EOTech's G-series magnifiers sit behind a holographic sight or red dot and flip to the side when you want a fast 1x picture. Three models cover the lineup, and the choice between them comes down to magnification, bulk and how often you expect to actually use the magnification. All live in our EOTech magnifiers collection.
How a flip-to-side magnifier actually works
A magnifier has no reticle of its own. It mounts behind your sight and magnifies whatever that sight is showing you, reticle included. Flip it out of the way and you are back to an unmagnified holographic or red dot picture with nothing in the path.
Two consequences follow, and both matter when choosing.
First, the magnifier does not need zeroing. Your zero lives in the sight in front of it. What it does need is alignment — if the magnifier's optical centre is not level with the sight's, the reticle will sit off to one side of the magnified image or be clipped by the edge.
Second, it magnifies the reticle too. A holographic reticle that looks crisp at 1x becomes a chunkier mark at 3x and chunkier still at 5x. This is normal and it is also why magnification beyond 5x stops being useful behind a dot.
G33 — the classic 3x
The G33 is the long-standing 3x magnifier and remains the default pairing for EXPS and XPS holographic sights. It comes on a quick-detach STS mount that flips to the side, and we also stock it as a bare unit with no mount for shooters who already have a mount they prefer.
It is the safe choice. If you are buying a magnifier to go behind an EOTech and you have no particular reason to do otherwise, this is the one, and it is the unit EOTech bundles into its own HHS kits.
G43 — a slimmer 3x
The G43 is also 3x, built to be lighter and more compact than the G33. Same magnification, less bulk.
Whether that is worth it depends on your rifle. On a short carbine where rail space behind the sight is tight, or on a build where you are counting grams, the G43 earns its place. On a general-purpose rifle the difference is real but modest, and the G33's longer track record is worth something.
G45 — more reach at 5x
The G45 steps up to 5x. You get meaningfully more magnification for identifying what you are looking at, and you pay for it in three ways: a tighter eye box, more weight, and a magnified reticle that is now noticeably coarse.
"Tighter eye box" is the one that catches people out. At 5x your head has to be in a more precise position behind the optic to get a full, clear picture. On a bench that is fine. Shooting fast from an awkward position, it is a real cost. The same 3x-versus-5x trade is covered in do you need a magnifier.
3x or 5x?
The honest test is what you need the magnification for.
If you want to confirm what a shape is at a few hundred yards and then shoot it with the holographic reticle, 3x is enough and keeps the setup usable. If you are genuinely trying to make precise hits at distance, 5x helps — but at that point ask whether a magnifier is the right tool at all, because a 1-6x or 1-8x LPVO will do the same job with a finer reticle and a better eye box.
Our LPVO buyer's guide is worth reading before you commit to the magnifier route. Plenty of shooters buy a magnifier, discover they leave it flipped out most of the time, and end up with an LPVO anyway.
Getting it right
Three things decide whether a magnifier setup works or irritates you daily.
Height matching. The magnifier's optical centre must line up with the sight's. EOTech's own mounts are designed around EOTech sight heights, which is the main argument for staying within one ecosystem. Mixing a magnifier from one brand with a sight from another is where misalignment problems come from.
Mount the two close together. Gap between sight and magnifier costs you field of view. Push them as close as the flip mechanism allows.
Decide which side it flips to. Most mounts can be set up to flip left or right. Flip it to the side you do not need — for a right-handed shooter that is usually the left, so the magnifier is not in the way of the charging handle or your support hand.
Buying it as a kit
EOTech sells its Holographic Hybrid Sight kits with the sight and magnifier matched and mounted together — the HHS kits pair an EXPS sight with a G33, including a green-reticle version. If you are buying both at once, a kit removes the height-matching question entirely and usually costs less than the two bought separately. Worth a look before assembling your own combination.
When a magnifier is the wrong answer
If you find yourself magnified most of the time, you have bought the wrong thing — that is an LPVO's job. If you shoot almost entirely inside 100 yards, you probably do not need magnification at all and the weight is costing you speed. And if your main problem is a reticle that looks smeared rather than too small, the issue is likely astigmatism, not magnification; see red dot vs holographic, since holographic sights behave differently from LEDs for astigmatic eyes.
Browse all red dot magnifiers and the wider EOTech collection.