Over at Amazon, the Bosch GLM165-40 laser distance measuring tool is on sale for $54.99, which is lower even than its Black Friday price.
The Bosch Blaze GLM165-40 is an upgrade compared to simpler 1-button models, featuring a longer range, better accuracy, and multiple built-in functions.
It’s a “fully featured” laser distance measurer, while still being pocketable, convenient, and simple to use.
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Key Features & Specs
- 165 ft range
- Red laser
- ±1/16″ accuracy
- Backlit display
- Measurement and calculation features
- 10 measurement storage
- 2AAA batteries (included)
If you want a different screen or Bluetooth capabilities, the Bosch GLM50C, also with a 165 ft range and ±1/16″accuracy, is currently more than double the price at $119.99.
Sale Price: $54.99
This is a “special buy” at Home Depot for $84.97 right now, while Lowe’s has it for $89.98. Looking at online price trackers, $55 is the lowest price for this laser distance measuring tool in a few years.
This isn’t Bosch’s usual holiday season deal – that’s the GLM20 that’s currently on sale for $34.97 at Amazon after $5 clippable coupon, and $39.97 at Home Depot.
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Julian Tracy
Good catch. I’ve had Leica, Hilti, Bosch, Dewalt and a few other laser distance measurers, started with my first maybe 15-20 years ago. My favorite was a Hilti that was compact but still had an optical sight on it and was full featured, simple and accurate. It was also durable until it just stopped working. My early Leica one stopped working too – but by then much smaller models were out.
My pet peeves on LDM’s are small, hard to read displays, confusing measurement unit adjustments and lack of options of those as well. Sometimes going to 1/32” is simply a pain in the butt and you’d prefer it default to 1/16’ granularity.
The few Bosch models I’ve had have not been standouts, but for $55 for a pro-Sumer model with decent accuracy, the deal can’t be beat.
Stuart – can you find out the actual accuracy on these? The similar Dewalt 165’ says it’s accuracy rating of 1/16th is at 30’. Even on Bosch’s website, they do not let us know what the 1/16 rating is for. If it was 1/16th at 165’, that’s pretty damn good.
Stuart
They don’t say; the user manual just lists the accuracy as “typical.”
John
I have a couple of Bosches. I find the fractional numbers very, very hard to read.
Teeny, tiny type.
Stuart
The backlighting does help with that, a little.
John
The backlighting is always on by default, I believe.
“Helps” is relative, of course.
But either I can read it easily, or I cannot.
BTW, I’m viewing this post on my phone and have adjusted the product image to *actual size*.
The simulated screen display in the photo is NOT a real world representation of clarity or brightness.
And the real pain point occurs when attempting to read the teeny tiny fractions.
Plain+grainy
I have another Bosch model. Worked slick in limited use so far. Used mostly for finding heights of tall buildings. Great price it looks like. I was looking at the HD sale on Ridgid 1/2” impact. SKU-1007517358 for $169.00! Kit has 4.0ah battery & charger. I wonder if we will see any good deals on the Dewalt 2.0 deep & shallow trays? They had some great deals on them in past years.
Ken
Last week I purchased the green laser Bosch GLM165-25G for $69 on sale from Amazon. It is now back up to $110. It has a large display, haptic feedback, and lots of options. Maybe this model will go back down in price in the coming weeks? Seems like for an extra $14 this was an even better deal than the $55 model being discussed here.
JC
Check the prodcution date on this one.
There was a calibartion issue. You could send it back to Bosch and they would send you a new one but it was a 6 month wait. I purchased 4 of these from Amazon at different times hoping for a good date but never got one that was not part of the issue.
JC
https://toolguyd.com/bosch-red-green-laser-measurer-stakeout-accuracy-deviation/
Ken
Thanks a lot for the heads up. My date code is 06/2022 so it looks like my unit should have no problems. I used it yesterday to lay out Christmas lights for the first time at my house. Worked great outdoors at 60-foot distances. I was a bit surprised I was able to see the green dot at that distance, outdoors, with my not-so-good eyes. The large color display is also very nice. Great buy for $69!
JC
I am jealous. I gave up my search for a clean mfg. date and settled for the same version with the red laser. The green was definitely brighter/cleaner/easier to see. And that price was a steal. Great find.
Frank D
Crikey, will have to check mine when I get home in a few days.
Tr
Those new Bosch distance measures have a flaw in one of the functions. They sold them knowing that as well.
Stuart
https://toolguyd.com/bosch-red-green-laser-measurer-stakeout-accuracy-deviation/
Julian Tracy
Got mine today from Amazon – it’s a smaller one than either of the two other Bosch LDM’s I’ve had – and that’s not a good thing. Backlighting or not, unless you’re under 45, the tiny hard to read display will just piss you off. They’re getting returned…
fred
Funny that when I bought my Disto 810 six years ago – I was reading reviews that complained that it was too big. After learning (a fairly steep curve for me) to use it, I have other things I do and don’t like about it – but not that it or its screen is too big. I guess if Bosch. Leica, Hilti or others could figure out how to give us a tiny device with a legible (for 80-year-old eyes) screen – that would indeed be appealing for me.
Ken
I just purchased the GLM165-25G for $69 from Amazon last week and it has a large color display. The numbers are large enough to be easy for me to read in bright outdoor lighting. In comparison, my old GLM-20 (which I think has the same screen size as the GLM165-40) is quite tiny.
I also noticed that the GLM165-25G has an option under the “continuous measurement” function for “BIG NUMBERS”. When using this option, prior measurements are not displayed on the screen, leaving the whole screen available to display the current measurement in extra-large numbers.
David
I’m curious about how most people use a pro-sumer LDM. I use these for “close approximation” length and area measurements so I don’t need extreme accuracy. Do people trust this grade of tool to make material cuts and measurements where tolerance matters?
fred
They have gotten much better and probably more accurate since I retired from business. 10 years ago – our salesmen in the GC/Remodeling business used them for estimating jobs. We’d follow up a big construction job with a survey crew – and might bring out our Topcon Total station. Back then – none of the carpenters in the field (or cabinet shop) used them at all.
Fast-forward to today – and I use my Leica 810 to support my wife’s landscaping work – where 1/32 inch precision in the planning/estimating stage is hardly a requirement. I also recently used it to measure and cut some closet shelving – where extreme tolerance tight fit was neither necessary nor desired.
On my occasional return visits with my old compatriots – I’ve still never seen any of the carpenters using them – but lots of other work has gone over to using laser measuring input into CAD. The hand countertop templating, we used to do with pieces of masonite and hot-melt glue has now been replaced with lasers/targets and computers. For things like siding or decking jobs – the sales rep now take pictures with their I-pads, inputs info about customer choices and the computer programming does the rest to provide a cost estimate. But the Hardie board, Trex etc. is not being cut based on the computer.
My guess is that we will move closer to that stage of automation – perhaps with lots of precutting done in a shop/factory environment- then final fitting in the field. That sort of thing is here now with some framing elements (like prefab roof truss) but none of this relies on the degree of accuracy afforded by what you call “pro-sumer LDM’s