GPS Units
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SkyCaddie SX500 – £379.95
The SX500 has a host of innovative features too long to list here, but we’re con dent in saying it’s the best hand- held GPS we’ve ever used. Its trump card is that it uses 40 geo-referenced targets per hole and a range of tech to give you masses of insight before you play each shot – distances to hazards, to ags… It’s all mapped by hand so you know it’s reliable, while IntelliGreen Pro gives you distances to false fronts, tiers, greenside mounds and contours on the green. And all the time you can see the hole (it rotates with you) on a 5in HD touch screen.
Bushnell Phantom £99.99
It’s about as far from the other winners as you can get in terms of tech, but if all you want is a quick look at a screen to get a yardage to the back, centre or front (plus four hazard/lay-up yardages per hole), this delivers at a very a ordable price. There are other features – Bluetooth connectivity (via a Bushnell app) means you can update the 36,000 pre-loaded courses – and a magnet means it attaches easily to a belt or electric trolley.
Garmin Approach G80 – £449.99
We love clever tech here at TG, especially when we’ve never seen it before. Step forward the Approach G80, a handheld GPS in one mode and a personal launch monitor in another. A “divot” on the back of the case means you can set the G80 down on a golf ball and then position it in the vicinity of your actual ball to calculate ball speed, clubhead speed, smash factor and carry. The GPS function lets you view all the details of fairways, hazards, and greens in 41,000 pre-loaded courses.
The Shortlist
Skycaddie SX500
Garmin Approach G80
Bushnell Phantom
Garmin Approach G30
Golf Buddy Voice X
Golf Buddy VTX
