Mevo+ vs SkyTrak 

What is better - Photometric or Doppler technology? 

There are two main types of ball tracking systems used commercially — Doppler (Mevo+) and Photometric (SkyTrak). 

Both types of commercial systems are very good, yet they use two very different methods to achieve their results. To put it very simply – A Doppler system, as you may envision radar working, tracks how your ball flies and where it lands, and then calculates why it went there. 

On the other hand, a Photometric system measures what the ball is doing immediately after impact with high speed cameras, and then calculates or project its flight path and distance using very sophisticated algorithms. 

Both designs have their strengths. Photometric systems require less space but do not do well in direct sunlight and are generally limited to indoor use only. 

In order to obtain accurate information, a doppler system requires a larger space to allow enough ball flight before the ball impacts a net or screen. Space can often be problematic when used indoors but it is not affected by direct sunlight or low light conditions. 

If space and budget are not considerations, either of these commercial alternatives produce highly accurate and reliable results. For their price point, SkyTrak and Mevo+ are the leaders on the market for their type of ball tracking system and accessible to all golfers. 

 

Accuracy 

Both Skytrak and Mevo+ are equally accurate devices which we’ve tested head-to-head against each other, and tour level devices such as the FlightScope X3 and Trackman. 

As far as performance, both provide quality results and overall accuracy. 

For the price difference, the results are virtually indistinguishable from the leading commercial launch monitors in the industry across the five most important parameters – ball speed, launch angle, back spin, side spin/spin axis, and side angle. 

It comes down to how you want to use your unit – indoor or outdoor, practice or play – and ensuring you have the correct set-up for your chosen launch monitor and purpose. 

Space required 

The Skytrak is indoor only and can be used in a relatively small space (around 2m-3m of ball flight). Basically, anywhere you have room to swing a driver. 

The FlightScope Mevo+ can be used both indoors and outdoors, and as a base package includes more software than the Skytrak. 

It does, however, require about 5.5m of space to be totally accurate (2.3m from Mevo+ to ball, 2.7m from ball to screen/net, 0.5m behind screen to allow for screen to expand during impact). 

Anything above 2.85m in height is workable but it depends on the height of the player. As a rule of thumb, 3m is usually fine. 

The Mevo+ cannot be used in an environment with a large amount of exposed metal surfaces, such as a Colorbond shed. 

Ongoing costs 

Skytrak’s basic software has no fee, however, a yearly fee is required to access extra features. 

Mevo+ has no ongoing fees and includes more as a base package than Skytrak. 

To use third party software on Skytrak, you require an active Skytrak Game Improvement Package which is $179 per year. As Mevo+ has no annual fee, there is no added requirements to use third party software. 

They are both compatible with the leading third party golf simulator software providers including TGC 2019, Creative Golf 3D and E6 Connect. 

Software inclusions 

Skytrak as standard includes the base driving range software which allows you to practice like you would at the range with the addition of all the main data points. 

The FlightScope Mevo+ includes three pieces of great value software: 

• FlightScope Golf App (FS Golf): This is your standard driving range software which displays all shot data, plots it on the range and includes dispersion circles. One awesome feature is the automated video clipping feature. Mevo+ connects directly to your phone’s camera, which you either place down the line behind the player, or parallel on the side, and automatically clips the video of your swing, then overlays the data of that swing on the screen. This gives both players and coaches the opportunity to review both the physical swing combined with the outcome of the swing in one simple and quick interface. Coaches can save these videos and forward to students, or, if Students own a Mevo+ themselves, can record the swings to submit to their coach online for review and coaching. 
• FlightScope Skills App (FS Skills): The is a skills test app. Users can choose from a variety of different pre-set skills tests, or create their own custom ones. The skills app has users on the driving range once more, but has them aiming at targets set by the software, and ranks each shot. At the end of each skills session the app will identify how well the golfer has performed, where they predominantly miss their shots etc, and gives them information to work on. It’s practicing with precise purpose. 

• TruGolf E6 Connect: Apart from being a launch monitor, the Mevo+ is also a highly accurate golf simulator. Included at no extra charge is an E6 Connect lifetime subscription with 5 free real-life golf courses that players can use on their iPhone or iPad. They can even plug their device into a TV or projector to play at home. This is currently available for iOS only running iOS13.3 or later. 

Conclusion 

Putting it simply, both SkyTrak and FlightScope Mevo+ are excellent units. Our side-by-side comparisons have found the data of both units to be extremely close. Basically you would not select one over the other based on one being more accurate; we consider both units equal in terms of accuracy. 

The main considerations when choosing between SkyTrak and FlightScope Mevo+ are the space you have, the material your area is constructed from, and whether you’ll be using the launch monitor indoors only, or both indoors and outdoors. 

The advantage of SkyTrak is that is requires a relatively small space to setup; you just need to be able to swing a driver! The disadvantages of SkyTrak include SkyTrak being an indoor only unit, the small lag between hitting a shot and the data appearing on screen, and additional subscriptions required to play rounds of golf. 

The main advantages of FlightScope Mevo+ is that it can be used both indoors and outdoors off both mats and real grass, includes a variety of software and a simulation package free of charge as standard. The main disadvantage is that Mevo+ requires significantly more room to use indoors.