The Best Avalanche Beacon Review

Range
Since most of the beacons were rated to a 50-meter range, you would think they would all perform about the same. However, in our experience and these tests, there are some big differences. For example, the Tracker 2 is rated to 50 meters but we have found it does not always perform that high. On the other hand, the Pieps DSP and DSP Tour receive signals at 60 meters and beyond. The beacons with the best range by far were the F1, Pieps DSP and Barryvox Element and the Pulse. Of these, the Pulse, Element, the DSP, and DSP Tour get the highest marks because the they work best at the edge of their range. One advantage of the Pulse and the Element: If you are walking parallel with a flux line away from the victim, these beacons will tell you to turn around. With most other beacons, when you are at the edge of their range in coarse search, they can send you away from the victim. At that point it is up to you to notice that you are getting farther away by reading the distance indicator, which takes extra awareness and time.

Ease of finding single victim
All the beacons do relatively well at this. All were intuitive to use. The biggest difference comes in how the beacons deal with signal spikes. All the three-antennae models did great. The Backcountry Access Tracker 2, while it has other shortcomings, was one of the fastest beacons we tested. The Barryvox Element and Pulse and the Pieps DSP and DSP Tour were all super close as well.

Ease of using multiple burials
This is where the beacons really differed. The Pieps DSP and DSP Tour had very tight "flagging" zones and could flag one beacon even with two very close together a time when other beacons struggled. The S1+ was one of the best as it gives a clear readout of where the victims are and lets you flag a victim and move on to the next. The Barryvox Element and the Pulse also had easy-to-use and very effective flagging systems. The Ortovox 3+ also has similar features that let you flag victims and move on but we felt it wasn't quite as effective.

Ease of use in fine search
Here the Barryvox Pulse and Element performed near the top again, along with the Backcountry Access Tracker 2 and the Pieps DSP and DSP Tour. In our tests while in the hands of a professional guide the DSP and the Pulse were the fastest. Among slightly less experienced backcountry users the Tracker 2 would often be a little quicker but the Pulse, and Pieps DSP and DPS Tour were not far behind.

Editors' Choice - Best Avalanche Beacon
The Mammut Pulse Barryvox is our favorite beacon and winner of the Editors' Choice award. It scored near the top in every category. It is easy to use, has nearly the biggest range, and deals the multiple burials well. Best of all, there is not much price difference with the other top three-antennae beacons. Its closest competition is the Pieps DSP, which is a little simpler to use but doesn't have as much user control or as many features. In choosing between them, it comes down to if you are comfortable with the many advanced features of the Barryvox or prefer a more simple user interface and display.

Top Pick - Top Pick Avalanche Beacon
The Pieps DSP Tour was our Outdoor Gear Lab Editors' Top pick because it was one of the higher scoring beacons in every catagory. It has awesome range, one of our favorite multiple burial features, was super easy to use and it's only $350! Compared with its more expensive counterpart, the DSP it has all the same features except the "Fisher Finder" button and the frequency check button, which most people will never use, and it's $100 less. the DSP Tour is also nearly as awesome as the Pulse and is $150 cheaper.

Best Buy - Best Value Avalanche Beacon
If you are only doing a few trips a year, we recommend the Backcountry Access Tracker 2, which is $20-170 cheaper than the top three-antennae beacons and is really intuitive to use. It has only has okay range and doesn't do as well in multiple burial situations, but is super easy to use and mega fast at finding a single beacon.