Review on Bosch GLL3 330CG 360 Degree Three Plane Alignment Line by Antonio Urbina

First of all, the laser is very accurate. I did an initial horizontal accuracy test and found the laser to be within 1/32 of an inch at over 27 feet. The laser is large and heavy (compared to my 14 year old DeWalt DW087K red laser) - 2lb 1oz with 12v battery and no positioner, 3lb 2oz with magnet mount and 3lb 15oz with magnet mount and hanging clip ceiling . My DeWalt weighs about 1lb 1oz with 3 AA batteries and its permanently attached magnetic mount (about the same as the Bosch magnetic mount). Beam - Compared to my DeWalt laser, the Bosch was noticeably brighter indoors on a cloudy day with no artificial lighting. The Bosch bar was also slightly thinner. I have tried the Bosch laser with both the included 12V battery and the AA battery adapter. The 12v battery gave a slightly brighter beam than the AA adapter. Bosch Leveling App - With the Bosch Leveling App you can control which lines are on without touching the laser. This allows you to turn the lasers on and off or put the laser in standby mode (no lasers on) without changing the position of the laser. Sometimes the application does not "see" the laser plane. I've never found a reliable set of steps to fix this problem, but turning the bluetooth laser level off and on again, or closing and restarting the app sometimes solves the problem. Battery Life - Bosch claims a battery life of 6 hours using the included BAT414 battery (12V, 2.0Ah), all three lasers, Bluetooth off. I tested the battery twice with Bluetooth off, starting with a fully charged battery, turning Bluetooth on intermittently, but only long enough to get a battery reading in the Bosch Leveling app. Each time, the laser shut off after about 4 hours and 15 minutes - a far cry from the advertised 6 hours. Each time, the battery level dropped to about 50% after just 1 hour, 33% after 2 hours, 29% after 3 hours, 20% after 4 hours, and the device turned off 15 minutes after that. The third time, after an overnight charge, the initial battery level was 62%, so I turned the device off. After two days, the battery level was 56%. After turning the device off and on again, the battery level was at 70%. Not only is the battery life significantly shorter than advertised, the battery levels reported by the app also don't give a useful indication of the actual remaining charge or how long you can expect the battery life to last. I called Bosch about this and gave them the battery serial number and they said it was only 5 months old and recommended returning the unit for a refund or replacement within the 30 day money back guarantee. I went for a replacement and got almost the same performance from a replacement which I also sent back. This may not be an issue for you, but I think Bosch should provide accurate battery life information. Positioner (Mounting Bracket) - The adjustment knob on the included BM 1 positioner allows for up to 2-1/2 inches of vertical adjustment. . The ceiling grid clamp has two positions to raise or lower the laser an additional 1 inch. With this level of customization, I was surprised to see that the horizontal line could only go 5/16" below the ceiling grid it was attached to. It seems like a small distance to me, but I don't install false ceilings, so that could be in Being tidy I'm used to using my DeWalt laser by magnetically attaching it to a corner bead on finished drywall, which makes it quick and easy to install anywhere there's an outside corner.The Bosch BM 1- Device also has magnets, but their strength is barely enough to support the weight of the mount itself on the corner bar.A workaround (which I've tested) is to use metal tie (like Simpson's strong zip ties, etc.) attached to a large 3M command strip attached to the wall This worked very well and seemed reliable but was time consuming and expensive to set up as the command bars are not reusable et can become. CAL Guard - The CAL Guard function is too sensitive. Routine handling of the laser can easily trigger the CAL Guard, leaving you wondering if something actually happened that caused accuracy issues. Case - the hard case has a special place for everything but the laser. The space for the laser is a large open rectangle. It seems strange to me that the most fragile part of the kit is poorly secured in the case. Combine this with the sensitivity of the CAL Guard and you will often question the accuracy of a laser.