BOSCH GLM165-27CGL 165 Ft Blaze Green-Beam Laser Distance Measure with 3.7V Lithium-Ion 1.0 Ah Battery, Includes 1.0 Ah 3.7V Lithium-Ion Battery, Belt Clip, & Pouch

32 year appraiser/broker I would throw a Leica 7500i (sold that poc actually) in the dirt and take this 100/100 times over that overpriced glitchy paperweight. Works perfect and never crashes thanks Bosch for an incredible unit. Doesn't work well against brown color but neither does red so it's a wash. Much better in bright light though.

Whoa!!!!!! Serious tool. In 2025 i believe this is the minimum to spend for a laser measure that isnt a toy.Homeowner creating as built plans. I previously used a dewalt dw055pl which is a tiny $40 thing with nice color screen but no bluetooth, no tripod mount and no inclinometer. It was very difficult to point level and keep steady so measurements were not square and results were poor.Tried out the leica but screen is awful to read in crawlspaces and unit i wanted was >$150 more.Finally ordered this bosch because of the positive reviews and it claimed to have all the features i wanted. From description I was unsure what i was getting and am very pleasantly surprised. This GLM165-27CGL is a kit that comes with a soft case and a lithium battery, a charge cable, a tripod screw mount AND can still accept AA batteries. The non-‘L’ version is still available for the same price, but to be clear the ‘L’ version is the same but also includes the $30 lithium battery upgrade.The lithium battery plugs into the AA battery bay and replaces the back used with AA batteries. This is awesome because i can swap in AA batteries if the lithium battery loses its charge or gets old. I will be using the lithium battery until it has a problem, but that means i must store the AA battery back and not lose it.The device has nice rubber buttons that yield with satisfying dull click. The laser is bright green and very easy to see.There is a dedicated units button on the face so you can change quickly.When a reading is taken the device gives a quick buzz to affirm.Device is able to interpolate distance or height using the inclinometer. This allows double indirect height measurement meaning you take a reading at the base of a vertical wall, then a reading at the top of the wall and device will tell you the vertical distance between the points.More useful is that device has a mode to use inclination to give you horizontal distance even if you don't keep the tool flat. For example if you set it in Pythagoras distance mode you can point it at the base of a wall and it will give you the horizontal distance to the wall. This is convenient because it will still give you reasonably accurate readings even if you don't keep the device perfectly flat.What this device will not do is a true point-to-point measurement, meaning you cannot point it at two random spots on a house and have it compute the linear distance between them. This cannot be done in the device because the device cannot sense the horizontal angle.I thought i would use the bluetooth connection but have not because i use a pad of paper and input my measurements into freecad on my pc. The measureon app wants me to use their process and im uncertain how to export raw data from my iphone to my pc, im wary of anything that needs a subscription.In conclusion: this is a rockin good tool. Everything about it is simple and obvious, i never needed to read any instructions. Excellent efficient user interface. The device has the feel of a pro camera. I own tools from a wide variety of vendors and am not a strong fan of any. I do own a bosch die grinder, their big belt sander and their fabulous jigsaw, i love those tools - and i like this measurement device at least as much. $135 shipped with tax and it has already saved me hours. Very very nice. Thank you bosch for the well designed device. The tool feels like an experienced person designed the tool of their dreams.I wish youd sort out the subscription software, it feels like youre giving the MBA/Game Theoreticians too much control. I just need a reliable way to get raw numbers and angles onto my phone, then onto my pc, ideally something that is simple enough to work forever without software support from you. The one invariant of connected devices is that their supporting software becomes unsupported before the device's end of life.

The tool is really easy to use, has haptic feedback which turns out to be a game changer, and the built-in level is handy when floors feel sloped and you want to take that measurement as well. The included Lithium ion battery is not reliable and you will need to use AA batteries or carry them as backups. The Li-ion battery has a warning that you can only charge it with a 5v 1amp charge cord, which turns out to be hard to find. I did this and it still errored out with a stop sign when I was measuring houses. I didn't take the plastic battery cover with me, but was able to pop in some AA batteries and just hold them in. Bosch really needs to fix this as a USB-C battery properly implemented is a nice feature. Until then, the tool is amazing, the Li-ion battery is trash.

Works great. Easy to use

Fully charged the battery and upon the first measurement attempt, the unit displayed a red stop sigh with ! and shut itself down. Same result after numerous attempts with the rechargeable battery and 2 AA batteries. Called Bosch customer service and they told me the unit was bad. There must be zero quality control at the factory. If they would have pressed the measure button just once, the same thing would have happened to them. I requested a replacement item from the seller, which they agreed to, they even sent me a FedEx pre-paid label. When they received my return, they issued me a refund instead. That would have been okay, but the price went by $25 ($140 to $165). Seller told me they were out of stock. I asked the seller if they would honor their sale price and they simply said they do not know when they would receive any. I have MANY Bosch power tools (compound miter saw, sander, circular saw, jig saw, laser level, rotary laser level, laser measure, angle grinder, and router). I expect much better from what I consider a premium tool company. This might be the last Bosch tool I buy, and I was considering a plunge/track saw.