REVIEW– I previously had the opportunity (several years ago) to review the Bosch GLM 50 C laser measuring tool. Six years later, it still works great and it is my go-to laser measuring tool. But considering that it might be time for an upgrade, I jumped at the chance to try the MEAZOR 6-In-1 Compact Laser Measure tool made by Hozo Design. Bosch is the gold standard when it comes to small laser measuring devices, so I am interested to see how the MEAZOR “measures up” to the Bosch (pun intended).
What is it?
The MEAZOR 6-In-1 Compact Laser Measure tool is a portable device that uses a diode laser to allow precise measurements to be made quickly. The MEAZOR performs six main measurement functions; distance measurement, level measurement, angle measurement, 2D floorplan scanning, scale unit measurement and conversion, and curve scanning. In addition to these six basic features, the device all has two additional “Pro” functions that will perform rectangular area measurement and a “Pythagorean” mode that will calculate the third side of a triangular measurement. The tool is powered by a rechargeable battery and can be connected to an app for downloading measurements via Bluetooth.
What’s in the box?
Hardware Specifications
Size & Weight
MEAZOR App
Display
Battery
Battery Life
Operating Requirements
Laser Measure
*In non-ideal circumstances such as outdoors with bright light or a less reflective surface, the error will be superimposed with maximum +/- 1% of the measurement distance.
**The accuracy decreases on slippery, uneven, soft, curved surfaces. Inclination, misalignment and other human error factors will also affect the measurement accuracy.
Supports 4 built-in scale modes with 57 scales in total
***In non-ideal circumstances such as outdoors with bright light or a less reflective surface, the error will be superimposed with maximum +/- 2% of the measurement distance.
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Design and Features
The MEAZOR 6-in-1 Laser Measure tool has a very stylish look with an aluminum housing and a glass touchscreen on the front used to choose the measurement mode and change settings. The front is also covered primarily with black plastic and contains the power button.
The back side of the tool contains the USB-C charging port and a threaded hole to allow attachment to the tripod. The black disc is a foldable stand for vertical measurements. Note that this stand is connected to the rotating black wheel seen in the bottom view.
With the stand flipped out, the laser tool will stand vertically and is relatively stable. The stand is secured in the open position with a small magnet.
The bottom of the tool contains an exposed plastic wheel that allows for rolling measurements of curved surfaces and is also used by the scale ruler function.
The top of the tool contains the laser and the sensor.
The small tripod that comes with the device is easily attached to the back side of the tool and provides a stable horizontal orientation for measurements. Also, since the tripod attaches to the wheel, the device can be rotated as required 360 degrees, which is essential for the point and curve scanner functions. Larger tripods which are sold separately are available from Hozo Design.
The MEAZOR 6-in-1 Laser Measure tool has six primary modes of operation described below.
Laser Measure – This is the basic mode that uses the laser to take a single real-time distance measurement.
Scale Ruler – This mode allows taking measurements using the rolling wheel and will automatically convert the measurement into different English and metric units or different scales. This mode of operation could be used to convert a measurement on a scale drawing with various scale settings to a different length (probably only useful for scale drawings with no dimensions or smaller items that would be up-scaled to a larger size).
Point Scanner – This mode utilizes the tripod and allows creating a point by point 2-D scan of a room by rotating the device. The scan can be exported from the device to the app.
Curve Scanner – Similar to the point scanner, this mode utilizes the tripod to map a 2-D curved shape by rotating the device. The scan can be exported from the device to the app.
Level – This mode is a two dimensional bubble level when the device is sitting flat on a surface, or a one dimensional level when on its side.
Protractor – This mode allows measurement of an angle based on movement of the rotating wheel using the laser as a reference point. Note that a straight edge protractor attachment is also available to allow direct measurement without the laser (this attachment has to be purchased separately from Hozo Design).
The device also has two “Pro-Laser” modes of operation:
Pythagorean – This allows determination of thethird side of a right triangle based on two measurements. This could be used to measure the height or width of a component indirectly.
Area Mode – This will calculate the area of a rectangular shape based on two measurements.
The “Settings” option provides three screens for adjustment of the device options:
Units – Allows choosing one of two options; mm,cm,m (metric units), and in,ft,yd (English units)
Scales – Allows selecting one of four types of scale options; US-ARCH, US-ENG, METRIC-ARCH, and METRIC-ENG. These represent US (aka English) or metric units in either Architectural or Engineering scales. This provides different choices for scaling options in the “Scale Ruler” mode. In US mode, the ARCH option scales fractional inches up to a foot. The ENG option scales1″ up to feet (250 ft maximum).
Language – Allows choosing the language used for the menu options.
The laser tool has a companion MEAZOR app that provides additional functionality and can be downloaded from Google Play or the Apple App Store.
Once installed, the first thing to do is to connect the MEAZOR to your phone or tablet using Bluetooth. Making sure the Bluetooth on your phone is on, select the the three bars icon in the upper left corner of the screen, and select the gear symbol to open settings. Select connect to a device, then go into your Bluetooth settings and find the MEAZOR and allow it to pair.
The main screen is a drawing grid (screenshot on the left above) that can be used to manually create diagrams, or modify imported scans (from the Point Scanner or Curve Scanner modes). Some rudimentary drawing tools are provided to allow modification to the imported scans. By selecting the unit label on the main screen (“Inch” in this case), a dropdown menu appears that allows changing units (middle screenshot above). Selecting “New Project” on the main screen brings up a window that allows creating a new project (right screenshot above). Once the new project is created and named, that project name will appear at the top of the main screen.
Powering on the device requires a long press on the main power button. The main screen display consists of 8 screens that are accessed by swiping on the touchscreen. Swiping left or right allows bring up the desired mode, and then touching the screen will activate the mode of operation. If you want to exit a particular mode of operation, a short press on the power button backs it out and turns off the laser. There were two main problems with this interface. First, the touchscreen is not very sensitive (at least not to my fingers) and requires slow and deliberate actions for swiping and selecting. It won’t recognize your selection if you are going to fast. Secondly, when scrolling past the 8 screens, the list does not wrap around. Meaning, if you are on the 8th screen (furthest to the right), you can’t easily access the first screen with one more swipe to the left. You have to swipe 7 times to the right.
Once a mode has been selected, different options become available based on the measurement. Most modes allow changing the units and the reference point on the tool right from the measurement screen. This is convenient since you don’t have to go back into settings, unless you want to change from English to metric. One problem I did have with the English measurements is that they were all decimal measurements. The tool will not provide fractional inches, nor will it provide feet + inches. This is a huge drawback to most of us in the United States who would rarely use decimal inches or feet.
Also, once the laser has turned on for the measurement, the only way to turn it off is to short press the power button to exit the mode, which also clears the measurement from the screen. This means the laser is on a lot, and the battery will drain more quickly. I really liked the option on the Bosch GLM to turn off the laser at any time, of course that was more important since that tool doesn’t have rechargeable batteries. I used the MEAZOR several times over the course of a couple weeks for a total use time of approximately 2 hours before the battery needed to be recharged. The specifications state that the battery life can be as little as 45 minutes under maximum power consumption, which is likely when the laser is on.
The performance for each of the six modes of operation are discussed below:
In the scanning modes, after a measurement is taken an option is presented to allow it to be downloaded to the app. It typically took several tries to get this to work.
The screenshot on the left above shows my room scan with dimensions in feet. The center screenshot shows the same scan with the dimensions converted to inches. I used this to check the accuracy, as stated above. The screenshot above on the right shows a downloaded curve scan with the total length of the curve provided.
The app is designed to allow modification of the scan to develop a drawing. The drawing tools provided would be good for a rough sketch at best, which could be useful to a builder or contractor who is developing a simple sketch for planning purposes. The app allows export of the drawing to a .pdf, .jpg, or .dxf (AutoCAD) file, so it is possible to utilize these scans to develop an architectural or engineering drawing outside of the app.
This is my simple room map in AutoCAD which would allow me to develop a more detailed drawing of the room. Since the imported lines are not perfectly straight due to measurement inaccuracies, I’d use AutoCAD to modify the lines, or use the scan lines as a template to develop the drawing.
What I like
What I’d change
Final Thoughts
The MEAZOR 6-in-1 Laser Measure tool worked reasonably well and has several modes of operation that provides some useful functionality. The more typical linear measurement modes worked well, and the rolling measurement wheel and fold out stand for vertical measurements were nice features that my Bosch GLM doesn’t have. The room scanner is also a nice feature that isn’t in the Bosch, and the ability to scan the room and download the plan is also something that the Bosch doesn’t do. Also, the MEAZOR has a more stylish look to it with the aluminum housing, but that personally doesn’t matter to me. However, there are several issues with the other modes of operation, such as a level mode that requires calibration to a level surface, and a Pythagorean mode that isn’t well suited to a vertical measurement. The scale mode is interesting, but possibly not very useful for most of us. Also, the battery life is a little shorter than I’d prefer, most likely because there is no way to turn off the laser when you aren’t taking a measurement. Also, the touchscreen was not very user friendly or sensitive. All in all, I will probably still use my Bosch more than the MEAZOR because I don’t do a lot of room scanning, just linear measurements, and the Bosch is easier to use (buttons instead of a touchscreen) and the batteries last longer.
Price: $199.00Where to buy: Hozo Design or AmazonSource: The sample of this product was provided by Hozo Design.