REVIEW – Here at The Gadgeteer, we all know that everything is better with lasers. As a way to measure the validity of that statement (see what I did there?), we’re going to look at the DP20Pro Smart Bilateral Laser measuring tool from Mileseey. Is it an improvement over your basic tape measure? There is only one way to find out!
What is it?
The Mileseey DP20Pro is a laser measuring device. Rather than having just one measly laser, this baby has three. Two are used for measuring and one for marking a target. In addition to basic linear measuring, it can also calculate the area and volume of a space, measure an object’s height from a distance, divide a measure into segments, and more.
What’s in the box?
- DP20Pro laser measuring tool
- Wrist strap
- USB-A to USB-C charging cable
- User manual
- Quality inspection card
- Hard shell storage case
Hardware specs
- Dimension(mm): 160*42*21mm
- Weight: 150g
- Battery Type: 1000mAh rechargeable Li-ion battery, USB-C recharging
- Measurement types: Two-way Measure/One-way Measure
- Range: Two-way: 0.25-80m/120m
- Additional laser: Middle Laser Marking Beam
- Accuracy: 2.0mm
- Measurement divisions: 1/N Line Segmentation
- Measuring unit: m/ft/in/ft+in
- Angle Sensor: Yes
- Measurement modes: Single Measurement, Continuous Measurement, Area, Volume, Angle, Auto Height Finding, Auto Level Distance Finding
- Screen Display: OLED
- Device connectivity: Bluetooth
- Reference Point: Rear for One-way/Middle Laser Mark Beam for Two-way
- Laser Type: 630-670nm,<1mW
- Laser Class: Class II
- Memory: 20 sets
- Auto Power Switch-off: after 180s of inactivity
Design and features
The Mileseey DP20pro smart bilateral laser measurement tool feels solid. It is finished in a combination of metal and plastic that give it a nice, high-tech look. The display screen sits in the middle of the black upper half. Below that, we see a series of buttons. The arrow buttons on the left cycle back and forth through options as well as turning individual lasers on or off. The yellow button below the arrows turns on segmenting mode where you can divide a measure into half, thirds, quarters, and so on up to 16 segments. The T/t button switches the display to increase the measurement size for easier visibility and also turns Bluetooth on/off. The large center button turns the device on and initiates a measurement. The yellow button on the right clears the most recent measurement and turns the device off. The unit button cycles between feet, inches, feet + inches, and meters. The memory button saves and recalls stored measurements. The mode button cycles through the various operating modes: two-way measuring, area, volume, auto level distance, and auto height.
The bottom of the unit features a standard threaded tripod mount hole.
The top two images show the front of the unit with the charging port open and closed. It’s USB-C – yay! The position marking laser lens is in the middle. The back has a slit for mounting the wrist strap.
Both ends have laser outputs for measuring. This photo shows the front marking laser plus views of each side.
Here is a look at a number of the information displays. As you can see, they are all well laid out and readable.
Mileseey leverages the Smart Life app that connects to devices from multiple manufacturers. By connecting to the app, you can see and label measurements and define basic floorplans.
Setup
The only setup needed is to fully charge the DP20Pro and attached the optional wrist strap if desired.
Performance
When you turn the unit on, it comes up in standard measurement mode. It remembers if you were in right-only, left-only, or bilateral measurement mode. The battery charge indicator is on the upper left of the display.
This is a photo of a basic bilateral measurement. I used a monopod to hold the Mileseey DP20pro smart bilateral laser measurement tool as my arms aren’t long enough to get back to take this photo.
You can see the laser on each wall. Pressing the large button performs a measurement. It takes less than a second.
This shows that the wall to the left was 2′ 6-7/16″ away and the right wall was 2′ 13/16″ away. The total distance between the walls is 4″7-1/4″.
When you use the bilateral mode, the measurement spans the opening. The measurements for each side are taken from the center of the unit. I made several measurements and validated them with a tape measure. The DP20Pro was dead-on and it was a whole lot easier than stretching out a tape measure.
If you need to measure in one direction, you can turn off either side laser. In this mode, the measurement is from the far end of the device to where you shine the laser. You place the laser against the wall and point the other end at the opposite wall. Again, I found this to be quick and very accurate.
The area and volume measurements are just as fast and easy. You can use single or bidirectional mode. To measure area, you take two measurements – one in each direction (length & width) in the room. The unit calculates the area and displays that. The arrow keys cycle through the two measurements for reference. Volume works the same but requires a third measurement for height.
You can also place the unit into continuous measurement mode. This can be done in a single direction or bilaterally. When in continuous measurement mode, the unit beeps every time it is steady enough to take a measurement. As you continue to move, it keeps taking measurements and beeping as each one is recorded. When you hit the measurement button again, the unit displays the maximum and minimum measured distances.
If you want to hang something in the middle of a wall, you can use the marking laser.
Here, you can see the side laser dots and the marking laser vertical line. In this mode, you move the device until the measurements in each direction equal each other. The marking laser paints a vertical line in the center of the wall.
Next up, I tested two more interesting features with what I initially thought were mixed results.
First up was the auto-level feature. Picture this: You need to measure the distance to a wall some distance away. But, something – furniture, plants – whatever, is blocking a clear shot for the laser to reach the wall. Or, perhaps the wall has something like a mirror on it that doesn’t play well with lasers. In auto-level mode, you can point the laser above your natural target. The Mileseey DP20pro smart bilateral laser measurement tool measures the angle and distance to the target. It assumes that the wall goes straight up and down, so you are essentially making a right triangle with the laser, the wall, and an imaginary line from you to the wall. Armed with that and a little knowledge of the Pythagorean Theorem and the fact that the sum of all interior angles of any triangle is equal to 180°, the device calculates the distance from the unit to the wall. I tested this by making sure the unit was in a consistent place. I measured to a wall and then switched to the auto level mode. I pointed the unit up a random amount and measured and it calculated the same distance I had just measured. Cool! Yay, geometry!
Next up was the auto height feature. This one is a little different. Suppose you want to measure the height of something on a wall some distance away. Perhaps you want to see how tall a window is up on the second floor. To do this, you put the unit in auto height mode. The device coaches you to measure the top of your target. Next up, you take a second measurement at the bottom of your target. The device calculates the height between the two dots you just measured. How is this possible? More geometry – this time, the law of cosines. The unit measures the distance to both the top spot and the bottom spot as well as the angled between the measurements.
If a and b are the two sides of the triangle you just measured, c is the missing side or height, and C is the angle between a and b, then c2 = a2 + b2 − 2ab cos(C). Once again, the DP20Pro is using more geometry to calculate the information. Unfortunately, this is where I had problems, or so I thought…
I needed to measure something with a clearly defined top and bottom. This should work!
I decided to measure the inside darker area of this column. In the photo above, I put some red dots at the approximate measuring points for clarity. The ceiling here is ten feet high, so this should be nine-foot-something, right? Nope, no matter how I measured it, it kept coming out between 8’8″ and 8’10”, the variation attributable to my inaccurate placement of the laser and a little shaking when I pressed the measurement button. I read the actual measurements and angle and calculated the height myself using the law of cosines and the calculations were correct, but the measurement was wrong, right? If only there was a way to validate it. Oh yeah, I could go old school and just grab the tape measure. I stretched it out awkwardly, at one point holding part of it with my hand and another part secured against the wall with my knee. Photos are not included for obvious, and embarrassing reasons. Speaking of embarrassing…the actual length of that dark panel was…8’10”. Wait, what?
As it turns out, I suck at looking at something and estimating size. So, my initial disappointment with the height-measuring prowess of the Mileseey DP20pro smart bilateral laser measurement tool was replaced with admiration. This thing works! Since I had the tape measure out, I tried another measurement.
I stood the tape up against the wall. Then I did a height measurement from across the room. On the left, you can see the laser dot near the top of the tape measure – actually, a bit below the top. On the right, you can see the second dot just marginally below the 4′ mark on the tape.
And the results?
Given that my laser marks were below the top of the tape and very slightly below the 4″ mark, I’d say this was dead-on accurate. Pretty cool that high school geometry comes into play in real life!
If you hang multi-panel art on your walls, you know how hard it can be to not only get things centered but also equally spaced. The DP20Pro can help there as well. Using the “1/N” button, the device can break your space into 1/2, 1/3…1/16. Let’s say you want to hang three pictures on the wall. You choose the fraction you want to use, in this case, 1/3, and take the measurement. Then as you move the tool to the right or left, it will beep when you hit your marking points as well as displaying that on the screen and marking the target wall.
Here I am, too far to the left, between the left wall and the 1/3 point.
As I slowly moved to the right, when I hit the 1/3 point, the display showed it and the device beeped repeatedly
Then I started moving to the right toward the 2/3 point.
At 2/3 – more beeps.
Moving farther to the right, it shows I am between the 2/3 point and the right wall.
Here is what the wall markings look like
The slight variations in the overall measure were because I wasn’t careful as I moved left and right and twisted slightly. One thing to note is that the laser needs a measurement target on the left and right for this use case. In most cases, you don’t have something sticking out from your wall so to use this mode, you will need to add artificial “walls” to the left and right of the Mileseey DP20pro smart bilateral laser measurement tool that align with the left and right ends of the space you are trying to divide. That isn’t the fault of the device, of course, but is something to be aware of.
If you want to keep track of your measurements, the device can store up to 20 measurements by hitting the memory key. If you need to store more, the Smart Life app can sync measurements for later review. The manual states that the app can “…control the device remotely through the APP for measurement and data transfer.” The data transfer part is correct, and it can change the measurement units on the device, but the app cannot trigger a measurement. That would be a great addition as it could lead to more accurate measurements by taking moving hands out of the equation. The app also lets you take a photo of a room or draw a floor plan and then mark it up with stored measurements.
I can’t give you a battery life estimate other than it will last a long, long time. I’ve taken hundreds of measurements during this review and haven’t made a dent in the battery. It continues to display 4/4 bars. Suffice it to say that battery life is excellent.
Keep in mind that this is designed for indoor use. With a usable range of nearly 400 feet, this would be awesome for measuring fences and the dimensions of a yard. Unfortunately, the laser simply isn’t bright enough to see outside in sunlight beyond ten feet or so. That will remain the realm of the rolling measurement wheels for now.
What I like
- Easy to use
- Nice set of measurement modes
- Accurate
- The dual lasers mean you don’t have to place the laser against a wall to measure
What I’d change
- Difficult to hold steady while pressing the measurement button
- Add app control to take measurements
- A brighter laser for outdoor measurements would be great
Final thoughts
If you’re a contractor or real estate professional, carrying the Mileseey DP20pro smart bilateral laser measurement tool with you could certainly simplify taking measurements. For short measurements, it’s hard to beat a trusty tape measure. But when you need to measure a room, stretching those out can be a challenge. Pulling the DP20Pro out of your pocket and taking two quick measurements can give you the dimensions and area of a room in an instant. Syncing that to the app and marking the measurements with comments could make your later documentation a snap. With its excellent battery life, you should be able to map out house after house without worrying about charging. If you regularly take these types of measurements, adding lasers to your toolkit with the Mileseey DP20Pro will give you that pew-pew factor while making your life a little easier.
Price: $199.99
Where to buy: Milessey and Amazon ($179.99)
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Mileseey.
