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Garmin Xero A1i Pro Review
Rarely are products released in the modern-day archery industry that are truly “game-changing.” In my opinion, this phrase is used too much. “Game-changing” not only implies that a product is new and unique, but it also means that the product revolutionizes the industry or provides features that are so groundbreaking and radical that it leads to a shift in the way people think and do things. The Garmin Xero A1i Pro is one of the few recent archery products that is truly “game-changing.”
Changing the Game
The original Garmin Xero was released in 2018 and is a bow sight unlike any other. It fundamentally changes the way we do things. The Xero is an electronic range-finding bow sight that allows you to range your target at FULL DRAW and will then automatically illuminate a pin for the exact yardage of your target. Oftentimes, the difference between disappointment and successful encounters on trophy animals comes down to seconds; being able to eliminate the steps and movement associated with ranging and scrolling your bow sight is groundbreaking. This feature alone will reduce ranging errors and missed shots, leading to far fewer wounded animals.
In the fall of 2021, Garmin upped the ante by releasing a new version of the sight – the Xero A1i Pro. I used this sight the second half of the 2021 season. Despite it being an electronic bow sight, this sight was very durable and perfectly reliable for me on a brutal late-season hunt. Read: no need to question its durability or reliability. Just like with any bow sight, if it’s snowing heavily, keep the scope housing covered so it doesn’t fill with snow (both traditional pin scope housings and this scope housing will fill with snow).
Setup and External Improvements
The frame of the Pro version received a massive upgrade. The Pro sight comes with click-micro-adjust windage, elevation, yaw, and pitch. Yaw and what?! Adjusting the yaw and pitch on this bow sight is essential to align the laser to your eye (aligning the yaw, for example, is the same as aligning the 3rd axis of the scope housing). This used to be a cumbersome process with the previous models because there was no click-micro-adjust, and it was easy to accidentally bump the sight too much. It’s so much easier now with the click-micro-adjust, which also has directional click indication (no mistaking which way to click).
Speaking of directions, the entire setup of the Pro version is WAY smoother than the original. During the setup process, the small digital screen above the scope housing now instructs you in every single step from start to finish.
Worried about the amount of time it used to require to sight-in the digital pin stack in ten-yard increments on the original Xero? Now, you simply have to sight in at 20 yards, enter some information about your bow (draw length, arrow speed, and sight dimensions relative to the bow), and the sight will automatically calculate a pin stack for you! You then pick the farthest distance you feel comfortable shooting and validate the pin stack at that distance. Garmin did an absolutely outstanding job improving the setup process on this sight.
New Technology
The other major upgrade to the Pro sight is the “XD” mode. XD stands for Extra Distance. The Xero is not a slider bow sight, so you are limited to shooting the distances that can be achieved inside the scope housing only. That was until XD mode came along. Garmin has managed to program into this sight the ability to define a secondary (lower) scope housing position to extend the range of your pin stack. Garmin has also included graduation markers on the elevation rail of the frame.
In XD mode, you simply enter into the bow sight the primary elevation position of the scope housing – a number between 20 and 50 based on this graduated rail. You then physically move the scope housing down the rail and enter into the sight the new lower position (you choose how low you want to go based on arrow/sight clearance). The Xero then automatically extends your pin stack accordingly. This sounds complicated, but I promise you it’s not; the instructions from the sight are very good! Personally, I now have clearance to practice with this sight out to 150 yards in XD mode!
Finishing off the major upgrades to the Pro version are the Dynamic Level and Flight Apex. These are both digital features that can be turned on and off. In Dynamic Level mode, the unit will display a digital level inside the scope housing view, correcting you if you are excessively canting your bow. The sensitivity of this can be set by the user. This is a great feature because it’s more obvious to see the dynamic level while keeping your eye on the prize than glancing down at the bubble level.
Flight Apex is another really cool digital feature. It enables a flashing point above the target pin that indicates the apex of the arrow’s trajectory. If, while aiming at your quarry, you see an obstruction near or below this marker, you had better think twice about taking the shot!
Final Thoughts
Two additional features worth mentioning here that are shared by the original A1i and the A1i Pro are the Digital Torque Indicator and the ability to manage multiple arrow profiles. I discussed the ability to toggle between multiple arrow profiles in seconds in my “Bowhunting Forgiveness” series. This sight is in a league of its own as far as managing and tracking multiple arrow trajectories with a single bow sight.
Lastly, the Digital Torque Indicator within the sight is fantastic. Despite shooting tens of thousands of arrows over the years and feeling very confident with my archery form, this sight has helped me become more consistent with my bow grip simply because of the digital torque indicator. You can literally track if your grip is exactly consistent from shot to shot.
As with anything, there are a few negatives with this sight. First and foremost, this is a big bowhunting sight, especially with the micro-adjust frame. It also weighs 18 ounces, which makes it one of the heaviest sights out there. I’ve mounted this to my Hoyt RX5 using the available Picatinny rail attachment, but despite this, I still needed to offset the weight of the sight with more weight on my backbar. The unit is loaded with tech and comes with some groundbreaking features, but it comes with a price tag. The Pro version retails for $1299. Lastly, the Garmin Xero is legal in most states, but there are a few states where it is not legal. Please check your local regulations before hunting with this bow sight.
