Leupold 4xi2 Rangefinder Review
The Leupold 4xi2 Rangefinder is one of the most expensive rangefinders on the market today but for good reason – it’s one of the best. Leupold Optics was founded in 1907, to the average weekend hacker, they may not have heard of Leopold as it’s usually out-marketed by Bushnell, but once upon a time Leopold was the most used golf rangefinder by PGA Tour Caddies and is more well known amongst serious and Pro golfers.
Disclaimer: We’ve only ever owned one other Rangefinder, the Bushnell Tour V2 Slope Edition. When we first got that rangefinder, we came to love it, to the point where we would go into a state of mental decline if it ran out of battery or we forgot it. It was like a car, if you’ve never had one it’s no big deal, but once you have one, you never want to go without it again. The Bushnell Tour V2 Slope Edition slowly deteriorated over the years and the performance got worse and worse, to the point where we had to sell it. To be fair, we gave it a beating, it was tossed around and not well taken care of, chucked in golf cart compartments, thrown on the ground after use, but it was good for a while. That leads us to the Leupold 4xi2 Rangefinder, our next purchase.
We did a bit of research before buying, and was about to fork out for the Bushnell Tour V4 Slope Edition but at the last minute, decided to go for the Leupold 4xi2 Rangefinder. It was rated as the most wanted rangefinder in 2015 by MyGolfSpy and received generally favourably reviews from almost every review site out there. We picked this up on eBay for a bargain.
Firstly, the size and looks are awesome, it’s much smaller in the hand than the Bushnell Tour V2 Slope, okay it’s not fair to compare the two since the Leupold 4xi2 Rangefinder is the latest edition and the Bushnell is at least 4-5 years old. The build quality feels a lot better on the Leupold. Two front plates come with the Leupold 4xi2 Rangefinder, one for legal tournament play, and one illegal one which has the slope function built in. This gives you an adjusted distance to the pin based on the elevation the pin is at, a must-have in our books for courses such as Kau Sai Chau or any hilly course.
There’s a number of other functions on this rangefinder including the ability to program in temperature and altitude which will then be factored in when measuring distances, as well as giving you club recommendations. We can understand the temperature and altitude functions, but if you’re going to allow the rangefinder to give you club suggestions without knowing your lie, what hazards lie in front, behind and around the green, how much wind there is and how you’re hitting it that day, you have no business owning this rangefinder or actually any rangefinder. I guess Leopold put it in there to attract a wider audience and make it more attractive to the average player. All we care in a rangefinder is how good it is at measuring distances to the pin. Looks and build quality are secondary, price last.
The performance is excellent. The Leupold 4xi2 Rangefinder gives you a distance almost immediately and as soon as you push the button, you don’t need to be locked on to the exact target (with the Bushnell Tour V2, it always took us at least 2-3 attempts, usually more, to be able to lock onto the target), and this makes for faster play. We’re all for that. The Leupold 4xi2 Rangefinder also comes with a fog mode, and since Hong Kong has the shittiest weather in any country we’ve lived in, having not the seen the sun for months (literally), this is a bonus. If you’re in the market for a rangefinder, look no further than the Leupold 4xi2 Rangefinder. To see where to buy in Hong Kong, contact Tour Spin Golf.
