A new Bosch laser distance measuring tool has appeared in retailers’ catalogs ahead of Black Friday 2023.
The new Bosch Blaze 100-foot laser distance measuring tool, GLM100-23, sports a new look, new features, and a budget-friendly price point.
Bosch departed from their one-button approach and gave the new GLM100-23 a primary measuring button as well as “rounding button”.
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Bosch’s product description also talks about a “click wheel” for function navigation.
From the product images, this looks to be more of a graphical interface feature than an actual clickable wheel or button.
The laser distance measuring tool has a range of up to 100 feet and published accuracy specs of ±1/16″.
The graphical display features negative-type contrast, with light numbers on a dark background.
Bosch says that the second button “allows user to easily round the measurement result from 1/2 inch up to 1/32 inch.”
It’s powered by 2x AAA batteries, with one set included.
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Price: $49-$55 $39.98 at Amazon, $44 at Acme with coupon
Update: Amazon dropped the price down to $39.98.
At the time of this posting, Acme Tool has it for $49 with a limited time $5 coupon that is automatically applied at checkout. This brings the price down to $44, or $50.49 with shipping (free on $199+ orders).
See Also: Bosch GLM 20
The Bosch GLM20 laser distance measuring tool, with a 65′ range, is a Black Friday and holiday season special buy right now.
While the GLM20 is a tried-and-true one-button laser measurer, I find the new Bosch GLM100 more appealing.
For one, the tool described above has a ±1/16″ accuracy, whereas the GLM20 is spec’ed at ±1/8″. The longer range – 100′ vs 65′ – might make a difference, at least outdoors. Both have red lasers, but I’d rake a longer-ranged model over a shorter-range one in difficult lighting conditions such as outdoors.
The GLM20 is $10 less right now. But on the other side of the coin, the GLM100 has a new and updated design, not to mention better specs.
Deal Price: $40
Ken
I’ve owned several Bosch laser measures and they have worked great. Recently I purchased one of the more expensive green beam models which retails for over $100.
But lately I’m wondering what the difference is between the expensive name-brand models and the cheap clones available on Amazon etc. A search for “laser measure” on Amazon shows the first two items as a Bosch green beam 165ft for $107 and a “RockSeed” red beam 165ft for $28. That’s a massive difference in price. The no-name unit has over 21K reviews so apparently it isn’t garbage.
I don’t like the idea of supporting companies that simply clone name-brand innovations. But over the last year or two it looks like the future includes a lot more no-name tools and less R&D dollars to drive future innovation.
With that said, I have to admit I purchased my first no-name tool recently: a clamp meter with an “inrush” feature for measuring startup load (not the same as a “max” reading). It was only $35, whereas the least expensive name brand with inrush (Fieldpiece) is about $200. This tool is just for DIY use so I’d rather do without than drop two bills on a pro unit.
Stuart: maybe an idea for an editorial? Name-brand vs. the slew of no-name tools on Amazon? Torque Test Channel on youtube has recently begun testing no-name tools and a minority of nonamers seem to compare quite favorably.
Stuart
With laser measurers, are you a DIYer measuring the length of a room to roughly size a rug, or are you a PRO measuring a kitchen for a custom-cut granite countertop?
When accuracy, precision, reliability, and safety matter, stick with established brands.
For something like an inrush meter, does the no-name brand on Amazon or elsewhere have any safety certifications?
Fieldpieces says their meters are UL-listed. Are the no-name meters from Amazon tested by 3rd party labs?
No-name brands can change their sourcing at a moment’s notice. A tool bought today can be different from the one that ships out tomorrow.
Would you buy meat from a pop-up shop that appears in a parking lot one day and could be gone the next?
I am extremely stubborn about things like this.
A brand like Bosch has their name and reputation at stake, plus liabilities. A brand like soobpahr tools doesn’t.
I receive offers from numerous no-name brands every day. While I’m sure some are passable, a lot throw out all kinds of red flags, the most significant being open-air laser cutters and engravers that lack any kind of fume mitigation.
There are too many tools to test, review, or assess from reputable brands. Even if I were interested, I don’t have much capacity to look at cheap unpronounceable brands that might not exist a week from now.
I’ve talked to some product engineers about how no-name brands compare to their own brands’ products. From some of what I heard about being revealed in destructive lab tests, I wouldn’t touch them – ever.
fred
So, I typed in “Laser Measure” into an Amazon Search bar and the first tool that’s listed is one called “RockSeed” selling for $27.95 – with 4.5 stars based on 21,347 ratings.
I thought wow – 21,347 ratings should certainly be statistically significant. But, when I clicked on the ratings the first one to appear includes this: “I compared this laser with my Bosch GLM165-27C (an industry standard laser) and was incredibly surprised how close the Mileseey measures to the Bosch.” Is Mileseey the same instrument as RockSeed ? Who knows – but like many other reviews on Amazon – I take them with a grain of salt – even if they claim that over 21,000 distinct customers over 3.5 years took the time to write reviews.
eddie sky
FYI, a PRO will use LiDAR for measuring countertop replacement. Watched them do this for mine.
I want a smaller base/footprint on these lasers. I have a Bosch model (?) that calculated sqft and volume (for paint). However, I can’t get it into spaces like window jambs and have to add a tape in there to get the measurement. But its great for quick numbers. Would be nice to have B/T to transfer numbers to my iPad apps for estimation.
fred
My ex-compatriots bought a Leica Disto 3D to replace an older system they had tried out.
https://shop.leica-geosystems.com/measurement-tools/3d-disto/leica-3d-disto/buy
I have not seen it in action – but it sure sounds like it beats the masonite and hot glue cutting templates that we used to construct. They were dead-on accurate conforming to every wiggle in the wall – but really tedious to build and then transport back to the shop.
I have a Disto 810 bought 7 years ago that is great for my wife’s landscaping jobs – but even though it can use image capture to do measurement – I would not trust it for cutting a granite countertop for a dead-on tight fit.
Wayne R.
Maybe ask the Project Farm guy, though it’s likely his list is a mile long too.
Scott K
I’ve definitely bought no name brand products from Amazon when price was among the most important factors. I would definitely not trust a no name electrical meter, though. I’d be curious to know how the LDM matches up against a standard tape to compare its accuracy.
I rarely look at Amazon reviews anymore- my opinion is that there are too many farmed out reviews to possibly be accurate. I like using FakeSpot to get an idea of reliability and CamelCamelCamel (this can show how long a product has been listed). I find it too suspicious that something a month old has thousands of reviews…
I’m very thankful that there are reputable review sources like ToolGuyd. I also like Wirecutter (though, not as much as I used to) and occasionally OutdoorGearLab.
Kent
One thing to pay attention to with amazon reviews is are those reviews for that product. There are companies or outfits that but highly reviewed pages of products no longer for sale and then change it to the new product but it keeps all of the old reviews. Sometimes it takes some digging but you’ll start finding reviews for charging cables when you’re looking for cutting boards.
There’s also paid 5 star reviews, I bought a three pack of iPhone charging cables and a week later I got a letter from the company who makes them saying if I put up a 5 star review and send them an email screenshot to verify they will send me a $20 Amazon gift card.
Munklepunk
I’ve noticed a huge difference is dropability. Major manufacturers put a lot of r&d into crash proofing against us monkeys.
Doresoom
Stuart, “soobpahr tools” almost made me spit out my coffee. 🤣
Stuart
hehe.
Nathan
Same here
Koko The Talking Ape
Not sure about the “click wheel.” It seems to be just some virtual buttons, and the wheel looks awful on the low-res screen. Why not make seven rectangular buttons?
And I question the need for meter, centimeter AND millimeter readouts. Switching between them will just move the decimal point a few digits. (Which of course is why the metric system is so much better than imperial.)
Hilton
In South Africa, tradesmen/pros never use centimeters. It’s all mm. For example a plywood sheet will be 1200mm x 2400mm.
Scott K
I’ve had the older Bosch LDM on my Amazon wishlist for a while but haven’t had a real reason to justify it. Maybe when I’m ready to repaint our house and don’t feel like dragging a tape around the house I’ll pull the trigger. I was surprised to read that this model it’s accurate to 1/16th and has a longer range yet it’s considered budget friendly. Was something sacrificed or is this just possible due to inevitable tech improvements?
Stuart
I consider $50 and under to be budget-friendly territory for Bosch and other pro brands.
For DIYers, I think $20-$30 is entry territory.
I haven’t seen many brand-name laser measurers for under $30 in a while.
More expensive lasers usually have bigger displays, color displays, mathematical functions, and similar.
This one is a basic LDM, but not really what I would consider no-frills.
I found it odd that Bosch didn’t formally announce this model, it just appeared for sale recently.
Randy
I was thinking of upgrading my ten year old GLM40, but $50 these days seems to get less range than ten years ago. Are there some other improvements that make it worthwhile?
Al
These things need a bubble level
fred
Mine has what’s called a “smart horizontal mode.” based on a built-in inclinometer. As an example – you can aim at a house over the foundation plantings (even tall ones) and it will do the math to change from time of flight to actual distance along the horizontal plane.
JamesR
You got me with the price drop. I keep Toolguyd open on my desktop because I visit frequently and don’t want to miss anything. But I really just need to close it and come back in December. I mean, what do I need with 20 carbide multitool blades?? I have two of the Bosch GLM20’s already. And I’m sure I’m going to talk myself into some more Packouts and Kaizen foam before the week is out. Sigh.
Stuart
If it makes you feel any better, I’m very likely to pick one up for myself as well.
$55 piqued my interest, and $44 with coupon had me thinking maybe I’ll add it to my next free shipping order.
$40 with free shipping seems hard to pass up, especially as it’s an upgrade compared to my existing compact LDMs.
William
I have the GLM20 and at $40 I may pick up a GLM100-23. I love the GLM20. It’s small and I really like that it will show two dimensions in list sequence. I build and install custom cabinets. While 1/16″ accuracy is better than 1/8″, I like that the readout is in 1/16ths on the GLM20, not 32nds on the GLM100-23. I know you can round… Having two dimensions is actually really helpful for verifying your laser is pointing accurately and to check the max width of openings. I frequently compare two measurements to see which one I need and have two dimensions on the screen at once is really helpful.
Mike McFalls
I picked this laser measurer up at this price to replace the Bosch GLM 40 as for some time I’ve been over figuring out the nearest 16th of an inch when that level of precision is all that is required.
Mikakey
Does this do something like a real time measurement? So I could drag the laser point to point and measure?
Stuart
It measures from the bottom of the device to the laser point, which to my understanding is reflected back.
Fun story – we had a college level physics lab experiment where, instead of measuring distance, we used a set distance with a pulsed laser signal to measure the speed of light.