Abstract: The Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) (at a height of 1.3 m on the bole of a tree) has been one of the most important indicators during tree measurements in forestry resource inventory. However, the current DBH measurement cannot fully meet the requirement in recent years, due to the low portability, precision, efficiency, applicability, and stability, together with the complex operation, rudimentary software, high costs, and short range. In this study, an innovative device was developed to accurately, efficiently, and conveniently measure the tree DBH suitable for the complex tree shapes and the different diameter classes, while cost-saving in the office-field work survey. The specification of the device was as follows (size: 8.35 cm×5.80 cm×5.55 cm; weight: 230 g; resolution: 0.01 cm; linear range: 0-150 cm; battery capacity: 4 000 mAh input vatage: 3.7 V, output votuge: 5 V; micro-processor chip: STC15W4K48, 8 bits; encoder type: PD-1503-SDI, 12 bits). A Tunnel Magneto-Resistance (TMR) rotary encoder was also combined with the low-cost, small size, and light weight electro-mechanical structure, and high-resolution processing. As such, the measurement device was achieved in the electronization, digitization, portability, and integration of office and filed work for the tree DBH. A supporting system software was also developed, including the embedded software, mobile terminal application, and Web terminal application. In the process of an individual tree survey, the electro-mechanical structure of the device firstly converted the mechanical parameter of tree DBH to the magnetic signal, and then the magnetic signal was converted to an electrical signal. Secondly, the electrical signal was converted into the DBH measurement data using the processing integrated into the embedded software. Thirdly, the operation flow was better applied to measure the trees with special shapes and large diameters using multi-function key combinations. After all individual tree surveys, the DBH measurement data was transmitted by Bluetooth in the device to the Android application, and then uploaded to the database managed by the Web application. The measurement accuracy and operation efficiency of the device were verified to select the 196 standing trees with many tree species and a small sample plot of 42 standing trees in the Botanic Garden of Beijing Forestry University, China. The test results showed that the device presented a higher accuracy to measure the standing trees of different diameter classes than before. The total tree DBH measurement data from different diameter classes (weight: 1 092 g; resolution: 0.001 cm; linear range: 0-500 cm) indicated the mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.08 cm, Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) of 0.37%, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 0.12 cm, and Relative Root Mean Square Error (RRMSE) of 0.54%, compared with an electronic draw-wire displacement sensor. In addition, a high measurement efficiency was achieved, where the average measurement time per person of each tree was 9.3 s from the efficiency test. The devices demonstrated nearly two times faster than the traditional diameter tape (weight: 42 g; resolution: 0.01 cm; linear range: 0-200 cm), while one time faster than the electronic draw-wire displacement sensor. Additionally, the price of the device was only 260 RMB, due to a 12 bits encoder (price: 135 RMB). In conclusion, this device behaved at a low cost and less labor consumption, fully meeting the technical requirement of accuracy for the Continuous Forest Inventory (CFI) in China. Therefore, the finding can provide broad application prospects in forestry resource inventory.