--- title: "The Motocaddy I would actually buy is the one in the middle" url: "https://ifrothgolf.com/read/motocaddy-m3-gps-dhc-review" type: "spotlight" topic: "trolleys" author: "Ben Marsden" published: "2026-08-22T18:00" publisher: "ifrothgolf" --- # The Motocaddy I would actually buy is the one in the middle > The screen is the bit you pay extra for. Downhill control is the bit that earns its money, and on this model it costs less than the trolley above it. ## In short - **Verdict: 8.4/10.** The downhill control and the frame are worth the money and the built-in GPS mostly is not, which makes this the model I would buy in the range and a straightforward pick for anyone walking a hilly course. - Pro: Automatic downhill control genuinely changes how a hilly round feels, and it is the reason to pick this model - Pro: The frame is the real product: 230W motor on a 28V system, electronic parking brake, all-terrain tyres, nine speeds - Con: The 2.8 inch GPS screen duplicates the watch or rangefinder most buyers already own There is a specific moment on a hilly course that sells electric trolleys, and it is not the uphill. It is the steep, wet descent from an elevated tee, where the trolley you are supposedly being helped by turns into a two-stone thing accelerating away from you, and you spend the walk down riding the speed dial like a nervous learner driver. Every club with a hill has this conversation in the car park. The [Motocaddy M3 GPS DHC](https://ifrothgolf.com/product/motocaddy-m3-gps-dhc-electric-trolley) at around $1,100 is Motocaddy's answer to it, and it is the answer, not the screen, that I would be paying for. ## What DHC actually does Automatic Downhill Control holds the trolley at the speed you set when the ground falls away underneath it. That is the entire feature and it sounds minor written down. In practice it removes the one part of walking with an electric trolley that is actively worse than walking with a push trolley, because a push trolley you can simply hold back. Paired with the electronic parking brake it also means the trolley stays exactly where you left it on a slope while you play the shot, which matters more on a bank beside a green than any spec on the handle. The rest of the frame is unglamorous and it is the reason to buy this. A 230W motor running on a 28V system, nine speed settings with an indicator, all-terrain tyres, a lithium battery rated IP66 for water and dust, and a fold down to 650 by 470 by 410mm. Motocaddy sells the battery on a five-year warranty rather than a headline hole count, and I would rather quote you the warranty than a number I cannot stand behind. Two years on the trolley and charger, five on the battery, is a decent statement of intent for something that lives outdoors in British weather. ## The GPS is the money, and for most people it is a duplicate Now the part the marketing leads with. The handle carries a 2.8 inch colour touchscreen with 40,000 pre-loaded courses, front, middle and back of green distances, hazard information, score tracking and shot measurement. It works, it is legible, and it is a real GPS rather than a token one. It is also, for the majority of the people buying this trolley, a second copy of something already on their wrist. If you own a GPS watch or a rangefinder you trust, the screen is not giving you information, it is giving you the same information in a place you have to walk over to. I would not pay a premium twice for yardages, and I would not pretend the convenience of a bigger screen at waist height is worth several hundred pounds to a golfer who already has the number before they get to the ball. Buy the GPS if this is genuinely your only distance device, in which case it is a tidy one-box solution and the maths works out well. Otherwise, be clear with yourself that you are buying the frame and the downhill control and paying for a screen as the price of getting them in this trim. ## Against the M5, the cheaper one has more trolley in it This is the bit that surprised me and it is the strongest argument in the review. The [Motocaddy M5 GPS](https://ifrothgolf.com/product/motocaddy-m5-gps-electric-trolley) sits above this model at roughly $1,250, and what the extra money buys is screen and convenience rather than capability: a larger 3.5 inch display with full-hole mapping, the cable-free CLICK N CONNECT battery, Bluetooth phone notifications and a USB charging port. It does not include downhill control, which on Motocaddy's range is a separate step up again. Same 230W motor, same 28V system, same nine speeds. So the golfer who walks a hilly course and buys up the range on price alone can quite easily spend more and get less of the thing they needed. The M5 is genuinely the nicer object to use, and half a kilo lighter folded on paper at 10.5kg against the M3's 11kg, and if your course is flat that is a fair trade. If your course has a proper hill on it, the M3 GPS DHC is the better trolley and it is the cheaper one. That is not a sentence you get to write very often. ## Who should step down Plenty of people, and I would rather say so than sell up. If your course is flat and you already own a rangefinder, both of this trolley's headline features are solved problems and you should buy the simplest powered trolley you can find. The [Motocaddy SE](https://ifrothgolf.com/product/motocaddy-se-electric) at around $650 has the same quiet 230W motor and nine speeds with none of the electronics, and it is the sensible first electric trolley. Go in knowing that on a hilly course you will be managing descents with the speed dial yourself, which is precisely the thing DHC exists to fix. Step down further if you are honest about why you are shopping. If your problem is your back rather than your legs, a push trolley solves it for a fraction of the money: the [Motocaddy Cube](https://ifrothgolf.com/product/motocaddy-cube-push-trolley) at about $225 folds to a genuine cube for a full boot and weighs 6.8kg, and it takes the same load off your shoulders. The real dividing line between the two categories is in [push against electric trolley](https://ifrothgolf.com/read/push-vs-electric-trolley), and the case for spending the money at all is in [an electric trolley is the best money I've spent on golf](https://ifrothgolf.com/read/electric-trolley-best-money). ## Who should step up One group, really. If you want the trolley to walk ahead of you while your hands stay free, that is remote operation, and it is not available at this price or addable later. That is M7 money, roughly two thirds again on top of this, and it is a genuine step in what the trolley does rather than a cosmetic one. Everyone else stepping up the range is buying screen size and battery convenience, and the honest question to ask is whether a bigger map is worth the price of a decent rangefinder you could buy instead. ## The decision I would buy this one. Not because it is the most advanced trolley Motocaddy make, but because the middle of the range is where the useful engineering sits and the top of the range is where the screens live. The downhill control is the feature I would pay for again, the parking brake and the all-terrain tyres are the sort of thing you stop noticing because they simply work, and the GPS is a bonus I would treat as a bonus rather than a reason. If you walk a hilly course, do not already have a distance device sorted, and want one purchase to cover both jobs, this is a very easy recommendation. If you have a watch on your wrist and a flat course under your feet, you are looking at the wrong trim. ## Verdict: 8.4/10 **Bottom line:** The downhill control and the frame are worth the money and the built-in GPS mostly is not, which makes this the model I would buy in the range and a straightforward pick for anyone walking a hilly course. **Pros** - Automatic downhill control genuinely changes how a hilly round feels, and it is the reason to pick this model - The frame is the real product: 230W motor on a 28V system, electronic parking brake, all-terrain tyres, nine speeds - Costs less than the M5 GPS while carrying the downhill control that the M5 leaves out **Cons** - The 2.8 inch GPS screen duplicates the watch or rangefinder most buyers already own - Around 11kg folded, which is half a kilo more than the M5 on paper, and it still has to go in a boot - No remote operation at this money, and no way to add it later ## The takeaway The M3 GPS DHC at around $1,100 is the model I would buy in Motocaddy's range, on the grounds that downhill control, the electronic parking brake and the all-terrain tyres are the features that change a round on a hilly course, and they arrive here for less than the M5 GPS costs without them. Treat the built-in GPS as a bonus unless it is replacing a device you do not own. If your course is flat and your yardages are already sorted, the simpler SE at roughly $650 gives you almost everything that matters for a lot less. ## FAQ ### What does DHC mean on a Motocaddy trolley? DHC is Automatic Downhill Control. It holds the trolley at your chosen speed when the ground slopes away, instead of letting it accelerate downhill. On a hilly course it is the single most useful feature on the trolley, and it works alongside the electronic parking brake that holds the trolley still on a slope. ### Is the built-in GPS on the M3 worth paying for? Only if it is replacing a device you do not own. The 2.8 inch screen gives front, middle and back distances plus hazards from 40,000 pre-loaded courses, and it works well. But if you already use a GPS watch or a rangefinder you trust, you are paying a premium for information you already have. ### Is the M3 GPS DHC better than the M5 GPS? For a hilly course, yes, and it costs less. The M5 GPS has a larger screen, full-hole mapping, a cable-free battery and phone notifications, but it does not include downhill control. Both use the same 230W motor on a 28V system with nine speed settings. ### Should I buy a push trolley instead? If your issue is carrying weight on your shoulders rather than tiring over four hours, a push trolley solves it for a small fraction of the price. An electric trolley earns its money when the course is hilly, your back is a real problem, or you want to arrive at the closing holes with your legs intact. ## Products mentioned - [Motocaddy M3 GPS DHC Electric Trolley](https://ifrothgolf.com/product/motocaddy-m3-gps-dhc-electric-trolley) · $1,100 approx **Where to buy:** [Check price at Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D481T4PZ?tag=ifrothgolf-20&ascsubtag=md_motocaddy-m3-gps-dhc-electric-trolley) (affiliate link) · also stocked by Golf Support --- Source: [ifrothgolf](https://ifrothgolf.com) — independent golf-gear editorial. Canonical URL: https://ifrothgolf.com/read/motocaddy-m3-gps-dhc-review Quote or cite freely with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Affiliate disclosure: ifrothgolf may earn a commission on purchases made through the retailer links above, at no extra cost to the buyer. It never changes what we recommend. https://ifrothgolf.com/disclosure