The 10 Best Digital Levels

The Stabila TECH 196 (about $323) is the most accurate level here and the one professionals tend to buy for life. This 24-inch model reads to within 0.05 degrees at level and plumb, has two lit displays (one on the face, one on the top edge) that flip when you turn the level over, and beeps as you approach level, so you can adjust without looking. Its aluminum box beam and electronics are sealed against dust and water, so you can rinse mortar off under a tap, and it keeps real bubble vials too. Fine Homebuilding picked an earlier Stabila electronic level as the best in its test. It's expensive, and this version has no magnets.

For framing, door jambs and long runs, the Empire e105 48-Inch Digital Box Level (about $180) spans enough of a surface to average out small bumps. Empire rates its digital readout at 0.0005 inch per inch, roughly 0.03 degrees, it calibrates itself, and it can show slope as well as degrees. A magnetic edge holds it on steel studs and ducts, and it has a hand hole and regular vials. It comes with a padded case. Empire's parent company now also sells a newer 48-inch Milwaukee REDSTICK digital level, so this one is the older, cheaper design.

The Klein Tools 935DAG is a 2-inch cube with a strong magnet in its base, and it's the most popular digital angle gauge by far. Stick it on a saw blade, a pipe or a conduit bender and it shows the angle to a tenth of a degree, accurate to 0.1 degree near level and plumb and 0.2 elsewhere. V-grooves on all four sides sit on round pipe, the display turns itself upright, and a zero button lets you measure an angle relative to any surface. It's great value at around $33. It isn't a full level for long surfaces, and owners say the batteries run down quickly if you forget to switch it off.

The Klein Tools 935DAGL (about $64) is a bigger, smarter version of the 935DAG for people who set the same angles over and over, like electricians bending conduit or installers setting drain slopes. You can program target angles, and it flashes and beeps when you hit one. It also has a bullseye mode that shows tilt on two axes at once when it's lying flat, plus a magnetic base, V-grooves and an auto-rotating display. It costs about twice as much as the 935DAG, and its bullseye mode is only accurate to half a degree.

The GemRed Digital Angle Gauge (about $19) is the cheapest good way to set a table saw blade or a miter angle. It's a small metal-framed cube with a magnetic base and a bright backlit screen that reads 0 to 360 degrees to a tenth of a degree, with a stated accuracy of 0.2 degrees. Zero it on your saw table, stick it on the blade, and tilt until it reads what you want. One AAA battery lasts about 50 hours. It only shows degrees, its accuracy is a step behind the Klein's near level, and it won't help you level anything longer than a few inches.

The 2PM Tools 10-Inch Digital Torpedo Level (about $39) fits in a tool pouch and reaches the tight spots plumbers and electricians work in. Its bright display reads degrees, percent, inches per foot or millimeters per meter, accurate to 0.1 degree at level and plumb, and it beeps at level. A V-groove base with strong magnets grips pipe and steel, it's sealed against dust and splashes, and there are bubble vials as a backup. It's a good value, but no one has tested its accuracy independently, and it shows an error when tilted on the wrong face, which confuses some owners.

The Swanson Savage 9-Inch Digital Torpedo (about $58) is machined from a solid block of aluminum, so it shrugs off drops that would crack a plastic level. Four rare-earth magnets hold it to steel, it has a digital readout with a hold button, and its bubble vials still work if the coin-cell battery dies. Its bright orange finish is hard to lose in a toolbox. It costs more than the 2PM torpedo, its rated accuracy isn't consistent between the maker and its retailers, and owners rate it a little lower than the other picks here.

The M-D SmartTool Gen2 24-Inch (about $116) is a long-running, no-frills digital level that Fine Homebuilding's testers found simple, solid and accurate. A digital module in a yellow aluminum beam reads degrees, percent slope and inches per foot, and it beeps when you're level or plumb, which helps when you can't see the screen. Bubble vials back it up. This version has no magnets, its warranty is a year, and some of its spec sheets disagree on the battery type, so check before you buy spares.

If you want a 24-inch digital level without spending $100 or more, the 2PM Tools 24-Inch Digital Level does the job for about $50. It has the same readout as the 2PM torpedo, accurate to 0.1 degree at level and plumb, with several units, an audio tone, a backlight, a memory for eight readings and a hold button. It's sealed against dust and splashes and has magnets along the base. Like the torpedo, it hasn't been tested independently, and owners sometimes mistake its tilt warning for a fault.

The Johnson Level 1760-4800 (about $155) is a 48-inch digital box level from one of the oldest American level makers, at a lower price than the Empire. Its backlit display reads to 0.1 degree, accurate to 0.1 degree at level and plumb, with hold and reference modes, shock-absorbing end caps and bubble vials. Johnson backs it with a limited lifetime warranty. Its digital accuracy is a step behind the Empire and the Stabila, and it's a big tool to carry for small jobs.