I’ve tested many a golf rangefinder in my time but not often have I been as impressed with one as I have been with the Flightscope i4. This is a cutting-edge, albeit premium priced, rangefinder that has a real focus on tackling the variables that can affect how far a ball travels - namely environmental factors like the wind, slope and club selection - and prioritises taking any guesswork out of the decision-making process for more accurate results.
For FlightScope, a company better known for making some of the best golf launch monitors, this is its first foray into trying to compete with the best golf rangefinders. Out of the box, the unit has a perfectly presentable look with nothing really standing out and clocks in at just 180g on the scales, making it one of the lighter rangefinders on the market. It has a decent size to it though, meaning it fitted in my hand comfortably, and I noticed straight away the USB-C charging port under the eye-piece - no need to be faffing around with fiddly CR2 batteries, then.
The i4 rangefinder comes to life via the FS Golf app to give you personalised club recommendations. But how, I hear you ask. Once you’ve registered your device, paired it to the app via Bluetooth and set your location (which unlocks the local weather information), you can then enter your smart gapping info. This is completely brand agnostic and just requires you to enter your ball speed, launch and spin for a few clubs.
I only had it to hand for driver and 7-iron from the clubs it was requesting but A.I. then fills in the gaps once you’ve told it how you’ve configured your bag to give you ball speed, launch, spin and (most importantly) carry distances for every club you carry. In its defence, what it spat out was very closely aligned to how far I thought I hit each club, so the algorithm has clearly been well designed.
Now your information is stored on the app, the i4 rangefinder will then start making club recommendations for you on the course when you scope out a target. But to take the accuracy one step further, the i4 factors in elevation and uses local weather data to provide a wind speed number. You then have to press the mode button to cycle through the different wind direction options until you get to the correct one on the left of the screen from the eight available.
I’ve not seen a rangefinder that can accurately factor in wind direction, so this seems to be a palatable compromise, but in one sense slows down the process of getting your final yardage and club recommendation. That said, you could argue it speeds it up in another way in that you haven’t got to throw some grass up and do those mental calculations before pulling the club you’ve decided on.
I was happy with the club selection 95 percent of the time and when you’re in between clubs not sure which one to go with, it was nice to give the rangefinder the deciding vote. With all these features turned on, there’s a lot on the display and for some it will be somewhat bamboozling. I am attuned to how rangefinders display various data points, but others may be confused initially - my advice would be to be patient, it will all make sense after a few holes.
All of these bells and whistles can of course be turned off via another tap of the Mode button, which will disable the bright red indicator light on the top of the device and render it legal for tournament play. If you’re playing on a cart it has a built-in magnet to attach it to the frame and it’s also fully waterproof for peace of mind if you get caught in a shower.
A word must go to the carry case, which is included in your purchase and features a zip, magnetic closure tab, a carabiner and clasp should you want to clip the case to your belt.
Make no mistake, this is one of the more expensive rangefinders on the market. If you’re after simple point and shoot functionality (while this can certainly provide it) you may want to look at alternatives like the Shot Scope Pro X or the Golf Buddy Laser Lite 2 but if you want something to essentially do your homework for you and tell you what club to hit, the Flightscope i4 is for you.
