Hozo Neoruler Go review: Laser ruler brings digital precision for £50

This amazing little gadget claims to be able to measure just about anything using a laser-guided wheel.

The Hozo Neoruler Go is aimed at helping creatives move away from their rulers and measuring tapes, and digitising their tasks. In theory it should give improved accuracy and, because it seamlessly links to an app, it can transfer measurements to technical drawings.

And, it only costs £50.

It's a rather exquisite little device. There's an incredibly solid feel about the way it’s made, and the way the wheel glides, following a laser marker to help you mark the exact measurement points.

There's a colourful hidden display on one side, which emerges from the black panel and gives you readouts in whichever units you've asked for, and a handy little hook so you can attach it to a belt.

Rechargeable through USB, the battery lasts for days, and it's light enough to slip in any pocket.

Hook it up to the Meazor app, and there are more customisation options, and you can set up custom scales for measuring uneven surfaces and spaces.

It really is as complicated or as simple as you need it to be. Using it as a ruler, for example, is a doddle. You just glide the tactile wheel over a line on a page and there's a readout waiting for you on the screen.

Roll it along a floor or wall, and you can use it to measure and map out an entire room. Or you can use it to work out the area of curved surfaces, by just gliding the wheel along the circumference.

Digital tape measures are increasingly becoming an important tool for professionals such as architects or designers, and they can cost eye-watering amounts of money. So to see one for just £49.99 is quite remarkable.

You can even opt for accessories like an attachable pencil case, which contains one of the poshest, techiest pencils I've ever seen.

Hozo's aluminium alloy Neopencil sits in a stand with a selection of nibs, and serves up an incredibly usable writing and drawing tool which would look incredible on any desktop.

As a journalist who's chained to a reporter's notepad and a biro, it's a bit wasted on me, but precision pencils definitely have a market, and it's only £12. So I can see it being popular.

If you like, you can buy a combo gift set, including the Neoruler, a smart leather case, the pencil, pencil case, and a selection of nibs. At £127 it'd be quite an indulgence for a casual creator, but as a craftsman's tool, it's probably a bargain.

But the Neoruler alone is such a lovely thing to use. From casual DIY-ers to hardcore designers, there's so many uses for it. I think it's a bargain.