REASONS TO BUY
Bluetooth connectivity
Fast processor
Extended battery life
Excellent multiple burial features
REASONS TO AVOID
Battery life is not displayed as percentage
Switch is tough to slide
Group check is hard to use
Black Diamond Guide BT Review
This easy-to-use beacon is one of the best models for advanced users and beginners alike
Credit: Dom Rickicki
RELATED: Best Avalanche Beacon
Our Verdict
The Black Diamond Guide BT is one of the more advanced beacons we tested. It offers a fast processor speed and an excellent suite of features aimed toward avalanche professionals or advanced recreationalists. The Guide BT is incredibly accurate, is able to differentiate well between multiple targets buried in close proximity, and includes helpful features like a Scan mode and an ability to switch between digital and analog modes to better solve extra complex problems. And thanks to its ability to connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth, setting configuration and software updates are a breeze. Even though it doesn't offer the same standard features as other pro-level beacons we tested, once you get used to them, the BD Guide's own set of features is just as practical as any other. Check out our avalanche beacons review to see how the Guide BT fared against the competition.
Editor's Note: After the 2022 recall, we re-purchased and retested the Guide BT to ensure accuracy in our assessment. We updated this review on May 13, 2024.
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Black Diamond Guide BT | |||||
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| Awards |  | |  | | |
| Price | Check Price at Backcountry Compare at 2 sellers | Check Price at REI Compare at 2 sellers | $275.00 at Backcountry Compare at 3 sellers | $322.46 at Backcountry Compare at 2 sellers | Check Price at Backcountry Compare at 3 sellers |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | A high-end beacon that is packed full of features, with an interface that is easy to use even for the less experienced | An easy-to-follow display and just the right amount of features make this the perfect option for most backcountry users | Perfect for pros or advanced users, this model performs well in every test metric | An intuitive model that manages to pack in a host of user-friendly features, whose price point will appeal to a wide range of backcountry skiers | With an easy to use interface and a very fast processor, this an ideal option for intro-level backcountry skiers and riders |
| Rating Categories | Black Diamond Guide BT | Black Diamond Recon X | Mammut Barryvox S | Arva Neo BT Pro | Backcountry Access... |
| Speed (30%) | |||||
| Interface (25%) | |||||
| Accuracy (20%) | |||||
| Multiple Burials (15%) | |||||
| Range (10%) | |||||
| Specs | Black Diamond Guide BT | Black Diamond Recon X | Mammut Barryvox S | Arva Neo BT Pro | Backcountry Access... |
| Manufacturer's Stated Max Range | 60 m | 60 m | 70 m | 90 m | 55 m |
| Measured Range | 40 m | 40 m | 55 m | 62 m | 42 m |
| Flagging Feature | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (Signal Suppression) |
| Digital or Analog Modes | Both | Digital | Both | Both | Digital |
| Stated Battery Life (in "Send") | 400 hours | 400 hours | 300 hours | Alkaline: 350 hours Lithium: 450 hours |
250 hours |
| Number of Antennae | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Measured Weight | 210 g | 217 g | 210 g | 214 g | 165 g |
Show full specification details ▼Hide full specification details ▲
Our Analysis and Test Results
The “BT” in the Black Diamond Guide BT refers to Bluetooth. You can configure settings – including enabling an analog mode – and update software via a smartphone app. Bluetooth functionality aside, this beacon is stacked with features designed to better serve professional users. The Guide BT is essentially the pro-level version of the Black Diamond Recon X, which is more tuned to recreationalists.
Performance Comparison
A pro-level beacons like the Guide BT offer features that come in handy during complex burials. But as a result, their interfaces often look more complicated.
Credit: Dom Rickicki
Speed
Speed considers not only the processor speed but also how quickly a trained professional can use a beacon to find a single buried target. Thanks to an uber fast processor – which is really only rivaled by the instant-response BCA system – the Guide BT performed very well in our speed tests. During the coarse search phase, it had no trouble locking into a consistent signal at its maximum range. We were able to move towards a target at basically any speed we desired, with only the slightest amount of lag if we were coming in as fast as possible. In the fine search phase, the Guide BT maintained its ability to keep up where other pro-level beacons – especially delayed-response models from Mammut – tended to lag.
The Guide BT was consistently one of the faster beacons at a single burial search, and is particularly adept at a fine search.
Credit: Ian Nicholson
Interface
The Guide BT simply doesn't offer the same user-friendly interface as other pro-level beacons we tested. While this beacon is generally easy to use, and its performance doesn't hinder a search, some functions are cumbersome and simply don't work as well as we would hope from a beacon of this caliber. Even though it features a group check function, it only appears with a non-descript “CH” on the screen after boot up and requires the user to hold down the Scan button throughout the whole check, which we found very finicky to do with gloves on.
The group check on the Guide BT isn't nearly as intuitive or easy to use as comparable beacons.
Credit: Dom Rickicki
Issues with the device switch plagued Black Diamond-PIEPS for years before they issued a voluntary recall of the Guide BT in 2022. Despite updates to the design to address these issues, we found that the switch is still pretty difficult to slide. The three-way switch uses a slider mechanism, which locks into place via a small, secondary slider tab that has a small locking tab that engages into the main slider. It essentially requires two hands to operate, and still, the locking tab doesn't drop into place easily – you must actively adjust the slider into place so that the mechanism locks properly.
Even after the redesign, the slider on the Guide BT is nearly impossible to operate with one hand.
Credit: Dom Rickicki
Notable Features
This beacon uses Bluetooth to connect with your smartphone via an app, which serves as the basis for most of the unique features found on the Guide BT. The app allows you to easily configure settings, turn on preset options, and update the software when necessary. The Guide BT includes fairly standard high-end options, like a revert-to-send mode and an ability to configure the transceiver to use either alkaline or lithium-ion batteries. This beacon already claims an impressive 400 hours of send mode with normal alkaline batteries, but with lithium-ion batteries, that number jumps to around 600 hours.
It also includes some more specialized, pro-level features. You can enable an analog mode, which can be quite useful in complex rescue scenarios. However, unlike other beacons that offer an additional analog option, the Guide BT's analog mode doesn't give a distance or direction, nor is the sound quality quite as good. It includes a built-in inclinometer, which received mixed results from both professionals and recreationalists – with so many other tools to more accurately measure slope angle, we wonder why this feature was even included. The Guide BT's Scan mode displays distances from 20 to 40 to 60 meters and lets you know how many burials are within each distance range.
Here we're pointing at the Scan mode button on the Guide BT. Besides enacting Scan mode, this also gives the operator one more button to navigate the menus of this model with.
Credit: Ian Nicholson
Accuracy
The Guide BT uses five directional arrows, which are displayed two at a time to help you accurately stay on the flux line. On our final approach of the fine search phase, users of all abilities consistently had a much easier time with this beacon than some of the other pro-level models. In the fine search phase, the Guide BT always put us within 25 cm of a probe strike for a target buried up to 1 meter deep. While this is partially thanks to a properly executed bracket and most beacons within this range of accuracy, our team noted that everyone who tested the Guide BT more frequently came in right over the buried target rather than off to one side.
Even in the hands of more novice users, the Guide BT was easy to use and impressively accurate.
Credit: Dom Rickicki
Multiple Burials
The Guide BT is one of our favorite models to use in a fine search, particularly in a multiple-burial situation. This beacon generally lagged less during this phase than other comparable models, and when the processor was overloaded with signals, it wasn't nearly as jumpy. It easily differentiated between beacons buried in close proximity, rarely mismarking or incorrectly flagging a target. The uniquely designed Scan mode allows you to get a lay of the land by quickly browsing through multiple burial locations. While we still would prefer the scroll function of other pro-level beacons we tested, this is actually a very useful tool for avalanche rescue exams and complex rescue scenarios.
Multiple burials are still indicated on the screen, even if you can't cycle through them like other advanced models.
Credit: Ian Nicholson
Range
The manufacturer-measured range of the Guide BT is 60 meters, which is measured in a position of ideal coupling. But considering that your beacon isn't likely to connect perfectly with a buried victim's, we recorded the distance where we first acquired a signal and averaged it across all of our tests to gain a more realistic idea of a beacon's capabilities. The Guide BT averaged 40 m in our tests, which is entirely average amongst beacons on the market today.
Thanks to its fast processor, we had no issue locking into a consistent signal and following it all the way into buried targets.
Credit: Dom Rickicki
Should You Buy the Black Diamond Guide BT?
The Guide BT is a premium avalanche beacon. If you're a professional, you will love the full suite of features and the ability to configure this beacon to best suit your own practice. The interface isn't the easiest to use, but once we were used to it, our expert team firmly believes that this is the most accurate option currently on the market. But even we admit that this beacon is expensive. While we loved playing with the advanced features on the Guide BT, most backcountry users will not require a beacon with this level of sophistication.
What Other Avalanche Beacons Should You Consider?
For guides and professionals, we'd recommend comparing the Black Diamond Guide BT directly against the Mammut Barryvox S, another fully-featured beacon favored by many in the industry. It is also worth considering these options against the Arva Neo BT Pro, which offers pro-level features at a mid-level price. But for the majority of backcountry skiers and riders, we recommend the more user-friendly version of the Guide BT, the Black Diamond Recon X. The Recon X is very similar to its older cousin, and only omits advanced features – like the Scan mode, an option to use it in analog, and the ability to check frequency drift – that most novice users will never employ anyway.
—
Ian Nicholson and Dom Rickicki
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