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I can testify favorably to the quality of the Primary Arms SLx Advanced Push Button Microdot Red Dot Sight. I have one on my Ruger PC9 carbine, and it compares favorably to the Aimpoint T2 Micro that’s one my 11.5” SBR AR. The PA currently sells for $149.95*.... which is $20 more than when I bought mine. (MSRP is $169.95). I paid $750 for my Aimpoint, not counting the Bobro QD mount. Today, they run around $800.

The Aimpoint T2 Micro is a very good RDS, but it’s not FIVE+ TIMES as good as the Primary Arms RDS, and the Primary Arms unit falls within your price point. If I were going to actual war, as part of an actual military unit, I’d probably pick the Aimpoint on the odd chance that the extra $650 covers some unforeseen detail that might contribute to keeping me alive on an actual battlefield. But if self/home defense is the goal, and you’re not going to be getting tossed around by IEDs or incoming mortar fire, the Primary Arms RDS is more than up to the task, and they have a lifetime warranty on their optics.

I have no regrets about buying the Aimpoint, but if I decide to pick up a third RDS, I will be looking at less expensive options. It used to be that the cheaper optics were kind of junk, and the better quality optic companies could charge whatever they wanted because they had no competition. New competing companies that had their optics built in Japan or China (sometimes in the same factories used by the expensive companies) became able to offer pretty good quality products at very reduced prices. SWFA was an early trendsetter in that market, offering both average quality AND high quality scopes, all built in Japan, using the same factory, and in some cases the assembly lines, as other major players like Nikon and Burris. And now there are other players in addition to SWFA and Primary Arms....Ahtlon, for instance.

* As with a few other "discount" optics brands, I believe that PA's optics are made in China; and with nothing more coming in from China for a while, and new inventory already arrived but as yet unpacked while in quarantine, I suspect that these companies will increase their prices as supplies go down, until they can get manufacturing transferred to Japan.