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Your cart is empty.The Bosch GMS120-27 Wall Scanner provides quick, easy, and accurate detection of wood and steel studs, metals, and live wires behind drywall. Power flexibility helps keep the scanner up and running on the job with the option to use with the included two AA Batteries or 3.7V Li-Ion battery (sold separately). Get clear, confident results with the intuitive user interface that displays object center indication and material identification. Easy to use, the device glides smoothly across the wall and the color-coded illuminated marking ring makes fast, accurate work of transferring detection results. IP54 rating and shock-absorbing rubber casing help provide added durability on tough jobsites.
G. Wolff
2025-08-05 18:54:44
I bought this because of the great ratings and reviews here and elsewhere. But I found this tool very fiddly. It has problems with our walls and find electricity and studs where they are not. I have had much more better luck with a cheap stud finder.However, when this tool does read properly, it is very handy, because the target is perfect for centering a mark.Perhaps our walls just have some weird stuff behind them (and it wouldn’t surprise me after what we have seen.
Wenghis Khan
2025-07-29 13:43:58
Most "stud finders" are on the edge of useless. This one from Bosch is about as good as you can get. It requires a sweep back and forth to calibrate, then it will do its thing. There are small pads (teflon maybe) on the back to prevent damage or marks on the wall. The water line and electrical detection features are useful and seem accurate (I'm not punching holes in the wall to confirm). There is also a nice pouch and a quick reference card that stores with the stud finder, making it quick and easy to use when you need it.
tlinn-com
2025-07-16 14:56:25
I'm a fan of Bosch tools and the GMS120 is no exception. It is a step up from the old stud finder of two decades ago in terms of what it can do—though almost twice as large. It comes with a battery, which is nice, and a case, which is really useful. Perhaps the most impressive thing about it is that it comes with a multi-page owners manual that details a number of different techniques for increasing the accuracy of your reads. These are not obvious and increase the utility of the tool, which I found to be accurate.That said, I compared the GMS120 to the Zircon HD900c (available only at Home Depot from what I can tell) and ultimately decided to keep the Zircon unit. The Zircon offered slightly superior functionality but it was really ease-of-use that motivated my choice. One key feature difference is that the Zircon unit scans for studs in two different modes: normal and Deep Scan. The theory is that you don't necessarily want the scanner to find something deeper in the wall (pex, etc.) and have it misidentify it as a stud so the normal mode scans only to 3/4 of an inch. Deep Scan scans to 1.5 inches. The Deep Scan mode is useful with double layers of sheetrock or when you're looking for an empty cavity instead of a stud. The Bosch unit only has one stud finder mode that seems equivalent to Zircon's Deep Scan as it goes to 1.5 inches.The Zircon unit identifies what it is seeing by the color of the LCD backlight on its display as well as text or symbols on the display itself. I thought the colored backlight was a gimmick until I tried it. I found it very convenient. Bosch uses a colored LED surrounding a hole in the middle of the scanner to convey the same information but, for me, this didn't work nearly as well. As other reviewers have noted, the LED is so bright that you have to turn on the display's backlight to even read it. And the hole in which you are supposed to insert a marking instrument becomes pitch black, making it difficult to see what you are doing. The Zircon makes it much easier to make a precise mark, projecting a red arrow onto the surface where it believes the center of an underlying object to be.The bottom line is that I consider the GMS120 to be a good tool that can be quite useful. However, I do think that Zircon HD900c is a better choice at about the same price.
Steve
2025-06-16 17:30:10
I use it for the thick drywall/plaster or wood floors in my house and works much better than the cheaper electronic ones I have used in the past. Most of my 1950s home's walls have drywall coated in plaster and are about 1" thick is most spots so non-electronic and electronic stud finders never worked too well. Remodeled areas of my home also have the standard 5/8" or 1/2" thick drywall and 3/4" thick wood paneling which I use this mostly successfully on. I also used this successfully to detect flood joists beneath wood flooring, copper and galvanized pipes behind cement board/tile and to find rebar in cement. It can detect steel as deep as 4.75" in the wall, wood up to 1.5" and wires up to 2".Using it around the house, I find it works better in the thick walls and wood paneling, especially for finding live wires. In the standard thickness drywalled walls, it does not find electrical wires well but it does find studs and plumbing well. The only downside to this detector is I cannot get it to consistently find electric wires behind 1/2" or 5/8" drywall which is standard on most homes. In most cases, it will not detect them at all but does give a reading sometimes. This is probably due to the finder only being able to detect wires up to 2" deep in the wall. Sometimes wires are not within 2" of the drywall surface. It also cannot detect studs well behind wood paneling which is not surprising.I find it pretty user-friendly, just turn it on, set your mode (wood, metal, electrical) then place it on the wall and give it a second to calibrate. Afterwards, start searching. It will alert you to whatever mode you have it set on with a bar gauge. When you have it on wood mode, it will also alert you to metal and wires which is convenient. It makes noises as you get closer (you can turn the sound off, it is a bit irritating). When you find the center of a stud, pipe or wire, the finder has a convenient holes you can stick a pencil through the mark it. It seems to find wood with the assistance of finding screws/nails and overall, I find its best to scan up and down to find the exact position of the stud, pipe or wire. You probably wont get the exact location on the first bullseye. The finder also has a backlight for the screen when using in dark areas.The finder comes with a 9v battery, carrying case and directions as well. The directions take a little reading. Overall, this is great for finding studs and pipes but 4/5 stars for the general inability to find electrical behind standard thickness drywall. 5 stars for versatility and ease of use. I thought about knocking it down a star for general failure to detect wiring but its scan range for wiring is limited as stated.
Sergio alvarez
2025-06-14 14:46:59
Exelente herramienta y muy facil de usar
grant d
2025-06-07 16:26:22
may be more expensive than others, but brand is well known and this device has better specs than others. When it comes to tools, money is needed to acquire quality.
Haitham Hassan Al-Abdullah
2025-05-07 16:37:53
ممتاز
Customer
2025-04-25 12:08:08
I have read some issues with the use and accuracy, but I haven't experienced any of those. Very accurate and scans deep. Even if I don't do it as carefully as the manual says. And easy to use. I used it on double layered, OSB reinforced surfaces where we couldn't use any average one, and worked great. I'm using it while ago, and I'm happy with it.
Breno Almeida
2025-04-13 14:57:37
Super prático pra encontrar pilares ou vigas em edificações prontas, facilita e agiliza (ainda mais se comparar com abrir com furadeira ou ponteiro pra descobrir ferragem). Ajuda também a achar fiação elétrica. Só ficar atento pois na caixa fala que detecta tubo de água, mas é pra tubos metálicos - que nos EUA são comuns.
G. Wolff
2025-04-09 18:02:43
I bought this because of the great ratings and reviews here and elsewhere. But I found this tool very fiddly. It has problems with our walls and find electricity and studs where they are not. I have had much more better luck with a cheap stud finder.However, when this tool does read properly, it is very handy, because the target is perfect for centering a mark.Perhaps our walls just have some weird stuff behind them (and it wouldn’t surprise me after what we have seen.
Wenghis Khan
2025-04-06 16:20:02
Most "stud finders" are on the edge of useless. This one from Bosch is about as good as you can get. It requires a sweep back and forth to calibrate, then it will do its thing. There are small pads (teflon maybe) on the back to prevent damage or marks on the wall. The water line and electrical detection features are useful and seem accurate (I'm not punching holes in the wall to confirm). There is also a nice pouch and a quick reference card that stores with the stud finder, making it quick and easy to use when you need it.
tlinn-com
2025-03-21 10:01:07
I'm a fan of Bosch tools and the GMS120 is no exception. It is a step up from the old stud finder of two decades ago in terms of what it can do—though almost twice as large. It comes with a battery, which is nice, and a case, which is really useful. Perhaps the most impressive thing about it is that it comes with a multi-page owners manual that details a number of different techniques for increasing the accuracy of your reads. These are not obvious and increase the utility of the tool, which I found to be accurate.That said, I compared the GMS120 to the Zircon HD900c (available only at Home Depot from what I can tell) and ultimately decided to keep the Zircon unit. The Zircon offered slightly superior functionality but it was really ease-of-use that motivated my choice. One key feature difference is that the Zircon unit scans for studs in two different modes: normal and Deep Scan. The theory is that you don't necessarily want the scanner to find something deeper in the wall (pex, etc.) and have it misidentify it as a stud so the normal mode scans only to 3/4 of an inch. Deep Scan scans to 1.5 inches. The Deep Scan mode is useful with double layers of sheetrock or when you're looking for an empty cavity instead of a stud. The Bosch unit only has one stud finder mode that seems equivalent to Zircon's Deep Scan as it goes to 1.5 inches.The Zircon unit identifies what it is seeing by the color of the LCD backlight on its display as well as text or symbols on the display itself. I thought the colored backlight was a gimmick until I tried it. I found it very convenient. Bosch uses a colored LED surrounding a hole in the middle of the scanner to convey the same information but, for me, this didn't work nearly as well. As other reviewers have noted, the LED is so bright that you have to turn on the display's backlight to even read it. And the hole in which you are supposed to insert a marking instrument becomes pitch black, making it difficult to see what you are doing. The Zircon makes it much easier to make a precise mark, projecting a red arrow onto the surface where it believes the center of an underlying object to be.The bottom line is that I consider the GMS120 to be a good tool that can be quite useful. However, I do think that Zircon HD900c is a better choice at about the same price.
Steve
2025-03-06 10:17:06
I use it for the thick drywall/plaster or wood floors in my house and works much better than the cheaper electronic ones I have used in the past. Most of my 1950s home's walls have drywall coated in plaster and are about 1" thick is most spots so non-electronic and electronic stud finders never worked too well. Remodeled areas of my home also have the standard 5/8" or 1/2" thick drywall and 3/4" thick wood paneling which I use this mostly successfully on. I also used this successfully to detect flood joists beneath wood flooring, copper and galvanized pipes behind cement board/tile and to find rebar in cement. It can detect steel as deep as 4.75" in the wall, wood up to 1.5" and wires up to 2".Using it around the house, I find it works better in the thick walls and wood paneling, especially for finding live wires. In the standard thickness drywalled walls, it does not find electrical wires well but it does find studs and plumbing well. The only downside to this detector is I cannot get it to consistently find electric wires behind 1/2" or 5/8" drywall which is standard on most homes. In most cases, it will not detect them at all but does give a reading sometimes. This is probably due to the finder only being able to detect wires up to 2" deep in the wall. Sometimes wires are not within 2" of the drywall surface. It also cannot detect studs well behind wood paneling which is not surprising.I find it pretty user-friendly, just turn it on, set your mode (wood, metal, electrical) then place it on the wall and give it a second to calibrate. Afterwards, start searching. It will alert you to whatever mode you have it set on with a bar gauge. When you have it on wood mode, it will also alert you to metal and wires which is convenient. It makes noises as you get closer (you can turn the sound off, it is a bit irritating). When you find the center of a stud, pipe or wire, the finder has a convenient holes you can stick a pencil through the mark it. It seems to find wood with the assistance of finding screws/nails and overall, I find its best to scan up and down to find the exact position of the stud, pipe or wire. You probably wont get the exact location on the first bullseye. The finder also has a backlight for the screen when using in dark areas.The finder comes with a 9v battery, carrying case and directions as well. The directions take a little reading. Overall, this is great for finding studs and pipes but 4/5 stars for the general inability to find electrical behind standard thickness drywall. 5 stars for versatility and ease of use. I thought about knocking it down a star for general failure to detect wiring but its scan range for wiring is limited as stated.
Sergio alvarez
2025-02-19 20:23:00
Exelente herramienta y muy facil de usar
grant d
2025-02-15 15:45:00
may be more expensive than others, but brand is well known and this device has better specs than others. When it comes to tools, money is needed to acquire quality.
Haitham Hassan Al-Abdullah
2025-01-14 15:50:43
ممتاز
Customer
2024-12-24 10:12:39
I have read some issues with the use and accuracy, but I haven't experienced any of those. Very accurate and scans deep. Even if I don't do it as carefully as the manual says. And easy to use. I used it on double layered, OSB reinforced surfaces where we couldn't use any average one, and worked great. I'm using it while ago, and I'm happy with it.
Breno Almeida
2024-12-19 18:52:35
Super prático pra encontrar pilares ou vigas em edificações prontas, facilita e agiliza (ainda mais se comparar com abrir com furadeira ou ponteiro pra descobrir ferragem). Ajuda também a achar fiação elétrica. Só ficar atento pois na caixa fala que detecta tubo de água, mas é pra tubos metálicos - que nos EUA são comuns.
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