Laser Rangefinder Review

Preliminary Bushnell 1600 ARC Review 

Everyone wants a binocular rangefinder, however; until recently you were looking at spending $2500 to $3000.  Granted those high dollar units are no doubt quality, but let’s face it not everyone has and extra couple grand sitting around.  The Bushnell Fusion 1600 ARC cost about one third what a European model would, and while it is still $900, this brings the price into the realm of many who simply could not justify spending thousands for a set of range finder binoculars.  Ironically, the Bushnell Fusion has many features that its higher priced competitors do not.  This unit has the Bushnell ARC feature of angle compensation and contains both the bow and rifle modes as well as a standard line of sight mode.  The Fusion 1600 rangefinder also has a scan feature that allows users to receive continuously update reading as the operator moves the reticle from one target to the next or follows a moving target. The Fusion also has what Bushnell calls  “Vivid Display Technology” which allows the operator to adjust the display brightness for easier screen reading under a variety of lighting conditions.

Owner’s Manual:
As mentioned above the Fusion contains the ARC feature in both rifle and bow modes and is a 10x42mm (Update: The Bushnell Fusion is now available in 12x50mm); it also contains the VSI (Variable Sight In) technology within the rifle mode that allows the user to choose one of four possible sight in distances.  Additionally, the Fusion has both a Brush and BullsEye target priority mode.  You can program this rangefinder binocular to report the closer of two objects with the BullsEye mode, or the farther of two objects with the Brush mode.

LRR Thoughts:
While it is too early to know for sure if the Bushnell Fusion 1600 ARC is going to be a winner the early reviews are looking favorable.  While the user reviews are limited there is alot of buzz from members of hunting and shooting forums as well as professional reviews that indicate that the Bushnell Fusion 1600 ARC could be the rangefinder binocular that breaks the under $1000 mark, yet gives the user what they really want, a good pair of binoculars with all the features and capabilities of a rangefinder.