1. Video introduction This is the Shot Scope LM1, a budget golf launch monitor and without doubt one of the most popular products at this year’s PGA Golf Show. And, based on my recent experience testing it, that buzz has been for very good reason. I’ve been given early access to it ahead of launch, so have spent several weeks putting it through its paces on the golf course, at the driving range and in my garden practise net. To make my testing and this review as thorough as possible, I’ve hit hundreds of balls and also captured data using my FlightScope Mevo Gen 2, which I’ll be comparing with the LM1 data in this review. As always, my direct product link and discount code, which depending on when you’re watching this video, might save you 15% on the LM1, can be found below. Finally, if you get value from this video, please remember to hit the like button and swipe to Hype it up, which will help it reach more golf enthusiasts on YouTube. 2. Overview and what’s in the box Having already established itself as the market leader in golf performance tracking, Shot Scope is now branching out into the launch monitor market with the release of the LM1. Retailing at £200 or $200, it sits very much in the budget launch monitor space, but don’t be fooled by its low price, because the LM1 really does have a lot to oPer. In terms of data, the LM1 captures five essential metrics – club speed, ball speed, smash factor, carry distance and total distance. These metrics can be tracked during rounds on the golf course, at the driving range, and using an indoor or outdoor practise net. The device can even be used to help you develop a faster golf swing. Inside the box, you’ll find the LM1, a premium carry case, screen cleaning cloth, USB-C charging cable, quick-start user guide, and a club chart. 3. Hardware and portability The biggest surprise for me the first time I saw the LM1 was just how much smaller it was than I expected. It’s slightly shorter and only a little bit wider than my iPhone, making it a really neat and highly portable unit. It’s also very lightweight, weighing only 300 grams. Despite it being a budget launch monitor, the LM1 feels and looks great. The device is controlled using 4 buttons on the side, which can occasionally be a little bit problematic (more on that later), but, whilst they are a little clicky and don’t feel like the most highquality buttons, they do allow you to navigate menus, change settings, and select the club you are hitting. The LM1 benefits from a clear 3.5 inch colour display, and, unlike many of Shot Scope’s other devices, it has a brightness control, which I know will be music to the ears of many existing Shot Scope users. I found the screen bright enough and easy to read, even when using it in varying light conditions, so didn’t have to adjust the brightness, but it’s handy to have the option. Finally, when it comes to charging, it has a USB-C charging port, which, in my testing, charged the LM1 from flat to full in under 90 minutes. 4. Setting up The LM1 is designed to be used straight out of the box, but it does still come with a quick-start user guide that’s worth reading to ensure the correct setup and use. There are a couple of settings that need to be pre-set, such as unit of measurement, the way you want to display the data, and the colour of the theme, but beyond that, there’s really not much you need to do before you start using it. What I absolutely love about the LM1 is the fact that it is so quick and easy to set up. Whether you’re using it on the course, the driving range, or with a practise net, it’s a breeze. All you need to do is switch it on, select your mode, choose your club, flick out the stand and position it 1.4 meters directly behind the ball. As it’s a standalone device, unlike many other launch monitors, there’s no requirement to connect a mobile phone, adjust tilt or roll or anything else. From switching it on to hitting balls, it takes less than 30 seconds, which is remarkably quick. 5. Performance testing As with every golf product I review, I have tested the LM1 extensively before creating this video, so that I can tell you honestly what worked well and what could be better. Let’s begin with how it performed when I took it onto the golf course. On course mode In golf course mode, the LM1 allows you to obtain data for shots as you play your round. I tested it on my home club’s short par 3 course with clubs ranging from my 6 iron to my lob wedge. Because the LM1 is so small and light, and comes with a protective carry case, I found it easy to store and carry in my golf bag. In fact, quite often, I actually just keep it in my pocket between shots, which I found even more convenient and helpful for quick use. The stand is wide enough to allow the device to balance well on flat ground and on slight slopes, but if you play on a golf course which is particularly hilly, you might have to occasionally get a bit creative in balancing the device before you hit your shot. For normal lies, the speed at which the LM1 can be switched on and begin tracking shots is a real plus point when using it on the golf course, as is how quickly it returns data, which means there’s little chance of holding up the group behind. In terms of ball tracking on the course, the LM1 performed well. It didn’t miss any shots that I took during my round, and the numbers were generally very close to what my laser rangefinder was telling me. It is worth reiterating that I only tested mid to short irons and wedges on the course, though. For me personally, I’d probably not use the golf course mode very often as I have access to a practise net, but it’s a handy addition for those who play most of their golf on the course and don’t do much practising. Lets’ now talk about how the LM1 performed when tested in my garden golf net. Golf net Given that I have my own garden net set up, this is where I did the bulk of my testing with the LM1. During the testing period, I hit hundreds of balls both day and night and also tracked data at the same time using my £1200 FlightScope Mevo Gen 2 for comparison. Following the user guide, I carefully measured 1.4 metres from the hitting area, and ensured the LM1 was level with the hitting area by stacking up some tiles, which also ensured I was always placing the device in the same place for every test. It’s worth mentioning that with my setup, there is a decent distance from the ball to the net, which helps devices track the initial ball flight, before each runs their own calculations to work out the carry and total distance numbers. Using my Gen 2 as a benchmark, I found that the ball speed and club speed readings were almost identical, often within just 1 mile per hour. In terms of carry numbers, the LM1 was quite a bit more generous than the Gen 2 for driver and woods, consistently around 8-12 yards longer. As I moved down the bag to the long and mid-irons, the gap began to narrow, averaging between 4-6 yards. Where things really begin to tighten up were the short irons and wedges, where the distances between the two devices were nearly identical, often only 1 or 2 yards max. Whilst the carry numbers were generally very impressive for a device that costs six times less than the Gen 2, across the board, the LM1’s total distance numbers were more aggressive and representative of firm and fast conditions than the Gen. Personally, I felt they were probably a little too generous. For driver and woods, the LM1 provided, on average, 25 yards more roll out than the Gen 2, and 12 yards for long and mid irons. With short irons, the average was 7 yards roll out, and for wedges, 5 yards. The data suggests that the Shot Scope LM1 total distance calculation is jacked up, however, I’m not too concerned about this because the carry distances, which were generally very good across the bag, are what golfers really should be focusing on instead of total distances. From 1.4 metres, the LM1 tracked 99 out 100 shots, missing only one shot with a lob wedge. Out of curiosity, I tried moving it back to 2.4 metres, which led to more 4 out of 5 missed shots with my loft wedge, more variance in club speed readings, an increase in carry distance gapping, and more erratic smash factor readings. This demonstrates just how important it is to carefully follow Shot Scope’s setup instructions for the LM1, in order to get the most accurate data. In terms of Smash Factor, which measures the ePiciency of energy transfer at impact, the LM1 readings were very consistent with the Mevo Gen 2. Out of more than 150 shots, only once did I see a glitch, with a Smash Factor reading of 1.70, which isn’t actually possible given the maximum is 1.50. However, with this outlier removed, the LM1 readings were within 1% of the Gen 2 across the entire bag, which is impressive for a £200 device. Battery life wise, for a full session of 65 shots, the battery only went down by roughly a 6th, so from you full charge, you’ll get plenty of sessions out of the LM1. With regards to data, the LM1 really did hold its own against the Mevo, but I did experience a couple of minor frustrations. First of all, to change clubs, you need to do this on the device using the up and down buttons. If you’re only hitting a few balls with one club at a time, this does get a bit annoying and would be easier if it could be done using an app. Secondly, when doing so, I accidentally pressed the back button a few times, which exited the session, meaning I had to restart it, which was a little annoying. The screen is a really good size, and it’s easy to see the data that it’s displaying. I like the fact that you can choose to display one particular metric at a time in large format, or show all five on screen together. The only problem is that you must choose your display before you begin your session, as you cannot switch between large format and advanced modes during your session. Also, the device has no audio callouts for data, so you need to keep looking at it each time you’ve hit a shot. It would be good to be able to have this read out aloud so you can just focus on hitting golf balls. Finally, irrespective of which mode you’re using, the LM1 saves each shot to the device itself. This is useful as it means that you don’t need to use your phone at the same time as the LM1, but you can import your session data into the mobile app once you’ve finished. Unfortunately, the app integration wasn’t available when I tested the LM1, so I cannot discuss how well or not well this worked, but I’ll be sure to create a separate video on this topic and link to it above and below when published. What I did notice with the way shots are stored on the device is that rather annoyingly, you can’t delete any shots from the device itself, which isn’t great when you’ve mis-hit one or are just trying something out. Presumably, you’ll be able to do this within the app once you’ve synced your session, though. Another minor frustration is that shots from all sessions seem to be amalgamated by club when viewed on the device. This likely won’t be the case when you upload your session to the app, however, it means when looking at shots on the device in your history, there’s no way of knowing which shots were captured on specific dates, conditions or even modes. I think I’d prefer if sessions were grouped and if the user could name them using the buttons on the device. Driving ranges Now, I appreciate that not everyone is going to have access to an indoor or outdoor practise net, so during testing, I decided to take the LM1 to a couple of local driving ranges. Grass Range First, I headed to the grass practise area at my home club. For this test, I numbered five golf balls, hit them out to the range with the same club and wrote down the LM1’s carry distance for each shot. It’s worth mentioning that it was a very wet and windy day, so I was hitting into a 2-club headwind, and the ground was very soft, with absolutely no roll. Having hit each ball, I walked to the position of each ball on the range and used my laser to measure the distance, then wrote it down. I repeated this process with a selection of clubs through the bag, including sand wedge, 8 iron, 6 iron, and driver. When comparing the data, the biggest takeaway from this session is that the LM1 essentially works on the assumption of ‘perfect conditions’, as it has no way of knowing what the wind speed is like or what ePect that has on the golf ball. During testing with the driver, the LM1 gave me carry distances between 234 and 244 yards, while my laser confirmed the balls were actually only carrying between 180 and 203 yards. So basically, the LM1 was overestimating driver carry by an average of around 45 yards, which is quite a lot. Now, whilst this may seem like an issue, it is important to note that the data was consistent. When testing irons, again, they showed longer carry numbers, but the distances were consistent for each club. When testing my wedges, the carry numbers were actually very, very close, so for shots where the wind perhaps didn’t have as much of an ePect, the LM1 demonstrated good accuracy. Local driving range Next, I decided to visit the local driving range, which has TrackMan Range technology installed, so I could see how the LM1 performed with range balls, against the Mevo Gen 2 and TrackMan Range. As before, I worked through a range of clubs within my bag from my wedges down to my driver, recording the carry and total distances for every shot across all three devices. At the range, for my mid-to-short irons, the LM1 was often within just a few yards both the Mevo and TrackMan. For instance, with my 6-iron, the LM1 averaged a carry of 169 yards, which was just 5 yards further than the Gen 2 and only 2 yards further than the TrackMan. This tight parity continued all the way down to the wedges, which shows the LM1 is almost as accurate with irons and wedges as these industry-leading launch monitors. When moving into the longer clubs, I found the LM1 to be generally consistent with the Gen 2 in terms of Driver carry, and actually better than the TrackMan. I could see where the balls were landing on the range and felt like the TrackMan consistently underreported carry numbers but gave much larger total distances. By contrast, the LM1 actually matched the Mevo Gen 2 pretty well in terms of carry, even if it was still a little generous with total distances, but still not as much as the TrackMan, which really surprised me. So those are the numbers compared to the Mevo Gen 2 and the TrackMan. Before we chat about the Swing Speed mode, I want to hear from you- “Where would you use this device more – at the driving range, on the course or into a net at home? Let me know below. Also, if this review is helping you out, please do hit the like button and feel free to subscribe to support the channel. Now, let’s discuss the LM1’s speed training mode. Swing speed training Now, I have to be honest, if anything, I feel like I need to slow my swing down but I did still test this mode out. Essentially, it allows you to see how fast you’re swinging your club in miles or kilometres per hour. All you need to do is set the LM1 up as normal and swing away without hitting a golf ball. I tested using a 6 iron and a driver. I noticed that the speed increased as expected when I moved from the iron to the driver, and the speed increased or decreased as a speed up and slowed down my swing, so I can’t really say anything other than that during my testing, it seemed to work as expected for me. Pros and cons Let’s now summarise what’s good, and what could be better with the LM1, starting with the positives. Pros At £200 with no subscription fees, it’s incredibly aPordable. With mid irons and wedges, I found it to be comparable with my Flight Scope Mevo Gen 2 across club speed, ball speed, smash factor and carry metrics. Even with driver and woods, it’s within an acceptable range for a budget launch monitor. The LM1 is also compact, easy to set up, and there’s no requirement to connect a mobile phone or app to use it. It can be used on the course, in a net outside or inside, and on the driving range. The screen is large and clear, and the device is water-resistant, so it can be used in light showers. It has USB-C charging, which is quick to charge, and the battery life seems to be solid enough although I’d love to see the remaining battery level as a percentage and not just an icon. Cons Now, there are a lot of positives with the LM1, but of course, there are also some pain points. Having to change clubs manually on the device does get a little bit annoying, and the positioning of the buttons makes it easy to accidentally close your session. Session data is currently amalgamated within the device history, and there’s no way to delete shots on the device itself. The total distance is also often inflated in my opinion, but given it’s less important than carry, it’s not a deal breaker – just something to be mindful of. The verdict – Who is the LM1 best suited to? In truth, the LM1 really is suitable for any golfer. Whether you’re a scratch golfer looking to test and compare yardages between a new driver or set of irons, a mid handicap golfer looking to develop a faster golf swing or dial in your wedges with some gapping, or a beginner golfer just looking to see how far you hit your clubs, the LM1 will be a great addition to your golf bag. In my testing, it performed really well across the board, especially when put up against the much more expensive FlightScope Mevo Gen 2 and TrackMan devices, and it’s a neat little device that fits easily in your golf bag. If you’re looking for more advanced metrics, such as spin, angle of attack, swing path, face impact location, then in truth, the LM1 isn’t going to give you that, and you’re probably looking for something a bit more expensive. However, if you’re looking for a reliable, compact and versatile launch monitor that gives you the essential data metrics, doesn’t lead you down a swing analysis rabbit hole (believe me, I’ve been there), and won’t break the bank, I honestly think you’ll be hard pushed to find one better than the Shot Scope LM1.
£200 Monitor vs. Mevo Gen 2 & Trackman Range
