Dirt cheap rangefinders on Amazon. Worth it?

[larciel]

I lost my Bushnell v5 after 3 months because the darn thing camouflages with the cart color and I left it stuck to the metal. 

 

I was looking at Amazon and saw bunch of slope-enabled rangefinders for less than $100.  Review looks good and for the price, what da hel.l 

 

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SQXKPW2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

My friend in the industry told me the rangefinder technology is so old and hasn't improved much at all over the years. So I feel like this isn't 'You get what you pay off' 

 

I'll update later this week!

[jeffrey r]

Looks pretty good, but reviews do not seem so good.  I picked up the $130 Caddytek with Slope from Costco, and that has been great.  I don't see the need to go with the $300 ones, but you might be better off stepping up a bit and getting another one like the Caddytek.  Let us know how it goes.

Edited November 3, 2020 by jeffrey r

[kdog25]

Might be hit and miss. I would guesss some are good but My buddy had 2 cheap ones and we each struggled to lock on to the flag with both. 

[typhoonoid]

3 hours ago, larciel said:

I lost my Bushnell v5 after 3 months because the darn thing camouflages with the cart color and I left it stuck to the metal. 

 

I was looking at Amazon and saw bunch of slope-enabled rangefinders for less than $100.  Review looks good and for the price, what da hel.l 

 

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SQXKPW2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

My friend in the industry told me the rangefinder technology is so old and hasn't improved much at all over the years. So I feel like this isn't 'You get what you pay off' 

 

I'll update later this week!

Welcome to the club. I've lost 2 Bushnell XEs this way. The trick is to always throw the case in the cart basket as a reminder to get the damn rangefinder off the cart. That being said my friend has one of the cheap slope rangefinders from amazon. They work OK. The distances are similar +-2 yards, but what is really lacking is the optics in comparison to Bushnell. 

[VNutz]

I do believe @DavePelz4 went a similar route this year and has been very happy with his. Hopefully he'll chime in.

[the bishop]

I think it depends.  I know bad answer.  But a couple of months ago I was paired with a couple guys, one had a Nikon, i had my Bushnell w/slope and jolt, and the third guy had one of the off brands (can't remember the name) and his was consistently 10-15 yards short of what me and the Nikon were shooting.  So you get what you pay for to some extent.  And the kicker?  Guy with the cheap rangefinder climbed into his Porsche after the round and drove off.

[DavePelz4]

57 minutes ago, VNutz said:

I do believe @DavePelz4 went a similar route this year and has been very happy with his. Hopefully he'll chime in.

 

V is spot on as usual.  Very good experience and the only thing I had to do was replace a battery. 

[Rfern12]

2 minutes ago, DavePelz4 said:

 

V is spot on as usual.  Very good experience and the only thing I had to do was replace a battery. 

Exact one? AOFAR? They are having 20 off making it 80

[Maroon_19]

Put your car keys in the pocket of your golf bag that you store your range finder in.  You can't leave without your keys right?

[brew4eagle]

I went with a cheaper laser (not real cheap) and was disappointed.  I still think you get what you pay for with these devices.

[pinhigh27]

lost my bushnell which I had owned for about 8 years. Bought a cheap tec tec tec. AFter a year of owning it's maybe 50/50 to show a yardage > 150 and is often off by 10+ yards. Thing is a total POS. 

 

Would not buy a cheapo at all. Get the gold standard bushnell. It will last you a long time if you take care of it and cost 100 bucks more. 

[deadsolid...shank]

Same story here. I think mine got lifted out of the case while it was hanging on my bag. I ordered one of the cheap ones, $100 I think. Reviews were decent. I should have it this week, if I get to play I’ll post how it did (and what model it is). 

[DavePelz4]

14 hours ago, Rfern12 said:

Exact one? AOFAR? They are having 20 off making it 80

 

That looks to be a newer version of the one I have.  As shared, it's worked perfectly in the time I've had it.

[VNutz]

15 minutes ago, DavePelz4 said:

 

That looks to be a newer version of the one I have.  As shared, it's worked perfectly in the time I've had it.

@Rfern12 I'll attest, standing on the tee box with @DavePelz4 many times this summer, and his was almost every time within a yard of my Leopold.

[DavePelz4]

3 minutes ago, VNutz said:

@Rfern12 I'll attest, standing on the tee box with @DavePelz4 many times this summer, and his was almost every time within a yard of my Leopold.

 

And ironically, it was also accurate in measuring the distance from V's 300 yard drive and my 220 yard drive.

[larciel]

Got it today

 

I also bought white color one for $110 

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B083R4YCJD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

and they are identical (aside from the color) . Same model name, design, functionality. 

 

I tested it out with my Bushnell and it is within 1 yard. I tested it from my backyard so everything was within 100 yds.

 

Number is bit harder to see than Bushnell, but I actually like the focus ring rotates MUCH better than Bushnell V5. That thing focus was POS.

 

I have to test it out at a field, but at $80, it looks like a winner.!!

 

(Bonus: you get a wristband! it'll make it easier to notice when stuck on the cart metal)

 

$11 more for magnetic

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WFS78F7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

Edited November 5, 2020 by larciel

[rookjs80]

23 hours ago, larciel said:

Got it today

 

I also bought white color one for $110 

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B083R4YCJD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

and they are identical (aside from the color) . Same model name, design, functionality. 

 

I tested it out with my Bushnell and it is within 1 yard. I tested it from my backyard so everything was within 100 yds.

 

Number is bit harder to see than Bushnell, but I actually like the focus ring rotates MUCH better than Bushnell V5. That thing focus was POS.

 

I have to test it out at a field, but at $80, it looks like a winner.!!

 

(Bonus: you get a wristband! it'll make it easier to notice when stuck on the cart metal)

 

$11 more for magnetic

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WFS78F7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

Bought one at the beginning of the year and works awesome. Definitely recommend they are 20% right now on Amazon. 
 

AOFAR GX-2S Golf Rangefinder Slope on/Off, Flag-Lock with Vibration, 600 Yards Range Finder, 6X 25mm Waterproof, Carrying Case, Free Battery, Gift Packaging https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SQXKPW2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabc_okkPFbWPY0FSH

[rjr25]

As most have said, I think it depends. I bought one years ago (Tec Tec Tec or something like that was the brand). Worked great for about a year, spot on yardages +/-1 yard with my playing partners higher end finders. Sadly, after about a year the distance became way off anything over 100 yards and I ended up getting rid of it. Think your basically taking a gamble if it will hold up or not. For some they will, for some they wont.

[schwollo]

I bought two different 100 dollar range ones to compare and was hugely disappointed even at $100. (Peak pulse and gogogo) . Blurry and super slow to process the distances. I did get a caddytek off Costco for $129 and was so impressed I ditched my Bushnell v2. Same distances as my friends V5. So my advice is get the caddytek if you’re looking for a good inexpensive replacement. 

[blink3665]

I got this one. I have a GPS as well, but wanted something so that I could shoot trees, sand, corners, etc. So far it has been excellent. +/- 1 yard from Leupold and Bushnell. So far I have been really happy with it.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F33HVL7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[vietnameeh]

I have the Wosports I have been using for 3 years.

 

Its been pretty good.

 

I did have one where the battery cover kept coming loose making the contact with the battery not so good so it was hard to use. Reached out to seller and they replaced it no questions asked.

 

 

[LeftDaddy]

Alternative viewpoint...I have a Bushnell. The first one kept draining batteries, and every time I contacted Bushnell they basically accused me of not knowing how to insert the battery and even sent me an instruction sheet. I finally got angry enough and got someone to at least let me send it in to get checked. They checked it, sent it back and said it was OK. But within a week my battery was dead again. So again I called and finally got the right person I guess.  They apologized and sent me a replacement and told me to keep the old one. The replacement has been better (I’ve had it several years and have maybe had to replace the battery three times. BUT, it stopped working one day (somehow one of the battery wires broke in half).  I just bought some electronics equipment and spliced the new wire back in myself and it works fine now and has for over two years. But I think next time I buy one I’m going Leupold. 

[Sparky14]

I got one of the Wosports with slope in June for right at $100. It works just fine, no complaints here.

[VNutz]

9 hours ago, LeftDaddy said:

Alternative viewpoint...I have a Bushnell. The first one kept draining batteries, and every time I contacted Bushnell they basically accused me of not knowing how to insert the battery and even sent me an instruction sheet. I finally got angry enough and got someone to at least let me send it in to get checked. They checked it, sent it back and said it was OK. But within a week my battery was dead again. So again I called and finally got the right person I guess.  They apologized and sent me a replacement and told me to keep the old one. The replacement has been better (I’ve had it several years and have maybe had to replace the battery three times. BUT, it stopped working one day (somehow one of the battery wires broke in half).  I just bought some electronics equipment and spliced the new wire back in myself and it works fine now and has for over two years. But I think next time I buy one I’m going Leupold. 

Bushnells are notorious for battery issues. I think I’ve replaced my leupold battery only 3 or 4 times in nearly 10 years.

[Rfern12]

Any updates? Still haven’t pulled the trigger. 

[larciel]

I like it. The numbers are bit hard to see but it works good.

 

[Bob Cat]

On 11/3/2020 at 5:51 PM, the bishop said:

I think it depends.  I know bad answer.  But a couple of months ago I was paired with a couple guys, one had a Nikon, i had my Bushnell w/slope and jolt, and the third guy had one of the off brands (can't remember the name) and his was consistently 10-15 yards short of what me and the Nikon were shooting.  So you get what you pay for to some extent.  And the kicker?  Guy with the cheap rangefinder climbed into his Porsche after the round and drove off.

 

100 yds = 91.44 meters (~9 diff)

150 yds = 137.16 meters (~13 diff)

 

I say this because I would inadvertently hit a wrong button on my old RF to go from yards to meters and it drove me nuts.

[Unplayablelies]

I bought a Simmons for about $65 off amazon a few years ago. It works alright. Not much use over 200 yards. Sometimes has a hard time picking up the pin on long distances. But it’s generally within a couple yards of my gps distances and good for 95% of my needs

[jeffrey r]

I had a Caddytek V2 with Slope from Costco for a couple of years and loved it, but it had no "jolt" recognition of the flag.  I noticed that recent descriptions of the Caddytek V2 described the pin-seeking confirmation.  So I was just able to return my old Caddytek to Costco for a refund, and purchase the new one, which indeed does have the pin-seeking confirmation. 

 

For whatever reason, the Caddytek is not on Costco's site at the moment, but it remains a steal at $130 shipped with Costco's return policy.

[vietnameeh]

I do like the Upside Golf range finders and will most likely get one once my current range finder ever dies.

 

It has a magnet built in (a really strong one) and all the features you'll want.

 

They are local to me too so its nice to support.

 

I do have a referral link if interested not sure if that's ok here though (black friday 20% off is happening right now too)

 

https://upsidegolf.com/?rfsn=4769824.8f21cb8