FlightScope Mevo Gen2 vs SkyTrak ST MAX: one sells you the club data, the other rents you the courses

Here is the part of this decision the spec sheets do not put side by side. The FlightScope Mevo Gen2 at around $1,500 comes with eight E6 Connect courses you own outright and no annual fee, but its club path and face angle sit behind a paid upgrade. The SkyTrak ST MAX at around $1,700 gives you club path and face angle the day you plug it in, then charges every year for courses. One sells you the club data. The other rents you the golf. Which of those you would rather pay for, and how much floor you have behind the ball, settles almost everything.

We have already covered the general argument between the two technologies in radar vs camera launch monitors, and the ST MAX gets its own long write-up in our SkyTrak ST MAX review. This piece is the specific pairing, because these are the two units most garage budgets end up choosing between.

What the Mevo Gen2 is

FlightScope launched the Gen2 in August 2025 as the replacement for the Mevo+, and the Mevo+ has since been discontinued. It runs the same Fusion Tracking idea, Doppler radar combined with high-speed camera processing, in a smaller upright box that weighs about half a kilo, runs for around six hours on a USB-C charge and has a camera built in for swing video.

Out of the box it reports carry, roll and total distance, ball speed, club speed, smash factor, vertical and horizontal launch, spin rate and spin axis, apex, flight time, lateral landing, angle of attack, spin loft, shot type and dispersion, and it handles chipping and putting too. What it does not include is the club-face picture. FlightScope's own page says club path, face angle, swing plane and low point arrive with the paid Pro Package, which unlocks 11 advanced parameters, and impact location on the face is a separate paid add-on.

What the ST MAX is

The ST MAX sits beside the ball rather than behind it. A camera photographs the ball leaving the face, and dual Doppler radar handles the club. It reports 15 metrics, and the list is weighted the other way: club head speed, smash factor, club path, face angle, face to path and face to target sit alongside ball speed, launch, back spin, side spin and carry. SkyTrak says that without any membership you still get its driving range, which includes ball and club data, and PlayBetter's listing notes that no club stickers or special balls are needed. It also adds GOLFTEC-powered speed training and runs on a battery of around four hours.

The room: closer than the category debate suggests

The usual line is that radar needs a huge room and cameras need a cupboard. The numbers for these two are less dramatic. FlightScope asks for the sensor 7 to 9 feet behind the tee and at least 8 feet of ball flight indoors, which is 15 to 17 feet from sensor to screen. SkyTrak's own room planner calls 17 feet of depth comfortable, and its smaller studio packages list minimum depths of 15 to 16 feet.

The difference is what that depth is for. SkyTrak's figure is room for the golfer, the swing and the enclosure, and the unit itself sits next to the ball. FlightScope's figure is a measurement requirement, so cut it short and the data suffers. If your garage measures 15 feet with the screen up, the ST MAX will be comfortable and the Mevo will be on the edge of what FlightScope allows.

The indoor spin catch

This is the detail most comparisons skip. FlightScope's page says that in limited-flight setups, which means any indoor room, aluminium dots or Titleist RCT balls are required for accurate spin readings. PlayBetter's listing confirms 100 aluminium stickers in the box. A dot on every ball you hit indoors, or a supply of RCT balls, is a small ongoing chore. Outdoors with unrestricted flight the radar sees the whole shot and the dots stop mattering.

The ST MAX reads spin straight off the ball with its camera, so an ordinary ball works indoors. If the unit will live in the garage all winter, that convenience counts for a lot.

Outdoors

The Mevo Gen2 is the better range tool. Radar was built for outdoor flight, and with nothing to stop the ball it tracks the full shot with an ordinary ball. Six hours of battery covers a long session. The ST MAX can go outside too, and SkyTrak's FAQ says it works on a hitting mat outdoors, but it warns that direct sunlight on the lens may affect accuracy. That is workable on an overcast morning and awkward on a bright one. If a third of your hitting happens at a range, buy the Mevo.

Software and the yearly bill

This is where the two business models split. The Mevo Gen2 includes eight E6 Connect courses on iOS and PC that you keep, and there is no subscription for its core data. Our launch monitor compatibility matrix records official GSPro support, official E6 Connect, and official Awesome Golf and Creative Golf compatibility, with Awesome Golf not needing the Pro Package. Extra E6 courses are a one-off purchase.

The ST MAX goes the other way. Course play runs through SkyTrak's own app on a compatible Mac or iPad, which means no gaming PC, and that is a real saving. But the courses are a membership. SkyTrak's Essential tier is range and practice features only; the Core tiers add either the Foresight or the Trackman course pack and cost roughly a fifth of the hardware price every year. The same matrix records GSPro on the ST MAX only through a community connector that neither company supports, and no listing on E6, Awesome Golf or Creative Golf's supported-device pages.

Put plainly: over three years, an ST MAX owner who wants to play courses will pay SkyTrak every year. A Mevo Gen2 owner who wants club path and face angle will pay FlightScope once.

Who should buy which

Buy the Mevo Gen2 if you have 16 feet or more from where the sensor sits to the screen, or you hit outdoors often. Buy it if you want to own your courses, run GSPro with official support, or would rather pay once than every year. And buy it if ball data, club speed and attack angle cover what you work on, because the face numbers cost extra.

Buy the ST MAX if your room is shorter, if club path and face angle matter to you from day one, and if you want ordinary balls, no stickers and course play on an iPad without building a PC. Accept that the golf is a yearly membership and that third-party software support is thin.

The quickest way to sort it is the tape measure first, then the question of what you will do with it. Practice and gapping in a tight garage points to the ST MAX. Course play, outdoor sessions and a long room point to the Mevo. The Launch Monitor Finder narrows it further, and both sit in our best launch monitors guide.