Komelon MagGrip Pro Tape Measure Review

Bottom line: The Komelon 25-Ft. MagGrip Pro Tape Measure shines in several areas with its strong and smooth self-retraction, grippy profile, and versatile hook. But the sliding lock is difficult to set and unlock without two hands, which has on the fence for recommending it as the best tape measure for most people.

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Komelon 25-Ft. MagGrip Pro Tape Measure review

Weight	435 grams
Length	25 feet (available in 16 ft and 30 ft versions as well)
Blade width	1 inch
Standout	7 feet
Housing	Plastic and rubber
Warranty	Lifetime

Ergonomics

The Komelon 25-Ft. MagGrip Pro Tape Measure has good enough, but not the best, ergonomics for most hand sizes. The tape measure is lightweight and easily gripped in hand with its narrow profile and heavy use of rubber. But the case is on the taller end of the tape measures we tested, so this hand tool is slightly harder to fit in your hand than other more compact models.

The belt clip is among the stiffest we’ve come across. This isn’t necessarily a great design. In fact, we found it difficult to latch the tape measure onto different material thicknesses without two hands. 

So, combine these features altogether, and you get a tape measure that performs in the middle of the road for its ergonomics.

The blade

Extend the blade for the first time with the Komelon 25-Ft. MagGrip Pro Tape Measure and you’ll instantly appreciate the unique texture and look that comes from the matte nylon coating. But if blade standout performance is critical, we’d suggest an alternative tape measure. The Komelon 25-Ft. MagGrip Pro Tape Measure’s standout comes in at only 7 feet.

Hook style	Top and bottom hook with wings
Blade markings	Standard SAE every 1/16 of an inch, includes standard stud and truss markings
Blade durability (poor, good, great)	Good
Blade protection	Nylon coating with a matte finish

Hook style

The Komelon 25-Ft. MagGrip Pro Tape Measure’s hook is one of the best-designed elements, both in look and in practice. The hook is not so small that it too easily detaches from your workpiece but also not so big that it gets in the way.

Importantly, the Komelon 25-Ft. MagGrip Pro Tape Measure has a top and bottom hook with wings protruding from the blade’s edge to latch onto your workpiece in any orientation. A strong magnet is also included for added ease of use and versatility.

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Blade markings

We love when tape measures have useful markings on both sides of the blade. The added versatility brings a ton of value for such a simple feature. The Komelon 25-Ft. MagGrip Pro Tape Measure delivers on blade versatility with its standard SAE measurement scale on both the top and underside of the blade. The underside markings can be particularly useful in woodworking for accuracy when the blade edges lay flat on top of your workpiece.

The Komelon 25-Ft. MagGrip Pro Tape Measure also includes helpful markings past the 12-inch mark to easily convert inches into feet. For example, the 18-inch marking includes a red-highlighted number that reads “1F 6“, which stands for one foot and six inches.

MORE >> How to read a tape measure

Blade durability

Blade durability is critical since a tape measure’s blade is frequently the first component to wear out or malfunction over time.  The Komelon 25-Ft. MagGrip Pro Tape Measure’s blade performed well enough in our abrasion test. But it is worth noting that our test resulted in scratches penetrating past the nylon coating and scratching away the blade’s paint itself. 

Some other tape measures we tested only had surface scratches in the blade’s protective coating, including the Craftsman 25.-Ft Pro Reach Magnetic Tape Measure, which fared the best in our abrasion tests.

Self-retraction strength

The Komelon 25-Ft. MagGrip Pro Tape Measure’s self-retracting tape shined in our tests when extended to different lengths and retracted at the surface and hip level on surfaces with different amounts of friction. The self-retraction mechanism didn’t need any hand assistance to reel it in in any of these scenarios. 

Sliding lock

We wish the Komelon 25-Ft. MagGrip Pro Tape Measure’s sliding lock performed as well as its self-retraction mechanism. If that were the case, this tape measure would be easy to recommend for most people. But we’re on the fence for that reason, combined with the sliding lock being hard to set with one hand.

You can slide the button into place with your thumb and one hand, but only part of the way down the sliding lock’s full travel. Partially sliding the button does lock the blade in place.

But it will require two hands to lock and unlock the blade when forcing the button to travel the full length. Add in the fact that the sliding lock isn’t smooth throughout and you can understand why we aren’t impressed with its design.

Accuracy

The Komelon 25-Ft. MagGrip Pro Tape Measure was accurate out of the box to our accepted testing tolerance of 1/32 of an inch. The floating hook is also nicely loose for consistently accurate measurements on both external and internal measurements.

Value

The Komelon 25-Ft. MagGrip Pro Tape Measure scores well on the value spectrum, mostly because it has some nice features (like double-sided tape markings, a great hook, and great self-retraction) for under $20. The tape measure also doesn’t skimp on case durability, as we’ve seen with other models in the same price range. If the sliding lock was great and the cost remained under $20, the Komelon 25-Ft. MagGrip Pro Tape Measure would bring among the most value of the models we tested.

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