The Quick Verdict
Honestly? These two together is the setup — the Wingman 2 calling out yardages from the cart rail while the A1-Slope gives you the exact pin distance when it actually matters. Both are Bushnell, both are under $170 and $300 respectively, and they're clearly designed to complement each other. Buying just one? Take the A1-Slope. It works whether you ride or walk, gives you precise distances on every course without a phone, and at $300 it's the more versatile single device for most golfers.
What They Actually Do
The Wingman 2 is a Bluetooth speaker that mounts to your cart bar and announces GPS yardages out loud when you press a button. The A1-Slope is a compact laser rangefinder that gives you exact distance to whatever you point it at, with slope compensation built in. Both are Bushnell products, both are legal for tournament play (slope off on the A1-Slope), and both live in the same Bushnell Golf ecosystem.
The Real Tradeoffs
Precision vs. convenience
The A1-Slope measures ±1 yard to a specific target at up to 350 yards to the flag. The Wingman 2 gives you front, center, and back of the green — useful numbers, but GPS-based and fixed to those three points. For an approach shot where pin placement is tucked back-right and you need to know it's 174 not 168, the laser wins that conversation cleanly. For tee shots, layup decisions, and hazard carries, the audible callout from the Wingman is fast and perfectly adequate.
Speed of use — and who's riding
This is where the comparison gets interesting. The Wingman 2 is already mounted and already on. One press of the BITE remote (which clips right to the cart bar) and you hear front/center/back without putting a club down. When you're riding, that's genuinely faster than pulling out a laser, finding the flag, locking on, and reading the number.
But the Wingman stays on the cart. The moment you park 40 yards from your ball and walk in, the number it gave you is already wrong. The A1-Slope doesn't care where you're standing — it works from wherever you are, on foot or in a cart, every time.
If you walk the course, the Wingman 2 is the wrong tool. That's not a knock — it's just honest. A cart speaker is a cart device.
What you can see
The A1-Slope has an LCD display and shows you one thing: the distance to what you're pointing at. That's it. The Wingman 2 has no screen at all — and that's worth sitting with for a second. Hole maps, 3D flyovers, hazard distances, green views: all of that lives in the Bushnell Golf app on your phone. The speaker itself is purely audio. So if you want to visualize a hole before you play it, you're reaching for your phone regardless.
The slope advantage
The A1-Slope earns its name. It calculates plays-like distance based on elevation change, which is information the Wingman 2 simply doesn't provide. On a hilly course, that's the difference between pulling a 7-iron and a 6-iron. Flip the slope switch off for tournament rounds — there's a physical toggle for exactly that.
Battery and charging
Both charge via USB-C, which is a nice consistency. The Wingman 2 claims up to 14 hours — roughly three rounds — and can charge your phone while it's at it, which is a genuinely useful bonus on a long cart day. The A1-Slope claims 50+ rounds on a charge, which means you're charging it roughly once a season. Practically speaking, neither is going to leave you stranded.
Music — one thing the A1-Slope will never do
The Wingman 2 plays music. That's a real reason some golfers want it, completely separate from anything distance-related, and the laser will never compete with it on that front.
Who Should Get Which
Mount the Wingman 2 if you always ride, you want yardages called out hands-free while you're chatting with your playing partners, and you like the idea of music on the cart from a device that also handles GPS. The BITE remote on the rail is a legitimately slick setup for a cart golfer who wants frictionless yardages without touching a phone or a laser.
Grab the A1-Slope if you walk the course even some of the time, you play courses with meaningful elevation where slope compensation changes your club selection, or you want one device that travels with you hole to hole and gives you precise numbers. At 5.1 oz it's barely there in your pocket.
Get both if you're a regular rider who wants the full picture — the Wingman handling ambient yardages and tunes on the cart, the A1-Slope coming out for approach shots when you actually need to know the number. Both are Bushnell, both are IPX6, both charge via USB-C. They share an ecosystem and feel like they were designed to coexist. The combined cost is under $470, which is less than some premium GPS watches alone.
The Bottom Line
The Wingman 2 is a cart golfer's device — it's good at what it does, but it stays on the rail. The A1-Slope goes wherever you go. If you're buying one, take the A1-Slope: it works on foot or in a cart, adds slope compensation, and lasts 50 rounds on a charge without subscription fees or phone dependency. The Wingman becomes a genuinely compelling addition once you already have the laser — not instead of it.