Laser rangefinders

• Use the deer rating to compare, not the headline. Reflective range is a laboratory figure. The deer or 'soft target' rating is the one that predicts field performance.
• Angle compensation is not optional in hills. A steep uphill or downhill shot needs the horizontal component of the distance, not the line-of-sight distance. Any unit sold for archery or mountain hunting should compute this; check whether it displays true distance, corrected distance, or both.
• Narrow beam divergence ranges small targets. A tight beam is less likely to clip a branch in front of the animal and return a false short reading. It also makes the unit fussier to hold steady.
• Decide whether you want the ballistic solver. Integrated solvers that output a holdover are excellent when the profile is set up correctly and dangerous when it isn't. If you already run a solver on your phone or watch, a simple accurate rangefinder may serve you better.
• Glass quality still matters. You have to see the target to range it. A rangefinder with poor glass fails at last light, which is exactly when you need it.

We list individual products here only once we have confirmed them in the retailer's live catalog. Until then, this goes straight to the full laser rangefinders category so you can filter on the specs above yourself.