I've had a mixed start with testing Mileseey rangefinders. Its miniature IONME2 laser was an excellent product with some unique features, while its outrageously priced GenePro S1 left me wondering what was in the water at Mileseey HQ. The brand's newest offering feels like a decisive moment as it tries to break the mini-monopoly the likes of Bushnell, Garmin, Nikon, and ShotScope have on the laser market. By combining a laser with a touchscreen GPS, the GenePro G1 aims to finally be the solution that means golfers never have to choose between lasers or GPS again. There have been hybrid rangefinders before - the likes of the Bushnell Tour Hybrid and Garmin Approach Z82, to name two - but the GenePro G1 is the first I've tried to include a built-in touchscreen GPS system alongside the laser capabilities.
Firstly, the price. I don't normally like to dwell on the price of products in my reviews, but after the $800 mess of the GenePro S1, I was keen to stress how pleased I am to see the £371 RRP for the G1 here in the UK. Considering the best laser rangefinders will set you back north of £400 and the best GPS devices a similar amount, you get a lot of product for your money here. It's not like this product looks or feels cheap, either. The GenePro P1 certainly feels and looks premium, so I'm impressed it's being sold well under the £400 mark.
As a laser, it is perfectly competent. Nothing really stood out versus the competition, but it also has all the features you need. A clear, bright display in the viewfinder is complemented by quick pick up of the flag, and a nice vibration that runs through the device when you've zapped your target. Slope-compensated distances can be turned on and off easily, while the 600-yard range also keeps up nicely with the competition. One feature of the laser worth noting is something called Background Interference Filtering technology, which blurs out the background to allow you to more easily locate the pin. It's a clever feature that certainly speeds up target acquisition.
The reason you'll be looking at investing in a product like this is for the combined GPS touchscreen. So, how did that perform? I was initially incredibly impressed with the way the screen had been incorporated into the device. The 2.13-inch AMOLED touchscreen is bright and clear and adds a wealth of information about the course that a laser simply can't provide on its own. It offers quick distances to the front, middle and back of the green as well as a dynamic view of the green, the exact shape of the one you're about to approach. While the Bushnell Tour Hybrid also does this, it does so only with numbers through the viewfinder, rather than with a full picture of the green.
Another difference that the touchscreen introduces is full hole mapping. Though a little squeezed in on the relatively small screen (compared to other dedicated GPS devices like the SkyCaddie Pro 5X), it gives you a full picture of the hole ahead and allows you to touch on any part of the hole to get a better understanding of distances to hazards and doglegs. Other features include a Pin Pointer, which lets you know the exact direction to the middle of the green if you're in a position on the course where you can't see it. The screen also allows you to collect in-round shot data, which is then synced to the Mileseey app for post-round analysis.
Overall, I thought the screen worked well. It was a little laggy from time to time, but I think that has to be expected for a relatively small screen that is trying to display a lot of information at any one time. I doubt there is much room in the laser's shell to add a lot of processing power, so I'd suggest Mileseey has done the best job it can in delivering a responsive screen that displays plenty of data in a bright and digestible way.
The only significant frustration I had was that the device struggled to change holes automatically on the next tee. It meant having to manually adjust the device to which hole I was on, which added a frustrating amount of time to gaining distances. It's a small gripe, but one that I found was a constant annoyance on the course. Hopefully this can be fixed for the future is some sort of software update, as it would greatly enahnce the on-course experience.
While, in my opinion, there are likely better individual rangefinders (my favourite is still the Bushnell Tour V6 Shift) and better individual handheld GPS devices (I'd go for the SkyCaddie Pro 5X for the most detail), the GenePro G1 is the best combination of the two I have tested to date. A strong laser rangefinder with a detailed, if sometimes fiddly, built-in touchscreen, it has done a great job of combining the best of both worlds. You get a lot for your money here at under £400, and I suspect the likely success of this device will go a long way to establishing Mileseey as a serious player in the distance measuring device market.
