# My experience with the IQ define



## gdubbmx (Dec 28, 2018)

I "had" one. Here's the story of my experience and my personal opinion on the define for those interested. 

Bought a brand new one off flea bay. Put it on the bow. Went to use laser to sight in, laser didn't work. Checked to make sure battery film was off, which it was. Tested battery with DMM voltage was correct. Did an RMA with feradyne and even though they knew I got it online, they honored the warranty and sent a replacement sight. Score excellent for prompt customer service.

Take 2. Put the replacement on the bow. Followed all instructions for set up. Took a fairly good amount of time. Laser pretty much impossible to see in daylight. Moved target into garage and could see it. Got it sighted in, good to go.

The rangefinder seemed to work fine, but after a few uses the battery indicator started flashing. No big deal I thought, bought new lithium batteries from Amazon and installed one. Shot a few more times, battery indicator goes from full to half to flashing in the space of 60 seconds, Im thinking "not good" then sight shuts off.

At this point I'm a bit irritated because I'm still trying to get the rest of my pins nailed down, which I might add are cumbersome to move up and down. While I'm screwing around with elevation, the knob for elevation gets real sticky and stops clicking. Not impressed. Sight decided to not turn back on as well. 

Needless to say sight came back off the bow and got out back into the package. Did another RMA with feradyne and this time informed them I didn't want another one. I ended up calling and talking to a very nice CSR and asked her if they could just send me a micro 5 pin instead, since I already have one and love it. She said no problem and they are supposed to credit me the difference. 

Here's my final take:
Pros
- rangefinder and sight as one piece
-pins are nice and bright, fibers well protected
-customer service is truly top shelf.

Cons
-VERY heavy
-PCB for rangefinder malfunctions, which seems to have happened to other from what I've seen online
-elevation knob basically stopped functioning rendering sight useless
-sight pins difficult to adjust unless very loose, and then had to kinda move them a bit to keep them straight as I tightened.
-trigger was always kind of in the way no matter where i mounted it, and activating it was LOUD. Not ideal for quiet woods lol. 

In my opinion, the define has the potential to be a phenomenal sight if they can just do a few things such as being the weight down. It easily weighs twice what a normal sight does, which I realize it will be more because of the rangefinding section, but with today's tech they should be able to make it lighter. 

They MUST make sure the PCBs don't fail lol. I cant imagine what would happen in a hunting scenario when drawn on an animal and the thing decides to go haywire. I cannot and WILL NOT hunt with something that may cause me to miss, or worse injure and not recover an animal.

The elevation knob may have been something easy to fix, but on a brand new sight that should be a no issue imo. I could've lived with the pin adjustment issue since once ser they usually don't need further adjustment, but again, should be a non issue.

The concept itself is great, the price point is good. Feradyne is AWESOME to deal with as far as my experience goes, and I will continue to do business with them. The retina lock on their other site is fabulous, and they're built well for the price point.

Anyway, that's my experience with the IQ define. I hope this is in the right place on the forum and definitely hope it helps someone.


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## nick060200 (Jul 5, 2010)

Thanks for the write up. I'll wait a few years. I'm sure more companies will adopt this type of sight. 

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## gdubbmx (Dec 28, 2018)

Just to update on this. Feradyne made good on the issue. They sent me a 5 pin micro (along with a free carbon express hat, nice little bonus) and a week later a rebate check for the balance. I really can't say enough how happy I am with the way they handled this. Would recommend the company to anyone.


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## BrianPeterson (Sep 19, 2015)

IQ Define WAS at the top of my list...might have to reconsider now.


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## novatradesmen (Oct 14, 2019)

Thanks for the review 

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## Luyanjiong (Oct 14, 2019)

useful review


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## Birdswacker (Dec 2, 2012)

Thank I was looking at that exact sight


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## J_T_Buckley (Apr 1, 2009)

Good post. Sucks you had such a terrible experience. I have this sight and absolutely love it. It is a little on the heavy side but I went with a lighter stabilizer to compensate. And I like a heavy bow so it isn’t that bad for me. Setup was lengthy but everything I read prior to buying prepared me for that. It took me about a half and hour to get to the point where I could actually start sighting it in. Since I set it up (August 2019) it has worked flawlessly. I didn’t pull my rangefinder out of my backpack all last season. I shot a handful of animals and never felt more confident while hunting. Battery was still on full at the end of the season also. I researched range finding sights for 6 months and decided on this one because of the fixed pins. If anything electronic goes wrong (battery issues, issues in rain, etc.) I still have my pins set and my rangefinder in my backpack as a backup. I wouldn’t discourage anyone from buying this sight. Also, I’m pretty sure they dropped a newer version that is lighter and has 7 pins that are also removable.


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## lostjibber (Jul 30, 2020)

Looking into sights for a new bow. This made my decision for me. Thanks!


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## solomtnhunter (Nov 24, 2017)

useful info.... thanks


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## BowHunter123765 (Jan 11, 2021)

Thanks for the info 


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