When I wrote my initial comparison between the Aimpoint ACRO P2, the original P1, and the Steiner MPS, I was cautiously optimistic that the P2 would fix the sins of its predecessor and give the MPS a real fight for the top spot in the enclosed emitter category. Months of actual carry and range time have not been kind to that optimism. Where the MPS has remained a boring, duty grade constant, the P2 has become the optic I keep taking off guns and putting into shipping boxes. The main culprit? A walking zero.

My specific P2 has now been back to Aimpoint two times for warranty work. The first trip started with walking zero issues that showed up after various zero confirmation during live fire range time, the dot would bounce under recoil. After that was fixed, the second failure was even more frustrating because it arrived quietly, battery life fell off a cliff compared to Aimpoint product literature that advertises multi year runtime on a CR2032 at a mid level brightness setting, with the optic going dead in a span of weeks rather than the years you would expect from an enclosed duty optic in this price bracket, on top of still having zero issues.

In the above image, you can see the inner housing that moves to confirm zero completely off axis, it’s not supposed to do that.

Aimpoint customer service has been responsive and professional, I am not faulting their RMA department. The problem is that I had to use it more than once on a premium pistol optic that is marketed and priced as a set and forget solution for serious use. The P2 reputation in the broader user community reflects this same split, plenty of people get perfectly running units and swear by them, but there is a real minority seeing electronic failures, inconsistent battery life, or other issues that lead to warranty returns.

During the same window of time, my Steiner MPS has been exactly what a closed emitter pistol optic should be, invisible. No mystery shutoffs, no dot dropout under recoil, no battery drama beyond making sure the cap is cinched properly, and no reason to contact Steiner for anything other than buying another one. It has lived on the gun, been carried, banged around in holsters, and shot in weather without needing more from me than a brightness adjustment and an occasional lens wipe.

In other words, the MPS has quietly done exactly what I hoped the Aimpoint ACRO P2 would do, sit on the slide, shrug off life, and let me forget it exists until I need the dot. With the MPS 2.0 coming out by the end of 2026, there is obviously a clear disparity in function and ability between the two companies, and the MPS has emerged the victor in my opinion.