Two years ago around this time, I purchased a rangefinder for my first round.
I decided to go straight with "Bushnell" and purchased the first released Bushnell A1-Slope model.
It was priced at 490,000 won at launch, but after various discounts, I purchased it for around 400,000 won and used it well.
However, after purchasing a watch-type Voice Caddie T11 Pro, I only use it at domestic golf courses where APL doesn't work
and my usage frequency has significantly decreased. When the 145g device is worn on my waist, it feels quite heavy and is inconvenient during swing,
so I mainly used it for measuring and then threw it on the ground.
Recently, I've been very envious of rangefinders with triangulation capability. The distance called out by the caddy often
gets wrong, and when I went on a no-caddy round, when APL doesn't work or the ball lands far from the cart path,
there are times when I can't confirm the distance at all.
While wondering whether to change it, I selected the CaddyTalk Minion2, Finecaddy UPL2000, and Voice Caddie Laser Fit 2..
and reviewed them with information from the internet.
-Price: Laser Fit 2 > Minion2 = UPL2000 (most to least expensive)
-Weight/Size: Minion2 > UPL2000 > Laser Fit 2 (lightest to heaviest)
-User Reviews: UPL2000=Laser Fit 2 > Minion2
-Pros/Cons/Minion2: Lightest and smallest (72g), cheap plastic feel, inconvenient measuring method, many errors with the horizontal laser
-Pros/Cons/Laser Fit 2: Most expensive (though cheaper than Bushnell), reasonably adequate weight (130g), high recognition
-Pros/Cons/UPL2000: Light weight (113g), aiming function, cheap plastic feel, relatively high recognition
After summarizing roughly like this, I decided on the UPL2000, purchased it for 184,000 won with a G-market discount, and used it on Saturday.
After using it, let me reorganize the pros and cons from a user's perspective.
Advantage: The Aiming function was surprisingly very useful. I thought it would be a minor additional feature, but wow?
On second wood shots and iron shots, there were quite a few cases where I messed up because I was thinking about undulation and got the aiming wrong. But when I used the aiming function, I got great results. I thought, wow...this is a real gem.
Advantage: Light and compact. After using the 145g model, I reduced it by just 32g to 113g, but the difference is noticeable. The belt doesn't sag as much. The size is also reduced by about 1cm in both width and height. Well, it's a minor advantage.
Disadvantage: I'm not satisfied with the pouch. There are grooves on both sides of the pouch for the protruding viewfinder, so it won't fit if you put it in upside down and you need to align the direction. It keeps getting stuck when I try to put it in, but it should improve with familiarity.
Disadvantage: There is no power off or mode change function. The manual says it automatically turns off after 10 seconds, but it actually turns off after about 4-5 seconds. The problem is that there's no function to switch from triangulation to regular pin measurement mode, so I have to turn it off and on again. I can take a triangulation shot from the cart, it turns off while I move to the ball position, and then measure again at the ball position, so there's no major inconvenience. However, it would be nice to have a power off or mode change function.
Overall Rating: Worth buying. I made a good decision to change it. It feels full of cheap plastic and looks like it would break if you measure and throw it on the ground (I'm curious about its durability), but if you don't like the waist belt pouch, it seems you can easily put it in your pocket and use it. It's faster to measure than the Bushnell A1 and the distance is more accurate. Since I'll likely walk less on no-caddy rounds, I'm looking forward to night no-caddy rounds this summer.
