New Version of SkyTrak Arriving?

[PunchoutPro]

SkyTrak confirmed a new unit is on the way with a trade-in program. FYI

[HoselRocket]

This review just came out yesterday. Now the question is how much is the trade-in value for our original units?

https://youtu.be/xxcdU1pCi8U

[jpotas]

Trade in for me was offered at $600.

[HoselRocket]

$600 is not bad. If you can transfer you memberships (TWG 2019 etc) then I'll probably do it.

[swing+amiss]

Not bad? For $600? The used market averages 1100-1200! Here on this site! That means they/2nd Swing is pocketing double the amount they're giving you, to turn around and sell them certified pre-owned, or whatever marketing name they will slap on them. Providing at least 80% of street value is fair when factoring shipping costs, shipping damages, and age ranges of the units they will handle.

Rapsodo/Golftec is behind on tech in this product release, underwhelming in customer satisfaction for upgrades, and overpriced for the competition among the comparable launch monitors. Disappointing.

[jpotas]

Personally $600 seems pretty good. It is about 30% of the original cost. How many electronic items do you get that much for used. Look at a phone that is 4 years old, you would not get near that percentage, with that being said I will try to sell it on my own first.

[Frankfam11]

has anyone seen any in depth reviews on the ST+ yet? really torn between that and the BLP but i dont really wanna be the guinea pig only to find out its a disappointment

[OttawaP]

Most places who sell both I'm sure would have a 30 day return policy. Buy one and change course if needed. Probably have to pay for the shipping but thats not the end of the world.

[jpotas]

Does BLP have club data? And if so does it require stickers?

[Frankfam11]

yes the BLP offers some clubhead data, but only with a subscription that costs $250/yr. That includes AoA and club path but this requires stickers on the club face. The ST+ has both club path AND face angle but does not have AoA which is a bummer, but the positive is that it doesnt require stickers or any subscription to get all the data parameters.

[Bubba22]

Bubba22 - You beta tested the original. Did you do the same for this one?

I reached out to pay and beta test but they didn’t send one. I hope it gets well tested before release. For example MLM2 pro is struggling as it was probably released without true beta testing.

[wilson]

I reached out to pay and beta test but they didn’t send one. I hope it gets well tested before release. For example MLM2 pro is struggling as it was probably released without true beta testing.

That’s too bad, I recall the level headed responses you and the forum was able to give to the early adopters. Remember the crazy 220 yard 7i bug?
The fact you could speak with authority on your testing at least gave some solace to those thinking they bought a lemon.

[Wilson Campbell]

Real issue over all is the price increase, 3K is well above what most people can afford, especially now a days. Most can maybe push to 2k (if we save hard). Then you have to pay for mat, screen/net, and golf simulator also. Golftec must want to get their money back from their purchase of Skytrak fast. It will just end up with them selling less units, getting less subscriptions and losing out overall. There has been a trend for lower cost units with more features, not the other way round. The cost does not even match their main competitor in the home consumer market area. Definitely now out of my price range and I will have to wait until someone brings out something cheaper that uses cameras for smaller area. I live in UK and they are charging £3,095.00 even though if I convert from USD price to pounds sterling it should be £2,371 at todays rate for some reason.

Do not know why they did not include angle of attack, could not have been that hard to do as they are already getting other face details.

The used price of existing Skytrak's will also go down now because of the new release. Do not believe a lot of people are fully aware of the situation yet when buying second hand but when they do it will drop. Might be an idea to sell you unit fast before it happens if not using the trade in. Some people with space issues will just buy these used units now as 3k too expensive, however, there are risks with support if something goes wrong and it could be an expensive loss.

[jpotas]

I think you have to realize that there would be a price increase for a new and improved product. It is a complete redesign with added content and technology. I don't think I have ever seen a new model of anything without a price increase. On other golf forums, the majority of people are very pleased with the price point of the new ST+, especially with club data and no stickers.

Also, since they are already collecting club data, AoA could be a future update. Golftec is big on instruction, and this might drive more frequent updates than what we saw with Skytrak in the past.

[l40niners1]

in the end the more options the better but I believe Skytrak really botched this release. Most Skytrak users are looking for value and low cost and not spending $2.4k to upgrade to get club data that may or may not be calculated via machine learning. They also are going to charge $100 per year to get the data as the rep stated in this convo:
Josh K (Agent) : The device itself always records the same data. But the detailed information on each part of your swing is included in the game and Improvement plan upwards - 11:38 AM
l40niners1 : so you need the game improvement plan at minimum to see the new club data? - 11:40 AM
Josh K (Agent) : To see it yes - 11:40 AM

[bubbtubbs]

jpotas pretty sure the software that must not be named didn't require GIP but I haven't looked at that since compatibility was first figured out. Things may have changed since then.

[jpotas]

bubbtubbs , yes I'm pretty sure that you are correct about that software. The other
popular compatible software Sims do though. Good catch 👍

The bad thing about that software is the $250 a year, unless you buy the lifetime.

[Wilson Campbell]

Agree, price to high. No it is not common for new version of equipment to be 50% more expensive. It is outside the scope of normal/current Skytrak users and that market area.

Holding back data unless subscription: Rapsodo must have had input into that decision or they copied them as they are doing that with their new device. Given the stink they are getting for it Skytrak is also going to get it.

Hope something else comes out soon, really needed in the market.

[CAPDAK]

I’m not sure I understand the pricing complaints. The suggestion is that this new Skytrak should be priced exactly the same as the old Skytrak for some reason. Did the cost of the parts used in the skytrak + somehow become cheaper so you could insert upgraded versions of camera, Wi-Fi, and add Doppler radar and there should be no price difference from the unit they started selling years ago? Is that a realistic expectation? Should they have lowered quality of parts to meet the lower price point?

And I don’t understand the complaint about the Doppler using machine learning to provide accurate club data. I could understand complaints if the data turns out not to be accurate. But why should I care if the data is processed by machine learning if the club data is in fact obtained through physical monitoring of the club, and that data processed with what amounts to AI? I think I would just like accurate swing path, face position compared to that path and to the target line.

Did anyone really expect prices to stay below 2k forever? Should we expect supply chain issues and inflation to impact these things?

[HappyGilmore102]

The mlm2pro has 2 cameras and dopper retails for 699.

The machine learning could be used in the old skytrak.

skytak + still has delay, i don't see any value in it.

It will be blown out of the water by another manufacturer at the next pga show.

3k spent today is 3k gone tomorrow.

[CAPDAK]

You hit it on the head jpotas. The market will dictate. The Skytrak fills a niche. Only time will tell if other cheaper products will replace or outsell Skytrak. Historically, Skytrak has done pretty well though, despite some people expressing negativity in the past.

For those commenting about how technology gets cheaper, and thus you say, the price should remain under 2k in perpetuity, the Skytrak unit has something it didn’t have before, Doppler radar. Should that have been offered for free? Or is it reasonable for the unit to cost more since it has added technology? Do inflation and increased supply chain costs have an impact on pricing? Is coding and implementation of software upgrades free to produce or do the coders need to be paid too? Is the sale of Skytrak units a business, or is it a social project? I too wish the price was the same as the old Skytrak. But given all the facts and circumstances, that doesn’t seem to be a reasonable expectation.

HappyG - it seems the answer is clear for you. Buy the mlm2 pro if it has everything you want. That’s what the market is about. But MLM won’t work for everyone due to its the space requirements. They both have a camera and they both have radar. But they are not the same. Every monitor has its pros and cons.

It would be great if the availability of cheaper launch monitor units made Skytrak go down in price over time. But I’m not holding my breath for that. They have created a niche for themselves in price vs capability.

[Frankfam11]

wilson, the price of an iphone has doubled from 2014 to 2023, granted, they are probably twice as powerful. whether or not the new skyrak is worth the extra 1k is TBD. lets wait for the real reviews to come in before we pass judgement. If it really does offer accuracy on par with something like GCQuad, then 3k is a steal, but im not holding my breath

[Elgen]

I have a Skytrak now, that I enjoy. But there are many quirks with it, that makes the experience mixed. But for the price tag, I'm reasonably satisfied.

With the Skytrak+ on the other hand, the price point is getting closer to the competition. And while clubhead data is a very welcome addition, I am disappointed that it doesn't seem like they have done anything to fix all the quirky issues with the original (shot delay, alignment, slow servers, connectivity issues, limited and old fasioned software support, etc).

Will wait for the reviews and see ofc. Hopefully I'm wrong! If not, I will go for a different brand.

[Dbchaplin03]

I preorderd the new Skytrak + the day it was announced. Have had the original for about 5 years but the last 2 years it’s sat in a box in the basement with all the rest of my simulator setup because I’m in the Air Force and moved to Europe and couldn’t find a house with tall enough ceilings to set it up.

i bought a hitting cage for outside and did a ton of research and ended up buying the Mevo+ 2023 with pro package from Play Better.

I had a ton of issues with the Mevo+. It would constantly lose connection with my iPad. As in 3-4 times in a 1 hour practice session which forced me to close the software, disconnect from the units WiFi and reload everything which means starting a new practice session, recalibrating… I also couldn’t believe that you couldn’t connect it to your home WiFi but had to connect to the units to use it which means nothing is available online. No one talks about that. Having the weather data updated was very important but you had to disconnect from the device, reconnect to your WiFi, then reconnect to the device. It was a huge burden. Same with not being able to play any of the E6 courses online.

It was also extremely intermittent with accurate distances. I’d hit a pure 7 iron shot 3-4 times in a row and it would register 98 yds, 100 yds. I talked to the folks at FlightScope and Play Better and ultimately ended up sending the unit back to Play Better this week for a refund. They were absolutely wonderful by the way. It is likely a defect with that unit but it was frustrating none the less. In 2.5 weeks of messing with it I ended up trying to troubleshoot more then practice which was frustrating.

Additionally, since I was using this outside I had to set it down, level it, align it, etc etc everytime i tried to use it.

I’m hopeful that with this Skytrak + that it will be much simpler to set down on my hitting mat, align, and be going.

For those saying that it is too expensive and no one can afford this.. you need to stop watching the news.. everything today is more expensive than it was last year even. The news is trying to tell us how broke everybody is but yet every car dealership still have empty lots because of record sales, houses are still selling for record highs.. I agree that these things are expensive, but if I can afford one in my budget as a single income military family (debt free) there are a lot of other folks who could if they wanted also.

I’m also a little disappointed about the AoA not being included but hopefully that will come with some firmware updates in the future. None of that data was an available in Mevo+ until later either. Fingers crossed 🤞

Hope to see some better reviews soon. And if it is a flop as some of you are skeptical about.. Play Better has a 30 day no questions asked guarantee. And they mean it. They just took back my defective Mevo+ 2023 with the pro package and refunded it

[l40niners1]

if Skytrak had a better track record I'd bet alot more people would be willing to purchase. The main comparison right now is the BLP and that is also $3000 brand new at the moment. You can also get this certified used for a discount. It costs $150 more per year but is that worth the headache of not knowing if the Skytrak+ will work as well as the BLP which is known to work extremely well indoors and outdoors? If I was upgrading I'd get a BLP at the moment as I know it works, doesn't have a delay, bigger hitting area, and I don't have to worry about golftec servers going down.

[Wilson Campbell]

You are lucky in the USA you can get the BLP. For some weird reason they are not selling them in Europe ( I am in UK). They sell other B products but not that. I had personally forgot about the BLP and that it will be a big competitor to the Skytyrak+. See it is now down to 2,999.99 in USA so it is a direct competitor to the Skytrak+ now. Near same price of the Skytrak+ for the unit. Subscription can be high on it but apparently, just like the original skytrak, there is a free none supported option available. But then I suppose if you can afford a Skytrak+ and its subscriptions maybe this is not that far off and would be a much better solution with three cameras. Both are out of my range and justification to my wife on spending that much. Used BLP still expensive at 2,749.99 but for golfers in USA it sounds a much better solution at that price point.

[trhuke]

Talked to ProTee customer service, lifetime TGC2019 will work with the new ST+ at no added cost.

[Bubba22]

That’s too bad, I recall the level headed responses you and the forum was able to give to the early adopters. Remember the crazy 220 yard 7i bug?
The fact you could speak with authority on your testing at least gave some solace to those thinking they bought a lemon.

I agree. I suggested that they get beta testers in the field. It's easy to get the kinks out with testers and give honest opinions on the hardware and the software. I am sure they will get it done right but time will tell.