This £600 rangefinder convinced me expensive lasers simply aren't worth it

Key features

• 1300yd range with 6x magnification, 0.1s Flag Pole Locking Vibration and SmartSlope adjustment with Rotating Tournament-Legal Switch
• AMOLED Touchscreen with built-in GPS, dynamic yardages, shot mapping/tracking and scoring
• LED display on rangefinder
• USB-C rechargable battery lasts 3-4 rounds

Almost entirely by virtue of making most of the affordable lasers everyday golfers tend to grab on sale on Amazon these days, MILESEEY's Rangefinders have become one of the most common sights hanging off golf bags across the nation in recent years. Even we're not hugely sure where they came from, but they're here to stay.

But while the bulk of MILESEEY's trade will likely always lie in creating entry-level rangefinders that heavily undercut the likes of Bushnell and ShotScope, the brand has leveraged its considerable success in recent years to push boundaries at the very top end of the market as well. Its AI-powered GenePro S1 rangefinder, which in fairness was rightly dismissed as a bit of a gimmick, made headlines when it hit the market with an $800 price tag earlier this year. Now, its slightly cheaper sibling, the touch-screen powered GenePro G1, is here, boasting a features list matched in scale only by its price tag.

The goal of the G1 seems pretty clear cut: to be the most advanced, cutting-edge Rangefinder ever released by the brand. It also has the dual purpose of adding to the growing footprint of touchscreen-powered rangefinders, effectively combining a high-powered traditional laser rangefinder with the GPS you'd normally use on your phone or golf watch.

But is it any good or does it, like the S1, offer up an experience dwarved by its gargantuan price tag? We took it out on course at Wiltshire's beautiful Manor House to find out.

Looks and feel

In the hand, there's no doubt that the GenePro G1 is a seriously impressive piece of kit. It feels weighty and premium, with a sleek dark grey colour scheme accented by pops of metallic red blending well into the grey of the AMOLED touch screen that rests on its side. The case, too, while large given the size of the rangefinder it has to house, also feels premium—like a shrunken premium hardshell suitcase.

The tactile experience of using the rangefinder lives up to the looks, as well. The buttons feel weighty and well-built, while the touchscreen is smooth and responsive. It's also hardy enough to stand up the everyday rigours of regular use on the course, with IP65 water protection meaning I could take it out in the changeable English conditions knowing it would stand up to rapid shifts in weather.

Performance

Before drilling down into whether or not the GenePro G1 does its job well, it's worth listing out exactly what it's capable of. At a fundamental level, it's a 1300 yard, 6x magnification laser rangefinder with an OLED display built-in and all of the features you'd expect from a high-end rangefinders, i.e. vibrating pin lock, optional slope adjustment, and the ability to take into account things like temperature and barometric pressure when displaying distances. It also has a unique ball-to-pin mode, allowing you to take remote readouts from any point where the ball is visible and get the distance to any exact point on the hole (think using the ball and the flag to measure the the distance you'd need to cut a dog leg).

Where the G1 pushes things further is in its AMOLED display, which effectively gives the rangefinder the functionality of a GPS golf app. Capable of working independently by itself or in conjunction with an app on your phone, the screen has 43,000 courses pre-loaded onto its internal memory and adds a level of detail to the readouts given by the optical rangefinder. Perhaps the most useful of these isthe Range Sync function, which displays the measurement taken on the rangefinder in an arc on the hole displayed to show you exactly what's in play with your chosen club. Lay Up mode also cleverly plots out your shots for you on a par 5, taking the guesswork out of navigating over hazards and obstacles..

On top of this, the software built into the G1 also provides rudimentary shot tracking, scoring, and hole maps that go into varying levels of detail depending on where you are at the hole (this includes green front/middle/back distances).

If this all sounds a little exhausting, you probably won't be surprised to hear that this bears out in the general experience of using the G1. The Rangefinder function is precise and accurate, with great optics and the addition of the OLED display making for crystal clear readouts in any condition. The screen, meanwhile, is responsive and well-made—if not particularly bright. 

Should you buy the MILESEEY GenePro G1?

It's worth prefacing this section by saying that, as I've hopefully laid out, the G1 is an extremely high-performing rangefinder. It might even be the most complete rangefinder money can buy, given how smoothly it performs, the clarity of its screen and the added functionality afforded to it by its GPS screen. 

Would I pay £600 for it, however? No way.

The fundamental problem is that the G1 simply packs too much into one package for the average golfer—most of whom are simply just concerned with getting areliable, accurate distance readouts and going about their round. Getting the most out of the G1 (and thus getting value for money) would mean leaning as heavily as possible on its stacked feature list, scrolling endlessly between screens in order to record every piece of data possible as you go along. I suspect that this would end up becoming a chore for almost anyone. 

Is anyone really going to be bothered making sure they've used every feature they possibly can from the G1's rangefinder, touchscreen and phone functions before every single swing? Perhaps the most fastidious will, but with golfers having generally chosen by now whether they prefer the lo-fi approach of using a rangefinder or a digital GPS most won't; at which point, this £600 rangefinder becomes, quite literally, a £600 rangefinder only being used to do the job of a £200 one. 

As someone who generally prefers using a GPS and occasionally pulling out an easy-to-use rangefinder to get more precise measurements, I didn't walk off the course feeling like the G1 made a particularly compelling case to replace either—especially considering that for the price of one you could easily buy both a simple rangefinder and a GPS watch and still have hundreds of pounds left over.

If you want a product that truly addresses every yardage conundrum you could possibly experience out on the course, the MILESEEY GenePro G1 may prove worth the investment. At this price, however, I'd want to receive something revolutionary, and I'm not sure the G1 is that.

Shop now: $419 from MILESEEY