Having never really been an on-course music type of guy, I was somewhat skeptical when the GolfBuddy Voice XL GPS Speaker turned up on my doorstep for review, however with some interesting features involved, I kept an open mind and headed off to the course to see if it could sit amongst the best golf speakers or even the best golf GPS devices.
Straight out of the box the feel of the product is extremely premium. The 701-gram weight provides enough heft to know you have something fairly robust in your hands, but not so much that you might strain a bicep lifting it. The speaker material that surrounds the unit is smooth and once again feels durable enough not to cause problems later down the road.
For context, size-wise, the GolfBuddy Voice XL is just a touch longer than my hand and not too bulky, it easily fits in a golf bag for post-round storage and transportation.
The instructions were refreshingly simple and clear and the setup process is about as straightforward as it gets. Once you have held down the power button for 3 seconds and have heard the welcoming tune, a blue light will flash which means it is ready to pair with your phone. All you need to do then is head into the GolfBuddy app on your phone, go to device management, and pair up. Then you are all set. It is IOS and Android compatible which is always a plus point.
The overall aesthetic is excellent with high-quality finishes throughout and a cool GB (GolfBuddy) logo tucked on the underside of the device. The buttons are well laid out and couldn’t be any clearer to use. They are plenty big enough that even if your vision is compromised by one too many on-course beverages, you will still have no problems locating the correct one.
One feature that I really enjoyed was the remote control that clips on and off the GolfBuddy Voice XL GPS Speaker easily. I didn’t test its full range but it works perfectly from the opposing side of the fairway and allows you to toggle between songs or even yardages. Speaking of yardages, the offering is fairly basic but covers everything most players will need such as front, middle, and back of the green, and these yardages are also shown on the LED display within the speaker and also verbalized via the speaker which is a cool feature. When the LED display is not showing yardages, it defaults to a handy clock display which is nice and clear.
The cart mounting magnet is one of the better ones I have come across. It is plenty strong enough to know that the speaker is staying put, but doesn’t scare the living daylights out of you as it snaps ferociously into place. Comparable strength to the Shot Scope Pro ZR laser, GolfBuddy has the strength just right on this one.
The GolfBuddy Voice XL GPS Speaker comes pre-loaded with 40,000 golf courses and there are a couple more really cool features worth mentioning. Firstly, the speaker doubles up as a power bank so if, like me, your phone is always limping towards the end of the round power-wise, you can simply top it up via your speaker, brilliant! The speaker itself is charged via a USB-C and can last up to ten hours.
As on-course music hasn’t really caught on in the UK as of yet, I must admit to feeling a little self-conscious while testing out the GolfBuddy Voice XL GPS Speaker, but I did genuinely enjoy what it had to offer. The build quality is undeniable, the speaker is high-quality and it couldn’t be any simpler to use. You can’t ask much more than that.
