Garmin Xero C1 Pro Chronograph - Is it worth it?

Click to see our review on YouTube!

When I heard Garmin was releasing a new chronograph I couldn’t wait to get our hands on it and test it out! I must admit, although I tried to do my best to provide an unbiased opinion, it was a challenge before I even started. I’ve been a huge fan of Garmin products across multiple disciplines. I’ve only had good experiences with their customer service (actually talking to a human, in the United States) when products failed. I’ve never had a product fail within it’s warranty window and could always. point to my own actions and “running it hard” that caused the failure. Regardless, Gamin provides an out of warranty replacement option that has helped me get back up and running with their fish finder units quickly. I can only imagine their level of quality and customer service would apply to the Xero C1 Chrono as well

The Xero C1 Pro came out in late November 2023, but seems to be slowly adopted across the shooting sports industry from what I can tell. And, I get it, if you own a LabRadar, Magneto Speed, or even one of those old school Caldwell chronos, why go out and buy a completely new one that does the same thing?

Ease Of Use - 10 out of 10

In my recent testing, I discovered how easy to set up and use the Xero C1 Pro is, and for me that quickly set it ahead of the pack. After unboxing the unit and turning it on, it displayed a QR code which I scanned, downloaded the app (it has for both apple and android) and connected via Bluetooth the the chrono unit. This only took a couple of minutes an was very user friendly. One I got to the home screen I was able to select the type of projectile (in my case I tested Rifle, Handgun, and Bow) and given the option to select projectile weight to determine kinetic energy. Once I advanced through those screens I was instructed by the unit how close to place it to the muzzle (or where to position it in relation to the arrow). For the rifle (set up pictured right) it wanted to sit 5-15” off the barrel laterally, and 5-15” from the muzzle. This made it really easy to just plop it on the table next to me and start shooting. From start to finish, the entire set up and time to first registered round may have been 5 minutes, max!

Old style chronographs are much cheaper but fraught with design flaws and difficult to set up properly

Practicality and Effectiveness - 9 out of 10

Within about 20 minutes, I had effectively chronographed 3 different types of rifle loads (helping with load development for a Designated Marksman match I’m prepping for next month), a couple of mags of pistol ammo out of my 9mm Springfield XDM, and arrows with my hunting broadhead tips (check out Iron Will broadheads, well worth the price!). I had the data loaded on the app and was able to quickly figure out how to add notes to record which projectiles/loads were which.

Now here’s where I think the unit is the most handy! I never once missed a shot due to positioning. I didn’t have to worry about trying to shoot through the old-school chrono wickets or worry about a device hanging off my barrel potentially changing the harmonics of the rifle (and thus point of impact down range). This provided me the ability to zero my weapon and not stress about the chonograph itself, which I sincerely feel will pay dividends in saved ammo and precious time.

A screenshot of the app (to the left) also shows some of the basic data analytics it gives you, which, to be fair are par for the course for most other devices too. However, with most chronographs I would guess folks are shooting a few shots, getting their SD (Standard Deviation, which maps out how wide the normal distribution bell curve is and can indicate how tight your velocities are) and making a quick determination if a certain load/powder/seating depth (etc) is working for their rifle. But, imagine setting up the Garmin and shooting a few dozen or even a few hundred shots while practicing wind calls at long range, and getting 50-100x more data points than simply shooting a 3-5 shot group?! Mathematically speaking,

the more data points you can get, the more accurate your understanding of the load performance distribution will be. I don’t think this is nearly as feasible to do with other units based on their design and operability.

Perceived Quality and Cost - 10/10

While I haven’t been using and operating the Garmin Xero for more than a few days, my initial perception is that unit is made well and should be quite durable. In full disclosure, I paid full price with my own money for this thing and I don’t really intend to put any deliberate wear and tear on it for testing purposes. With how compact the unit is, it’s well protected but accessible buttons, and limited moving parts on the outside, I imagine it would be hard to break this thing and fully expect it to stand the test of time (I will post an update as I put it to further use, and make sure I follow up on this assumption).

Now, how can I give it a score of 10/10 when the cost is arguably the highest of any consumer unit on the market? Well, although it does come in at around $600, I think the value is completely there. As I stated above, this unit will allow you to practice while you chrono, which is going to save tons of time and money in ammunition costs. I also think that for the cost, the form factor is quite amazing (I mean it’s a stinkin DOPPLER RADAR in the size of a GoPro!). Sorry…got a bit excited there.

Conclusion

Obviously you could tell from the start that I was pretty pumped about the Garmin Xero C1 chronograph. The ease of use had me sold from the first 5 minutes, I didn’t feel like I needed a doctoral degree to figure this thing out. It was super practical from a set up standpoint and gave me all the data I needed with no extra headache at the range. I plan to throw this thing in my range bag and have it on hand whenever I go do some target practice, and that’s more love than any other chronograph I’ve ever owned will get. I think this unit is a must have, and earns the Quality Sportsman rating of 10 out of 10!