Comparing the two is not really fair considering the Shot Scope comes in at less than half the cost of the Garmin and is understandably not going to fare well in any direct head to head comparison. Yet it is only human nature to compare and when certain features I’d started to take for granted with the Z82 were suddenly not available, I’ll admit to feeling a little disappointed initially. Prior to taking the Pro L1 out for a spin I’d been using the Garmin Approach Z82, which is one of the best laser range finders on the market. The Z82 is a pretty amazing device so this immediately put the Pro L1 at something of an unfair disadvantage.

The GolfBuddy Laser Lite is a compact rangefinder that fits easily in the palm of your hand. You will have no trouble feeling as though you have control of the unit as you hunt down your pin. Perhaps the most crucial feature of the GolfBuddy Laser Lite is the slope functionality.

Accuracy & Performance

There are two main modes available, as well as a third that doesn't really seem to have much purpose but can nevertheless be quite fun. The first (M1) is a scanning mode that displays distances almost instantly and will change as you scan the fairway, green, hazards etc. This is useful for when you need to know how far you need to carry the ball over a lake, or to lay up short of a bunker etc. M3 is Speed Mode and basically turns your PRO L1 into a speed gun. You hold the button down and target a moving object to tell how fast it’s going. Useful for golf? Not really, but you can have some fun with it. GolfBuddy Laser Lite is water-resistant. If you get caught in a bit of rain, you won’t need to panic, but the model is not fully waterproof. Worried? I wouldn’t be – it has survived a full winter of testing in the great British weather. Do not attempt to disassemble, modify, re-manufacture or damage the device. Please send to Shot Scope Technologies Ltd for repair. Nikon makes it easy to trust their product; with strong customer support and a tremendous reputation, this is a rangefinder that you can feel confident will get you through several years of golf.

Accuracy can be very dependent on the stability of the rangefinder that you have in your hand. The Nikon Coolshot 20i GII is not the most stable rangefinder in the Nikon lineup. This budget-friendly model offers a clear view and rapid-fire measurements when trying to collect a lot of information at once.

Key Features

Nikon has an impressive history and reputation when it comes to lenses and visual technology. The Nikon Coolshot capitalizes on that to get golfers some extra precision and accuracy on the golf course. If optics are your concern, this is a great rangefinder to consider. Accuracy Although some cheaper models will have slope, this slope cannot be turned on and off and accuracy levels tend to drop. What is the cheapest rangefinder that will work well? GolfBuddy suggests the Aim L10V is accurate within a yard and has an 880-yard range. In testing, we found this model lives up to that claim within 200-yards and gives near identical yardages compared to the top of the range products on the market (±1 yard). If you look at the pricing of the Nikon cameras, you may find that this is actually a pretty good deal for a Nikon product. It is Nikon’s low-priced rangefinder option, with all the comparable features of other products in this review.

Remember that accuracy is sometimes tied to the magnification of the rangefinder. The GolfBuddy Laser Lite has the 6X magnification and a very clear overall look through the viewfinder. FeaturesAvoid touching the lens when possible. If the lens becomes dirty, please wipe gently with the cleaning cloth provided. Let’s say you are trying to figure out how far it is to carry the bunker, what the distance is to the flag, and also how far it is to the water hazard behind the green. When you activate the continuous measurement technology, you will simply press the button and see all of these measurements pop up at once. Outside this range, human testing makes valid data a little more challenging to come by. However, the figures above should give you no doubt about the L10V’s accuracy and will be more than enough for most golfers. Features For those that have a hard time reading numbers inside the scope, this is a great feature to consider! Many golfers have rangefinders in place from eight or nine years ago. Technology has changed slightly, and the newer units from budget rangefinder manufacturers should last just as long and have slightly improved accuracy. The bottom line is that laser technology, scopes, and visual accuracy have gotten less expensive to manufacture and more advanced, especially in the last few years. Summary

The Adaptive Slope Technology readout is a little different. You turn Slope on or off using a toggle switch on the left side of the unit. When it’s on, the PRO L1 main readout will be standard horizontal distance. You’ll see the adjusted slope distance in the lower part of the screen in a much smaller font. In addition, you’ll also see a readout giving you the incline or decline angle percentage. The GolfBuddy Aim L10 V is moderately priced, especially considering that it also has slope technology. You may pay a few dollars more for the voice technology, but for those that really want to avoid the GPS technology, this can be a good alternative. Golf Insider verdict I also want to give credit to Shot Scope for the excellent instruction manual that’s included with the PRO L1. Many companies are going toward online manuals which are a hassle. This simple foldout explains every mode and button on the PRO L1 so that you can get the most out of it even if this is your first experience with a rangefinder. This is a small consideration but something that certain golfers will want to ensure they have thought of prior to purchasing. Usability For comparison, when testing a wide range of budget golf rangefinders, we found that most models are accurate to within one yard as long as we were less than 150 yards from the target and have a steady hand. Once you get into that 150-250 range, the accuracy seems to be better with the higher-priced models.With the three targeting modes, Standard, Scan, and Pin, you can really help yourself scan the horizon off the tee and then narrow in on the target using Pin Finder mode into the green. When it comes to usability in these budget golf rangefinders, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that because of the limited features that you will find; the rangefinders become quite easy to use. The bad news is that they can sometimes be a little harder to work with when getting yardages over the 150-yard mark. The accuracy of a laser rangefinder is talked about at length. However, the view through the scope is not often brought up quite as much. If you can’t clearly see the numbers that the rangefinder comes up with, how accurate can it be?