Evil Omen 2.0 Review
By Steve Birchfield
My two sons and I ordered 3 Evil Omen 2.0’s to replace the Ions we had. We received the first marker from Boss Paintball Products and were immediately impressed with the professional looking box. Upon opening it we found the marker lying in the box surrounded by foam pieces. It wasn’t a custom lined box, but it was adequate to protect the marker and other parts.
The 1.5 Omens only came in black. The new Omen 2.0 markers come in black, red and blue. The red and blue are very nice looking. The anodizing was good but it didn’t seem to have the deep quality that other, more expensive markers seem to have. Still, they are very clean looking markers with the design and color.
We took the Omen out and saw that it came with plenty of documentation and a huge tube of Evil Pus. There was an AC adapter for the rechargeable battery. Evil included a bag of tools, a replacement hammer cushion and o-rings. A black Evil barrel sock finished off the list of included accessories.
The Omen weighs only 2.7 lbs. stock. A stock Ion is 2.2 lbs. so the fact that the Omen has an all aluminum frame doesn’t make it too heavy. My 10 year old son was easily able to handle his throughout the day.
The documentation that comes with the Omen 2.0 was impressive compared to the other markers that we have owned. It had a real manual with color pictures and accurate step by step instructions. The manual covers such areas as safety instructions, operating instructions and adjustments. It also covers CO2 and nitro usage with your Evil marker. Nitro usage is recommended for performance and speed. However, a CO2 can be used as long as it has an anti-siphon kit.
The lifetime warranty is covered partly in the manual along with a certificate. It has a form to fill out with 18 statements that have to be initialed! With one of the best warranties on any marker, you feel secure in knowing you have coverage for the life of your Omen.
The on/off bottom line that comes standard with the Omen is a nice touch. However, I found the knob to turn it off was difficult to turn since the knob tapers down and there isn’t any real grip to hold on to. The on/off power switch is nice, especially compared to the membrane button on the Ions. The Evil on/off button allows you to easily turn it on or off even with gloves on. There is a bright red light in the Evil logo that illuminates on both sides of the marker when it is on. I did replace the rechargeable batteries with regular 9V batteries. The reason was because just testing the triggers and playing with the markers after a full charge it didn’t seem to last very long. The 9V battery lasted all of us all day long and is still going strong.
I found the trigger frame to be a little small. If you have large fingers you may find it very tight. The regulator also seems like it is located too close to the trigger frame. Both of these problems are not major issues but something to be aware of. The stock trigger looks like it will be difficult to walk. It is quite the contrary. I found it much easier to walk than the Ion triggers. It was even easier than our NDZ upgraded triggers. Everyone that tried it out was able to walk the trigger very quickly. I had considered upgrading the triggers but decided to keep it after trying them.
I opted to replace the non-clamping feedneck with an Impulse threaded Lapco clamping feedneck. They are a nice upgrade to have. Otherwise I plan on leaving my Omens stock. With such great stock parts included there isn’t a reason not to.
The Omen only fires in Semi mode. There is a one page sheet that explains programming. My 13 year old son read it and programmed the guns for 25 bps and a debounce of 5. It was very easy and quick to do. The stock Omen board is capable of 25 bps but does not come with a standard ramping board. There may be boards coming out for it eventually that will allow ramping.
We finally had all three of our markers and got the opportunity to take them out to our favorite indoor field. The first thing to do with them was to set the velocity and recock settings. To do that, you first set the recock all the way down with a small hex screw in the side of the marker and back it out a quarter of a turn. Then adjusting the Detonator regulator it comes with stock, you set the velocity 10 fps above the limit you are trying to achieve by shooting one ball at a time. Once that is set, you then adjust the recock so that it will hold the recock every time it is fired. When this happens the velocity goes down by 10 points.
At recock testing step is where we first attracted attention. As I dry fired the marker at a high rate of speed, I shot a full tank of air out. When I turned around to walk back to the setup area I realized that the speed of the marker had attracted a small crowd! We were asked about the Omens at least 10-20 times throughout the day. Everything from “what is it?” to “when did they start making Omens in red?”. People were generally impressed.
Once we had the markers setup it was off to play. The Omen performs well on the airball field. It is plenty fast for most players needs. Equipped with our z-boarded egg II, the Omen is nicely weighted and balanced. The fact that the feedneck is off to the side makes it nice to look down the barrel to shoot. I was able to sight over the barrel for very accurate shooting. The autococker threaded 12” driver barrel that comes standard with the Omen 2.0 is a decent stock barrel. The accuracy is great. The driver goes from a .690 bore size and opens to a .700 at the end. Our Draxxus Midnight paint shot well through it.
Towards the middle of the day, the velocity on the Detonators had changed due to it not being fully broken in. We had a few balls break in the cam area. However, after choronographing the markers again they shot even better then they did in the morning. The Detonator is an incredible regulator. It would shoot at a +/-3 after only shooting about 3000-4000 shots through it. The Omen never felt underpowered or inferior to any other markers we were shooting against.
The speed was great for the faster paced airball games we played. There were games where the opponents literally overwhelmed by the fast paced firing. Just the sound of the marker firing and the amount of paint being thrown gave us advantages during some games with less experienced players.
I believe the Omen would also be a great woodsball and rec player marker just because of its balance of speed and accuracy. Plus at around $320 retail it is a great bargain. It gives you high end performance at a mid level price.
At the end of the day we cleaned up the markers. It was surprisingly easy, even though paint had broken in the cam area of two of our markers. The field strip pin pulls out and allows you to pull the bolt and hammer out. It is very similar to a Kingman Spyder design. There are few parts that you need to lube. Following the manual you will find that a simple cleaning of the bolt and hammer and re-lubing the o-ring of the hammer was sufficient. I also cleaned the cam area and the feedneck. The feedneck flips up but there was paint visible underneath the hinged area so it had to be removed to get the paint out. This is done by removing a long screw. It was very simple and quick to do. It allowed me to wipe the paint out and be sure the whole marker was clean of paint.
Overall, I was very impressed with the Omen 2.0 marker. It is a very powerful, simple marker to own and operate. It is a great value for the money. If you are looking for a marker that doesn’t require major upgrades to be competitive you will be pleasantly surprised by the Omen.
Marker: Evil Omen 2.0
Price: $319-$329
Pros:
2nd best regulator on the market
Evil Driver Barrel standard
On/Off Standard
A unique marker that stands out in a crowd
Great trigger
Hopper is off to the side for sighting
Light, Accurate and affordable
Cons:
Small trigger frame
Hard to turn off the air
Regulator is too close to the trigger frame
Annodizing quality is questionable
A clamping feedneck is almost required for most hoppers
No ramping option
Overall:
Evil has delivered a marker that is almost the perfect gun for most players. It shoots fast and accurately. If you are looking to buy a marker that doesn’t break the bank needing upgrades consider the Evil Omen 2.0.
