Sounds like you'll be best served with a fixed mag optic then... Depending on eye dominance, etc, issues -- with the magnified optics, you can close the cover on the objective lens (one furthest away from you), and with both eyes open will still allow the magnified optic to work somewhat like a red dot without the confusion of seeing two different mag levels w/ each eye... In fact, a red dot with one eye and viewing the target with the other is how some of the early non-electric red dots worked.
You can also look through the sight both/one eye open, but I find it to be less effective. About 2.5x is the max I can personally do without slowing down during target transitions...
Unless you feel you need max magnification, 3x will be lighter than 4x, more compact, and perform better in low light. At 3x, a tennisball/baseball will become soccerball/basketball size at naked eye at all distances. 3x also gives you magnification while also allowing some flexibility for faster transition on closer targets...
Point about any optic regardless of bdc, is that you can use any optic you want.
With variables and second focal plane, the bdc or other reticle marks on the optic will change in position as the magnification changes (no change to reticle as you increase or decrease zoom) -- so bdc reticles on sfp variable scopes only work as designed at max magnification (to be clear, center remains center however). With first focal plane optics, the reticle stays consistent with view as magnification changes so bdc reticle works/is accurate at all mag levels.
The nice part about fixed mag optics, is that bdc works as designed all the time. And while fixed mag prism scopes are nice in that reticle is etched so they don't need batteries/work if battery dies -- the ability to luminate the reticle is extremely handy and most definitely a feature you want. So ensure you have illumination -- I prefer red in natural environments, but green can sometimes be better against certain backgrounds as well...
