also states the zeroed reticle stays on target with no need to worry about precise placement within the lens (if you think that sounds weird, stop and think about the fact that you flat out cannot keep any reticle or iron sight dead still shooting offhand).
When you’re getting on target, the sharpness of the blue color works well in drawing your eye. Speaking as someone with astigmatism, I can say it was easier to visualize than the many—okay, most—red dots I’ve run. So if we’re comparing it to different colors I’d say it’s as functional and useful as green, if not better. It flat-out works well for my eyes.
Field of view with the E7 is solid and the eye relief enhances that, letting you focus on the center 4 MOA dot of the blue reticle without getting tunnel vision. That’s important whether you’re at the range, in a self-defense scenario, or hunting. A clear view is a must, and the E7 facilitates that.
The E7 handles recoil well whatever platform it’s on. It’s held up to being banged around—sometimes I’m a bit hard on my gear—and the E7 has still maintained its zero. Even if your head moves around as you do, you’re going to be able to pick up that dot with no problem.
Extended sessions with a red dot tend to result in my getting a rather terrible halo effect and having trouble staying on target. A few years ago, I had an optometrist who was also a shooter and he gave me a lengthy, technical rundown of why my eyes do this, but the simple answer is…astigmatism.
That halo—which renders red dots next to worthless when it happens—hasn’t been an issue with the E7. Even significant lengths of time shooting or hunting leave me with a nice, crisp blue dot and eyes that aren’t mad at me. That alone makes me recommend the E7. The dot also performs well in low light, producing enough brightness for good results down range whether you’re pointing at paper or feral hogs.
Should you get a Lucid Optics E7?
The Lucid Optics E7 not only delivers but totally outperforms its price point (MSRP is $299). It’s well made with attention detail and a feeling of quality. One downside is that the boxy shape of the enclised reflex housing might be an issue for some holsters, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be used on holstered guns. You’re just going to have to find an optics cut holster that works.
This is a sight that’s great for home defense guns and hunting guns, too. In fact, it’s worked well enough that I can see having more than one E7—when you like a sight, you like it and want to use it on multiple guns. Whether you’re a fan of red dots or like green dots, the blue dot reticle of the E7 offers a lot of benefits. Hopefully we see more blue reticles in the not-too-distant future.
No thanks, I already have a mailbox.
These are Lucid’s marking reasons for ‘blue’:
What Makes the Blue Reticle so Special?
• Blue is the fastest transmitted color in the spectrum.
• The Human eye is more sensitive to the blue wavelengths than any other in the spectrum.
• Blue illumination presents a clean edge reticle
• Blue is the most easily refracted wavelength by the human eye
• Blue Creates a “Circadian” rhythm, calming the human mind.
• Exposure to blue light considerably reduces stress levels.
• Less than .02% of people have a color blindness to Blue.
• Blue, as an illuminated aiming point, can be reduced in brightness level allowing the reticle to be “Seen Through” providing a more positive target identification.
Well, most of that is marketing BS, but in reality…
basically, in plain English and not science’ese – and because of the term ‘sensitive’ being used and can be applied in different contexts;
The human eye is ‘more able’ to see blue light in lower light conditions because the eye pupil opens more in lower light conditions thus, basically, more rods (basically light receptors) are ‘exposed’ and the rods contain a chemical (melanin) that is sensitive to blue light wave lengths but not other color light wave lengths. (note: this has nothing to do with human eye night vision ability). Blue light is also ‘transmitted’ faster than green light but the difference is so small that its not really perceived as a difference by the human brain-eye connection even though in some causes the eye may react quickly to some degree, but mathematically its about 1 part in 100,000. Blue light exposure provokes more of a photochemical reaction in most eye tissues, in particular the cornea, the lens, and the retina, than other light colors, this also is part of the ‘more able’.
The being ‘more able’ could be termed as ‘more sensitive’ in that context, but its not really in actual light perception.
(note: melanin is sensitive to blue light because its the human eye filter defense against harmful blue light radiation. But not all blue light is harmful, only certain wavelengths are harmful and this sight does not use those wave lengths)
In bright conditions (e.g. sunlight, bright room light, etc…) and most low light conditions (e.g. bright moon light, shaded areas on sunny days, dark but ambient light enough to distinguish shapes and/or features) AND for distance the human eye is more sensitive’ to green because the cones (basically the receptors of the light wave lengths of color, there are around 6 million of these in a human eye) of the eye for the Long and Medium wavelengths (L and M – higher red frequencies and green wave lengths) are basically almost equally stimulated. This is actual ‘sensitive’.
So although it could be said, in its context of ‘more able’, “The Human eye is more sensitive to the blue wavelengths than any other in the spectrum.” and there is science to back this up and it is true because of the melanin and that any light of any wavelength hits the cornea of the eye before the cones …. the actual sensitive to light color is still green once the light color is perceived. The difference between green and blue in ‘perception’ and transmission is effectively zero because the human brain-eye connection can’t really perceive a difference when the light source is as close to the eye as it is with dot/scope sights, or at longer distances for the blue. So overall in effect, purpose, and money, and use in context with ‘sensitive’, the more correct statement would be “The Human eye is more sensitive to the green wavelengths than any other in the spectrum.” and a ‘green dot’ sight would still be better.
So overall ‘blue’ for a dot sight really is not as special as Lucid wants to make it out to be.
“Blue Creates a “Circadian” rhythm, calming the human mind.” – in Jan 2024 research discovered that blue light doesn’t really significantly affect a person’s circadian rhythms.
“Blue illumination presents a clean edge reticle” – actually not, this is simply a matter of how the dot is produced and projected and has nothing to do with the color. In fact blue light not specifically focused has a ‘fuzzy edge’ to it.
“Exposure to blue light considerably reduces stress levels.” …hmmm needs some qualification – the part they are not telling you … blue lighting accelerates the relaxation process AFTER ACUTE PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESS (e.g. an argument), IN COMPARISON WITH CONVENTIONAL WHITE LIGHT. The amount of normal stress reduction depends on body chemistry factors not associated with or affected by the color of light. There are other colors that do the same thing for different people, one of which is green.
“Blue is the most easily refracted wavelength by the human eye” – hmmm…. one of the things you do not want with a dot sight is refracted dot light, holographic sights overcome this issue by use of polarization grating.
“Blue, as an illuminated aiming point, can be reduced in brightness level allowing the reticle to be “Seen Through” providing a more positive target identification.” — hmmm, so can green and red.
Blue light dots appears to some people with an astigmatism as ‘better’ because of two factors – one, the human eye-brain perception and, two, a reaction with melanin in the eye which causes a sort of ‘polarization’ filtering effect and a very extremely slight dimming of vision thus less light entering the eye and helps cut off the light being refracted at different angles which is what causes the various ‘unclear’ dot issues with other red dot colors for people with astigmatism. But this efficacy is not universal for all humans due to differences variation in eye shape and chemical makeup.
So, overall, Lucids ‘marketing points’ and ‘blue dot’ as to why to choose ‘blue’:
1. “Blue is the fastest transmitted color in the spectrum.” : moot …because the human eye can not perceive a difference in ‘transmission’ speed between blue or any other color at the close distance of the dot.
2. “The Human eye is more sensitive to the blue wavelengths than any other in the spectrum.” : The human eye is is ‘more able’ to see blue light IN LOWER LIGHT CONDITIONS (and not all light conditions, thus also a moot point for daylight use) (explained in post above this one). But this is not really ‘sensitive’. Perception in the eye-brain combination is what ‘sensitive’ to light, no matter the color, is – the ability (i.e. more able) is not the same as ‘sensitivity’ and perception. Green is still the dot color the human eye is more sensitive to than any other in the spectrum. You want to be able to perceive, not just ‘be able’…. heck, even blind people ‘are able’ to detect light, just not perceive it. But anyway, overall this is a moot point and not a real reason just to choose ‘blue’ ’cause they say this.
3. “Blue illumination presents a clean edge reticle.” : No. just no. (explained in post above this one)
4. “Blue is the most easily refracted wavelength by the human eye.” : don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to slam Lucid and in fact I have a couple of their sights and they work fine. But who ever wrote this line doesn’t understand that you do not want refracted light in a dot sight. And the fact that such light can refract in the human eye is the very reason why you do not want refracted light in a point light source like the dot in a dot sight. Plus, light refracting in the human eye has nothing to do with being able to perceive one color better than another.
5. “Blue Creates a “Circadian” rhythm, calming the human mind.” : No, see post above this one. But is there a calming effect from ‘blue’? Yes there is, but it does not happen with a point light source of the size of the dot in a dot sight.
6. “Less than .02% of people have a color blindness to Blue.” : hmmmm… this needs some qualification to understand. Its actually a blue-yellow color blindness, of which there are two types…Tritanomaly – People who are color blind in this way have an impairment in blue cone pigment function. Blue shows up as green, and there’s difficulty differentiating between pink, orange, yellow, and red. — and — Tritanopia – People who have tritanopia don’t have blue cones. They can’t tell the difference between these colors: Blue and green, Purple and red, Pink and yellow, and it also makes (all) colors less bright. IF a person can not see just blue there is a different issue that is not color blindness.
7. “Blue, as an illuminated aiming point, can be reduced in brightness level allowing the reticle to be “Seen Through” providing a more positive target identification.” : Hmmm, so can red and green.