Bushnell Pro X3+ Review: Why I Wouldn’t Buy It.

If you know anything about the world of golf rangefinders, you have undoubtedly heard of Bushnell.

They’re the king of rangefinders for a reason. Historically, they’ve made the best, most reliable, most consistent products on the market and  I still think, for the most part, that’s true. 

Their newest top-of-the-line rangefinder for 2024 is the Pro X3+, and it looks remarkably similar to last year’s Bushnell Pro X3 (without the plus).

Aside from the fact the Plus is a little bit darker gray than the original X3, they’re essentially the exact same device, save for one big feature: there is real-time wind data built into the Pro X3 Plus. 

Sounds kind of cool, but what does that mean in reality? And is this a feature that’s actually something that you want or need? And how does it affect the user experience? 

First Impressions of the Bushnell Pro X3+

The Pro X3 Plus, is built like a tank. It feels super high quality and very robust. It’s on the heavy and wide side but as you would expect from Bushnell’s top-of-the-line rangefinder, the overall build quality is excellent.

All the physical specs are the exact same as the Pro X3. You can go watch my video or read my review about the Pro X3 and for the most part, everything is going to be the same. 

I like a larger rangefinder. I like the fact it feels substantial and I like the weight that comes along with it. For me personally, I feel that weight just makes it easier to make sure I’m locking on to the exact target that I’m looking for.

The waterproof case is excellent. And first impressions are, yeah, it’s as good as you would think it would be. And it better be for $599.

How Accurate is the Pro X3 Plus?

Before we get into some of the other features, let’s touch real quick on accuracy. Here’s the reality. With any rangefinder that’s in the $250 to $300 or more range, I’m not generally concerned about accuracy.

Technology in these rangefinders has gotten very, very good. So in that mid-tier to high-price range, assuming the rangefinder can lock on to the right target, it’s going to give you accurate distances. That is absolutely true with the Pro X3 Plus.

The distances feel spot on and it’s super easy to lock on to your target. I have absolutely no issues with accuracy.

It is also very fast. So if you just want data, you want it quickly, and you want to know it’s accurate, this is going to do an awesome job of that. But, like I said, for half the price, you can find other devices that are going to do an awesome job of that as well.

It has what they call PinSeeker with Visual Jolt, so it will vibrate when it locks onto the flag. It will give you a visual indicator with a big red circle around the viewfinder to let you know that it has locked onto the target and you have an accurate distance. I’ve found that this works really well. 

Usability and Features on the Pro X3+

One of the things I’ve always loved about Bushnell rangefinders is the display. And this one has 7x magnification optics, so it looks awesome.

In terms of controls, there are two buttons on top.

The power button doubles as the range button. So you tap it once to turn it on. You tap again to get your distance.

Hold down the mode button and you’ll get into Bluetooth pairing mode, as well as be able to change from meters to yards. 

In a nice design feature, the Bushnell logo is actually a button. So you can push it and it will change from black text to an illuminated red text.

 

So if the lighting conditions aren’t great or if you’re having trouble seeing black against a dark background, you can light that up as red just by hitting the button, which works great. 

And, as you would imagine, there is a slope mode built in, so it will give you an adjusted distance based on the elevation of the green.

But where this thing really stands apart is its “slope with elements” feature. Not only is it going to factor in if your target is above you or below you, it will also look at things like barometric pressure, temperature, and even altitude to give you a true “plays like” distance.

The one thing that’s a little odd about this is that the whole reason for bringing out the “Plus” is to add wind data. Yet as I understand it, that wind data is not captured in the plays like distance. There are separate numbers for wind.

So you’ll get your true plays like distance and you’ll have the wind data and you’re still left to do a little bit of calculating to figure out what that number is going to be for you. Super high-tech and super cool. But is it necessary for most people? Probably not.

I’m also not a huge fan of the way the slope mode works. There’s a little locking mechanism that you pull down and hold while you slide the slope switch back and forth to engage and disengage. This makes it a two-handed operation which is kind of awkward.

I preferred the old one where it was just a little switch built into the logo. That’s how it works on the lower-end V6. You just flip a switch. Very easy. 

I guess I understand it. If you’re a tournament player, you want to make sure that it doesn’t accidentally get moved into slope mode during a tournament. But for the average person, I’ve just found it to be one extra step that’s a little annoying.

There’s a very strong magnet that has no problem keeping the rangefinder in place on a cart.

Why I Wouldn’t Recommend The Bushnell Pro X3+ for MOST People

Okay. So generally speaking, it’s super accurate. It’s fast. The build quality is unmatched. So why would I not recommend it? 

First off, the new feature in the Plus, as I’ve mentioned, is that it adds wind data.

But to do that, it adds an extra layer of complication because of the fact that you have to download the Bushnell Golf app and make sure that it’s paired to the device. And then you also have to wait every time you look into it for it to connect with the app and give you that wind data.

It’s basing its wind data off whatever the nearest weather station is to you. But what if there’s swirly wind or it’s really variable? You can just pick up some grass and see what the wind’s doing probably more accurately than what this is going to tell you.

And while generally, yes, it’s a nice data point to have, if you said, well, you could have wind data or no wind data, you’d probably say, “cool, give me the data”. But what I found, and I’ve found this with other GPS devices sometimes as well, is that it will often disconnect from the app.

All you have to do to reconnect it is just open up the Bushnell app and it’s almost immediately reconnected. But the whole point of a rangefinder is to get accurate yardages as quickly and painlessly as possible.

So if I open it up, there’s no wind data; I’ve got to go back and pull open the app. It’s going to connect. And then the whole thing will start vibrating. 

What it’s doing is waiting to get that wind data. And so often I’ll wait like 15 to 20 seconds before the wind data actually populates. And that means I’m spending more time just sitting there. Waiting.

I’m having to wait for my shots and I’m holding up my playing partners. It just kind of got in the way of my round more than it helped me with it.

One of the things I’ve always liked about Bushnell products is the minimal text in the display. It doesn’t feel overly cluttered. I’m not having to look at a bunch of things to get my data and it’s just pretty streamlined. 

Well, now with this, you’ve got your slope data. Plus, it gives you a Bluetooth symbol, a battery indicator, and yardage. And now you’ve got the wind data. All of a sudden, there’s a whole bunch of stuff in the viewfinder that I just don’t really love. If you flip slope mode off, then almost all of that goes away and you’re back to that super clean view that I really like. 

Other Rangefinders to Consider

But you’re not spending $600 on a device like this if you’re not using Slope. You can spend half of that on the Bushnell V6 without slope and it’s going to give you yardages that are just as accurate. Plus it’s going to weigh less. And while the build quality might not quite be the same, it’s still very, very good.

Or you can spend LESS than half the price on a Voice Caddie TL1 – which is realistically the best value in rangefinders right now at a special price of $280.

If you’re going to go through the process of pairing this with the app and have the communication between the viewfinder and the app, that’s cool tech. There haven’t been that many rangefinders that could do it.

One was the Precision Pro R1, which was one of the first smart devices that came out that had GPS data in the viewfinder. There were some issues with that device, so they discontinued it. But right now, they’ve come out with their new Titan Elite, which essentially factors in everything they learned from the R1 and everything they needed to improve on it.

The Titan is going to do most of what the Pro X3 Plus will do, and it’s going to cost far less. 

So where am I going with this? Well, my point is, if you’re connecting to an app and you’re using GPS and I can see that it’s 160 to the flag, 143 to the front, and 174 to the back, that gives me really useful data. 

The wind data just isn’t as useful.

So if all the tech was basically the same to do that, I still have to pair, I still have to connect to Bluetooth, I still have to do all this, why wouldn’t you give me the GPS data, which is more useful than the wind data?

If you like the idea of a smart rangefinder with some of those GPS distances, I would definitely take a look at the Titan Elite. 

One other thing I will mention is that with the extra complication of wind data, because of the built-in magnet, you have to calibrate the device from time to time.

It’s just a lot of extra work for not a whole lot of extra value. And when you’re spending $600 on a device, I want everything to be easy.

Final Thoughts on the Bushnell Pro X3+

So, is the Pro X3 Plus one of the best rangefinders on the market? Yes. For all of the rangefinder things you need it to do, build quality, speed, accuracy, optics, all of that stuff, it is phenomenal.

You could argue it’s the best overall rangefinder out there if price isn’t a consideration. But by adding the GPS complications and wind data and the fact that you will occasionally have to re-pair and then wait for it, plus the need for occasional calibration, I just haven’t found the whole implementation to be that useful. 

And in fact, it’s detracted from my experience because it’s made me spend more time with the rangefinder on the course.

But I think you need to consider that you can go get an older Pro X3 that does all of the exact same stuff for probably $100 less.

Other options? The Cobalt Q6 at $450, is one of my all-time favorite rangefinders. That’s probably the one I’ve personally used the most. The Precision Pro NX10 is under $300 which is excellent and one of the most enjoyable rangefinders to use. 

The Titan Elite I mentioned is going to come in right around $400 and it’s going to have all the built-in GPS data, as well as the great usability of the NX10.

And the aforementioned Voice Caddie TL1. Or if you want to splurge the SL3 is the same price as the Bushnell but with a higher res display and a useful GPS screen.

So there are options. 

Bottom line? As it sits right now for $600, I probably wouldn’t buy the Pro X3 Plus. If you’re reading this down the line and you see sales on it and this comes down to $550 or $500 or maybe even $450 if we get a Black Friday sale or something, yeah, definitely worth considering. 

But I just don’t see the wind data being worth the expense for most people considering the other great, and more cost-effective, options out there.

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It might be the best, but it's probably not the best for you.

8.5 Good

In most ways, this is one of, if not the best rangefinder on the market. But the added complication of wind data, just doesn't provide a very good user-experience - especially for the price.

The Good

1. Phenomenal Build Quality
2. Beautiful 7x magnification and screen
3. Most high tech slope mode out there

The Bad

1. It's expensive
2. Wind data isn't overly useful, for how much extra work it is to use
3. It's going to be too big and bulky for some people.

• Presentation 10
• Performance 9
• Price 7
• Personal Affinity 8