This has the best display of any laser and tape combination we cover, a proper colour IPS screen rather than a segment LCD. It also has a 9.8 ft tape, which one owner called practically useless for professional work. Whether that trade suits you depends entirely on what you measure.
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A colour IPS display, a rechargeable 165 ft laser and a level readout make this the most refined tool in the hybrid category. The tape is short and the menus take learning, which puts it firmly in the design and homeowner camp rather than the trade one.
| What Fanttik says | What owners report |
|---|---|
| HD IPS colour display | The best screen in the hybrid category |
| 165 ft rechargeable laser | Praised. Removes the second person from long shots |
| 9.8 ft measuring tape | Called practically useless for professional work |
| 6 units selectable | Present. Menu system takes learning |
| Level readout | Owners single it out as genuinely useful |
| Nothing about power sequence | Unit must be on before you use the tape |
| Measurement tracking | Present and liked |
Almost every tool at this price uses a segment LCD, the kind that shows blocky numbers and nothing else. This uses a colour IPS panel, and owners notice.
That matters for a specific reason beyond looking nicer. A colour screen can show you a level readout, a mode indicator and a running list of measurements simultaneously, and owners single out the level display as something that helps a lot. On a segment display you get a number and a couple of icons.
If you measure in front of clients, which is the case for interior designers and anyone quoting work in someone's home, that difference is not trivial. It is the tool you would rather be holding.
The tape is 9.8 ft. One owner put it plainly: the product is fine for measuring lots of small dimensions, but if you are using it for professional reasons a tape that only goes to ten feet is practically useless. For comparison, the LEXIVON and Inkerma hybrids both carry 16 ft tapes, and a standard trade tape is 25 ft. Ten feet does not cross a room, does not run a wall, and does not measure a sheet of plywood diagonally. It is a tape for furniture, openings and worktops.
The most detailed positive review describes it becoming one of the most useful tools in their box, and being reached for more often than expected. Their reasoning is the versatility: home improvement projects, measuring furniture, planning room layouts.
They single out the 165 ft laser for measuring rooms, walls and ceilings without needing a second person to hold the end of a tape, which is the fundamental argument for a laser measure in any form.
Another owner calls it great value and accurate, compact and fairly straightforward, and specifically praises the level readout as an extra that helps.
Rechargeable operation is also a genuine advantage here rather than a nuisance, because the colour screen would eat disposable cells.
The unit has to be switched on before you use the tape. One owner listed this among the things not mentioned on the product page, and it is easy to forget. Pull the tape on a sleeping tool and the reading does not register.
Walls are not square to where you want to measure. The same owner made an observation that applies to every laser measure but bites harder on a hybrid. In reality no wall is flat or angled the right way for where you want to measure from, so you end up tilting the unit, and once you are tilting it you are no longer confident in the number. Their conclusion was that in perfect conditions it is easy to use, and that they would still bring a regular tape for anything over ten feet they doubted.
That is a fair description of the whole hybrid category rather than a criticism of this tool specifically, and the level readout on this unit is arguably the best answer to it that any of them offer.
Owners who like the tool still note that the menu system takes learning. Six selectable units, area, volume and distance modes and a measurement history all have to live behind a small number of buttons.
Another owner wished it were more configurable, feeling that some defaults could not be changed to suit how they worked.
As with most tools in this class, that penalises occasional use. If you pick this up twice a year you will be relearning it.
Four laser and tape combinations, four different weak points, which is genuinely useful when choosing.
This one has the best screen and the shortest tape. The LEXIVON has the most ratings and a tape owners argue about. The Inkerma has the best liked tape and a laser that missed a half inch difference. The 197 ft unit has the longest laser and a manual that will cost you twenty minutes.
Interior designers, homeowners and anyone who measures furniture and openings as often as walls, and who cares what the tool looks like in their hand. It leads our interior design guide for that reason.
Anyone who needs the tape half to do real work, on the 9.8 ft evidence. Trades, who should carry a proper tape and a separate laser. And occasional users who do not want a menu system to remember.
If you need a usable tape. The LEXIVON and Inkerma both carry 16 ft, and Inkerma's auto lock is the best liked of the three.
If the screen is what appeals. The DTAPE has a two inch backlit display at a much lower price, without the tape.
If you measure in front of clients. That is a real requirement and this tool serves it. Our interior design guide covers the others, including the mirrors and glass problem that catches people out in finished rooms.
If you would rather carry two proper tools. Usually the right answer. The two fail at opposite ends and combining them always compromises one half.
Whatever you choose, check it against a known length, and on a hybrid check the tape and the laser against each other, since they may not measure from the same point.
For the wider picture on choosing a laser measure, including what the specifications actually mean, start on our front page.