Top positive review
510 people found this helpful
It's a hundred bucks good people
By spellbound on Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2019
Writing reviews is not my play, which is kinda funny since I do read them and they do influence my decisions...but I digress. In my humble opinion, for a hundred bucks, it's fantastic. I took a chance on simply the manufacturer. Distance measurement and focus is kinda what they do, going back to the early days of binoculars and their founding. Trust in this history was the ultimate deciding factor after reading some of the not so great reviews. I suppose value is always key, and in all due respect, maybe others expect more for their hard earned 100 bucks...err expecting the features of a unit retailing 2-3 times the Phantom street value yet all bundled up neatly into a $100 price point. This just isn't gonna happen. That being said...my rebuttals on the negative points found in other not so great reviews. 1. No, the magnet does not possess superpowers, but it is also not crappy. I use without issue both with the clip on a side pocket on my trousers and directly onto the cart inner frame. Yes, it does require the player to be mindful of the potential errant dislodging but I cannot support other review claims of failure. The magnet is a dope idea and works. 2. It's made of plastic. Yes, it is made of plastic. Everything is kinda made of plastic, especially at this retail price point. No issue. 3. Again, the magnet. OK. So you're on cart path only days. The magnet, although I haven't experienced such dislodging, isn't holding to your clip. Fasten to the inner cart frame, take the unit to your ball position, get your yardage, pull your club. Fasten the unit back onto the inner cart frame. I don't see the issue. 4. No, it doesn't provide pin placements. Again, with all do respect, maybe your game requires perfect yardages. If so, I'd question your critical thought process on how a unit for $100 is gonna meet your expectation. The unit does provide beyond reasonable accurate distance to front - middle - back. I would also hope we could all agree that when using the scoring clubs, you'd be in a position to more than not get a visual on the pin placement. Is it front, middle, or back? 5. The Phone App sucks. I'm at a loss here. I think the App is great. The entire hole is covered. It's touch sensitive to whatever strategic landing spot you desire providing yardage. All hazards are represented. It updates to your location on the hole. All good in my book. 6. No, it doesn't account for slopes. It's a hundred bucks good people. In all fairness, if your home course greatly exceeds the US 113 standard dificulty rate, this might not be the best fit product for your game. You are gonna have to pony up. This is a handy little device. The read out is large and clean. It's super easy to track shot distantance by club. Markers to hazards are clean. No, they don't include the cover of hazards but for a hundred bucks, I'll take the front hazard info and plan accordingly. I'm a scrappy 7 all day. I shaved down to 2 with this piece. I believe it's for the purist. Front - Middle - Back. Go get it. I did an A/B test against my mates $500 laser unit. It was within 2 yards. That's reasonable in my opinion of value for a hundred bucks. Our game requires effort. Personally, putting cut down my scoring average. This device allows more opportunity for said putting opportunities because of reliable FMB yardages. Maybe I don't expect enough for $100. Maybe the unit should have magnetic superpower for $100. Maybe we should live in a place where all features (slope - pin placement - wind accounts) should be available to all of us for $100. I dont' know of this world. This device is well valued in my opinion, offering solid and reliable data for a hundred bucks. And yes, I've had 2 glasses of wine...ok, maybe 3. I hope this brings benefit. Be well.
Top critical review
82 people found this helpful
Works as describe and accurate, although missing many basic functions and features you would expect.
By Xtina on Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2018
Plastic - a bit of a cheaper plastic used for the case, works fine, but seems cheaper plastic used to build the unit. Possibly this type of plastic has a good UV rating, but I would of expected a outer wrapping with a bit of flexible / rubbery feel to it. Works fine though. Possibly other manufacturers us the same type of plastic. I don't know. Magnet - not strong enough to just mount to cart, bumps will knock it off for sure. You can use the clip and tried to clip to the score card holder. Unfortunately the clip is held on with the magnet and although it is safer to not loose it anywhere on the course from this position, a simple bump with your hand or heavy bump will knock it off, so you must pay close attention to assure the unit is still on. From the clip board though there is more of a chance it will just fall off in the cart rather than anywhere on the course. Clip - not as practical as it would seem, better to have a clip that the unit can fit into around the entire unit. Again the magnet isn't really strong enough to hold onto a bouncing cart, same if clip is used as it only is held together via the magnet Electronics - the unit picks up the local courses, fast enough. The unit does give ranges rather well and I have compared to my laser unit and they are very close. The unit does give hazards (need to memorize the abbreviations, some are a little confusing and untranslatable without them memorized). But a good feature. Software - the unit has all the information, but you have to continually jump around to determine what other statuses are. Example, time is only shown on the start up menu, you need to exit the course function and at the main menu the time will be shown. Other than setting the time there is no other way to see the time. Once complete, you now need to go back to search for the courses nearby, select the course, and then readjust to the hole you are on. The unit does change from hole to hole, although sometimes will be on the wrong hole, but not too much of an issue, you will need to pay attention though. The unit has the battery life display, but you have to jump around to see what the battery life is and if the battery is low, there is no indication. The unit will just shut off. Just seems a bit hokee and makes it seem cheaply designed and made. Battery life - I used the unit for 2 full 18 hole rounds and lasted about 10 maybe 11 hours, before it was dead. The rounds were long 5 hours each, so acceptable. Unfortunately without indication of battery life, it will just shut off rather than inform you low batter. Again, seems like a normal software function to indicate batter life left or even just batter life when it is getting low. The battery life though is more than adequate to run thru 2 rounds around 4 to 4 1/2 house long. Most persons wouldn't play this much golf in a day. Missing feature is the ability to plug the unit in and charge, while the unit is still functioning on the golf course feeding you distances. Most golf cars have USB plugs, but once you plug in the unit, it goes straight to charge all functions and features are not usable. Once you unplug the unit, assuming your charged up, you will need to relocate the course, the hole, etc. Back-light - The unit has a back light, it comes on when you select the power button for a second and stays on for about 10 seconds. Useful when you have it sitting in a cup holder, to prevent it from getting lost, and you need some light to see the ranges. Overall the unit works as described and give a accurate distance hole per hole based on physical location. As far as quality is a bit lacking and not much thought went into the basics, (quality plastics / rubber, the functionality of the magnet and clip, and the basic information to monitor the unit's battery and time of day both needed to assure it will not shut off on you during play). I will be looking for a clip that allows the unit to fit into rather than just magnetically attaching. But with all the reviews I've seen out there, there was nothing that actually described it's performance. This is just a matter of fact review.
Sort by:
Filter by:
By -
Verified Amazon Purchase
Vine Customer Review of Free Product
Sorry, no reviews match your current selections.
Try clearing or changing some filters.Show all reviews
Show more reviews