Mevo Plus vs SkyTrak
SkyTrak vs. Flightscope Mevo Plus: Head to Head Comparison
If you're in the market for an "affordable" in home golf launch monitor, Mevo Plus and SkyTrak are your two best options at around $2K each.
We recommend these two products because of ease of use, reliability, price, and simulator potential. There are better options like all three options from Foresight Sports, Trackman4, TruGolf, GolfZon, HD Golf, and Full Swing Simulators.
However, while the cheapest Foresight is the GC2 at around $6500, some simulators being around $70,000, you can get almost the same experience for a fraction of the cost.
First let's talk about what you are looking for in a launch monitor and simulator setup. Would you like it to be mobile or just for in home use? How much space do you have? What data points are you interested in? Do you want it for play, practice, or both?
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Indoors vs Outdoors
The Mevo Plus and SkyTrak can both be used at home or outdoors. From our research we have found that SkyTrak works a little bit better indoors, and Mevo Plus works better outdoors.
This happens for various reasons; the first being that SkyTrak is a photometric based system, so in a controlled environment it works better because you don't get the sun glare and other distractions that occur on the range, also you need a limited amount of space for the SkyTrak to read the ball, only a few inches.
With the Mevo Plus you have a doppler based system, so it is not bothered by sun glare or anything else that might occur on the range, however doppler systems also have a history of incorrect readings indoors because of their space requirements, only time and more testing will tell with Mevo Plus, but we will keep you posted.
As far as software options for in home you use, for SkyTrak if you have the Play and Improve package you get 12 courses on the WGT software, with Mevo Plus you get 5 courses on the E6 software. However, there are similar upgrade options for both units, with a more advanced versions of E6, The Golf Club 2019, and Creative Golf.
Winner: SkyTrak for Indoor Use, Mevo Plus for Outdoor Use
Space Requirements
The SkyTrak, being a photometric system, needs very little space to read a shot, only a few inches as mentioned before. Therefore you could theoretically stand as close to a net or screen as you want and you will still get a reading.
With the Mevo Plus being a doppler system, you need at least 16 feet between the screen and the launch monitor, preference being 8 from screen to ball and 8 feet from ball to monitor. Not having 16 feet will limit the capabilities of Mevo Plus and give you incorrect readings more often than not.
You also need to put silver dots on the balls to help get a reading for the Mevo Plus (which come with the units when we sell them), to help properly read spin numbers.
Winner: SkyTrak
Data Captured
The data points you get with these two launch monitors are very similar as both have - Ball Speed, Club Speed, Carry/Total Distance, Roll Distance, Vertical Launch Angle, Side Angle/Lateral Landing, Shot Shape/Flightpath.
The SkyTrak also has Angle of Decent, while the Mevo Plus has Smash Factor, Apex, Flight Time, Horizontal Launch Angle, Angle of Attack, Spin Loft, and Spin Axis.
The information you need to improve your game is there with both of these units, however, the Mevo Plus will give you a little more bang for your buck in the data points arena, especially given Angle of Attack and Spin Axis.
While side spin numbers are great, knowing the Spin Axis is a better number to help understand how far off your path and face are at impact, even though neither monitor reads path or face angles.
Winner: Mevo Plus
Use Cases: Practice vs. Play, Shot Delay, Lefties & Righties
While both of these launch monitors can be used for both practice and play and offer similar practice programs to work on your game, the E6 software with Mevo Plus is a little more robust and better suited for Virtual Golf, it also has 17 different ranges to choose from, while SkyTrak offers 1 range.
The graphics are slightly better and gameplay is slightly more realistic on E6 than the WGT package that comes on SkyTrak.
That being said both are fun and can give you a great experience playing golf. They also both come with the ability to do gap testing, keep a record of your shots, and have challenges within the software.
The other factor that might turn people off about SkyTrak is the delay between contact and actual flight on the screen, which can be 2-4 seconds, where as the Mevo Plus delay is more like 1-2 seconds.
So when you're playing golf and you have 80 shots, you're looking at an extra few of minutes per round, not a big deal, but something to be aware of.
Another factor that might affect your decision is ease of use when you have both right and left handed golfers. With the SkyTrak you will need to move the launch monitor based on the person hitting the ball.
The Mevo Plus on the other hand can stay in the same position as long as you're hitting from the same spot on the mat.
Winner: Flightscope Mevo Plus
Wrapping It Up
Both of these launch monitors are great and have very similar uses, they cost about the same, and will have very similar accuracy with the data they measure. While the SkyTrak has been out since 2014 and has a proven history, the Mevo Plus just launched in January 2020, only time will tell how well it performs in the long run. The two big determining factors here boil down to space requirements and use.
As a Scratch Golfer and Instructor with more than 25,000 lessons taught I would lean toward the Mevo Plus, even given its limited history because I like the fact that it works better outdoors and I have the space to use it indoors. I also like the Angle of Attack and Spin Axis numbers because I use them a lot in lessons to help students understand impact conditions. Plus, I like the interface better than SkyTrak, but it's a close call.
I've used and taught on almost every launch monitor in the business since 2003, and for your average golfer it's not worth investing $20K+ to get a 1-3% better accuracy reading and be overwhelmed with data. No system is perfect, photometric and doppler both have downfalls, but they will both help your game. Save your coin, and invest in a better screen, enclosure, mat, and software package, and have fun practicing at home with one of these fantastic products!
One last note...SkyTrak is our highest selling product, and we receive very few complaints about it. It is has been on Golf Digest's best affordable list for a long time, and it will be there until something better comes along. I don't see it losing it's spot for a while!
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