The Bushnell Hybrid Laser GPS combines basic GPS functionality (essentially a Bushnell neo+) with a laser rangefinder. This review analyzes the Hybrid from the perspective of a prospective GPS purchaser, while in our laser rangefinder section we separately analyze it from the perspective of a prospective laser rangefinder purchaser (see our Bushnell Hybird laser rangefinder review).

We wrestled with how to rate the Hybrid, and ultimately concluded that as a GPS device, it is merely very good. It is undoubtedly quite cool to have a laser rangefinder built in to your GPS device, but the thrill of that added feature is offset in large part by the low-end GPS capabilities (which are identical to that of the Bushnell neo+), large form factor and high-end price tag (the MSRP of $499 make the Hybrid the most expensive GPS device on the market). It’s a nice concept, but we look forward to future generations with greater integration between the GPS and rangefinder functions.

[Editor’s Note: We’ll admit that we borrowed liberally from our Bushnell neo+ review in putting together the text reviewing the GPS capabilities of the Hybrid. We’re just following the lead of Bushnell, which uses identical text in its respective user manuals.]

SCORE
89
GRADE
B+
Setup/Syncing
96
Course Availability
93
Ease of Use
92
Course Detail
94
Features
92
Accuracy
86
Cost/Value
86

Pros:

Cons:

Retail price: $399 (down from $499 at introduction)
Three year total cost: $399
Availability: Discontinued. Replaced by the Bushnell Tour V4 Shift, plus the latest Bushnell GPS watch
Amazon.com: Check price now


96 / A

SETUP/SYNCING

The Good: With all of the courses already pre-loaded onto the Hybrid, all that is required is to charge up the device (the battery provides 14-16 hours of use on a full charge) and head for the course.

The Bad: None. If only this was the case for all GPS devices!

Details:

What’s in the Box: The Bushnell Hybrid comes packaged with:

Required Downloads: None for initial use. And just a small applet to sync latest course data.


93 / A-

COURSE AVAILABILITY

Critical Golf Test: iGolf (the company that provides course maps to Bushnell) has been hard at work, and the Bushnell Hybrid comes in with 93% coverage in our test of golf course availability across a representative group of 100 courses. Note that we only count a course as “covered” if mapping of hazards/targets is available – which excluded a few courses where only distances to the front/middle/back of the green were plotted, and custom targets are available. The Hybrid’s overall ranking was just a hair lower in the Best New course category than others.

Manufacturer’s Claims: iGolf claims to have more than 25,000 courses in the database worldwide, which puts it in the bottom half among the devices we’ve tested.

For greater detail, check out the Critical Golf comparison of golf GPS course availability.


92 / A-

EASE OF USE

The Good:

The Bad:

  • Smallest screen among the devices we tested.
  • Big and bulky – which is to be expected, since there’s an attached laser rangefinder.
  • Deciphering the three-to-four letter abbreviations for the marked targets can sometimes be a bit tricky (try and guess what “MFWC” means). Also, marked points are still displayed after you pass them on the hole – this can result in confusion (where you may pass a hazard but there is another similar hazard on the hole and you are equidistant from each) and also means that users will always have to cycle through screens with irrelevant hazards when toggling between the green view and target view screens (see below).
  • Details:

    Check out the Critical Golf comparison of ease of use.


    94 / A

    COURSE DETAIL AND MAPPING

    The Good: The best thing about the Hybrid is that in addition to the information available on the GPS device (distances to the front, middle and back of the green, and pre-mapped distances for up to 4 hazards/targets), you can use the laser rangefinder to find the distance to anything you can see.

    The Bad: We wish that Bushnell would uniformly give us the distances to four pre-mapped targets (sometimes a lesser number is provided), but with the handy dandy laser rangefinder, this winds up being a non-issue.

    Suggestion Box: We hope that there is better integration of the GPS and rangefinder functions in future generations of the Hybrid. It would be ideal to see the GPS distances displayed within the rangefinder’s viewfinder, or conversely, the GPS screen could show the most recent laser reading. Either method would provide some context between the position of the pin and the front and back of the green.

    Details:


    92 / A-

    FEATURES

    The Good: Laser rangefinder lets you find the distance to anything you can see (of course if it’s a blind approach, you have to rely on the GPS).

    The Bad: No scoring or statistics tracking.

    Details:

    Check out the Critical Golf comparison of golf GPS device features.


    86 / B

    ACCURACY
    We experienced no issues in our test of GPS device accuracy, with all distances within the acceptable range of plus or minus 4 yards.
    Course maps were accurate with the exception of one course that was remodeled approximately 5 years ago (a popular resort course), where the Bushnell Hybrid displayed distances to bunkers that no longer exist, and lacked distances to new bunkers. One green that has been modified in the past year did not have updated distances.


    86 / B
    COST/VALUE

    Retail Price: The retail price of the Bushnell Hybrid is $399.99, making it a relatively expensive golf GPS device.

    Fees for Access to Course Database: There are no annual or per course fees. Bushnell (via iGolf) provides course updates at no additional cost through the iGolf.com site (which requires a free registration).

    Three-Year Total Cost of Ownership: With no yearly fees, the Bushnell Hybrid stays at a three-year total cost of ownership of $399.99, which makes it one of the more expensive GPS devices tested.

    Value: It’s tough to say that a nearly $400 device is a good value, but it all depends on how much you cherish the convenience of having a laser rangefinder and a golf GPS device blended into a single unit. While we think the idea of a combination device is great (and these devices will probably support premium pricing), the lack of any real integration between the GPS and rangefinder functions and the absence of features such as score tracking and statistics make the value of the Hybrid only moderately compelling.

    For full cost details, check out the Critical Golf comparison of golf GPS device price and cost of ownership.


    3 Responses

    1. I purchased this unit 3 years ago. Battery life lasts barely four rounds. Is there a way to replace the battery?

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