50 Words or Less
The Bushnell Wingman GPS speaker is a high quality speaker that doubles as an audio GPS.
Check out the new Bushnell Wingman View HERE
Introduction
In the great “Music on the Golf Course” debate, I fall into the category of players who enjoy it but never think to bring a speaker. However, my rangefinder or GPS watch is at the top of my packing list. By pairing a speaker with a GPS device, the Bushnell Wingman makes it easier to bring your tunes to the course. Is this a perfect marriage or a meaningless mash-up? I tested one to find out.
For an affordable, easy to use GPS, check out the Bushnell Phantom 2 HERE
Set Up & Ease of Use
When I unboxed the Wingman, I found four pieces: the speaker, the remote control, a USB cord, and a quick start manual (the complete manual is found HERE). Getting things rolling was easy: charge the Wingman, power it up, and pair it with your phone. You will need to download the free Bushnell Golf app to get yardages on the course; it will only work as a standard speaker without the app.
To use the Wingman on the course, you need to open up the app and select the course that you’re playing. Queue up some music, and whenever you want a yardage, just push the remote and the Wingman will announce it. There are loads of settings to customize the experience: different voices, different yardages (front/center/back, just center, etc), and more.
It’s important to note that the Wingman is meant exclusively for cart use. The speaker weighs in at a hefty 1 pounds 5 ounces, and it’s got the size to match. Even if you’ve got strength to spare, you’re not going to want this clipped to your bag.
Accuracy & Performance
The Bushnell Wingman pulls its yardages from the Bushnell app, which is excellent. It’s accurate, quick, and provides plenty of data. With the push of a button, the Wingman announces the yardages you’ve requested at the volume that you select.
This is also a high quality audio source. The Wingman sounds as good as any Bluetooth speaker I’ve used. It’s clear and articulate, and it can generate more than enough volume for golf course applications.
Need a pocket-sized speaker? Check out the TecTecTec TEAM8 HERE
If you haven’t used one of Bushnell’s devices with BITE, let me tell you that no amount of reckless driving will jar the Wingman. The magnet is uber strong, so you don’t have to worry about it flying off the cart. Just don’t forget to grab it when the round is over.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that the Wingman can run for about ten hours on a full charge. That’s a nice insurance policy against forgetting to charge it between rounds. The Wingman also has a USB out port that allows you to charge phones or other devices from its battery.
My one concern with the Wingman is that it was a little spotty when it wasn’t playing music. When I had music on, a push of the button paused the music, spoke the yardages, then resumed the groove. However, when I had no music on, it was hit or miss. It seemed like the Wingman went into sleep mode or disconnected from the phone. This doesn’t seem like a major issue to me, however, because I don’t see anyone bringing the Wingman to the course and not playing music.
Need bigger sound? Check out the Kemimoto Midnight soundbar HERE
Value
The Bushnell Wingman GPS speaker retails for $149. It’s hard to say whether this is a fair price because the Wingman has no direct competition. If you just want an audible GPS unit, there are certainly smaller, cheaper options, but no one is going to buy the Wingman just for that. Similarly, it’s a bit more expensive than some Bluetooth speakers, but it goes beyond being a speaker.
In my opinion, the Wingman GPS is a product targeted at a select group of golfers, and for those people, the value is high because it does two things very well.
Please consider supporting Plugged In Golf by buying the Wingman HERE
Conclusion
For the music-loving golfer, the Bushnell Wingman GPS is the must-have device of 2020. It’s not only a high quality speaker, it also enhances your game and pace and play. And while we won’t all agree about music on the course, we can surely come together behind any device that speeds up the round.
Buy the Bushnell Wingman HERE
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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73 Comments
Hi Matt,
Well I got mine and was not impressed with the GPS part. The software would not follow me down the course, when I got to the parking lot after my round it all of a sudden told me the yardage to the 18th green. So it was basically useless as a range finder. Have contacted Bushnell and they said that they have updated the map to my course. It makes for an expensive Bluetooth speaker.
Gerry,
That’s interesting. Is the problem with the app and the speaker or just the speaker? I’m curious because my experience with the app has never been short of excellent, but I haven’t played a huge number of courses with it.
Thanks,
Matt
Matt,
Great review here. I absolutely love the wingman but my last couple of rounds with it have me concerned a bit. The music streaming to the device via my iPhone 11, randomly seems to disconnect, this stopping the music (but the music app shows it’s still playing) and it’s a real pain in the butt to get it playing again for some reason. Even shutting the wingman down and reconnecting doesn’t usually work. I’ve had to delete the device all together and re pair via Bluetooth which just seems ridiculous to me.
Any ideas on what’s going on here?
Thanks
My only thought is that Bluetooth can be a spotty technology that does some unpredictable things. Not a satisfying answer, I know.
-Matt
This is not a GPS unit… marketing it as one is fraudulent….it is a Bluetooth speaker only…it plays music off your cell phone….if you want to play golf you must download the app and sync your course…the remote button will give you distance from your phone app …. period…. again.the wingman is not a GPS……
How much data is being ysed in 18 holes cant find thst information anywhere 🤔
Hi I had the same problem, one thing my phone does for security is only let the app have my location when using the app, so when I had my phone on sleep mode it wouldnt follow me until I reopened my phone. I changed to always on during rounds and that problem has gone away. Pairing my remote on the other hand is shame. Wont work after 3 rounds
It is because it is not a GPS device…fraud marketing on behave of Bushnell….uses cellular location from your phone only…. never uses Satillites for location
Fyi…it is not a GPS device!!!! There is never a connection to any Satillite in the heavens of earth….. Bushnell is using the term from using cellular location from your phone as a distance reference…..why the consumer reports have not banned this is a surprise….. Also your cell phone must be turned on to function..if it goes to sleep mode you lost distance reference……Again this is not nor ever will be a GPS DEVICE!!!
WHY THE NEED FOR MUSIC/NOISE ON THE GOLF COURSE?? ISN’T OUR WORLD FILLED WITH ENOUGH NOISE AND ISN’T THE GOLF COURSE WHERE YOU CAN “BE ONE WITH NATURE”, HEAR THE BIRDS SING AND ENJOY THE BEAUTY THAT A GOLF COURSE PROVIDES? IS THIS SOCIETY SO DEPENDENT ON CONSTANT STIMULI THAT WE CAN’T JUST ENJOY SOME OF THE BEAUTY OF NATURE AND FRIENDLY CONVERSATION AMONG FRIENDS? YOU ARE DESTROYING WHAT HAS BEEN A BEAUTIFUL GAME!
John,
Different people like different things. Some people only capitalize the first letter of sentences or names, others leave the caps lock key on. There’s room enough for everyone.
-Matt
Matt – it is refreshing to read your reviews and your comments!
some forget caps altogether…lol
JD,
Indeed. And that’s cool, too.
-Matt
I agree with John to a large extent. If the group playing the music would just keep the volume to themselves is one thing but from what I have seen, it is mostly younger folks who care more about the music and where the beverage cart and could care less about others, etiquette on the course and pace of play, in short self centered.
Music on the golf course is like the foursome in front of you all on their phones making business calls and standing around not playing. Why not make one that gives pin distances. . . . that’s all.
Just got my wingman, it is only playing sound from the right side of the speaker. Is this normal?
Same with mine that I’ve had for a week. I noticed that the music was only coking out of one side and questioned if it should be coming out of both sides. Please advise!
If you want music fine use headphones don’t inflict your music on others
Maybe we are intelligent enough to ask those around us? Perhaps we all bought one and synced and we all love it. Just because you don’t like doesn’t really apply, right?
Good morning, I’ve got the Wingman paired to my phone and plays music. When I try to pair the remote in the Bushnell app and hit the button til it beeps, it says “Bluetooth is powered off”. Any ideas???
Sully,
Unfortunately, no, unless the Bluetooth on your phone is turned off (which I assume you checked). Sorry I can’t be of more help.
Best,
Matt
Love the speaker, don’t love the app. Haven’t found where it saves rounds and stats. As I approach a green, it belts out the yardages for the next nearby hole.
It can’t replace the Golflogix app for me yet. Go back to the drawing board with the app.
I enjoyed mine for two rounds, and then suddenly the remote will not pair. Defeats the purpose! Have not called Bushnell support yet, but this is very frustrating when heading out to play. Thankfully I still had my rangefinder in my bag still too. Any tips would be appreciated.
I’m curious about “There are loads of settings to customize the experience: different voices, different yardages (front/center/back, just center, etc), and more.”. Where do you find these settings? I don’t see anything in the manual about these options, where do I find these?
Tim,
The options for customizing the experience are in the Bushnell app. I agree that the manual is lacking.
Best,
Matt
Mine also says Bluetooth off, even though music plays. So frustrating
Received mine on June 6th and thought it worked really well both as a speaker and GPS. Unfortunately, after two uses it won’t hold a charge and dies after less than an hour. I was able to get a live person at Bushnell support without too much difficulty (on hold for about 10 minutes which in today’s world is nothing) and they are sending another one without any hassle as well as a label to return the defective unit. Provided the new unit holds a charge, I’m very satisfied. As for the music on the course debate, I enjoy it for a casual round and always ask those I’m with if it bothers them. If it does, I don’t play music. Seems pretty simple.
So far I love mine, but there is one thing I’m trying to figure out. Is the front, back and center yardage always from your perspective on the course or are they assuming you are looking from the center fairway? I think the answer is the latter based on some suspect yardages when say beside the green on a short par 4.
Roby,
I would assume all yardages are from the center of the fairway. To my knowledge, Shot Scope is one of the few (only?) GPS devices that uses dynamic yardages.
Best,
Matt
I have been very disappointed with my Wingman to this point. I received it last week, took it out on the course….worked great for about 7-8 holes and then the remote would not work. Called support and they told me that I needed to get new batteries (after 7-8 holes!?!). I did that and it is still not working properly. The speaker itself works great, but the remote does not work for me at all, and now I can’t even get it to pair….so frustrating because I was excited about this product!!
I can’t get the remote to work and I got mine yesterday. It’s fully charged
I have been trying to fully charge my Wingman but it never turns green. It has been charging for 12 hours so surely it would be fully charged by then. Not impressed and based on the investment I probably will return it. Very disappointed.
Thought I had the same problem. Had to make sure the unit was turned off before the green light came on. Off is determined by the lower tone at the end vs the rise in time when turning on. Odd for a 66 year person to understand but finally got it.
So just bought the wing man for me and my wife. Had no problems pairing with my phone. Wife can pair to speaker but when try to hook to golf app it says serial number already paired with another phone. So 2 phones can’t use this thing. I have to buy 2 if we always don’t golf together?!!
I’ve been scouring the internet for hours trying to find a fix for this. I bought mine used from a guy I played with (didn’t know him, don’t have any way to contact him). He got it as a gift and registered it, but didn’t really care about music on the golf course.
I’m perplexed as to why this device can only be compatible with one phone. So if I wanted to let my brother, dad or girlfriend borrow it to play a round, they can’t use it as a rangefinder (the trait that defines this speaker’s appeal and justifies its cost)? Seems arbitrary and gives the appearance of bad faith – placing such a restriction on a product to prevent use and require couples and families to purchase extra units.
I’ve tried everything I can think of using the Bushnell Golf android app and browser website to no avail. Were you ever able to find a workaround?
Is it possible to buy another remote?? I lost mine somehow after 4 uses. Otherwise I found the product to perform as advertised.
Ron,
You’d have to contact Bushnell directly to find out for sure, but I would certainly hope that they would make the remote available separately.
Best,
Matt
Remote will not pair. Cannot contact Bushnell as tried again today. #25 in qeue; 47 min. to #2, then hold music went silent. 4 minutes later “click”.
Good sound for a blue tooth speaker but does not work for GPS. Customer service is non-existent.
Happy with mine thus far, but is there any way to turn up the volume of the yardage without having to have music blaring? Sometimes I can’t even hear what it’s saying.
How can I change it to manually change the hole. I get close to another hole and it jumps to that hole. It drives me nuts!!! I don’t use it much because of this
What a sick idea! It totally defeats the pleasure of enjoying nature – the wind in the trees, birds and even silence – and distracts your fellow players. What happened to golf etiket ? It is totally unthinkable in my club. Remember cell phones must be silenced while playing.
Not sure what etiket is…
Just received this a gift from my 16 yr old sons. They just started playing golf and background music always adds to the round. I prefer music and don’t criticize those who prefer otherwise. Obviously this product was made to fill a demand.
Now back to figuring out what “etiket” is
I’m having this same issue as others with the serial number being linked to a different phone.
My cousin’s friend brought a 4th player to fill out our group, and he had a Wingman that he barely used. He got it as a gift but said he doesn’t really listen to music on the course, and has other high quality portable options for music in other settings.
I purchased it from the guy after our round, but because he already registered it, I can’t use the GPS feature. Didn’t know I’d run into this issue when I bought it.
Has ANYONE found a solution to this? Aside from that round of golf, I don’t know the guy and don’t have his phone number to see if he’s able to unregister the device on his end.
I would like to just figure out how to do it on my own without having to go through a chain of communication with three or four people to request this.
Hi Greg. I own a Bushnell Excel Golf GPS Watch. I am planning to give it away to someone. I can’t figure out how to unregister my own device either. I logged in to Bushnell.iGolf.com, clicked “Remove Account” in the “Account” section, thinking that I can then register the device again with a new account for the new owner. Now I am screwed. I can’t create a new account linking my device because it says the device ID is still in use. I can’t log back in either for obvious reasons. And I can’t even create an account using my own email again because it says the email is already in use, which doesn’t make sense since I had REMOVED my account previously!!
Why does it take sooooo long for the unit to charge?
Worst scorecard ever! You can only keep you own score. Love how it asks for green and fairways hit but slaps you in the face by not saving any of the valuable data for future review. Am I suppose to screenshot all my scorecards Bushnell? Whoever designed this did not know much about golf or Bushnell decided to be cheap on the App to get the product to market. Not impressed. I can buy a speaker with 100 companies. I was relying on Bushnell for tracking and GPS.
Hello, I recently bought this product and noticed music only coming out of one side of the speaker. I called the company and they said this is normal, however that seems hard to believe. Does you device play audio throughout the speaker or just one side of it. Thanks!
Tyler,
That’s interesting, I can’t say that I noticed one way or the other. For me, it was always plenty loud so I never paid attention to which side the music came from.
Best,
Matt
Great Review, I really dig mine. Question, does one side seem to have more high end frequencies in the audio and the other side more low end? Mine does and didn’t know if that was by design or a flaw
Mine stopper charging 2 months ago customer service is terrible
Unit worked fine. Played music “on my way to the course”. Worked fine during a couple of rounds, then all of a sudden “turned off”. Tried to turn back on, but the on/off button was unresponsive. Turned app off – started over. worked for a few minutes, then turned off again and on/off button did nothing??? This is the “SECOND” unit this has happened on. This happened on previous unit that I got in December — called customer support and just got this replacement unit this past week (Feb 15). Worked 2 and a half rounds before the problem re-appeared.
Is there a way to change the voice? Mine is so annoying. I read there is but can’t find instructions to do it.
RD,
I believe there is a setting in the app for changing the voice.
Best,
Matt
I’ve used mine a few times and I’ve noticed that it won’t charge. I’ve used several different cables and wall warts. When I hold down the power button, it flashes orange and then goes away. Anyone know why?
Hi Matt
Do you have another instructions for pair the remote?
The app say that my Bluetooth is turned of, but it is on.
Help me please
Gibran,
I don’t have any tips or ideas beyond what’s in the instruction manual.
-Matt
Wingman will not hold a charge for a full round and i just got the thing.
If you want to hear music while playing golf, get a pair of earbuds so you don’t disturb other golfers. We all remember Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack, but no serious golfer would seek to emulate him. I for one would like to see these banned from golf courses.
Hi Matt!
Thanks for the review. I’m interested in purchasing this for my dad for Father’s Day and was wondering if there is a list of the courses that the gps works with? He plays all over but there are a couple that he plays consistently and I would like to make sure that they are one of the courses the GPS will work with!
Thanks,
Melissa
Melissa,
Per Bushnell, this list is not comprehensive but it’s a good start: https://igolf.com/course-tour
Best,
Matt
First Day and first use after purchasing, The portable button/chip fell off the speaker. Luckily my group of friends playing behind me, found it and returned it after the round. I have looked, but was unable to find if the button/chip is available to purchase separately. Seems very easy to loose and would be expensive if I would have to replace the whole speaker just for the button/chip. Is there a way to purchase or replace just the portable button in case this happens again on my second round of gold with it?
John,
I have not seen the button available for purchase separately, but I’d hope that Bushnell would be able to help you out if you lost one.
-Matt
My son lost his remote last week and I found replacements for sale on the bushnell website. $14.99/ea.
Luckily we went back out and found his on the course.
So I just got the Bushnell wingman for Father’s Day , straight away I took it to play. absolutely loved it I did see a comment where it kept disconnecting or not following each hole if your phone turns off then it disconnects are goes to sleep mode even if you turn sleep mode off but if you leave your phone on it stays and follows and does everything is supposed to do that’s why when play music it doesn’t go into sleep mode but I found it to be awesome I love it I still use my regular Rangefinder but for them blind holes I use the wingman the speaker sounds great can imagine golf without it
The GPS feature blows … can’t get the yardage as I move down the fairway.
Just the total hole yards every time I push the button.
The Speaker works well but
I wouldn’t recommend this device.
How do you access previous rounds played on the app. As soon as the round is over it disappears on the app and I cannot find a way to review my scores? Very frustrating.
I have tried the app to change the voice. Mine is a squeaky annoying voice. Not sure how to change it. Did anyone know how to change it?
I am having the same problem, I have looked high and low and can’t find how to change to voice anywhere ? Would love to have some help on this topic.
Is anyone from Bushnell reading these messages? Just got mine, took it out today. Fully charged, have golf app loaded, and shows well on the app. Once in a while, it would give me the front, middle, and back distances at the start of the hole. Remote never seemed to work. Could be used error but if I had a good user manual, I might be able to figure it out. Music worked great. Will continue to work on it. For the music haters, suck it up. If I’m by myself or with friends that enjoy music, I play it. And, if I’m with others, I’ll respect their wishes. Sunshine, a relaxing golf swing, and some music of choice is great for the soul.
I received my Wingmam at the beginning of this season and for the most part I love it. There are two critical things missing from the app that need fixing:
1. The ability to save rounds and track progress.
2. The ability to use the app as a scorecard for the entire foursome.
First thing to know is.this is not a Gps…..period…it is only a Bluetooth speaker……
Read through the comments and found the multiple comments you posted regarding this not being a GPS. Per Bushnell’s Website “Unleash your inner DJ on the course with Wingman. This “first of its kind” product combines high quality audio with the ability to receive audible GPS distances, conveniently mounts to your cart bar via BITE magnetic technology.” It never advertises itself as a GPS. Simply states you can receive audible GPS distances. Please stop with the repeat posts, we get it. You’re upset because you’re unable to interpret advertisements.
The GPS is mediocre at best. Decent speaker however Bushnell could care less about their customers or customer service. My battery died and Bushnell won’t stand by their products.