Bushnell excel golf gps watch reviews

It’s not cheap: in fact, its £189 price tag puts it among the most expensive on the market. Is it worth it? In a word, “no” – at least for the moment. You can save £40 and still buy a better watch in the form of the Garmin Approach S20. However, the S20 has been on the market for a few months now, so the price has dropped. If and when Bushnell follows suit, the Excel will start to look like a more appealing option. Head over to our best golf GPS watches roundup to find out more.

Bushnell Excel Golf review: Getting started

There are a few non-negotiables for a golf GPS watch. Touchscreens are more hassle than they’re worth; buttons are king here. Battery life is very important. Getting an accurate yardage at a glance is key. And the Bushnell Excel is a sports watch that subscribes to all of these.

Let’s start with the screen. It boasts a nicely sized 25 x 25mm circular display with five input buttons. The buttons take some getting used to, as they take considerable force to press. I used the watch without reading the manual, as per, and got lost in the menus on more than one occasion. The main issue is that there are two menu buttons, one titled Golf Menu and another just titled Menu.

Once you learn your way around, things start to improve. Pairing with your phone is easy, and adjusting settings to your taste is a doddle. The Excel can also double as a smartwatch, offering the ability to receive basic phone notifications and operate as a passive fitness tracker, too. These are welcome features but ,in truth, not what you need on a golf course.

Bushnell Excel Golf review: Playing golf

Give yourself plenty of time when setting up the Excel for your round of golf. During testing, it was pretty slow at finding a signal. When I first wore the watch, I started searching for GPS signal while walking over to the first tee box. I was putting on the green (Par 4) when the watch finally beeped to let me know it had found the course. I’ve since played with the Bushnell Excel three more times, and while GPS times improved, but it still can’t be described as fast.

But when you’re off and playing, the watch is great. You’re presented with a nice and big display of yardage to (the centre of) the green, flanked by readings to the front/back of the green. Press the Select button and you can toggle through the yardage of your hole’s hazards too. Like all good golf GPS watches, the Excel will automatically keep up with the hole you’re on and also lets you override this via the Up/Down buttons.

There are three more bonus features. These are Track Shot Distance, Tee Time and Swing Pro. Track Shot Distance is self-explanatory, but Tee Time and Swing Pro are more intriguing. Both are designed to be used with the accompanying (and optional) Bushnell app. The Tee Time feature simply lets you manage your golf dates/times and is superfluous, to say the least. Swing Pro is something you might have read about in other golf watch reviews – it’s a feature that works with your app and provides swing tempo feedback. A helpful feature, but something to save for the driving range rather than the course.

Bushnell Excel Golf review: Battery life

Golf watches have come a long way in the past few years. Early models wouldn’t give you power for much more than a single round (about four hours). Connecting via GPS is very draining even for smartphone batteries. Today’s watches are much better and I’m happy to report the Bushnell Excel is too. Bushnell Golf quotes a battery life of “three rounds before charging” on its website, and from my tests I’d say that’s fair. It averaged roughly 25% of battery drainage for every 3.5-4 hours of golf played.

Bushnell Excel Golf review: Verdict

The Bushnell Excel is a solid golf watch. It covers all the basics and carries out the majority of them really well. There are a couple of issues that could do with ironing out, but nothing that would make you regret buying one. Overall, it’s a good golf GPS watch that will serve you well on the course – it’s just a shame it’s not a little cheaper.

Bushnell’s Excel GPS Watch boasts 35,000 pre-loaded courses, a long battery life and a brand new bluetooth integration that links to your smartphone

What we say: Bushnell’s Excel GPS Watch is the latest GPS device from Bushnell, and it doesn’t disappoint. Building on the fantastic success of the neo iON, the EXCEL is feature packed like the iON, but with a full front optical mounted colour display for a sleek, modern look and brand new Bluetooth Integrations for easy call alerts and notifications on your wrist when you’re on the course.

Related: Best golf watches

Bushnell’s new app also means you can book a tee time from your smartphone and get hole flyovers for a birds-eye view on the golf course.

Key Features

35,000 Pre-Loaded Worldwide Golf Courses

Optical mounted colour display with auto brightness adjustment, easy-to-read Front/Centre/Back & Hazard Distance Readings – plus up to 4 hazard distances per hole

Bluetooth Integration with Smartphone for wireless course updates and smartphone notifications including call, messaging and calendar

What is easiest golf GPS watch to use?

In our testing experience, the Shot Scope G5 and Garmin Approach S70 had very easy user interfaces. Both were a breeze to turn on, set up and use.

How do I update my Bushnell Excel watch?

You must have your device connected to your phone via Bluetooth for the update to work..

• Open the Bushnell Golf App..

• Select Your Device..

• Choose Course Update..

• Find your course by using Nearby, Recent, or searching for the name..

• Select the course..

• ... .

• Select Close..

What does the Bushnell golf watch do?

Bushnell golf watches are an excellent golfing aid for players of all levels and experience. Each Bushnell golf watch comes with pre-loaded courses, and auto course recognition makes it quick and easy to get essential information such as hole layouts and distances.

Do golf GPS watches work?

A modern GPS golf watch will also give you accurate yardages, but typically with tolerances of plus/minus a few yards. With a watch, you're getting your yardages based on GPS that does not (usually) factor in that day's specific pin locations.