ES Tour Plus vs. Skytrak

[patexan]

I really need to use a launch monitor that sits next to the ball due to space constraints. The mevo+ radar issues with putting and chipping, etc have led me to think of Skytrak instead. GC2 is too expensive and not sure I want to wait to see what Full Swing is about.
I looked at ES Tour Plus initially but have held back due to lack of stability. I'd like to hear from those that own one, would you buy one again or would go you with Skytrak? The ES Tour Plus pro's for me are the additional clubhead data that Skytrak can't offer. Downsides are the audio detection, lack of a protective screen and general lack of widespread adoption. Is it worth the extra $1k?

[Bubba22]

I own the ES Tour plus as well as the Skytrak. The club data for the ES is calculated for the most part. The club speed is measured but other parameters are calculated. Both units are similar in accuracy.

Skytrak pros are no need to align with logo, few misreads/no reads, accuracy is good, range app is better than ES16
Skytrak cons are shot to show is slower, horizontal measurement in putting is somewhat weak, yearly subscription cost are a pain

ES16 tour plus pros are quicker shot to show, no annual annual, club speed measured
ES16 cons are chipping can be finicky and needs chip mode, occasional misreads and no reads due to microphone trigger, need logo alignment


Both are fine but I would give the slight nod to the Skytrak although the ES16Tour plus has greatly improved the last year and will continue to improve with software updates.

[BrewsLee]

I agree with Bubba. A bit of a learning curve of what works for your environment on the ESTP but now that I have my setup mostly figured out it isn’t too bad. The worst club for Mia reads for me is driver. My chips only misread if I hit too fat. Gotta keep your expectations in check is important to for a 2-3k LM VS 8 to 15k.

[Bubba22]

Agreed Brews. The driver misreads are due to the speed and resulting missed logo tee recognition. Srixon Logos are better in that sense. Really bad fat shots are also a problem mostly with wedges. Àgain chipping needs a chip mode to allow for ball speed and launch recognition. All of these little things Ned to be respected with the ES16TP.

[Chuck]

It's unfortunate that I've never tried a Skytrak, but I've played against E6 Connect users that have Skytrak and I think I have just a slight few more no-reads than they do. But mostly it's because I tend to hit shots fat or I failed to take the unit out of CHP mode at tree off (LM specific E6 bug). The audio trigger is kind of old-school engineering design, and it has trouble triggering prematurely by noise which results in the no-reads, so a fat shot will capture the initial images, not see ball motion and toss out the swing. Chipping at least in E6 is special to unique to this unit. There are two modes; one where you play the SW-PW as an iron in the Radar/Optical coupled configuration usually for greater than 25 yards. You the get benefits of the club data on that. Then for the less than 25yrds, you have to reselect the SW club and it drops you into CHP mode, which is a pure stereo optical. There is not club data provided in the pure optical mode. In CHP mode. it really doesn't matter which club you use, it simply models ball flight. The only bug I've seen is with putting in CHP mode (always by mistake). In that case, the putted ball will have a backspin and stop early. Go figure. It basically indicates that in CHP mode the spin is not read but calculated from ball flight images (my guess).

Anyway, I'll give the nod to @baubb22 since he owns both. But in the gameplay, they seem pretty close from what I've experienced on E6.

[Bubba22]

The CHP mode only uses the camera to measure ball speed and launch. Other modes will use the radar to measure the club speed which will adjust the cameras to allow for more accurate ball capture. The problem with that option with short chips is that the radar is not as accurate in measuring club speed in short chips. Both CHP mode and Putter don’t require logo placement for ball launch. If you hit a shot with no logo placement in these modes then the spin will be estimated. If you line up the logo in CHP mode then the spin is actually measured. Try it.

[patexan]

Thanks all. This was really helpful especially from actual owners vs. a lot of hearsay that I see in different places. This is my first entry into LM and SIM world. I think I'll start with Skytrak and see where that takes me.