Our Bushnell Pro XE laser review took place during rounds at Sandburn Hall in York.
Bushnell Pro XE laser review: First impressions
I confess I’m usually toting a much older laser on the course so the Bushnell Pro XE felt like a massive upgrade straight away.
The first thing that catches the eye is that it’s a very well put together unit. It feels extremely stable in the hand and gives a lot of confidence you’ll be able to stay steady on the target.
There’s a lot to be said for simplicity of design. Hit the power button, of course, to lock in and out but the slope switch on the side only adds to the ease of use.
It slides to red to indicate you’ve got slope on – as well as telling anyone else around you if you’re in a competition – and a mode button on top of the unit cycles the elements feature on and off.
Like summer today at @SandburnGolf and a great day to test the @BushnellGolf Pro XE. This is a very clever piece of kit… pic.twitter.com/N2CQpdaoUN
— Steve Carroll (@SteveCarrollNCG) February 24, 2019
That’s all there is to it. Some of you might be looking for a few more bells and whistles but much of the technology is packed out of sight under the bonnet.
When you are out on the course, simply point and click. With speed always of the essence, I can’t think of much else you’d want from a laser.
Bushnell are renowned for the quality of their cases and the newly designed version that comes with the Pro XE, equipped with a heavy duty clip for the golf bag, is another impressive example.
Bushnell Pro XE laser review: The technology
The big development is ‘Slope with Elements’, which adds temperature and air density to the Slope technology we’ve been used to in previous Bushnell models.
In fact, the Slope system has been improved all round, with the company saying a new algorithm, updating ball flight measurements, gives a much sharper angle of descent over previous versions.
JOLT has been given an upgrade as well, with Visual JOLT Technology. As well as the familiar buzz when you’ve locked into a flag, a red ring now flashes on the LCD display to give golfers extra confidence they’ve hit their target.
Bushnell have also added a magnetic BITE mount to the side of the unit which allows the laser to be secured to a trolley without the need to buy an extra accessory. I could not test this feature as I don’t use a trolley.
So how did the Bushnell Pro XE laser perform? Check out the next page to find out…