MGI Zip Navigator vs Motocaddy M5 GPS DHC

The Quick Verdict

Get the Motocaddy M5 GPS DHC. At $1,499 list — four dollars more than the MGI — you get built-in GPS with a 3.5-inch touchscreen covering 40,000 courses, a storage console, and a cart that folds two inches shorter at its longest dimension. The MGI Zip Navigator is the pick only if you already own a GPS device and want full directional remote control instead: it's the only one here you can steer from across the fairway.

What They Have in Common

Both are electric caddies listing just under $1,500. Both include an umbrella holder and a cup holder, both have downhill speed control, and both run 230-watt motors — two in the MGI, one in the Motocaddy. Neither lists a follow mode. The price difference at list is four dollars.

Where They Differ

GPS and screen

The M5 GPS DHC has a built-in GPS unit with a 3.5-inch LCD touchscreen, full hole mapping, and 40,000 courses loaded. The Zip Navigator has no built-in GPS — it has a holder for a GPS device you'd bring separately. If you already carry a handheld unit, the Navigator lists a holder for it. If you don't, the Motocaddy includes what you'd otherwise buy.

Remote control vs no remote

This is the sharpest divide. The MGI has full directional remote control with a gyroscope that holds the cart on a straight line without constant input. You can send it ahead, call it back, steer it around a bunker from where your ball landed. The Motocaddy has no remote at all. Walking beside the cart the whole round is how it works, and that's worth naming plainly.

Trunk fit

The Motocaddy folds to 25.5 × 18.5 × 16 inches, a folded volume of 4.4 cubic feet, with a longest dimension of 25.5 inches. The Navigator folds to 27.55 × 18.5 × 16.5 inches, a volume of 4.9 cubic feet, with a longest dimension of 27.55 inches. That's half a cubic foot and two inches at the long end. Whether that matters depends entirely on your trunk; measure the clearance between your hatch and whatever else is in there.

Weight

The Navigator lists at 28.6 lbs without the battery, and 34.96 lbs with it — that's the number you're lifting at the tailgate. Motocaddy prints 25 lbs and doesn't say whether that includes the battery. Because these figures don't measure the same thing, there's no gap to state. Neither can be called lighter.

What's included and warranty

The Motocaddy adds a storage console that the Navigator doesn't publish. Both include a cup holder and umbrella holder. MGI's warranty is three years. Motocaddy splits it: 24 months on the trolley and charger, 60 months on the lithium battery. If the battery is what you're worried about, Motocaddy's 60 months on it is the longest term either maker prints. Motocaddy's US site doesn't publish a battery range in holes for the M5 GPS DHC; MGI rates the Navigator's battery for up to 36 holes, which MGI notes depends on conditions.

Who Should Buy Which

Get the Motocaddy M5 GPS DHC if:

• You want yardages without a second device in your pocket or on your wrist — the built-in screen handles it.
• You want an electronic parking brake alongside automatic downhill control — both carts have downhill control, but MGI describes the Navigator's brake as quick-release on the rear wheels.
• Trunk space is tight and two fewer inches at the long end makes the difference.
• You're doing one round at a time and don't need published range-in-holes to plan around.

Get the MGI Zip Navigator if:

• You already own a GPS watch or handheld you're happy with, and built-in GPS would just be overlap.
• Remote control is something you'd actually use — sending the cart ahead while you chip, steering around wet ground without walking through it.
• You want a single three-year warranty figure rather than a split coverage structure.
• You've looked at 34.96 lbs with the battery and you're fine lifting that at the tailgate.

The Bottom Line

For $1,499 — four dollars more than the Navigator at list — the Motocaddy M5 GPS DHC gives you built-in GPS with 40,000 courses on a touchscreen, a storage console, a five-year battery warranty, and a cart that folds into a smaller footprint. The MGI counters with something the Motocaddy simply doesn't have: full directional remote control and a gyroscope that keeps it rolling straight. That's a real feature, not a spec-sheet one, and if remote control is what you'd use, the Navigator earns its place. But for most rounds on most courses, the GPS screen is more useful more often than remote steering.

Get the Motocaddy M5 GPS DHC.