1. The accuracy figure — if there is one
This is the number that decides whether two measurements of the same wall agree, and it is the one most often missing. Look for a figure in millimeters, and note whether it is flat (± 2 mm (0.08 in) at any distance) or per meter (± 3 mm (0.12 in)/m, which grows with the measurement).
Where a listing gives no figure at all, you are buying on trust.
2. The reference edge options
Back of the housing, front, or a fold-out stop. The more options, the more geometries the meter can measure out of — corners, grooves, recesses — and the fewer measurements you have to take indirectly and subtract.
Also note which one the tool defaults to on power-up. It is nearly always the back.
3. The ingress rating
IP54 means dust protection and splashing water, which is fine indoors. IP65 means dust-tight and resistant to water jets, which is what a tool sharing a bag with hammers needs.
This is the specification that decides whether the meter is a drawer tool or a site tool, and it costs far more than range does.
4. The modes you will actually use
Distance, area and volume cover almost everything. Continuous measurement is useful for finding a position rather than measuring one. Pythagorean modes are for heights you cannot reach the base of — genuinely useful, and used rarely enough that most people forget the sequence.
A meter with no modes is easier to lend, because it cannot be left in the wrong one.
What not to pay for
Range beyond what your work needs, and app connectivity you will not use. Both are prominent in listings and neither changes a single reading.
What gets asked here
How much range do I actually need?
Twenty meters covers a room, a corridor and most house frontages. Fifty covers a garden. A hundred is for plots and outdoor work, where seeing the dot becomes the limit rather than the electronics.
Is Bluetooth worth paying for?
Only if the measurements have somewhere to go. For a room measured once for a blind, no. For a whole-property survey that becomes a drawing, it removes the transcription step where errors actually happen.
What if the maker publishes no accuracy?
Then you cannot compare it, and that is a fact about the purchase rather than about the tool. Several meters under forty dollars do publish one.
Last reviewed 31 August 2026
