New companies entering the distance measuring device world seems to be a weekly occurrence. Those doing it with a proprietary device that isn’t just a knock off with a logo stamped on it is not. Enter Cobalt, a brand new company and their Cobalt Q6 is unlike anything else on the market today.
Before diving into the tech and the company, it would be hard to not touch on the first thing that pops into frame when looking at the Cobalt Q6 and that is the raised dial (SmartSwitch). As seen in the quick GIF below, it stands out and is rather unique compared to everything else on the market.
The SmartSwitch is in place for quick access to alter slope on and off, change the brightness of the viewfinder and even change from yards to meters and vice versa. No more having to jump into a menu that you don’t really know how to get to, or have a single button that is supposed to do everything. Each item is labeled and with either the flick of a switch, the turn of a dial, or the press of a button, it all changes and is all in one easy to find location.
With that out of the way, just who exactly is Cobalt? This is a brand new company that will live in the direct to consumer space. Their goal is simple, to make the best quality laser on the market…period. They are not new to the space however, with over 25 years designing, manufacturing and bringing to market distance measuring devices.
At the end of the day, you want your laser, GPS or any device really, to do one thing and one thing well. Get distance. And this does it. In fact, it does it incredibly fast with a speed that rivals any we have tested. The dial might win the award for getting settings right, but the speed and accuracy of the Cobalt Q6 is what makes it worth talking about. Well that, and a company that stands behind their products.
Anytime the discussion around electronics and golf comes up, the question must be asked about build quality and how long it can be expected to function as your main device. Some companies are offering some high level customer service now such as batteries for life and multiple year warranty on defects. Cobalt is taking that up a bit and the Q6 will come with a lifetime warranty. When questioned on it, the answer was pretty straight forward, “We stand behind the products we design, manufacture and sell”. That sounds great, but as with any start up, one will question longevity and whether the brand will be around long enough to support any claims. In this instance, I think they are onto something here though, and the Cobalt Q6 does so many things incredibly well.
The features rival anything you would expect from your premium product.
PinSense for better auto locking on flags
Waterproofing for those days with bad elements
Red Display has 9 settings of brightness
The feature list is nearly endless
When viewing the Cobalt Q6 feature list, there are so many that increase this and add that, much of which doesn’t matter in words, as long as it works. And it does, quickly and accurately with some of the brightest optics we have ever tried, and a casing that is not done in plastic, but rather a magnesium chassis with aluminum exterior.
We could talk for a while about the number of areas they took big box brands (you know which one we are speaking of) and made an improvement on it. The one question we asked where something felt missing was the magnet to hold it on the cart. It doesn’t have one, but honestly it wasn’t missed. In fact, after our last rangefinder fell off the cart after going over a bump, we didn’t even notice whether or not the Cobalt Q6 had one or not, because it was going untested (shame on us).
It’s not perfect though. For a company that spent this much time and energy into making a top notch distance measuring device, they seemed to completely forget about the case. It comes with one, and the best we could say about it is “it’s fine”. The bag ring is heavy duty and the interior is lined with soft material. Yet there is no closure other than the elastic band. No zipper or no magnet, so we wish they created something a little more desirable there.
That not withstanding, the Cobalt Q6 is as good as any laser rangefinder we have tried to date. Speed. Clarity. Accuracy. Well built. Oh yeah and it has a lifetime warranty on top of it. Their website goes live today and orders will begin shipping on March 1st.
The Details
Cost: $420 with Slope and $370 without Slope
Shipping on March 1st, 2021
I thought the similar on the magnet but my previous one had grown legs after I left on a cart frame and it couldn’t be found after I called. Now I kinda like it without as it sorta forces me to use the case which will keep it nicer for much longer, and doesn’t allow me to loose track of it.
I haven’t spoken much about the dial much in my prior reviews, but this time it was definitely the “focus” due to the bad weather. It helps during a normal daylight round because of glare and background noise with sun at your back. But in these conditions it REALLY made a difference.
The course has a lot of gradual elevation changes making just the tops of some of the pins visible to the naked eye. The grey sky and rain seemingly coming at me From every direction made it really difficult. That’s where the knob/wheel ( I love that’s there’s only three things on this entire unit – the wheel , the button, and the switch. Simplicity at its best) came in handy. Now I get the hype surrounding that feature. Increasing it or decreasing it when we were trying to fire at a bunker made it incredibly clear. With the rangefinder in its extended position everything was normal. Would love to hear how players wearing glasses have with this in the rain.
From a grip standpoint it was great as well. My dry glove hand got to control the wheel. The unit got pretty wet. The whole group was using it. The inner case got wet as a result. This morning it looked no worse from the wear. The unit really passed the water resistant test as well. Zero effect on the unit as of today. Again, any questions feel free to ask.
Next week I’m going to play with a friend and let him use it for the round and get his feedback to share.
@RabidWombats
@Shepx13
@brians
Three things happen every time:
1) The clarity comparatively breaks their minds. They cannot get over the magnification and crystal clear nature of it compared to even their top line Bushnell’s.
2) It’s fast.
3) The knob and switch combo are ingenious.
I agree on all three. This is the best rangefinder I’ve ever worked with. Truly.
Geez, that’s a strong statement!
And it’s so so so so so true. This is the most excited I’ve been about something in a long while. It’s just obscenely good.
It’s so so true. There hasn’t been a round yet where the entire group isnt waiting on this thing pre shot.
My HS kids have been the worst. It’s hilarious.
In regards to #1 the optics are amazing. They are just as good as my nice set of binoculars.
Out of curiosity, any other’s you’re specifically comparing it to? I’ve been torn between having a unit that has both GPS and Laser or just going with a laser. GPS helps when you ("I") find the trees and can’t see the pin, but it seems like most of those units are focused on doing so much that they don’t do some critical things as well. Also, Cobalt’s lifetime warranty is insane. Looking forward to more feedback from you and the others.
My round for this week got cancelled due to weather, but I’m going to continue asking others for feedback whenever possible.
Every one I’ve reviewed as well as the Bushnell V2, V3, and Pro XE
Love it!
Wow…..like I said…high praise. That’s awesome.
Absolutely! Really am impressed by how well this performs. Have 4 days straight of golf coming up plus next weekend so I’ll get some good use out of it.
It’s blown me away
Obviously the optics are spectacular. Is it more so the navigation and UI or its ability to find a pin in difficult backdrops?
Cobalt Q6 rangefinder
My buddies do it all gps watch
The scene:
My local 9 home executive course
The results:
I had a rare Saturday morning chance to hit a local course for a quick nine yesterday.
We both walked. I went cartless and carried. My ping stand bag with 7 clubs.
I clipped on the Q6 rangefinder to my bag. If you’ve read any prior reviews, one of my favorite things is that it sits horizontal thanks to the O shaped quick clip. That’s Still super important and needed a remention. Even better, it already has a home on my bag.
But anyways, my buddy was synching his gps watch and getting ready for the round. It was absolutely perfect sunny cool weather. It took quite a few minutes for it to load. Finally it did and we teed off. The gps watch is nice. It gives overview of the entire hole and a few taps and really close looking gives you yardage to any point. Does lots of neat things.
the cobalt Q6 does one thing.
Because it’s a short course and easy to see everything we thought it would be fun to compare the two rangefinder devices.
The gps watch has the ability to give a tiny overview of the hole sight unseen so you can look ahead. It does a lot of things. But the loading information screen was an annoyance throughout. It took my mind off the task at hand because of it.
We were treating the Q6 like a gps. It of course only can read what it sees. But it sees everything. Crystal clear one handed view. The clearness can’t be overstated. It’s clear. We tested front of bunker, back of bunker, ponds, gulleys, front of greens, back of greens etc. it was much quicker to do all of that from the tee box than it was to use the gps watch. Plus I could hold my beverage and not lose any time. But mostly the crisp image it gave on every hole from the tee box was like having my own private yardage book without all of the synching up that multi use devices have to do. It will never need updating. Not reliant on technology. Was very helpful on the verrrrry slow round. But we got to play around with it a lot just picking spots and firing.
Off topic:
The battery life was a question but so far it’s only down a little after these last 6 rounds. I like that it’s a real battery and not a usb style charger. Something that will be ready available 10 years from now. Built for the long haul.
Like a hammer or a micrometer it only does one thing. But it does that one thing incredibly well.
There will be 2 rounds played next week. One on a long very difficult course. The other on a course I know very well. I can’t wait to see how having this affects my game there. More to come…
I let my friend use the Cobalt Q6 throughout the round. I was surprised to hear he has never owned or even used a laser rangefinder as he has played for over 40 years. He remarked about how clear the optics were and how easy to see everything was. He liked how it felt in his hand, the fire button had good feedback and appreciated the vibration for confirmation when the unit locked on.
I probably sound like a broken record, but I can’t stress enough the freedom of using this unit as compared to using an app on my phone. Also, it’s so much faster to pull out the Cobalt and measure distances to hazards. It has completely changed how I feel on the course and the relief of being able to unplug from calls/texts instead of being tempted to look because I’m using an app.
Battery still shows an almost full charge after multiple rounds of use!
As I mentioned previously, I still do see an occasional flag that the Cobalt may miss the distance on due to a tree/fence/etc behind it. But when that happens, it’s obvious as it’s such a glaring distance differential. Usually trying again will give me the correct reading. Trying the same object or flag multiple times will almost always come back with the exact same figure, or with just a differences in inches. It gives me complete confidence that I’m getting the correct distance, and having the slop available has been very helpful on the courses I have played with it.
Great feedback again. Thanks and keep it coming! Much appreciated.
The more I read, the more I think I want one. But do I need one…..? Please convince me…
You should listen to @Canadan and Cobalt on Off Course, they tell the story of the brand and it’s awesome.
Will do later today, thanks.
I’ve still NEVER seen optics like these in any range finders. It’s incredibly.
THAT is the thing that was by far and away the difference maker between this and the other rangefinders I’ve seen.
We had a good start taking the first hole. Then the holes started getting tough. A short par 4 which the youngins’ reached in one. The rangefinder works incredibly well in this weather. Quick simple and good on our old eyes ( again, a bright orange/red square and huge bright numbers are all that clutter the screen ). We then proceeded to lose the next four holes as well.
It worked well for us on the doglegs that followed. One hole was locking in on a tree and the other a bunker. I asked the other cart if we could use the slope switch on this device. They chuckled and said “sure, whatever you guys need”.
The entire reason I wanted to play this course with slope was coming up!!
A 122 yard ridiculous uphill. Used the Q6 to lock in on the pin. 140! I told our opponents that it was playing to 140. They said “it’s ok, I hit my clubs high so it should be covered”. Both of them hit wedges. Far and high but short. I dropped to an 8 iron. I’ve never considered dropping that far. Landed at the verrry front of the green. But made it. My cart mate dropped down as well and hit it close. We both parred the home. To take it. Seems like a small deal, but I’ve always guessed. It was nice to KNOW! Confidence soared from then on. We scraped our way back to end up 1 down by the end of the day.
Thoughts: the price is high. It is heavy. I can see where a casual golfer who owns a rangefinder is fine with theirs. Line up your target and fire away. Simple concept and some are pocket sized.
But the added slope feature, easy brightness knob ( the bright screen will age well with your eyes ) upgrade not needed interface, and LIFETIME warranty makes this super cost effective for any golfer without one. Seriously, spend once and have one golf thing that won’t cost you again. Probably the only thing. ***disclaimer: bragging rights victories not guaranteed
Right off the bat the ability to change the brightness on the fly was very helpful. The first hole had us playing into the rising sun and with just a quick turn of the dial the optics were visible and locked on the flag. The topography of the course presented an interesting challenge soon after as our position off the tee had us only able to see the very top of the flag as we set up in the fairway. This is the only time that I had to work to get the Q6 locked on to the flag, but with a just a little focus and steadying my hand it quickly locked on the pin.
My playing partner has been playing this course for almost 50 years. We made a game of him calling yardages from his gut and me shooting them for comparison. I’ll just say he knows that course really well.
So far I have not found anything on the Q6 that is not exceptional. It has really changed how I approach my game. I am now learning what my true yardages are when shooting in to the green. This culminated on a short par 3, all carry, over water. There is a retaining wall surrounding the back side of the green that is taller than the pin. The Q6 locked on the pin quickly without bouncing between the pin and retaining wall. Pulled the needed club and dropped the ball to within 3 feet. One of those that makes you come back.
It has been so much fun reviewing this rangefinder. I can not thank @JB and crew enough for this opportunity.
SO FREAKING GOOD. And I also love the weight.
Man, I think that’s the best way of putting it ever. It feels like something of high quality, not cheap, at all.
And I knew the optics would knock your socks off.
I’ve taken it out a few times in heavy rain. The solid feel continues with the no slip grip as well. As a walker that plays in ridiculous weather, it’s a huge plus.
Best decision you can make! The unit is solid and no need to worry about defects with the warranty. The optics will be the most noticeable thing instantly for you.
The optics are very good and beats anything I have used so far. I tested Cody’s against the gogo I am currently using on the Ohio trip and distances were very close. However, the Q6 lens is very nice and CLEAR.
If there is one thing the Q6 is, it is being good at being a laser. Oh and everything else about it pretty awesome as well. I do not think you will be disappointed at all.
If there is one thing the Q6 is good at being, it is a laser. Everything else is fantastic too but the optics and and laser are impressive. I do not think you will be disappointed.
The optics are second to none. The speed is stellar, how easy it is to adjust brightness on gloomy or bright sunny days is under talked about, and there’s ample heft to it.
Literally all I want for it is a magnetic holder. I wish they’d create one.
I know you walk alot, but if you have ridden in a cart can you shoot the pin with the windshield closed.
with as many rangefinders I know you’ve had come through, that speaks volumes.
It’s worth every cent. Only rangefinder I can say that about at full price.
I didn’t have any issue with that yesterday.