Shot Scope X5 GPS Watch Review
For golfers looking to combine shot tracking and GPS information in a wearable, Shot Scope has always made compelling products and the new X5 looks to build on what was on offer from the impressive Shot Scope V3. The new watch is sleeker and offers more off-course appeal without sacrificing its popular shot tracking capability, which comes from new and improved lightweight second-generation tracking tags that screw into the tops of your clubs.
To cover everything this watch offers would take almost an eternity, such is the wide ranging functionality built in so this review will look to cover the most important areas golfers consider when choosing a golf GPS watch.
The set up process is pretty straight forward although to access the statistics you’ll need to screw the tags into the tops of your grips, which takes some time. The X5 needs to be worn on your lead arm and because it needs to be within 10cm of the tags to pick up shots, expect it to miss a few if you like to grip down on the club. On arrival at the course, the X5 took around 20 seconds to locate the course - you get the option of GPS or GPS+Track depending on if you’re using the tags. Hit a shot and the club used will be shown in the main display. The home screen also shows the front, middle and back distances, the hole number and par as well as your current score if enabled.
The lock function comes enabled as standard, which I’d recommend turning off in the settings before you play as it is annoying to have to manually unlock the X5 every time you want to use it by twisting the crown button 360° or pressing and holding the middle of the screen.
Swipe left and you’ll see the distances to reach and carry hazards, which I found particularly useful and is not something many of the best golf watches offer. Swipe right and you’ll see a map of the green you’re approaching and the ability to move the pin position, which works well when adopting a dragging technique rather than a tapping one. Other features include shot distance measurement, doglegs and lay up distances and the ability to add penalty shots. Full hole maps are currently not available but are due to be added at some point in 2023.
This brings us on to the touch screen navigation which, on the whole, worked fine but it wasn’t as responsive as I was hoping for - swiping left and right didn’t often work first time and some swipes up or down on the settings resulted in selection options I was trying to scroll past, possibly because of the relatively small screen. You do have the option of rotating and pressing the button in the top right corner, which works better and the watch will also vibrate on each setting as you scroll through. You can also press this button to scroll through the game menu in golf mode instead of swiping, so there are alternatives that allow you to get to where you want to go. It must be said, though, that the screen itself is crystal clear and very easy to read regardless of the light conditions you are playing in.
When you finish each hole, the screen will prompt you to tap the pin collect button to mark the pin position as well as enter your score and the number of putts taken if you’ve elected to do so. After your round, you need to sync the watch to the Shot Scope app for the data to be transferred, which takes a few seconds. After my first round using the X5, the overall score and shot locations were quite a way off in some cases, and so some editing was required - which is no different to when using the Arccos Smart Sensors. However, this is quite fiddly and time consuming to do on iPhone - Shot Scope recommends doing this on desktop and I can see why. Although perhaps I am just more used to doing it on the Arccos app.
Once the editing is completed, you get free access to over 100 performance statistics which includes Strokes Gained. Unfortunately you can only compare yourself to handicap indexes in increments of five, which is relatively vague but the information nevertheless is displayed clearly through various pie charts, line graphics and color-coded graphics broken down into six key performance areas.
For £279.99, you’re undoubtedly getting a lot for your money and while the user experience wasn’t perfect, it was certainly an enjoyable product to use that has the potential to improve decision-making and club selection. It looks at home away from the course as a sports watch (it will track your steps and tell the time) and comes in seven color choices to suit your visual preference.
