The Most Budget Friendly Range Finding Thermal? Goyojo GRS225RF Review

Female coyote bagged at 40yds with the 225RF.

If a thermal scope is a game changer, then a thermal scope with a rangefinder is doubly so. Anyone who's used a thermal optic knows that it can be very difficult to judge range through one (not that it's exactly easy with a standard scope, either), which is why for many years now nocturnal coyote hunters have favored fast, flat shooting cartridges. The flatter your trajectory, the greater that margin for error you have when taking a shot at an unknown distance. And, of course, using a standard rangefinder at night is difficult if not impossible without using a light source. 

Enter the Goyojo GRS225RF thermal scope, which they were kind enough to send out to me for review. The 225 represents the thermal sensor category (256), while the RF denotes the range finding capability (they do have a non-RF model as well). I believe that the 225RF is one of, if not the cheapest thermal optics out there with a range finding capability, coming in under $800. So is the 225RF the deal of the century, or too good to be true? Read on to find out.

I'll break this review up into sections to delineate certain areas of interest. We'll be looking at performance, features/tech, ergonomics/usability, form factor, and value. After considering all of those, you should be well on your way to determining if the 225RF deserves a place on one of your rifles.

PERFORMANCE

256 is on the low end of the sensor scale in thermal these days, which runs from 144 all the way up to the newly released 1280s. As I said in my review of the DNT Hydra 225, an apt comparison is to relate these to video game consoles. If the 144 is a Playstation 1, then the 1280 is a PS5. The 256 then sits at the level of a PS2, which gives decent if not mind-blowing performance. The 225RF does appear to be a high performing 256 sensor (maybe analogous to a PS2 game released at the end of its lifespan). You can detect thermal signatures from hundreds of yards away, but your ID distance is going to be much shorter. In practical terms, I found that I could spot deer and coyotes from 500+ yards away, but wasn't until 2-300yds that I could accurately determine which was which.

As for the laser rangefinder, Goyojo states that it works out to 1000yds. I never lased anything that far away, but I was able to get accurate readings (verified with my Vortex Impact 4000) at 391yds. Hitting the range finding button on top of the scope pops up a set of green brackets on the optic that serves as the "reticle" for where the ranging laser will hit. Returns were pretty quick and you have the option of continuous ranging if so desired, as opposed to a single hit.

If you are used to using a 384 or 640 sensor thermal (PS3 and PS4 in my anaology, respectively), then you'll definitely notice a step down in graphical performance. Your ID distance won't be as long, and performance will not be as good in humid conditions. But for the first timer,  I think it's more than acceptable. I was IDing coyotes at 250yds+, and shot one at 40yds without issue. For someone looking to get into thermal hunting on a budget, I think it's a great option.

The 225RF has a base optical zoom of 3.5x, with digital zoom from 1-8x. Digital zoom isn't great on any optic, and is worse on lower sensor optics as compared to higher ones, so I use it very sparingly. Durability wise, I haven't done a drop test or anything with the 225RF, but it's held up just fine to going coyote hunting. It also hasn't missed a beat in zero degree weather, even when the optic and screen themselves start to frost up.

To finish this section, we'll touch on battery life. This is an area where I've been very impressed with the 225RF. It has both a built-in battery (charged via a USB-C port on the right side of the optic) and takes an optional backup CR123 where the Parallax adjustment would be on a traditional scope. Goyojo claims over 7hrs of battery life using both, and I believe it. Sitting out in zero degree weather for over two hours, scope running the whole time, I think I lost one "bar" of charge on the built in battery. I think this is excellent performance and it's nice to not have to worry about swapping batteries or carrying an external power pack around.

A very frosty 225RF after over 2hrs in 0 degree weather.

FEATURES/TECH

That particular coyote leads nicely into the discussion of the features of the 225RF. Like most thermal optics, it can record video, use Picture-in-Picture zoom, switch between color palettes and reticle types/colors, etc. All very standard stuff. Unfortunately, the technology side is where the 225RF comes up a little short compared to more expensive options. First, the Recoil Activated Video feature was not very consistent. I'd love to show you footage of me shooting that coyote, which came in fast before I could manually activate the video recording. Instead of capturing the shot, the RAV instead kicked on as I was walking around looking for the yote. So I have a good 10 minutes of footage looking at the ground, and nothing of the actual shot. This RAV activation without shooting has happened several times (and I don't recall this happening with other thermal optics), so I'll probably just shut this feature off.

The 225RF also offers some ballistic solver capabilities, where if you plug in your bullet/rifle data, it should show you where to hold after ranging a target. I say should, because that program is currently not working correctly, which was confirmed after speaking with one of their pro staff members. This is a great tech feature to add to a RF optic, and it's too bad that it's not currently working. Hopefully that can be fixed with an update. 

I've also noticed that there's a noticeable shift in the optic between 1x zoom and 1.1x or above--the reticle appears offset, and then the whole screen shifts when you zoom in. The reticle doesn't actually change position, so you're aiming at the same spot, but it's just an odd thing to see; I keep the reticle at 1.1x so I don't have to worry about it. Also worth mentioning is that the PiP reticle does not align with the primary reticle, but is slightly offset to the right in my case. Both can't be correct at the same time, obviously, and I believe that the primary reticle is the one that's accurate. Another minor annoyance that can hopefully be corrected in an update.

Speaking of updates, that's another area where the 225RF leaves something to be desired. Instead of updating via their app, as many other thermal optics do, you have to manually download an update file (typically from a Google Drive link), plug the scope into a PC, and then drag the update file into the 225RF folder. It's a clunky solution, and it should be noted that your data is wiped during the update, to include your zero, which is pretty annoying. Fortunately, if you write down your X and Y zero settings before updating, you can simply enter them back in; I've found the return to zero using this method to be spot on.

Finally, the app is also very basic. You can see a live view and your videos, but I've had issues where the videos won't play, and couldn't get any of them to download to my phone. You then have to download them to a PC (or a Mac, using a third party program--it won't detect the 225RF otherwise), and even then I've still had issues. To sum it all up, if app and video related features are important to you, you may want to pass on the 225RF for now, at least until these issues are addressed. If you're just using the scope to hunt with and don't care about the videos anyway, then you shouldn't have much of an issue.

ERGOS/USEABILITY

The 225RF has a pretty simple set of controls. Closest to the rear we have three buttons--power, camera activation (tap for photo, hold for video), and laser ranging (tap for ranging, hold to swap between color palettes). The only other control is the "turret" where you would normally control your elevation on a traditional optic. Pressing and holding this brings up your options menu, and you twist the turret to select your options, then press when you've made your choice. One quirk I've noticed is that the menus seem to rotate in opposite direction of what I expect; not a big deal, obviously, just takes some getting used to. All in all I find the 225RF to be pretty simple to control, and I don't have any real complaints.

FORM FACTOR

Unlike many thermal optics, the 225RF has the familiar external form factor of a traditional scope, though it's far different inside. It should be noted that Goyojo is not alone in using this form factor, and that they also do make thermal scopes with a more "standard" setup. This traditional scope form factor comes with some pros and cons, so let's discuss them now.

First for the pros is that you can mount the 225RF like a traditional scope using 30mm rings. This allows more versatility if you have an older platform without a picatinny rail, which the more standard-style thermal optics typically require. Secondly, I could see the more familiar setup perhaps being an aid to someone new to thermal optics--it might be a little easier to get the hang of. Since there's nothing where the windage turret would traditionally be, I found this to be a convenient spot to mount a Sig Romeo 5 on an Arisaka offset RDS mount, giving me a backup and close range optic.

There are some cons to this design, however. I found that the spacing of the 30mm sections are atypical due to the way the housing is shaped, so many of your standard one-piece AR mounts with fixed spacing between the front and rear rings won't fit. Goyojo does supply some high (roughly 1.5") rings with the optic, but while they work, they do appear to be pretty low quality. Don't expect a pair of Seekins, put it that way.

Secondly, unless you use a pair of aftermarket QD rings, you won't have the ability to quickly detach the 225RF to use as a handheld scanner or swap to a daytime optic. I really appreciate that feature on some of my other thermal optics, so it's something to keep in mind if that's important to you. Finally, the whole setup is quite long, similar to a traditional optic, and does require that total amount of space between the rings, so this wouldn't be something you could easily run on some smaller setups. None of these form factor cons are deal breakers by any means, just something to keep in mind.

VALUE

The Goyojo GRS225RF represents a great value for the technical capabilities you're getting. As I mentioned before, I think it's the cheapest rangefinding thermal optic out there, coming in at under $800. You get decent thermal performance, excellent battery life, and the ability to range a target through the optic, making this a great option for someone just getting into thermal optics. However, the technology and app side of things definitely leave something to be desired, and if you're planning to use this to record hunts, you may want to consider other options.

The technological aspects are able to be updated, though, so hopefully they're improved in the future. I'd like to see the ballistic solver fixed, and the optic be able to be updated through the app (along with saving videos). As for the sensor, I think it performs well for a 256, but whether or not that's enough horsepower for your uses is up to you. In sum, I think the 225RF is a good option for those on a budget, and with a few tweaks, it could be great.

Big raccoon taken at 100yds.