Martin Hopley
By

The GolfBuddy WT5 GPS watch may look different to the previous WT4 watch, but under the hood it offers the same functionality as its parent and also its WT3 grandparent.

GolfBuddy WT5 Watch

So what is new? Well, it is also a whole 1 gram lighter, but I have to say that it does feel more than that thanks to a new lighter strap that is also a little more flexible around either side of the watch unit.

GolfBuddy WT5 Watch

There is a choice of the black and blue colour scheme you see here or a white and orange version too, which I think looks pretty good.

The WT5 is also 2mm shallower and the screen is wider and taller and back to being the rectangle of the WT3, rather than the square of the WT4.

GolfBuddy WT5 Watch

Whilst the WT4 was more stylish than the WT3 it was still pretty chunky and with the WT5, GolfBuddy continue to move in the right direction with a smaller unit that features more subtle curves. Better though they are, I am not sure they can really pass as off-course watches just yet.

Enough of the form, how about the function?

First off I had to charge the device up and the supplied USB cable with connecting cradle has also had the slimming treatment and was easy to clip onto the body of the WT5. There is no AC adaptor in the box now, which is no great loss as the two piece device was not going to win any ergonomic awards and I am sure most of us have enough adaptors to plug a USB cable into now.

GolfBuddy WT5 Watch

GolfBuddy WT5 Watch

Switching from watch to GPS mode got the WT5 searching for satellites and after about a minute I had a lock and the course I was playing came up on the screen.

One of the things I like about GolfBuddy is the large clear numbers and easy to understand display. On the main screen is the yardage to the middle, plus the front and back yardages below, which is ideal to have on one screen.

GolfBuddy WT5 Watch

The front and back yardages adjust to the angle you are approaching the green from, which is also a great feature.

One of the differences from the WT4 is that one of the left hand buttons is now on the right. Pushing the bottom right button brings up distances to hazards and you scroll through the list if there are more than three.

GolfBuddy WT5 Watch

Most GPS watches struggle to show hazard information clearly as they are handicapped by the screen size. However the GolfBuddy list with the icon, L or R for left or right and the distance is probably one of the best solutions.

Push and hold the middle right button and you are back on the hole information screen and from here if you push the left hand power button you bring up the Pin Placement view.

GolfBuddy WT5 Watch

This aims to give you yardages to different pin positions on the green, but as all you can do is scroll around a list of nine arbitrary flags, then I am not convinced of its usefulness.

Push and hold the bottom left button and the scoring screen comes up and this keeps a running total of strokes and score relative to par. It is pretty easy to use, but there is no option for statistics on putting or fairways hit, or any way to analyse these over multiple rounds.

GolfBuddy WT5 Watch

There are also several other useful functions like shot measurement, sunrise and sunset times and a GPS tracker to measure the distance you have covered whether you are playing golf or not.

GolfBuddy WT5 Watch

To update the watch you do need to connect it to a computer to download software and course updates using the GolfBuddy connect website, which all works fine. Other more expensive GPS watches in the market can now do this via Bluetooth via a smart phone app, but this is not the market the WT5 is competing in.

The GolfBuddy WT5 does all the basics well in an entry level watch that is £20 cheaper than the WT4 and for that reason, plus the improved styling, it is the best GolfBuddy watch so far.

Golfalot Rating: 4 stars
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GolfBuddy WT5 Golf GPS Rangefinder - Product Details

UK LaunchJune 2015
UK Launch RRP£159.95
Device TypeGPS Watch
ElevationNo
Shot MeasurementYes
ScoringYes
Power OptionsRechargeable
SubscriptionNo
DimensionsWidth: 42mm, Height: 59mm, Depth: 13mm
Screen SizeWidth: 27mm, Height: 30mm
Device Weight64 grams
Course Capacity40,000
Manufacturer's WebsiteGolfBuddy Website

User Reviews

Michael C
September 2018

I've had my WT5 for almost 2 years now. Twice it has started to act erratic and I updated the operating program and courses. It started running correctly again both times and I just did it this time. Had I known that there was a new update late last year I would have downloaded it before now. It has more features than I use as all I use is the watch and golf gps. I have never used it to find out hazard distances or to keep up with scores or the pedometer features.

Colt
March 2018

Had the WT5 for about 18months worked very well and surprisingly very accurate, however the watch is no longer functioning in the Play mode, unfortunately I have had difficulty in getting appropriate support for the watch

W F Brown
February 2018

I bought my WT5 watch from Drummond Golf in October 2016. It worked well for just 14 months. Then the battery began to fail. Although it appeared to charge too 100 percent it operated for around 14 holes and then ran out . Despite help from Drummond staff and sending the watch back to Golfbuddy twice! Nothing could be done. The battery was kaput and could not be replaced according to Golfbuddy. The watch was out of warranty by 2 months and they effectively wiped their hands of my problem. Golfbuddy and Drummond were prepared to sell me another a WT6 for A$200 but having paid A$284 for something that only lasted just over a year I do not think it wise. My advice would be don' t buy one.

for2n8john
September 2017

My golf buddy WTS5 stopped working after about a year. But, even when it did work, it was difficult to use. It takes more than a minute to find the course you were playing. Usually, It would take 2-4 re-boots before finally finding it. Quite often, I just forgot about it.

Accuracy was another issue. I'd be standing next to the yardage marker or the cart had GPS, and the distances were off by 10 yards or more at 150 yds.

I'm disappointed with it and will be writing the manufacturer to see if they will stand behind their product.

July 2016

Great item for playing and caddying. Would like to get extra charger.

June 2016

I've had condensation problems with this watch.

July 2015

Love the watch except for a couple of missing features. 1. You can't turn off the beep whenever a button is pushed which can be distracting. 2. You can't delete score card unless you go into the manager app.

One problem I have after 1.5 months is that the WT5 has gotten water inside showing condensation under the screen even though it was supposed to be water resistant. It was never used in the rain just on humid days.

July 2015

Bought this watch 2 weeks ago and loved the style and colour its my first gps watch . When i went to play my singles match last saturday was amazed how easy it was to use and the information was spot on and i won my match 4&3 . Would recomwnd this device to first time buyers

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