REVIEW – Leveling a trailer usually involves two people waving and yelling back and forth to each other with increasing levels of anger and frustration. I don’t have that other person, so all of the anger and frustration lies with me alone. I have a bubble level, a truck, and a lot of climbing in and out to check whether the last adjustment made things better or worse. The LevelMatePRO is a small sensor that mounts inside the trailer and tells you over Bluetooth which side is low and by how many inches, so you can get your trailer leveled quickly and on your own.
I’m using the LevelMatePRO on my Smittybilt Scout overlanding trailer that carries my Roam Vagabond rooftop tent. The tent is why leveling matters. A trailer sitting a degree or two off is fine for a cooler and miserable for a mattress, because you spend the whole night sliding slowly toward one wall.
Note: This LevelMatePRO was sent to me by LevelMate at no cost. They had no editorial input and did not see this review before it published.
Photos and video by Gregory Morley.
The Basics
The LevelMatePRO is a small sensor box with a 3-axis accelerometer inside, plus a temperature sensor it uses for calibration, and it talks to a free iOS or Android app over Bluetooth. The app shows side to side and front to back on the same screen, and instead of a bubble it tells you how many inches the low side needs to come up. It can also save your hitch height, so hooking back up to the truck starts from a known number.
What You Get
- LevelMatePRO sensor
- CR2032 coin cell battery
- Two mounting screws
- Adhesive mounting strip
- Getting-started card
By the Numbers
- Price: $99.99
- Dimensions: 5 x 2 x 1.25 in
- Accuracy: Within 0.1 degrees, per LevelMate
- Sensor: 3-axis digital accelerometer, with a temperature sensor for calibration
- Battery: One CR2032 coin cell
- Power: Physical on/off switch that disconnects the battery
- Connectivity: Bluetooth, free iOS and Android app
- Compatible with: Travel trailers, 5th wheels, pop-ups, and Class A, B and C motorhomes
- Made in: USA
Design & Build
There isn’t much to the sensor itself, and that’s fine, since it spends its life bolted or stuck somewhere nobody looks. The detail I like is the on/off switch. It disconnects the battery entirely for storage or a long drive. Flip it on and it beeps twice. No beeps means the coin cell is dead. Not many gadgets this simple bother telling you that at all. Changing the CR2032 means taking the four screws out of the lid.
My LevelMatePRO is mounted on the side wall of the Scout’s tub with the included double-sided tape. The plan is to move it somewhere more protected and bolt it down, a job I’ll get to right after I find someone to hold the flashlight.
Setting It Up
The app walks through setup in order. You register the sensor, pick the trailer type, run a Bluetooth signal test from the spot where it’ll be mounted, enter the trailer’s width and length, and tell it which way the label faces. The width and length are what let it answer in inches instead of degrees. Degrees tell you the trailer is off. Inches tell you how much wood to put under the tire.
The last step is Set Level, and yes, the first thing a leveling sensor asks you to do is level the trailer with a bubble level. I did it the old way, tapped Set Level, and that was the end of it. It’s a one-time step at install, not something you repeat every trip.
Leveling Solo
The leveling screen shows a red arrow on the side that needs to come up and the number of inches it needs, counting down to 0.00. A Top View button switches to a corner-by-corner version of the same thing. For my test I used scrap wood, not proper levelers. I pulled the low wheel up onto a board, watched the number drop, added another board, and checked again. There was nobody outside to tell me when to stop, and the phone did that job fine.
The hitch save works the same way. With the trailer hitched and sitting where you want it, you tap Set. Later, Recall shows an arrow and the distance to get the tongue back to that same height.
What Could Be Better
The Bluetooth connection is finicky. I stayed close to the trailer the whole time I was leveling because walking away wasn’t worth the reconnect. LevelMate’s guidance says you should be able to connect from the cab of your tow vehicle, and with the sensor where mine sits, I don’t expect that to happen.
The coin cell means no recharging, and LevelMate doesn’t publish a battery life figure. The PRO+ adds a micro-USB port for external power and a Run Continuously mode that’s grayed out on this model, but it costs $20 more. The app gets the job done and looks plain doing it.
Watch the Review
Video review coming soon. The companion video is still in edit, and it will be embedded right here as soon as it goes up.
Quick Questions
Q: Do I still need a bubble level?
A: Once. The setup’s Set Level step asks you to level the trailer the traditional way, then tap a button so the sensor knows what level looks like. After that, you don’t need it.
Q: Does it need cell service?
A: No. It talks to your phone over Bluetooth, so it works anywhere. Stay close, though, because the connection can be finicky.
Q: What battery does it use?
A: One CR2032 coin cell. It beeps twice when you switch it on, and silence means the battery is dead.
Q: Can it save my hitch height?
A: Yes. Tap Set while hitched, and Recall later shows the distance to get the tongue back to the same height.
Final Thoughts
Pulling into a campsite raises one question that matters. The LevelMatePRO tells you which side is low and by how much. Leveling alone used to mean a lot of climbing in and out to check a guess. Now it means reading a number off a phone while standing next to the wheel.
At $99.99 it’s the cheapest of LevelMate’s three sensors. The PRO+ at $119.99 adds external power, and the MAX at $149.99 adds leveling while you drive. A bubble level costs a few dollars, so anyone leveling on the same concrete pad twice a year won’t miss this. Put a rooftop tent on top of the trailer and the math changes, because one night spent sliding toward the low wall is worth more than the sensor costs.
Price: $99.99
Where to buy: Amazon or direct from LevelMate
What I like: Tells you how many inches to raise instead of showing a bubble, both axes on one screen, one-time setup, hitch height save and recall, on/off switch with a built-in battery check
What I don’t: Bluetooth is finicky enough that I stayed close to the trailer, coin cell battery with no recharging, plain app
