FlightScope mevo Review: How does a $ 500 launch monitor perform?
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The FlightScope mevo has become a very popular launch monitor for golfers with a limited budget. Although it is incredibly small, it does have some great features that golfers usually find in more expensive products.
I was interested to see how the product was performing, so I tested it recently so that I can give you all an insight into how it performs and whether it's worth buying for your practice sessions.
mevo in a nutshell
The FlighScope mevo is billed as a start-up launcher offering advanced flight flight data for as little as $ 500. When it was first announced, golfers were excited by the list of parameters it can measure, which are the following:
Carry distance, club head speed, ball speed, smash factor, vertical launch angle, rotational speed, peak height and flight time
This thing is small!
In addition, they offer an app that records your data for each session and allows swing video analysis.
I've tested almost every launch monitor on the market at different price points, ranging from $ 299 all the way up to $ 20,000. Each of them has its strengths and weaknesses. I was curious where mevo fit, so I tested it both inside and outside to see how it accumulated in terms of accuracy and ease of use.
Test results indoors
The FlightScope mevo uses radar technology to measure the ball flight, which means that more space is needed to see the ball travel. This can be a problem for many golfers, because most of us have no room for an indoor practice area.
Their website recommends having 4-7 feet behind the ball, and 8 feet for the ball for optimal conditions (which I had during my test). So if you do not have more than 12-15 feet to measure the unit, you can probably assume that indoor use does not yield the most accurate result.
Launching monitors with camera technology (photometric) are best for indoor use because they measure the ball at impact. SkyTrak has become an attractive option for recreational golfers indoors for $ 2000, and I used it as a "check" for the test to see how mevo matted against it.
In addition, Flightscope recommends using a metal sticker on your ball so that it can accurately measure the spinning speeds. For indoor use, this makes sense because you can use the same balls.
These are my results with regard to the most important introduction parameters in relation to my SkyTrak unit:
Club / Launch Monitor Carry YardsBall SpeedTotal SpinLaunch AngleTotal Height (yards)
LW – Mevo56.6587175.437.615.7
LW – SkyTrak5556602631.210
% Difference 2.69% 3.5% 17.4% 18.6% 44.36%
SW – Mevo100.784.7784632.428.9
SW – SkyTrak10083734731.624
% Difference. 69% 2.03% 6.56% 2.5% 18.5%
7 Iron – Mevo172.5116474717.329.7
7 Iron – SkyTrak170115.4390019.326
% Difference1.46% .52% 19.59% 10.92% 13.28%
Driver – Mevo258.5151.3273114.529.7
Driver – SkyTrak24514719761527
% Difference 5.36% 2.88% 32% 3.38% 9.52%
I found that the mevo was especially accurate with bearing distances, which in my opinion is the most critical measure for a launch monitor like this one. The ball speed was also very close to the SkyTrak unit. The only reservation was with the driver – I thought the mevo exaggerated my carrying distance too much.
I get the feeling that the mevo also overestimated spinning speeds. I am a very low-spin player and tested my songs on most commercial launch monitors such as Trackman and Foresight. So my spinning speeds were a bit higher than normal (but in the baseball field). That is why the mevo showed the total height of my shots that were higher than they probably were.
Finally, I think that the weakest measured value that was measured was the launch angle. The numbers were not consistent from shot to shot and I do not have a high level of confidence that they were accurate.
General thoughts about indoor use
In general, I was impressed with the results indoors when I took into account its limitations. For a radar-based unit that costs only $ 500, I got pretty good data on most parameters. Would I trust for club fitness or any other activity that requires exact precision? Probably not. But you have to take everything with a grain of salt, because if you want that kind of accuracy, you have to pay more for it.
Another problem I've found is that the mevo is extremely sensitive to placement and app configuration. In the app you must choose to use the mevo indoors, specify exactly how far behind the ball is and the club you use for each shot. If you do not get all these just right, it will miss your photos.
Here you can see how setup looks in the app
This was a little frustrating at first because it required extra effort to record my recordings. But once I found the optimal place for the unit, it was mainly to register the correct measurements. On the whole, I think it missed a few times more photos than my SkyTrak unit, and occasionally it would record spins that were completely wrong. I would like to draw this up against the limitations of using indoor radar in a smaller space.
Long story short – if you have space, I think the mevo can work for you. You get statistics that are in the margins at a relatively low price. If you want more accuracy and a full simulation of your ball flight, you have to look at a unit like SkyTrak (but considerably more expensive at $ 2000).
Test results outside
I was more interested in how the FlightScope mevo would perform outdoors. The launch monitor would have more room to see the ball travel, and I know that many golfers are interested in using it as a companion on the driving range.
I took the mevo to my golf course and took pictures with different clubs to see if there were significant differences.
Flightscope recommends using metal stickers on the balls for the most accuracy. While you can buy 1000 stickers for $ 25, I chose to test without them. I'm not sure if it is reasonable to expect a golfer to stick a sticker to the ball for each shot.
In general, I think the mevo did well on the range. It was much more receptive to make photos than indoors. It was a windy day, so some of my songs could have bothered me, but here are my results:
Carry YardsBall SpeedTotal SpinLaunch AngleTotal Height (yards)
LW 49.7853.34753439.3413.66
SW90.481.48882738.0631.3
7-Iron171.1116.5544017.230.1
3-Wood237146.1365013.436.2
Recently I did a test with range balls that showed that they have different ball speeds and spinning speeds than a premium ball. So I should warn you that the use of ball data on the driving range does not give you a complete picture.
I think the results on the range were a similar story. The mevo gives pretty good data. It is not exact, but it is within a reasonable range of what I have experienced with more expensive launch monitors.
Should you buy a Flightscope mevo?
You came across this article asking if it was worth buying this product, so here are some thoughts.
Everything I evaluate on this site is through the lens of a typical golfer. In general, I think that the data provided by commercial monitors for regular players is exaggerated. You do not need to know all the details about your golf swing and your ball flight. The reason is that you probably do not know what to do with it – education professionals and club fans should do that analysis.
So the good news is that you do not have to spend more than $ 10,000 on a launch monitor.
At the budget level ($ 500 and lower) I believe that units like the FlightScope mevo and Voice Caddy SC200 are very good at estimating your carrying distances at most clubs. The mevo goes a bit further than the SC200 with launch angle, spinning speeds and various other measured values. I found it less reliable, but "in the baseball field."
Can you make significant changes to your golf swing based on those numbers? I'm not quite sure. I think budget launch monitors can best be used to assist in remote monitoring and benchmarking your relative bearing distances. I would like to see Flightscope incorporate a personal challenge into their app, which makes you hit random distances and makes it more of a game to make practice more meaningful and fun.
For $ 500, I think you get a lot of value from the mevo. If you have space indoors or want to bring it to the range, it can give you an idea of what you are doing. It is not the whole picture, because you do not get measurement data like a simulated ball flight and a burst of movement to the left and right of your target.
Generally I think that the mevo is an intermediate product, that offers a decent look at your ball flight, but without the whole picture. I think this is for golfers who are tech enthusiasts. If you like to evaluate data but do not want to invest thousands of dollars, this may be for you.
The important thing is that, if you have reasonable expectations, I think you will be satisfied. You can learn more about the Flightscope mevo and buy the unit here on their website.
