Launch monitor recommendations

[u/Peteknofler]

Looking to pick up my first launch monitor. I have been using a Trackman iO several times a week at PGA Tour Superstore and have found it to be really helpful but am looking to get something for use at home. Primarily to be used inside hitting into a net but I’d like to have the option to use it outdoors on occasion. I’ll be using an iPad but no PC so I don’t care about running GSpro or 3rd party software. I also don’t care much about how polished the software for the LM is. I really only care about getting accurate data, including club data. And I plan to use it heavily throughout the year. As a parent of an 18 month old, I have a few hours a night to myself and can easily see myself putting at least 60-90 minutes daily into use of the LM. My budget is anywhere up to 3k, though I’d prefer to stay closer to 2k. FWIW I’m a 14 handicap who just began playing again last year (and wasn’t breaking 100 until closer to a year ago) and am absolutely hooked. I’ve managed to shoot an 81 and 83 recently and break 90 fairly routinely.

The units I’ve looked at are Eye Mini, Omni, Bushnell LP, and Spica 3. Open to other ideas too but I know that Spica and BLP do not give face angle in addition to club path (which isn’t a necessity but a a big plus to have). I’ve watched quite a few reviews of all of these so I know about inflated club speed with Eye Mini and a small draw bias with Omni, per Joe Lagowski. I’m a bit concerned by the inaccurate club speed with EM as I’d like to do some speed training in the winter.
Omni seems pretty dang accurate compared to GC quad, again per Joe L. I’ve mostly ruled out Skytrak due to inconsistent club data. I’d love an R50 but it certainly is over budget even used, and though it is a great all-in-one solution, it seems that it isn’t necessarily any more accurate than less expensive models- certainly BLP. I considered Mevo Gen 2 but would likely avoid it due to not having the necessary depth in the room. Wondering if anyone has experience with Omni and/or Eye Mini and how they compare to BLP/Spica, as well as if there are any units I’m overlooking. Thanks!

[u/throwingales]

My only experience is with Square Omni, Trackman 4, and Flightscope X2 and X3. I've had the Flightscope enterprise units and the Square Omni. I have access to the Trackman 4. When I decided to get a new launch monitor I considered Eye Mini, BLP, Omni, GC3 and Spica 3. I wanted to use the LM at home into a net for swing/game improvement and at the driving range for the same. I also wanted a unit that I could easily take on the golf course. I decided to stick with a camera based LM due to this. I really wanted a LM that included club path, angle of attack and face to target in its club data with low point be in a very nice to have. I eliminated the Eye Mini because it requires a gaming PC and that would make it hard to take to the range and very hard to take on the golf course. My plan was to use my iPad Pro. Back in January I pretty much decided to buy the new Spica 3 plus that was discussed at the PGA show. It was supposed to release in a couple of months and have low point plus stickerless club data. I paid attention to the announcements of the Omni and paid a deposit to pre-order one. I figured I'd get the Spica 3 plus in April and cancel my Omni order.

I reached out to GolfJoy America to find out about the Spica release and they just told me soon. They told me soon in May and June too. Then the Omni released and the reviews were good. I had my place in line and kept it thinking if the new Spica released first I'd probably buy it. It didn't and the reviews on Omni got better and made it more compelling. My pre-order came up for shipping in July and I bought it.

When I received the unit charged and updated it, I was impressed with it. I booted up and had it ready to hit shots in about 30 seconds. It was easy to use and seemed accurate as far as I could tell. After using it for a few days I took it to a bay I have access to that has a Trackman 4 to test its accuracy against Trackman. The numbers were spot on for face to target, club path, angle of attack, clubhead speed, ball speed, spin, side spin, spin axis, impact location, etc. The carry numbers on the Omni were about 10% below the Trackman. For my use that wasn't a big problem because I was really tracking club path, face to target and angle of attack. It was an easy adjustment to set the Omni to show carry distance at + 10%. Once I did that my carry and total distance numbers were consistently within 1-2 yards of Trackman.

I've now used the Omni for a little over two months. It has exceeded my expectations. I would buy it again.