What’s Cool About the New Arccos Smart Laser Rangefinder and Why I Think It’s Going to Get Even Better

Arccos just launched a smart rangefinder, and it’s generating some serious buzz to go along with some serious controversy about its pricing model. But we’ll get to that in a minute.

Here’s what’s got me most excited about this product. Yes, this new rangefinder does a couple of very interesting and differentiating things. But more than what it’s capable of at launch, it’s what this new release suggests for the Arccos ecosystem future that has me most psyched.

To me, this rangefinder is the dam about to break.

Look, Arccos has been sitting on the most comprehensive golf performance data in the industry for several years now. Real shots on real courses in real conditions. They know things about golfers’ games that no other company knows, and up until now, most of that power has just been sitting in the app on your phone or watch.

This rangefinder is the first real signal that all of that data is about to start flowing in ways that are even more user-friendly when we’re out on the course in the middle of our rounds.

For now, things are still exciting, but they aren’t without some issues. The subscription required to use this rangefinder is going to downright piss some people off. And the ultimate dreams of full Arccos power in your rangefinder viewfinder aren’t here yet. We’re only getting a taste of the potential integration opportunities.

So let’s look at this from a couple of perspectives. Let’s cover what we’re getting at launch and how it aligns with the pricing structure. But let’s also dream a bit about what this rangefinder might represent in the bigger picture. Because I think it’s going to be reality, and possibly quite soon.

What the Arccos Smart Laser Delivers Right Now

First and foremost, understand this: This rangefinder is built specifically for people who are already in, or who are ready to commit to, the Arccos ecosystem. If you’re not interested in Arccos, you can stop reading.

This rangefinder pairs with the Arccos app to deliver, in the viewfinder, a three-number display:

• Actual distance - straight-line measurement to the target
• Arccos Smart Distance - plays-like number that factors in slope, wind speed and direction, temperature, barometric pressure, and altitude
• Wind gusts - how the shot could play during peak wind conditions

The wind gusts number is an interesting one, and a feature that as far as I know is unique to this product. It would no question be helpful to get a clear understanding of the max potential that the wind might affect your ball. I could see this being especially useful if you were in between clubs.

And it’s also definitely a top-tier feature to get things like wind speed and direction and barometric pressure factoring into the plays-like distances. Those are the kinds of things that make the Bushnell Pro X3+ LINK cost $600.

Another really cool feature with this Arccos laser that’s very rare in any rangefinder is an automatic pin placement. You shoot the flag, and then that precise location is locked into the Arccos app. That means that you don’t have to manually set the pin placement or edit after the round when you inevitably forget. I’ll touch on this more in a bit.

The wind gusts and pin placement features are undeniably cool. And while the rest of the features are a bit more standard — things like 6.1x zoom, vibration pin lock, cart magnet, OLED display with red LED backlighting, and slope mode on/off switch — this does add up to being a very nice set of features for the price point.

The issue for many is going to be with the ongoing price beyond the initial purchase.

The New Arccos Rangefinder Subscription

So, Arccos costs $200 a year to use the tracking system and access all the data. And if you’re going to use it, I’m telling you, that is a steal.

But now to use the Smart Laser Rangefinder, you’re going to have to pay an additional $99 a year.

And that’s where I think we start to run into some problems.

First off, there’s the matter of the rangefinder being useless unless the subscription is paid. I think that decision might come back to bite Arccos, but we’ll see. I just don’t see how you can ask someone to pay $299 retail for a rangefinder (which is not a bad price at all for what you’re getting, but it’s still on the “nice” side) and then ask them to pony up an extra hundred every year.

That is, until this device evolves and delivers even more. More on that in a minute. When that happens, I think we might suddenly be looking at an excellent value.

The problem at the moment is that it’s $300 a year to go all-in on Arccos, and a lot of people are going to choke on that price point. Especially when they see that $100 of that is just for the rangefinder features. And doubly especially when they realize that the rangefinder won’t even work if they don’t continue to pay.

I do wish that Arccos would have just charged more upfront for the device to make the economics work on their end. Passing those costs on in this interesting subscription model I think will upset more people than a higher initial sticker price would have.

But there’s another way that this story improves, and that’s with an expanded feature set that brings the value proposition back into balance for everyone.

Why the New Pin Placement Feature Is So Sweet

Before we get into where this could all be headed, let me circle back to that automatic pin placement feature I mentioned earlier. Because I think it’s worth understanding why this particular integration is actually a really nice addition.

If you use Arccos, you know that one of the keys to getting accurate data is setting the pin location when you’re on the green. It matters for all of your stats because if you don’t record the precise location, all of the yardages are going to be based instead on the middle of the green.

The problem for me, and I’m guessing this is very common, is that I forget to set it. Like, all the time. I’m constantly forgetting to hit the little button on my Link Pro device that’s in my pocket.

That means I have to manually adjust, as best I can, after the round, or just live with numbers that aren’t quite right. It’s a bit of a pain point with the overall system, or at least it has been for me.

So to now have the opportunity to set the precise pin location via a rangefinder click somehow works a lot better for my golfing brain. I can remember to get my yardage and to then get the bonus of locking the pin location, but I can’t seem to consistently remember to manually set the pin location myself.

The most similar rangefinder feature that I can think of is with Garmin’s Range Relay feature in their Z30 model. That allows you to likewise set the pin in the rangefinder and to then get all of your watch yardages for the remainder of that hole tied to that specific pin location.

But for Arccos users, this Arccos rangefinder pin placement feature is even cooler and more useful. Because it not only helps you on the course, it directly improves the quality of your lifetime data.

But what I really like about it is what it suggests for the future. Pin placement is a very smart feature. Like I said, only one other rangefinder (the Garmin Z30) has anything like it. Same with wind gusts.

So if they can do that, what else can they add? There are some obvious ideas that come to my mind. And I know these guys at Arccos. They’re smart, and they’re data-obsessed grinders. I can all but guarantee that they’re going to take this product somewhere very cool.

Which brings me to where I think this is all headed.

Where This Gets Really Interesting

What I personally love about Arccos is what it tells me about my golf game. Meaning, I use it primarily as a retroactive device. It’s for reviewing all that I’ve done on the course.

The other thing I love about it is that I just turn it on, and then I don’t worry about it. Part of my forgetting-to-set-the-pin location problem, I guess, but I like the uninvolved use.

What I’m increasingly using Arccos for more as the service has continued to evolve and get smarter is for strategy and gameplanning my way around a hole. And that’s where I see this rangefinder really furthering that inflection point.

Arccos knows your golf game. They’ve been recording your actual shots on real courses for as long as you’ve been using them. They know your true distances with each club. They know your miss patterns. They know which hazards give you trouble. They know where you lose (and gain) strokes and exactly why.

That’s a lot of knowledge. And all of it exists within their system.

So imagine if you’re standing over a shot and you can look into your rangefinder viewfinder and see that, yeah, this shot is playing 160, but, buddy, you better be thinking closer to 170 because you don’t want any part of that sand in front of the green. Oh, and because you chronically hit your clubs shorter than you realize, go ahead and club up one to eliminate the chance of missing short.

Alright, it’s not going to talk to you like a human caddie would, but I think we might be able to see some incredible features through this product’s evolution. And I think that includes personalized club recommendations that factor in all of the things that make each one of us a completely unique, one-of-a-kind golfer.

That’s powerful. And that’s why I think this new smart rangefinder from this company in particular is extremely interesting.

We just recently got this kind of technology from Foresight/Bushnell with their LINK-Enabled feature that allows you to pair a launch monitor’s distance data with on-course, in-rangefinder personalized club recommendations.

And we’ve seen the same feature play out with FlightScope and their new i4 rangefinder.

What would be different about the Arccos opportunity is that the data would come from the golf course. Anyone who plays knows that there’s a considerable difference to how far and in what direction you hit your golf shots on the driving range versus on a golf course with varying conditions of lie, pressure, and a lot more.

I don’t know when something this groundbreaking is coming, but I really do think it’s not a matter of if. I think this rangefinder in its current iteration is just the beginning.

The problem, for a lot of people, is that this current iteration may not be enough to justify the price, or more specifically, the ongoing subscription on top of the subscription they are already paying to Arccos.

So, we could be in for some interesting times.

How I’d Set This Up

If you’re going to commit to Arccos, I’d recommend going all the way.

For $549.98, you can get a bundle that includes the rangefinder, 15 Smart Sensors plus putter sensor, a free first year of both subscriptions, and five new sensors yearly.

But I’d add the Link Pro for another $224.99. It’s absolutely worth the money in my opinion. It makes the whole experience seamless in a way that’s hard to appreciate until you’ve used it.

The Link Pro is tiny. It’s about the size and weight of a matchbox. You put it in your pocket at the start of your round and forget about it. It has never once been in the way for me. Which is also probably why I so often forget to push the button on it that sets the pin placement.

That’s my setup, and it’s excellent.

I’m likewise bullish on the rangefinder for the reasons I’ve already mentioned. But, at this point, I also respect anyone’s decision to wait to see how the evolution actually plays out.

But I will say, and this is a comment as much about actually using the products as it is about which combination of them to buy, if you’re going to do Arccos, don’t half-ass it. Get the best setup that you can afford or justify, and I think it’s going to pay your game back handsomely.

Should You Get Into Arccos?

I would say this is a very easy yes. I truly think that for what those Smart Sensors and app insights deliver, that it’s a no-brainer.

But of course it’s not that simple. You’ve got to use it to get any value out of it. And that means using it consistently. Otherwise, your data will always be skewed and you’ll never get the complete picture you envisioned when you set out on this path.

I think this rangefinder bundle represents a good opportunity to get in and then commit to what you’re doing. There is so much powerful information that can really, truly save you shots in-round but also help you understand clearly where you’re excelling and which parts of your game are holding you back the most.

Again, if you’re willing to do your part, Arccos gives you all of the information you’d need to do it so much more effectively.

Do I think the new rangefinder is as exciting as the overall system? No. At least not yet. But if you’re just getting into Arccos, and you want to go all-in, this is all-in.

And the good news, as I’ve said, is that I think the pay-off for all-in is going to get better. I think the rangefinder is going to evolve in meaningful ways.

That said, choosing to wait or choosing to go with Arccos but not with the rangefinder are totally reasonable positions.

My Honest Take

This new Arccos Smart Laser is exciting. But maybe not as much for what it does right now as for what it hopefully will do very soon.

I do think the wind gust number and the pin placement feature are very cool.

But I especially love the idea of expanding the Arccos ecosystem. I really can’t think of a platform that has as many powerful integration opportunities.

I get it that people aren’t going to like a subscription on top of a subscription. And I certainly don’t love that you have to pay a subscription just to use even the most basic rangefinder features.

But on the whole, I’m excited for what I think is a tipping point that’s going to lead to some pretty interesting innovations.

About PlayBetter Golf Reviewer Marc Sheforgen

Marc "Shef" Sheforgen is a golf writer whose passion for the game far exceeds his ability to play it well. Marc covers all things golf, from product reviews and equipment recommendations to event coverage and tournament analysis. When he’s not playing, watching, or writing about golf, he enjoys traveling (often golf-related), youth sports coaching, volunteering, and record collecting.