I have had the pleasure of reviewing several Voice Caddie products since they truly set their sights on the golf industry to differentiate themselves from the pack. With that experience, getting the TL1 Rangefinder in hand made it sink in just how far they have come. Where once was a company seen as a scrappy disruptor, now is one on the brink of being a prize-fighter instead.
As the “Official Rangefinder of the LPGA” there had better be substance to the newly established swagger, and let me tell you now, the TL1 delivers.
Quick Take
Voice Caddie has created one of the best performing high-end rangefinders on the market, bar none. The form, weight, and balance are all there while being melded into a unit which outpaces nearly everything in the segment. Not to mention, their PIN TRACER tech eliminates blind spot and makes it staggeringly consistent. Throw in the two-color OLED screen and the TL1 offers it all.
Voice Caddie TL1
One tenth of a second.
That is how fast the Voice Caddie TL1 claims to be, and after having the unit in hand for over 24 rounds of golf, I can certainly say with confidence that they aren’t lying. The TL1 is one of the two fastest rangefinders I have ever tested, and the only one in this upper tier of what I consider “high-end” rangefinders. However, we have a lot more to dive into than just speed.
The form factor of the TL1 is something people will have to work hard to nitpick. For me, it checked all the boxes. The matte finish and white/grey color combo are part of what the company calls its “Curator Design”. The shape is a good balance of heft and streamlining things which makes the unit comfortable for those across the spectrum of hand size. Add in the accompanying silicone case (yellow is stock with grey, pink, and blue-green to be offered separately) which gives all the texture and grip one could ever want while not impeding the magnet on the unit, Voice Caddie did well here.
Speaking of that magnet, yes, it is here, and it works well enough. The strength of it is a non-issue as it has plenty of bite, though on a slight “maybe next time” aspect, it could do the unit well to make the section a little more elongated to increase the surface area. I never knocked it off the cart, but rough driving did at times cause a little movement, a little elongation would perhaps make that a non-issue forever in future versions.
However, back to the meat and potatoes of the unit, the TL1 is a Cadillac of rangefinders in my opinion. Starting with the 2-color red and green display, which having used it may be my favorite part of the whole unit because I can’t believe it isn’t a normally done thing, and moving into the OLED display which automatically adjusts brightness according to the weather outside, this does it all. All that and we haven’t even touched on the companies patented V-Algorithm and PIN TRACER tech that is built in.
PIN TRACER is exactly what it sounds like, Voice Caddie’s testing has shown that this hits all spots of the flag with no dead zones that even the “top” names in rangefinders units miss (and yes, all units have a weakness there somewhere). To use it you hold the trigger button and it will lock onto the flag and not the background items. In testing, it worked like a charm, and what is more impressive, I put it into the hands of some gentlemen who have a hard time keeping steady, and not one of them had any issues, in fact they were shocked the effectiveness and accuracy of the unit.
The rest of that comes to the previously mentioned V-Algorithm which is tied to the slope system in the TL1. Using quite literally a decade of accumulated performance data from the best golfers in the world, Voice Caddie engineered this patented algorithm to be more accurate than anything else out there. Was it? Well, that is hard to quantify in testing for me, but I do know where most slope units, a few times a round, tend to leave me questioning the adjustment based on my local knowledge, the TL1 honestly never did that. Also, yes, there is a switch to turn this off for Tournament play on the side of the unit.
So, what is the verdict? In my humble opinion, the Voice Caddie TL1 needs to be on the shortlist of every golfer who is looking into a new rangefinder. Obviously, at $449.99 this is at the upper end of the price spectrum for the segment, but it is not the highest while offering every single bell and whistle out there. Not to mention, the quality and durability is superb, so you are getting what you pay for, and that just might happen to be the fastest and most accurate rangefinder in golf.
What do you think? Has Voice Caddie done enough to catch your eye and curiosity? Let us know by jumping headlong into the conversation on the THP Community or the comments below!
