Introduction

I been waiting for the Z30 for a while, not specifically the Z30, but a Z82 replacement. Given the age of the Z82, I took an educated guess something would be released this year and I didn’t have any urgency as my current range finder was working. Garmin is too tied into the rangefinder ecosystem for them to pull out of the market, given their watch and CT10 range.

My current range finder is a Milesey “el-cheapo” model. It costs just over a hundred bucks, with 6x zoom, flag lock and rechargeable battery. The reasons for replacing it are the following:

• Temperamental when there is rain. Any mild level of rain results in a reading of 10 yards…always. I could be staring down a pin at 220 yards, and a mild sprinkling results in a 10 yard readings, a frustrating outcome.
• No magnet. It seems like a small thing, but I hate having to take it out of the case. I bought a little magnet harness, but it covers the buttons slightly.
• Misreads. This isn’t an accuracy thing; occasionally, it reads a bush just behind the green and still vibrates (we have a couple of holes with trees really close to the green), and you find yourself accidentally over clubbing because the 100m markers on our course are sketchy. This isn’t just me; it’s occurred at some point with many of the players at our course, so you have to read both the pin and trees behind at many of our holes, an annoyance at the best of times.

Granted, the above aren’t show-stoppers. That’s part of the reason I waited. I guess the final and most important reason (or excuse) is we all like new toys.

Compared to the Z82 (which I don’t have but I compared the two before buying this)

The Z82 is currently on. special so I had the choice of buying it for about $250 more. I did think about it more than a few times.

Some of the differences:

• The Z30 relies on a Garmin watch and/or a phone, as it doesn’t have a display built into the viewfinder.
• The Z30 kills the Z82 on battery life. One year vs about 72 holes.
• The Z30 doesn’t have the pinfinder feature, which allows you to find an unsighted green. I do still have it on my watch, although it can be sketchy occasionally.
• The Z30 has the magnetic cart mount built in – there is an optional strap magnetic mount offered for the Z82 at an additional cost.
• The Z30 has the find my rangefinder feature if you leave it behind
• The Z30 offers a new feature called range relay. What this means is once you laser the pin, it will remember the location so even if you are unsighted, the distance on your watch will now show to the pin as opposed to the middle.

Point number 2 is the main reason. I knew 50% of the time, it would end up unchanged in my bag when I needed it. I honestly think the Z82 becomes a little redundant when you consider the Z30 features.

Packaging and construction

The Z30 comes nicely packaged with everything you need to get it going, with the exception of a Garmin watch and/or a phone. Hint: You really need a Garmin watch to make it a practical purchase.

It comes with a rangefinder (obviously), removable battery, wrist strap, cleaning cloth and case. The battery is the non-rechargeable kind. The case is the usual rangefinder-style case with an elastic loop and zip that we see on 90% of the cases. The big Garmin logo on the case may be positive or negative depending on the theft levels at your course. There are only two Garmin rangefinders, and both them them cost the same as a driver and are easier to fit in a pocket.

Construction quality is really high across the board. The device itself feels like a premium device. The buttons feel solid. The response when pushing the buttons is immediate, with little to no lag.

While the battery is not rechargeable, it supposedly does give a low battery warning prior to the battery going, so that should at least allow me to buy and put one in my bag when it appears. Hopefully, it gives me more than one game warning. Time will tell whether the 12 months is realistic. 

Setup

The setup is simple. Install the Garmin golf app on your phone if you don’t already have it installed. Add the device to the Garmin app, and you’re good to go. The pairing took a couple of goes, in part because I didn’t actually bother to read the instructions.

If you have a Garmin watch, you’ll need to pair the watch as well. That’s done in the same way as pairing a wireless heart monitor, and it seemed to pair the first time.

Usability

Once you have it set up, usability is great but not completely flawless.

There isn’t much to rangefinders, so the rangefinder itself is amazing. The red LED markings in the viewfinder are great, and I had no issues seeing them in a wide variety of lighting conditions. It’s far better than the black ones on my current rangefinder.

The flag detection worked well, picking up the flag easily, even at longer distances.

One nice addition is the inclusion of a magnet, something I think should be mandatory. While this is great for those riding on a golf cart, I use a metal plate (you can attach to your golf bag) on my golf bag so I can just stick it to the side of the bag during rounds (similar to the one featured on MGS here) and then transfer it to the case at the end of the round, or if it rains heavily.

The range relay feature is one of my favourites. It’s something simple but works really effectively. When you laser the flag the first time, it remembers the flag location, meaning you won’t have to laser it again. If you walk up to a friend’s ball, you can look at your watch and give them a flag reading. If you have a pitch or long chip, you have the measurement available if you need it, although giving readings to a friend seems to be my more common use case.

Negatives

I said it wasn’t flawless, so where are the issues?

Firstly, the watch/rangefinder/phone integration isn’t entirely seamless so it’s an ecosystem issue rather than a rangefinder issue, but it does result in some minor issues with the rangefinder. If I start the round on my watch, my phone doesn’t always know I’ve started it, or takes a bit of time to register it. This can cause a delay with some features like the weather synchronisation for the ”Plays like” feature.

Secondly, the range relay feature has a small usability issue. If I take a view of the pin, it brings up the green. Great, that is exactly what I wanted. When I walk to someone else’s ball, I have to exit the green to get the range relay feature. I feel that Garmin should show it on the watch, and once you put your wrist down, shift to the range relay feature as that’s the one you’ll likely need next. It’s not a big issue; it’s an extra button click.

The pinseeker feature available on the Z82 isn’t available despite being available on the Garmin watch. It’s not a big issue, but it would be nice to have the feature.

Conclusion

The Z30 is a great rangefinder, but it really only comes into its own when you pair it with a Garmin watch. Without it, it’s just another good rangefinder.

In terms of pricing, it’s on the premium end, and maybe more than some people want to spend, but it is actually well worth spending the money on it. The features and functionality work well and the negatives are quite minor when compared to the positives.