Golf Buddy World Platinum Review

The Golf Buddy World Platinum has been retired. Check out our current recommendations for today's best golf rangefinders..

'Golf Buddy World Platinum'

Golf Buddy World Platinum
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Our Golf Buddy World Platinum Review is based on the analysis of pros, cons and ratings found in over 130 user reviews. Feel free to read the details below, but if you want a quick recommendation, we suggest you consider one of Golf Buddy’s similarly named products:

Golf Buddy World Platinum User Rating: 3.92 Stars 3.92 out of 5 (130 reviews)

Score compiled from multiple sources.

  • the Golf Buddy World is a very similar model that gets much better ratings and is ususally less expensive.
  • the Golf Buddy World Platinum, released in 2012, is Golf Buddy’s effort to improve upon the Golf Buddy World Platinum.
Most Mentioned Pros (in order of mentions high to low):
  • Easy to use
  • Accurate
  • No fees
  • Good Customer Service
  • Good value
  • Easy to read
  • Quality/durability
  • Hole Layout View
  • Scorecard for up to four players
  • Stat tracking
  • Shot Measuring
  • Auto course recognition
  • Auto hole advance
  • Fast
  • Easy computer updates to add new courses and update courses
  • Preloaded with courses
  • Graphics
  • Worldwide courses available in database
  • Alternate targets
  • Lots of courses available
  • Speeds up play
  • Size
Most Mentioned Cons (in order of mentions high to low):
  • Not enough courses in full layout view (see our comments above)
  • battery life (2 rounds or less reported by several users)
  • Needed to update on computer to get full layout view of some courses
  • Problems with accuracy
  • Limited alternate targets (Note: on courses with hole layout view, you can use touch targeting to anywhere)
  • Difficulty using touchscreen
  • Poor technical support
Golf Buddy World Platinum Features and Specifications
Golf Buddy World Platinum
Course Download Fees No
Pre-loaded with Courses Yes
Full Hole Views Yes
Slope / Elevation No
Battery Life 10 hrs
Battery Li-poly rechargeable
Size (Width x Height x Depth) 4.3 in. x 2.4 in. x 1 in.
Measure Shot Distance Yes
Screen Size 3 in.
Resolution 240x400
Display Type Color TFT LCD
Weight 5.15 oz.
Rainproof water resistant case
Touch Screen Yes
Touch Targeting Yes
Manual Pin Positioning Yes
Stat Tracker Yes
Digital Scorecard Yes
Computer Analysis Tools No
Ground Verified No
Alternate Targets Yes
Green Rotates to your shot angle Yes
USGA Compliant (local rule) Yes
Notes -
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GolfRangefinderShop.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you buy anything after clicking through, we get a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps us keep the site up and running, so thank you! We work very hard to obtain the correct information about product features, but cannot make any guarantees about the accuracy. Please double check with the merchant or manufacturer before making a purchase.
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Summary of Sonocaddie V500 Reviews

The Sonocaddie V500 has been retired. Check out our current recommendations for today's best golf rangefinders..

'Sonocaddie V500'

Sonocaddie V500
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The big, responsive, easy to read in any light screen was thing we noticed most in our summary of Sonocaddie V500 reviews.

Sonocaddie V500 User Rating: 3.93 Stars 3.93 out of 5 (32 reviews)

Score compiled from multiple sources.

We didn’t find any complaints about not being able to see the screen in bright sunlight or because the numbers were too small, which is common on other full-featured GPS models. It’s definitely something to think about when you’re choosing a GPS device.

However we’re still not sure this is the best unit for the money. The price is steep and the reviews don’t quite measure up. The much newer Garmin Approach G6 has all the bells and whistles, excellent user reviews and cost less.

We should also point out that the top complaint unfortunately, was problems with the software, which caused a number of returns and occasional unhappiness with Sonocaddie customer service. Overall there were definitely more pros than cons mentioned, but take a look at our list below.

Most Mentioned Pros (in order from high to low):
  • Easy to see/read display
  • Accuracy
  • Easy to use
  • Preloaded with golf courses
  • No fees
  • Ability to touch and point for yardage to that location
  • Good battery life
  • Good customer service – with regards to adding golf courses
  • Auto hole advance
  • Size
  • Price
  • Fast satellite acquisition

Most Mentioned Cons (in order from high to low):

  • Hardware & software problems – calibration, crashing etc.
  • Slow satellite acquisition
  • missing and incorrect hazard information
  • Poor customer service
  • Expensive

Sonocaddie V500 Specifications

Sonocaddie V500
Course Download Fees No*
Pre-loaded with Courses Yes
Full Hole Views Yes
Slope / Elevation No
Battery Life 12 hrs max
Battery rechargeable
Size (Width x Height x Depth) 4.6 in. x 2.3 in. x .8 in.
Measure Shot Distance Yes
Screen Size 3 in.
Resolution 240x400
Display Type hi-res color LCD
Weight 4.57 oz.
Rainproof Yes
Touch Screen Yes
Touch Targeting Yes
Manual Pin Positioning Yes
Stat Tracker Yes
Digital Scorecard Yes
Computer Analysis Tools Yes
Ground Verified No
Alternate Targets Yes
Green Rotates to your shot angle N/A
USGA Compliant (local rule) Yes
Notes -
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GolfRangefinderShop.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you buy anything after clicking through, we get a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps us keep the site up and running, so thank you! We work very hard to obtain the correct information about product features, but cannot make any guarantees about the accuracy. Please double check with the merchant or manufacturer before making a purchase.
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Garmin G6 Approach Reviews

The Garmin Approach G6 has been retired. Check out our current recommendations for today's best golf rangefinders..

'Garmin Approach G6'

Garmin Approach G6
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The Garmin Approach G6 isn’t the newest golf GPS on the market and it isn’t the most expensive. But in our opinion, it’s still the best legal full-featured golf GPS on the market.

User reviews continue to be excellent for the G6 and quite frankly, there hasn’t been all that much competition.

Garmin Approach G6 User Rating: 4.20 Stars 4.20 out of 5 (648 reviews)

Score compiled from multiple sources.

There are only three brands that contend in the full hole view handheld golf GPS market: Garmin, SkyCaddie and GolfBuddy. SkyCaddie charges an annual fee for getting your course maps and generally they receive pretty lousy ratings compared to Garmin. GolfBuddy makes a somewhat larger handheld device, but it’s not in the same league with the Garmin G6. Fortunately for golfers, the Garmin handhelds are excellent and the price on the G6 is unbelievable!

The other competition to the G6 comes from Garmin’s own G7 and G8 models. These are both excellent devices and they have some fun bells and whistles, but the price difference is significant.

When you consider the pros and cons that we aggregated from feedback from over 100 users, keep in mind that positive comments far outweighed the negatives.

Most Mentioned Pros: (most frequently mention on top)
  • Screen brightness in sun or clouds
  • Compact size
  • Easy to use
  • Accuracy
  • Preloaded with golf courses
  • Quality
  • Battery Life (3 rounds was about average)
  • No fees
  • Quickly locked onto GPS
  • Lightweight
  • Responsive touchscreen
  • 28,000 golf courses and growing
  • Value/price
  • Touch targeting
  • Easy stat tracking
  • Easy to use scorecard
  • Green View made it easy to set pin and see approach distances
  • Ready to go out of the box – even had enough charge to play
  • GPS lock was fast and the lock was solid
  • Easy to read (as mentioned, a few users had trouble)
  • Shot measuring capability
  • Yardage layup arcs to 100, 150, 200 and 250
  • Stats and scorecard analysis on computer
  • Waterproof
  • Auto hole advance
  • Free lifetime updates
Most Mentioned Cons: (most frequently mention on top)
  • Some fonts too small
  • Some units experience shutdowns during the round (if this is yours, we suggest returning it as defective)
  • Not enough hazard information and carry yardages
  • Battery life not as long as advertised (only 3 users mentioned this)
  • A few users found pars and handicaps were wrong on their golf courses
  • Slow to acquire satellites (many more users found it to be quick)
  • Doesn’t automatically find the hole you are playing if you turn it on a hole other than #1
  • Scorecard could be better
  • Couldn’t find battery meter (FYI:Pressing the power button will display the battery meter and signal strength)
  • Some accuracy issues
  • Screen was not bright enough (many more users felt the brightness was excellent)
  • Screen scratches easily
  • Screen is too sensitive (most felt it was just right)

Garmin G6 Approach Features and Specifications
Garmin Approach G6
Course Download Fees No
Pre-loaded with Courses 27,000
Full Hole Views Yes
Slope / Elevation No
Battery Life up to 15 hrs.
Battery Rechargeable Li-Poly
Size (Width x Height x Depth) 3.7 in. x 2.1 in. x .8 in.
Measure Shot Distance Yes
Screen Size 2.6
Resolution 160 x 240
Display Type Transreflec ColorTFT
Weight 3.37 oz.
Rainproof IPX7
Touch Screen Yes
Touch Targeting Yes
Manual Pin Positioning Yes
Stat Tracker Yes
Digital Scorecard Yes
Computer Analysis Tools Yes
Ground Verified No
Alternate Targets Yes
Green Rotates to your shot angle Yes
USGA Compliant (local rule) Yes, if Club Averages feature is not used.
Notes -
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GolfRangefinderShop.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you buy anything after clicking through, we get a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps us keep the site up and running, so thank you! We work very hard to obtain the correct information about product features, but cannot make any guarantees about the accuracy. Please double check with the merchant or manufacturer before making a purchase.

User Manual for Garmin Approach G6

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Bushnell XGC+ Review

The Bushnell Yardage Pro XGC+ has been retired. Check out our current recommendations for today's best golf rangefinders..

'Bushnell Yardage Pro XGC+'

Bushnell Yardage Pro XGC+
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The Bushnell Yardage Pro XGC+ was introduced in October 2010, but there still are only a small number of user reviews. Initially, the Bushnell XGC+ was a good value for the features it offered, but given today there are models with higher ratings that are competitive in price and features. Check our “Best GPS for Golf” breakdown to find the one best suited to your needs.

Bushnell Yardage Pro XGC+ User Rating: 3.65 Stars 3.65 out of 5 (17 reviews)

Score compiled from multiple sources.

The Bushnell XGC+ offers one of lowest prices for a GPS device with full hole views and NO membership fees. There is a small caveat to the membership fees issue… Basically, Bushnell includes a one year membership to iGolf so you can download course maps and course updates. After the first year, you don’t have to pay membership fees unless you want to download additional courses with full maps. The course maps you already have on your XGC+ will remain there. If you do decide you need more course maps, iGolf annual membership fees have typically been very low.

The Bushnell XGC+ Plus comes preloaded with basic information to over 16,000 courses. That means you can open up the box when it arrives and take it out to play without syncing it with your computer. Even better than that, it means that you can show up at a course when you haven’t had time to download it and still benefit from having your Bushnell GPS with you. Within 45 days of starting up the XGC+ for the first time, you’ll need to register it on your computer. You can then select up to 50 golf courses to download with full maps to store on your unit. Whenever you sync your device, any updates that have been made to any courses, will be downloaded. The Bushnell XGC+ also includes scorecard, statistics and shot measuring features.

Conclusion: if you’re on a tight budget and you want more than just numbers on the display, this may be the golf GPS for you. If you have a bigger budget, we suggest checking out the GolfBuddy World.

Remember there were not many reviews to consider, so most of the pros and cons listed were mentioned only two or three times each.

Most Mentioned Pros (in order of of mentions high to low):
  • Ready to go out of the box with lots of preloaded courses – most frequent mention of both pros and cons
  • Easy to Sync (download courses)
  • Size
  • Accuracy
  • Value (price)
  • Easy to see in bright light
  • Holds up to 50 full course maps
Most Mentioned Cons (in order of of mentions high to low):
  • Manual / instructions need improvement
  • Slow
  • Confusing to use in full maps mode
Bushnell XGC+ Features and Specifications
Bushnell Yardage Pro XGC+
Course Download Fees No*
Pre-loaded with Courses Yes
Full Hole Views Yes
Slope / Elevation No
Battery Life 16 hrs max
Battery Li-ion recharge
Size (Width x Height x Depth) 3.85 in. x 2.15 in. x .75 in.
Measure Shot Distance Yes
Screen Size 2.2
Resolution hi-res
Display Type color
Weight N/A oz.
Rainproof rainproof
Touch Screen No
Touch Targeting No
Manual Pin Positioning N/A
Stat Tracker Yes
Digital Scorecard Yes
Computer Analysis Tools No
Ground Verified No
Alternate Targets Yes
Green Rotates to your shot angle N/A
USGA Compliant (local rule) Yes
Notes -
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GolfRangefinderShop.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you buy anything after clicking through, we get a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps us keep the site up and running, so thank you! We work very hard to obtain the correct information about product features, but cannot make any guarantees about the accuracy. Please double check with the merchant or manufacturer before making a purchase.

User Manual for Bushnell Yardage Pro XGC+

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SkyCaddie SGXw Reviews

The SkyCaddie SGXw has been retired. Check out our current recommendations for today's best golf rangefinders..

'SkyCaddie SGXw'

SkyCaddie SGXw
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Quick Recommendation:

Save yourself the fees and choose one of our top picks for a golf GPS rangefinder.

Pros:

SkyCaddie SGXw User Rating: 3.65 Stars 3.65 out of 5 (46 reviews)

Score compiled from multiple sources.
  • SkyCaddie’s marketing efforts suggest their distances are more accurate because they hire people to actually go to every golf course to “verify” the data they have.Other brands and GPS mappers would argue that using satellites is every bit as accurate. To our knowledge, there are no studies that confirm this one way or the other.
  • Like its predecessor, the SkyCaddie SGX, the SGXw utilizes an Omni-Directional, High Performance GPS Antenna which purports to work well in all terrains and under trees.
  • The SkyCaddie SGXw gives you the ability to download courses from any Wifi connection that doesn’t require a web-based login. That last part of that sentence is important, see the Cons below.
  • Large clear screen
  • Scoring and Stats capability
  • SGClub – uploading scoring and stats
  • HoleVue (when available) giving you the ability to get distance to any point on a hole
  • Size
  • Stores 50 full-featured courses. Basic information for 30,000 courses is preloaded (requires membership after 30 days)
Cons:
  • If you use Wifi much, you know that many hotels and coffee shops require you to go through a website to get access to the Wifi network, so that type of connection will not work. Still, wifi is a big improvement over GPS units that require you to hook up to a computer to download golf courses.
  • You still have to download the golf courses you want to play.
  • Annual Membership fees

Is it worth it?… On some golf courses, SkyCaddie may perform enough better to make it worth the price of the device plus fees. However, if accuracy is the most important feature for you in choosing a golf rangefinder, why not get a hybrid or laser rangefinder. If you’re going to spend that kind of money, the Bushnell Hybrid will give you EXACT yardages to any target you can see AND you get GPS yardages to the front, middle and back of the green, plus hazards.

If “pretty darn accurate most of the time” is good enough for you and you’re not so confident about using a laser, the Garmin Approach G6 comes pre-loaded with more than 28,000 golf courses, has NO ANNUAL Fees and is getting much better reviews than the SkyCaddie.

For those who want to make it even simpler and less expensive, check out the Bushnell neo+ or the Izzo Swami 3000.

We applaud SkyCaddie for the ground-mapping that they do, but just don’t think they understand what most golfers want. SkyGolf obviously does a good job marketing their products, but they don’t get great reviews because their devices are more complicated than others on the market. When you’re paying top dollar plus annual fees, you don’t want hassles, you just want it to work. We think they would do well to offer a simpler device that doesn’t require membership or downloads. They could probably still charge a little more than their competitors by touting the accuracy.

SkyCaddie SGXw
Course Download Fees Yes
Pre-loaded with Courses Yes*
Full Hole Views Yes
Slope / Elevation No
Battery Life N/A
Battery Lithium-ion Polymer
Size (Width x Height x Depth) 4.8+ in. x 2.48 in. x .75 in.
Measure Shot Distance Yes
Screen Size 3 in.
Resolution hi-res
Display Type TFT-LCD
Weight 5.6 oz.
Rainproof water resistant
Touch Screen No
Touch Targeting Yes
Manual Pin Positioning Yes
Stat Tracker Yes
Digital Scorecard Yes
Computer Analysis Tools Yes
Ground Verified Yes
Alternate Targets Yes
Green Rotates to your shot angle Yes
USGA Compliant (local rule) Yes
Notes -
Order Golf Rangefinders from Amazon
GolfRangefinderShop.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you buy anything after clicking through, we get a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps us keep the site up and running, so thank you! We work very hard to obtain the correct information about product features, but cannot make any guarantees about the accuracy. Please double check with the merchant or manufacturer before making a purchase.
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