By J. Thompson "jimmy"
Add July 23/2011: I am still incredibly satisfied with this rangefinder. I’ve used it under a number of conditions such as rain and low light, and it continues to perform beautifully. I don’t get the audible tone very often (it makes a tone when it is confident it has found the actual pin laser reflector for pins so equipped) but it consistently finds the pin despite various backgrounds. I love the display. Highly recommended. The Amazon-based price was significantly higher than I found elsewhere.
Add May 16: I’ve had more experience with this and am upgrading it to 5 stars because the PinHunter performs so admirably. It really does give you the flag distance well without having to scan or anything else.
Summary:
A very good rangefinder. The GX4 adds slope determination and club selection to the GX3 with a removable yellow faceplate. The club suggestion feature itself is not especially useful, particularly for better golfers.
Review:
I use rangefinders. I prefer them to GPS-only units because I want an exact number from wherever I am to the pin but also frequently want an exact number to some other course feature not present on the GPS. Obviously this is a personal preference. I’ve owned both Bushnell and a Chinese knockoff. My handicap is 7.9.
The GX4 is a beautiful, camera-quality instrument. It’s pricey; I paid $370 delivered. I would buy it again, but I suspect I would be just as pleased with the GX3.
Physically, it weighs 226 grams (7.95 ounces) with the yellow face, and fits in your hand easily. It has a rubberized grip. There is a diopter focus adjustment. The battery cover has a built-in flip-top opener. The body is aluminum. It’s absolutely gorgeous and it is extraordinarily high quality. There is a greenish-blue tint when you look through the viewfinder; on a bright sunny day this is actually helpful. The actual dynamic display is painted in bright-red OLED, and is substantially easier to read than LCD displays I’ve seen. It’s weatherproof, per Leupold. In short, it’s physically outstanding.
A small example of quality can even be seen in the case, which is very solid and has a nice magnetic closure. In addition there is a separate zipper compartment at the bottom for storing the extra faceplate and an extra battery. Quality touch.
Let me run through the features.
Rangefinder:
I assume any rangefinder in trained hands is accurate. The first thing I care about is the clarity of the optics (stellar) and how easy it is to acquire the pin/flag, especially under 200-225 yards. Beyond 200 yards the discrepancy is as likely to be my competence as it is the rangefinder, but in that critical range from 50-200 yards, the exact number is important to me. The GX4 doesn’t use a “Pinseeker” type of approach where you scan left and right and get the shortest number, which presumably represents the flag. Instead, it has some sort of proprietary “Pinhunter” system where you center on the flag and you get the flag instead of the background. I was suspect when I read this, but in practice it works well and I did not have to bumble around trying to get a number for the flag instead of the background. Very nice. If the course has flags with reflectors on them (and many do) you get an audible/visual signal that a prism has been found. This did not work as consistently as I thought it should, but I didn’t care because it so consistently finds the flag anyway.
The aiming reticle (you get three choices of types, but it doesn’t matter) is very accurate for sighting. This is helpful. Occasionally you are looking at a target through branches or the like, and if you center the reticle on the target, that’s the distance that will be displayed.
Advanced Features:
The GX4 comes with two faceplates. One is chrome and purely decorative. The other is yellow plastic and contains a chip which plugs into a small USB port on the front of the rangefinder, converting it into an inclinometer as well. This is not legal for some tournaments. You can disable advanced features with the yellow faceplate on, but it’s probably better to use the chrome one for tournaments, and it’s a nice touch to have the advanced-features one yellow so that you don’t accidentally accrue a penalty by using the inclinometer/advanced features.
Briefly, the inclinometer lets the GX4 take the Line of Sight (LOS) distance and convert it to a functional distance. For example, if you are higher than the hole, you might use a 7 iron instead of a 5-iron because the functional distance is 145 yards instead of the LOS distance of 170 yards. Leupold calls this functional distance the True Golf Range, and it factors in two additional components: ambient temperature (which you manually add based on the current known temperature) and course altitude (from 0 to 10,000 feet, also manually added). From those factors (distance and incline to the flag; temperature; and altitude) the GX4 calculates its “True Golf Range” and then it suggests a club for you to use. The club selection is based on input from you at setup. You enter your distances for a 4, 6, and 8-iron and it extrapolates clubs from a PW on up. Then it displays the suggested club.
So the three significant outputs you get with the advanced features faceplate are the LOS distance, the True Golf Range functional distance, and a suggested club. It’s these last two features which are considered illegal in most tournaments.
I find the True Golf Range moderately helpful, but I don’t find the club selection helpful for two reasons. First, wind is more important than altitude or temperature, and so I am usually making my own decision anyway. Secondly, I hit PW 135 yards, so I don’t get suggestions for those critical close shots where I’m using my SW, 52, 56 and 60 degree clubs. And those are the critical shots to get close. But I don’t really care because I know my distances on level ground. The inclinometer is nice, since it gives me an idea of how far above or below my level the flag is.
All in all, I’m very pleased with this device. It was $30 more than the GX3, and as a gadget guy it’s worth it to me. However if you just want a superb rangefinder, consider the GX3 instead. If the idea of a recommended club appeals to you, go ahead and pop for the GX4.
You will find less expensive rangefinders easily, but I don’t think you’ll find a higher-quality one. I think of it as sort of the Leica of rangefinders.
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