It looks like a little red LED like on a TV or something. And no, it's not really that noticeable, I'm just being picky.
However, the 850nm is visible to animals. Deer will look up and stare at it just like they do with a normal flashlight. They don't do it with 940nm, and I get about the same throw. The 850nm is a lot brighter under NV, but it borders on unusable brightness at times. It reflects off trees and leaves a lot more than 940nm and there's a lot more splash.
I could try to remember to take a picture with my phone of both side-by-side.