Here's my $0.02 for what it's worth, probably nothing that has not already been said just my version of it.
Slightly on impulse (Not really I have done a fair bit of research already) I bought the Garmin Xero C1 Pro today. My favorite local gun shop got a few in stock earlier this week and I was lucky they still had some left this morning when I visited. I have had a Shooting Chrony Alpha-Master that I have used past two decades and somehow never shot it. It has been a good chronograph that has rarely given me any issues across a huge range of velocity and calibers.
I have used a LabRadar a fair bit too in the past. I never owned one personally but used one a lot for about a year's span a few years ago when they first came out. I really like it and it always worked pretty well for me, both the unit and the app (no really). Not as reliable at picking up shots as my Shooting Chrony but more convenient to setup and get the data off the unit and into my computer. My intent was always to buy a LabRadar when my Shooting Chrony died or was murdered.
But after Garmin came out with their radar a few month ago and being a pretty big fan of Garmin GPS units (I have owned probably close to a dozen different models of Garmin handheld GPS units and use several of their other units in work projects) I was pretty set on buying the Garmin radar unit sooner than later. Today it was.
Being rather rainy in North Alabama and not being able to get to the range or hunting property I still REALLY wanted to give it a go. I got the unit out of its box, fired up, connected to my phone, and updated to the latest firmware in short order with no issues. I didn't even realize it could update over the Bluetooth connection to my phone until the unit looking up from the manual I saw on the unit's display I was being prompted to do the update. I liked that a lot, no need to plug into my computer to update. The interface is typical Garmin, pretty straight forward and intuitive after just a little use especially if you have used other Garmin devices. I like the screen they use, like some of their GPS units that does not need the backlight on if you're working in a well lite environment, extending battery life.
Not being able to get to the range I setup an impromptu range session in the garage and I broke out the might Red Rider BB-gun (pink in this case being my daughter's). I mounted the Xero on the accessory plate that came with my Primo tripod Trigger-Sticks. The Trigger-Sticks turns out to be a very nice standing height tripod for Xero. No need to borrow the wife's big heavy Manfrotto that my shooting Chrony requires. I launched BB across the shop/garage. Range to target was ~30ft and and there was a heap of clutter near the backstop, two aluminum ladders one under, one besides, and the back stop was hanging on the wall rack with all my lawn tools.
I fired four, 10-shot strings and the Garmin did not miss a single shot. Pretty remarkable given the .177 caliber round BBs (no flat rear surface to reflect lots of signal back to the radar) in addition to the short range (half the recommended) and lots of other potential backscatter from the stuff in the garage.
Now the phone app, it's simple, but brings all the needed functions in straight foreword usable form. You can quickly and easily change the strings name, add notes, and even update the projectile weight if it's wrong or you did not bother to enter it when you started the string. You can go into the string of data and add notes for individual shots, and indicate cold bore or clean bore shots. Lots of ability to add relevant notes to the string of data. All the data is there on the screen for immediate use (unit or phone). You also then have easy access to send the data through email or one of many cloud storage options to get it off your phone.
All in all, from the initial setup and a mini range session I am impressed and really happy with it. Looking forward to getting out to the range and trying it will really guns.
Left to right: Xero on my Trigger-Sticks, yes the safest place in the garage today was the bullseye, What the string data looks like after it's exported to Excel.
-happy rambling geek.
PS: I guess I will keep the Shooting Chrony for the nerf guns...