BUSHNELL NITRO 1800
Posted by Douglas day on
This product was sent me from Bushnell to review. All photos are taken by myself!
So, let's start off from the very beginning. Upon opening the box, the packaging is top notch. Some of you may not care too much about that, but it's usually a clue about how well the product has been put together. For instance, that trashy burger from the drive-through is literally tossed into a piece of foil paper, and at that point I swear they take another 3-point shot into a bag and hand it to you...This range finder is loaded with features that, in my opinion, are not typical within this price range ~MSRP $299.99.
FROM BUSHNELL
6X24mm
EXO BARRIER - ANTI FOG, WATER, SMUDGE, DEBRIS
ARC - ANGLE RANGE COMPENSATION
2X BRIGHTER - VIVID IMAGE IN LOW LIGHT
BLUETOOTH RANGING SYSTEM
APPLIED BALLISTICS
RANGING PERFORMANCE
REFLECTIVE (2,000) YARDS
TREE (1,200)
DEER (800)
WITH BALLISTIC SOLUTIONS
INCLUDED 875 YARDS (UPGRADED) 1,750 YARDS
My first test started out at the top of a park that overlooks a small city in Northern New York. I wanted to see what the ranging capabilities were. The image below is a quick cellphone shot of a building that according to the NITRO 1800 was 2,136 yards away...right off the bat I was blown away; one, at how incredibly crisp/clear the glass was (I'm a photographer and a glass snob), and two, that it was able to range accurately past 2,000 yards.
So, I continued to drive around looking for deer (or any animal that I could use as a test). Being that I live near farms, I was able to range cattle at 564 yards. Pretty awesome! So far, I am pretty happy with how well it was performing. So I thought, let's put it to the test.
This was taken about 40 minutes after the sunset to test the "low light" capabilities. There is a sign at the end of the road, so I put the NITRO 1800 up to my eye and instantly received a reading of 764 yards. I thought, "No freaking way it's clearly blue hour and this thing continues to perform."
I went and tossed it into the snow, before going inside to grab a cold drink and ponder just how well this range finder was doing. After I finished my drink, I went outside, brushed it off and powered it up, and sent the laser firing down the street and received reading of 762 yards. I walked to the end of our street, sitting down and resting my elbows on my legs. I clicked the range and again, almost immediately, the number popped up as 1,080 yards. 
At this point, I started laughing out of pure amazement. I thought, "it's basically night time and it still is giving me accurate data." 
Here is a look through the view finder of the Bushnell Nitro 1800. As you can see, not too busy, and all of the information is easily visible. Just after this, I noticed a snow plow traveling down the road, and from my elevated position I was able to get a reading of 2,854 yards...yeah that's not a typo. To say I am impressed with how well it was able to range the snow plow would be a complete understatement. I even let my hunting friends use it and every one of them was more than impressed.
Now comes the NOT SO GOOD part.
The Bushnell app they want you to download for ballistic data after you range a target has never worked properly for me. I am using a Galaxy S9 and after many, many tries to get it to pair up, I was unsuccessful every single time. The app kept freezing up and shutting down. I thought that if I uninstalled the app and tried again, it would work...it didn't. I would recommend that if you are also unable to get the app to work, make a range card with data for every 50 yards and you'll be good. Range your target, take a quick glance at your data, make your adjustments and SEND IT.
EDIT******After talking with a engineer from Bushnell we were able to get everything worked out. Apparently if you experience the same issues as I did remove the battery from the rangefinder and then reinstall it. After that everything works perfectly.
Overall, I am extremely satisfied with the Bushnell NITRO 1800. It is definitely worth looking into if you're in the market for a range finder that can basically do it all.