Tech
Rangefinders, GPS, launch monitors and home simulators — the tech that measures your game and hands you real numbers.
Blue Tees Captain Pro vs SkyCaddie LX5: the subscription brand is the one with nothing to pay for three years
A challenger laser that also does GPS against the watch from the brand everyone associates with annual fees. Run both bills to year three and the labels swap over.
By Jordan Hale
SportScreen Vanish vs Carl's Place Pro: the retractable one is cheaper, and the room's other job decides it
One rolls up into a ceiling housing so the garage goes back to being a garage. The other is a fixed, framed room you can order to the exact size of your wall. As we list them, the retractable is the cheaper of the two, and the pipes are not in the Carl's box.
By Marcus Bell
Fiberbuilt Player Preferred vs Studio Grass: same turf, and the cheaper one fixes something the flagship never will
Both mats stand on the same grass-blade turf, so feel isn't the difference. What you are actually paying for is a vibration layer rated at 94 per cent on one and a centre hitting strip on the other, and only one of those solves a problem that otherwise costs thousands.
By Marcus Bell
BenQ LK936ST vs Optoma GT2100HDR: the projector decision is about your room, not your budget
Two short-throw laser projectors for a golf simulator, separated by roughly threefold on price. The right answer is set by the light in your room and the distance you actually have, not by the lumen number.
By Marcus Bell
Uneekor EYE MINI vs Bushnell Launch Pro: over three years the subscription box is still the cheaper one
Two photometric units, two completely different bargains. Add up three years of ownership and the cheaper box is still the cheaper box, which changes what the EYE MINI premium is really for.
By Marcus Bell
ProTee VX vs Trackman iO: the iO costs 77 per cent more, and that gap only pays if the bay earns money
Two ceiling-mounted launch monitors, one clear hitting bay, and a price gap of roughly 77 per cent. The decision is less about accuracy than most buyers assume.
By Marcus Bell
Most of an enclosure's price is the screen. Most buyers don't realise that, and it settles this argument
The SIG10 arrives at well under half the Carl's Place Pro's ask with a screen that has already beaten the category favourite in independent testing. The Pro is answering a different question, and it is a question about your walls.
By Marcus Bell
Trackman iO vs Uneekor EYE XO2: the year-one trap
Both mount overhead, both want ten feet of ceiling, and about $3,000 separates them on the shelf. Then Trackman's included first year runs out, and the gap starts growing by $1,100 a year.
By Marcus Bell
Uneekor EYE XO2 vs Foresight GC3: ceiling or floor?
About $4,000 separates them, but they're not really rivals — one lives in your ceiling forever, the other sits on the floor and travels. The cheaper one is also the one with no subscription.
By Marcus Bell
Launch Pro vs SkyTrak ST MAX: the subscription decides it
Two of the most-recommended home-sim units, about $1,000 apart on the sticker. Run the software costs for three years and the gap gets much wider — in one specific direction.
By Marcus Bell
Carl's Place DIY vs Pro enclosure: the real question is whether you own a mitre saw
The $2,900 gap between the two Carl's Place kits buys exactly two things: framing you don't have to build, and a screen matched to your room's light. Here's the honest test for which side of it you belong on, and why a DIY build quietly keeps costing more than the receipt says.
By Marcus Bell
Launch Pro vs Foresight GC3: I did the subscription maths and it says the opposite of what everyone tells you
Same measurement technology, $4,000 apart, and one of them bills you every year. The received wisdom is that the no-subscription unit wins over time. Run the actual numbers and it only wins if you'd have picked the expensive plan.
By Marcus Bell
Nikon Coolshot Pro II vs Precision Pro NX10: how much rangefinder do you need?
One buys you the best optics and a gyro-stabilised picture; the other gives you most of the experience for a little over half the outlay. Which is the smarter buy?
By Jordan Hale
GoGoGo Vpro vs Bushnell Tour V7 Shift: do you really need to spend 5x?
A budget-laser icon against the tour-caddie standard — one costs roughly five times the other, and only one specific golfer actually needs the expensive one.
By Jordan Hale
Garmin Approach S50 vs Shot Scope V5: slick watch or free game data?
Two very different GPS watches at two very different prices — one is the polished all-rounder, the other quietly tells you where you actually lose shots.
By Jordan Hale
SkyTrak+ vs FlightScope Mevo+: your room decides this one, not your budget
Both are now outgoing models on run-out prices, which makes this more useful rather than less — the successors inherit the same trade-off. And it isn't the spec sheet. It's how much space you actually have.
By Marcus Bell
Rapsodo MLM2 Pro vs Shot Scope LM1: measured spin and sim golf, or just the number?
Two launch monitors golfers cross-shop constantly, sitting either side of the same question — how much do you actually need? One films your swing, measures spin and plays sim courses all winter. The other strips the whole idea down to a carry number on a screen.
By Jordan Hale
Radar vs camera launch monitors: the home-sim decision nobody explains
Two completely different technologies hide behind the words launch monitor, and picking the wrong one for your room is the most expensive mistake in home golf.
By Jordan Hale
The only three projectors worth buying for a golf simulator
Forget the spec-sheet rabbit hole. For a golf sim the projector decision comes down to two things — your room's light and your budget — and it lands on one of three.
By Marcus Bell
Bushnell Tour V6 Shift vs Shot Scope Pro L2: do you really need the badge?
Two of the best value lasers in golf, from opposite ends of the value argument. The Shot Scope is the giant-killer on pure accuracy-per-pound; the Bushnell sells trust, optics and that famous pin-lock. Here's which one actually deserves your money.
By Jordan Hale
Garmin R50 vs SkyTrak+: which premium home-sim brain should you buy?
The big home-simulator decision. One does everything in a single box; the other gives you sharper numbers for far less. Here's how to choose.
By Tom Whitaker
Bushnell Pro X3+ vs Garmin Z82: which premium rangefinder wins?
Two flagship lasers, two philosophies — the purist's tool versus the do-everything device. Here's who should buy which.
By Jordan Hale
GPS watch vs laser rangefinder: which should you buy first?
They solve the distance problem in opposite ways. Most golfers only need one to start — here's how to choose.
By Jordan Hale
Garmin R10 vs Shot Scope LM1: the budget launch-monitor face-off
Two ways to get real numbers without remortgaging — which one fits how you'll actually use it.
By Jordan Hale
Garmin R10 vs Rapsodo MLM2 Pro: which budget launch monitor wins?
The two devices most home-data golfers agonise over. They're closer than the spec sheets suggest — here's how to choose.
By Tom Whitaker