Bushnell Pro X7 Jolt with Slope Review

I should preface this article by saying I’m not someone who has used a lot of rangefinders on the course. That being said, the more I play and the better I get the more I find myself wanting to know exact distances to the pin.

This past week I got my hands on a Bushnell Pro X7 Jolt (With Slope) rangefinder, and all I can say is my rounds will never be the same.

Seriously, this is by far the best device I’ve yet to test for the site, and is it a coincidence that in my first round with the X7 I shot my second best score ever?

I’ll let you be the judge.

First Impressions

One of the first things you notice when you pull the X7 out of the box is the beefy carrying case that comes with it. Not only is this thing well made and durable, but on top of the traditional zip closure, they’ve added an elastic hook and eye to make it even easier to access when you’re on the course.

Picking this thing up you’ll immediately notice that this isn’t your weekend duffers rangefinder. It’s got some heft to it, and will take up a little bit of space in your golf bag – however, once you get it on the course you’ll see why you won’t care.

Popping the battery in was extremely easy, and getting setup and familiar with the device was pretty simple. Within 10 minutes of being hands on with it I was totally proficient. I was running around my house and my deck shooting everything from buildings to trees off in the distance. Who knew all it would take is a pitching wedge to get to my neighbors deck down the street.

If you’re not used to using a rangefinder it may take a few minutes to get used to the sight.  Just like a set of binoculars, you have to have your eye positioned just right in order to get a clear view. When I first got out to the course I noticed the picture wasn’t nearly as clear as I remember it being at home. That’s when I found the ring at the base of the viewfinder for focus – much better.

The Pro X7 is completely waterproof and has some rugged rubber coating on it, so it’d be easy to cruise around with it on your cart seat and not worry about it flying off.

Performance

Like most rangefinders, operation is pretty simple. You point it at the target, hit a button, and get a reading. However, the X7 Jolt starts with the idea of simple, and then executes it perfectly. 

Hit the button once to turn it on, hold the button down to get a lightning fast reading from the pin, hit the button once if you’re just trying to get distance to another object.

It says this thing can find a flag up to 550 yards away and other reflective objects up to 1760 yards away. I never tried to get close to those distances, but I did find that it picked up a flag at 300 yards just as quickly as it did one at 65.

It’s blazing fast, extremely accurate, and unbelievably easy to use.

I’d show you my attempts at photographing the screen readouts, but they were laughably bad, so I’ll spare you.

Jolt and Slope

There are also two other features on this particular model that really work to step up its practicality.

The first which is common among most of the rangefinders in the Bushnell lineup, is it’s Jolt technology. Essentially Jolt is designed to give a burst of vibration once it’s locked onto the flag, so you know for sure that you’re targeting the pin as opposed to trees or some other object. I actually found this to be extremely useful, as if you’re far away – locking on may have been quite a bit more difficult with a lesser device.

The second feature is Slope, and for the version with this, you’re looking at a hundred bucks more, on top of the already steep price of $499.

Essentially what the slope feature does, is it uses a built in accelerometer to judge the degree of elevation change between you and the pin.  It will then give you a degree change, and another “play as” number on top of the actual yardage.

While this doesn’t take into account wind and conditions obviously, I was running around my home course and found a couple greens that appeared to be flat, that were a degree or two higher – which is probably why my approach shots often came up short on those holes.

It’s a seriously cool feature, but is it worth the extra $100 on an already expensive device? You’ll have to decide that for yourself, but I will say, it’s executed perfectly.

Conclusion

This is the first Bushnell rangefinder that I’ve used, so I don’t have much in the way of direct comparisons (hopefully I will soon), but the bottom line is I can’t imagine a more perfect rangefinder.

It does what it says it will do, and does it extremely well.  The only real downsides are the size and the price.  If you’re someone who usually walks and does so in minimalist fashion, this is definitely one of the larger rangefinders on the market today, and it may be worth checking out the z6 or v3 which aren’t quite as powerful, but a little more wallet and size friendly.

That being said, I walked with it, and found myself pulling it out on every hole just because I was so excited to use it.

I shot an 83 in my first round with the Bushnell Pro x7 Jolt with Slope. This also included two downpours that completely changed the conditions of the course.  Without the rain, would I have finally broken eighty? We’ll never know, but I can say with some certainty that having this rangefinder in my bag for every round would only help my chances.

Grab the Pro X7 Jolt with Slope on Amazon