Why the Shot Scope PRO L5 might be the best all-round rangefinder on the market

Key features:

• OLED display for crystal-clear readouts in all conditions
• Rapid-fire detection with pin lock
• Adaptive slope adjustments
• 1300 yd range with 7x magnification

In a world where it feels like everything in golf, from clubs to shoes to watches, are getting more and more packed with overwhelming features, it's nice to come across a product that harnesses just the right amount of technology to do the simple things really well.

The Shot Scope PRO L5—a new rangefinder from the brand that sits at pretty much the exact mid-point in the brand's growing, is just such a product, doing everything you'd want a basic rangefinder to do and a little bit more, at a fairly reasonable price point.

In fact, after a day testing it, we left the course thinking it might be the best all-round rangefinder on the market right now, despite the relative lack of bells and whistles.

Look and feel

The Shot Scope PRO L5 is a relatively simple thing to look at, and without the branding on the side of the rangefinder, you'd have a hard time telling it apart from either its more entry-level sibling, the PRO L2, or the step-up model the PRO LX. It comes in Shot Scope's trademark black and ice blue colourway, with a plastic twist ring to dial in the focus around the eyepiece, two buttons for power and settings adjustments up the top, and a simple slider that switches the slope adjustment on and off for tournament play.

Because the PRO L5 has a more powerful lens than the L2 and also has to fit in a little extra circuitry to make the OLED display work, this naturally adds a tiny bit more heft to the final package. It felt bullkier in the hand than more compact rangefinders like Nikon's COOLSHOT 20i GIII, which I tested side-by-side with the Shot Scope, and the included case will naturally take up a bit more real estate in your bag as a result. 

However the Shot Scope is by no means an unwieldy piece of kit, and having a slightly larger package in the hand actually might aid some golfers with keeping it stable while looking down the barrel. The textured rubberised exterior also makes it feel solid and grippy in your palm, so you can squeeze it tighter to reduce those shakes even further.

The one downside of the overall build, however, is the battery slot, which to me defies explanation in the way it's engineered. Like many other rangefinders it rests below the lens, however Shot Scope have put the tab you use to pry open the cover directly underneath the ring that protects the lens, making it an absolute pain to get open. 

I have fairly slender fingers, and still had to use a tee to get the damn thing open. If you have bigger hands or particularly short nails, you'll probably struggle even more. It's a minor quibble and one that other golfers might not suffer with, but I feel it's worth mentioning.

Performance

Once the battery is in place, however, the PRO L5 absolutely shines as a mid-range RangeFinder. In terms of its overall feature list, it's relatively modestly placed for a piece of kit that'll cost you around £200. There's no club recommendations, wind readouts or plays-like distance—although it will connect with the Shot Scope GPS app to give you a little extra data, as well as a top-down map of the hole, if you want it.

What Pro L5 does do, namely telling you how far you are from the hole in a clear and concise manner, it does better than perhaps any other rangefinder in its price point. The OLED readout is exceptionally vivid, giving super clear readouts even on sunny, glare-y days. The optics themselves weren't quite as crystal clear as the high contrast glass lenses you'd find in the Nikon, but to me it didn't make enough of a difference to want to forgo the OLED display.

I found getting my distances significantly easier with the Shot Scope. The lock-on technology buzzes in a matter of milliseconds, and the PRO L5 also produced much more consistent results with multiple passes than the Nikon—which I found tricky to dial in. The Shot Scope's overall range is also 500 yards longer than what you'd find in its Japanese rival—which isn't a huge deal given you'll likely never play a hole longer than 800 yards anyway, but speaks to the power of the laser included in the package.

Should you buy the Shot Scope PRO L5?

If you're looking for a rangefinder around the £200 price point, absolutely. At this level, it's hard to think of any range finders that present a more complete all-round package than the PRO L5 right now. The, for instance, is just £20 cheaper at retail, but looks fairly pedestrian by comparison.

The OLED display makes for a massive improvement over conventional rangefinders, particularly in sunny conditions while the lock-on and accuracy are among the swiftest and most accurate we've experienced in a rangefinder in its class. 

The PRO L5 is also well-built and truly easy to use straight out of the box, with all the accuracy you need and none of the bells and whistles that, if we're being honest, only the most detail-oriented of golfers really use anyway.