UNCRoss

It arrived!

How long have you been playing golf? I’ve been playing golf since I was around 10. My grandfather would take me a 9-hole course that hand sand greens and everything was cut one height. It was $4 to play and most of the time that was on a honor system.
What’s your handicap or normal score? I got down to a 7 handicap, I’ve grown my family over past few years so my golf has taken a backseat to my priority and I currently have an 11 handicap.
What do you love about golf? The competition against myself and knowing I can always do something better.
What brings you to MyGolfSpy? Do you already know any other Spies? I think I originally got on for the testing (never been chosen), but I am using it now as a social platform. I don’t do facebook and/or Instagram and right now I’m stay at home dad so I don’t get a lot of socializing. I am a high school teacher and at home for the summer with my kids.
Where are you from? What is your home course? I am from the central Virginia area, Charlottesville being the closest city. My home course is Greene Hills.
What are the best and worst things about golf in your region? I can’t complain about the golf in my area. Wish I had a few more courses to pick from.
What do you do for a living? I am a high school physical education teacher.
How’d you pick your user name? I went to Emory & Henry College and our mascot was the Wasps. 007 is a number that I’ve used a lot, nothing to do with James Bond.

I just noticed this post, my week 7 score of 90 was not counted in this chart for some reason. 

No problem, thank you 

Mostly just being a dad these days, but I love to fish when I get the chance especially for bass and musky!

Thank you, really enjoyed the opportunity to get to try out this watch. It’s an excellent watch for the price. 

Final Review Posted! Thanks  again myspy staff and shotscope!
 
Final Review Post!

Thank you, really enjoyed the opportunity to get to try out this watch. It’s an excellent watch for the price. 

Thank you, really enjoyed the opportunity to get to try out this watch. It’s an excellent watch for the price. 

Final Review Posted! Thanks  again myspy staff and shotscope!
 
Final Review Post!

Introduction:
First of all I would like to give a huge thank you to the MGS staff and Shotscope for giving me the opportunity to test and review the new Shotscope V5 golf watch.
Who am I?:

Hello spies, my name is Jeff Ross. I live in Radford, VA along with my beautiful wife Jill and my 7-year-old son Liam. I am a bingo supply salesman in Virginia and West Virginia. I enjoy spending time traveling with my family, fishing, golf, working out and the outdoors. I'm a die hard UNC Tarheels fan, this where my screenname uncross derives from. I’ve lived in a golf course community for the last 3 years but unfortunately, I have never played the course, but plan on playing it soon, its a beautiful course.

I started playing golf when I was in college in the late 90’s. Although I played a lot, I never really improved very much. I just enjoyed playing with my buddies and never took the game too seriously. I gave up about a dozen years or so after getting married and moving back to Southwest Virginia. I started fishing more and more, and really got into bass fishing tournaments for several years. 

A few months ago, I decided to take my son on a round of golf with my dad for some quality grandpa time! Liam only made about 7 holes, but in those 7 holes I found the passion for the sport that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I decided to give golf another try. It is also awesome playing with my dad and spending so much more time with him that I probably wouldn’t have gotten the chance to without being together on the course. 

I recently joined the county club back home and try to play at least once a week. 
Blue Ridge Country Club -

My golf game is definitely a work in progress.  I am currently around a 20 handicap and seem to struggle on most aspects of the game especially putting.

Testing Plans:
I have been using shotscope H4 for a few months now.  I plan to compare how the V5 performs verse the H4 in performance, gps, ease of use and shot tracking.  I will also compare the V5 to a few of the iPhone watch apps that I have tried briefly. 
I am excited about testing an actual  golf watch.  Compared to the H4, I am excited see the full hole maps and distances to doglegs and automatic club tagging. 
Unboxing Post
Final Write-up and Review- 
First Impressions- 9/10 
I was extremely excited to receive my Shotscope V5 watch. I had been using a Shotscope device for a while but had not tried one of their watches or any golf watch for that matter. The V5’s advertised key features include full hole maps, 5 color themes, built in score card, green view with pin placement, improved tracking, and font middle back gps distances. I was most excited about the full hole maps. 

The watch was impressive right out of the box. The watch has an exceptionally clean look, solid black watch, and band. The face of the watch was a bit smaller than I was expecting. The watch came with 16 of the newest version of the club tags. The new tags were quite a bit larger than the old tags from my other Shotscope device.  




Here are a couple example of screens with gps distances.

Size comparison with an Apple Watch.

The only initial dislike is the way the watch charges. I would much rather have some type of usb style charger. This was the reason I took 1 point off. 

 
Aesthetics (8 out of 10)-
The watch has a genuinely nice clean design. It has an exceptionally clean, sporty appearance. The watch is extremely lightweight, you barely notice that you have it on while playing. The watch looks good enough to be worn all the time as a regular watch. Along with the lightweight, the soft rubber band is also wonderfully comfortable. The size of the face of the watch is ok, it is a little smaller than I would like. I would prefer a bigger face, but it is large enough to function as it should. 

The watch is easy to custom1ize with 5 color themes. There are also different color bands available on the company’s website, but I prefer the black. The watch appears to be solidly constructed and well made. I have not had any issues with durability yet.
I subtracted 2 points for the size and brightness of the screen.  I would really like a little larger screen and a way to change the brightness when needed.
The Numbers ( 19 out of 20)-
 
I was already using the Shotscope app with another device, so setup was a breeze, The instructions were simple and easy to understand. After the firmware was updated, it only took a few minutes to set up the watch.  
The battery has been very impressive to me so far. It charges quickly, I have not timed it, I usually plug it up over night the night before I play but had forgotten one night and plugged it up in the car on the way to the course and it charged it enough to play the round. The battery life has probably been one of the monst impressive things so far about the watch. It lasts much longer than the battery on the H4 device that I had been using. One day I walked 27 holes and came home and plugged it in and it had over 50% battery life left. I would have no problem getting 2 rounds, maybe 3 out of the battery. 
The GPS ditances are very accurate. I have compared them with my club’s golf carts with GPS distances, a Bushnell range finder and a Bushnell digital device that displays GPS distances. Most of the time the V5 watch is within a couple yards of the other device.  
The watch has a lot of extremely useful features. The basic front, middle and back grren distances are the most used but I have found some of the others to also be very useful. One of my favorites that I use the most playing by myself is the last shot distance, it gives me a promising idea of where to start searching for my ball. 


 
As much as I love the battery life, I do dislike the proprietary charger. I removed a point for that, really wish it used a common charger. 

 
On-Course (17 out of 20)-
I was previously using the Shotscope H4 device for my yardages and shot tracking. The distances are identical on the 2 units, but some things are quite different. The V5 has automatic club tagging, so I removed the manual club tagging from my pre shot routine. Some of the other benefits of the V5 watch are the full hole maps, the green maps, and I like that the last shot distance stays on the screen until you go to another screen on the V5.


I have had a few issues out on the course with the V5 watch.  These are the reasons I am removing 3 points. The first issue is the automatic club tagging misses several more shots per round than my H4 did.  Some are user error some are not, I had it not pick up a drive last time out. I played in the rain with a rain jacket over it and it missed a bunch of shots that round.  Another issue I have on my home course is the watch connecting to the GPS and starting a round, there have been a couple rounds that I have had to start my round and go back and edit the first hole or 2 later because the watch would not start the round in time. 

The Good, the bad, the inbetween (15 out of 20)-
My favorite thing about the Shotcope V5 watch is the shot tracking and all the great data you receive from it. Shot scope has really changed the way I focus my practice time. The performance averages is a great metric for club gapping. There is so much valuable information on the app and desktop site that you can go over for hours. 



One of the best features of the watch itself is the full hole maps.  We played a course on vacation that did not have GPS carts or hole maps on the card.  I had everyone in the group asking to look at the map on several holes. 
Most everything about this watch is particularly good, however there are a few things I do not like, or think could be improved.  The biggest thing is the number of missed shots.  Far more than on my H4 device.  I really wish this watch had the vibrating notice when your club is noticed by the watch like the H4.  I would also like to be able to brighten the screen when needed, it's not very bright. 
Play it or Trade it? (18 out of 20)-
I will continue to play with this watch. I believe the shotscope platform has really helped improve my game. The watch is a great buy for the price. All of the features that it includes on the watch itself along with the shot tracking app with no subscription is the best bargain in golf.  
Conclusion-
The Shotscope V5 watch is a great golf watch packed full of features. Some of these features include shot tracking, GPS distances to lay ups, hazards, and dog legs, GPS distance to the front, middle and backs of greens, full hole maps, and green maps.  With the watch you get tons of shot tracking information on the shotscope app without subscription fees.  
A few things that I would like to see improved are a bigger and brighter screen.  Less missed shots. I would also like to have a vibrate club tag notification added to the functions of the watch. 

Final Score (86 out of 100)
 
 
 
 
 

Thank you, really enjoyed the opportunity to get to try out this watch. It’s an excellent watch for the price. 

Thank you, really enjoyed the opportunity to get to try out this watch. It’s an excellent watch for the price. 

Thanks so much for reading through our reviews, Leon. Really enjoyed testing this watch.👏🏽👏🏽

Final Review Posted! Thanks  again myspy staff and shotscope!
 
Final Review Post!

Introduction
 
Thank you Golf Spy and Shot Scope for giving me the opportunity to test the Shot Scope V5. 
My golf journey started back in a time when your golf yardage was done with pacing out from on course markers and hoping that your math skills worked for that shot. 
Born in Ireland moved to England due to family business when I was an infant. 
Now living in Arizona one of golf’s meccas for year round golf. 
Married with two kids, one being an adult living in Colorado he’s an engineer and one in her first year of college.
Ive played this wonderful game for over 40 years, had the honor of working in the golf industry at a course in Colorado where teaching was my absolute pleasure, nothing better than seeing someone give you that look when they hit a ball correctly. 
For the last few years I’ve been using Leopold GX 3l tournament Golf Laser range finder, worked great but died on me so had to resort to phone gps golf app from the USGA. 

This worked ok for the time being, I was actually in the process of reviewing several options when this test was announced. 
I play to a single digit handicap for fun and in tournaments, I’m always looking for that extra thing that makes the golf game easier and makes me more consistent, my clubs are fitted, my golf balls are tested at a ball testing event at my local golf store and suggest for people to try this, it opens your eyes and gives you the best ball for you game. 
I may be traveling to California and Las Vegas while testing so timing is perfect to see if the courses are loaded, how the Shot Scope works in a few different climates, will try and play in as many weather conditions to see how the Shot Scope performs with the GPS.
This of course is in the hands of Mother Nature. 
Very interested in the Gen 2 science, seeing how accurate the yardages are calculated per club used. 
This watch has so many features which I will review and give my unbiased and honest assessment plus adding the app into the mix and we are talking NASA on the golf course, info is king for me personally so I’m praying this will be my super computer on my wrist. 
  
        Final Write-up and Review. 

First Impressions 10 out of 10.
Thanks Shot Scope for allowing Golf Spy to be one of the golf communities to be testers of your product. 
Delivery was quick from Shot Scope, packaged well. 
You could see that Shot Scope thought this part through, many times packages are very loose but this was compact / solid. 
Opened the box full of anticipation and excitement, watch looked great in a Matt Black finish, rubber strap, great buttons for ease of use. 16 x Gen2 scoring tags for your clubs. Great instruction booklet very easy to understand plus watch charging cable. 


Aesthetics ( 8 out of 10).
Watch has a very sporty design, wouldn’t look out of place on an evening out. Sat very nicely on the wrist and due to the weight didn’t really notice it when playing at the course.
Specs: watch face is built with a hardened mineral glass making it very strong. Strap made with UV dust resistant materials and in Silicone. Very soft.
The actual watch housing is built with ABS plastic making it very strong.  ( SOLID BUILT WATCH )
Came with the 16x Gen2 tags for all your clubs, easy to install except on the putter as my grip had a super stroke weighted grip which means the tag wouldn’t screw in so please keep that in mind when you order. Shot Scope will send you flat ones which you can stick on top of putter I was going to purchase a new grip but instead cut down the putter tag and stuck it myself.
( Maybe this could be added in the normal packaging in the future) Suggestion for Shot Scope, maybe add a few more tags, 5 wood, 7 wood, driving iron or on web site add list the clubs sheet as part of ordering. 
I added the app to my phone before checking out the watch, really simple and easy to add, asked me a few questions and done. 
Watch was easy to navigate through the screens had plenty of different watch faces you could choose for normal wear plus several colors for your yardages face. 



The Numbers (18 out of 20).
Set up the app first, search for all the courses in your area and join them, this way when you get to the course the app has it already, but have to say played some courses  out of my area and found them immediately very easy and simple.
GPS yardages on the Shot Scope app were slightly off by a few yards between app and watch but took the Shot Scope watch yardages as my go to, seemed to work fine. 
Had some issues when tee box’s were close to the greens, sometimes the watch would think I was still playing that hole, this was probably down to some shots around the greens not registering. 
Battery life was fine after day one, first day play battery life went down very quickly, I live in AZ the heat out here could of been a factor but not sure, after the second charge the battery life was way better. 
 
        On-Course (17 out of 20).
This was critical for the watch, it can make or break a product.
I wanted to see if the GPS could keep up in a golf cart, so while driving I would watch and see if the yardages went down quickly and to my amazement they did, the GPS is very quick.
FMB distances perfect, lay up feature is amazing, couple of taps on the watch and swing away.
I mentioned on the thread one thing that could help was a way to brighten up the face of the screen, but this could effect the battery life like on a smart phone and I’m sure Shot Scope have looked into this. 
I also wish the face was slightly bigger, I have normal every day watches with bigger faces and wished this one thing on the watch. 
Loved that the watch had a scorecard feature. 
My big concern were the Gen2 tags but honestly didn’t even notice them on the clubs, yes I could see them but apart from that didn’t make any difference in how I swing the clubs.

 
The good, the bad, the in between (16 out of 20).
The good, for myself the watch is built well, made with solid materials. 
I did love the watch could recommend what clubs to hit when playing a course, this feature was fun to use. 
My absolute GOOD was the stats and all the information you get after completing a round. The app had a performance section on the dash board, on the list for performance was, clubs, tee shots, approaches, short game, putts and scoring.
Distances and averages for all clubs, putts made, GIR, your misses left or right on approach shots. 
You can actually go back through your round to see all the shots per hole on the screen.  I’m a stat guy and this feature is awesome. 
Has a medal feature which was fun to see, how many medals can you get, 432 medals available. 


The bad, as mentioned the watch not knowing your on the tee box of another hole, the editing after each round, although this is a plus feature in a weird way, it does take some serious time to edit, yes your score becomes correct which you want but the missing of shots you know you had is a little frustrating trying to add. 

The in between, can a watch be made without glitches, I’ve looked up all types of watches from the lowest to the highest price, they all have glitches, this watch is priced very well, so can you see past some glitches, for me the dashboard and stats out-way the glitches, yes, having a bigger watch face would help. 
 
 
Play it or trade it? (17 out of 20).
Here’s the thing, I love stats, it shows me tweaks I need to make in my game, it shows what clubs that need a little lie angle work, how good I’m putting and driving, how I compare against different handicap, yes the editing took some time but my last round I only had one edit, maybe the watch fixes it self with updates of firmware from Shot Scope
The lay up feature for distances is a much needed thing at any course. 
Unlike some watches you get everything for free, no subscriptions, all the Gen2 tags. 

Conclusion.
This watch is well built, the weight is not even noticeable, the app features are amazing, using the app on the phone at the course with fairway flyover is priceless add in the layup / hazard feature what more can you ask for.
The price is awesome for all you get, easy charging, 16 Gen2 club tags, comfortable watch, all the stats, the medal feature, the phone app with zero subscription. 
Hopefully Shot Scope will make the face a little bigger in the future and have a brighter screen feature but that’s not a good enough reason why not to purchase the watch, it works, it has amazing features, this  is just my personal preference. 




Final Score : 86 / 100.
Many thanks to all the testers that took part in this, the talking between ourselves for info and how to use some features was amazing, thanks to Golf Spy and Shot Scope for giving me this opportunity to test. 
 
 
 

First off, thanks MGS for the opportunities you provide the golfing community with independent and unbiased testing. Excited to test out the ShotScope V5. I play out of Southwest Ohio and have been golfing for 25 years. I have been playing tournament golf for the last 9 years. I picked up the game after Happy Gilmore and Tiger Woods influenced a hockey playing northern Minnesotan to grip it and rip it. Tournament golf has got me hooked on the game, improving, running tournaments, and all around being a golf junky. I have a few certifications such as SuperSpeed, WHS, and Impact Zone. I took a yearlong Keiser University Associates program in Golf Management during the COVID times. I love the process of preparing, practicing, learning, and testing my game/equipment. I have done some testing for MGS in the past (links to previous testing at the bottom), so it is always a treat to get selected for another test. WITB: Still working with the Taylormade M1 in driver / 3W, Srixon combo set, and a WhiteHot RX putter. I game the Garmin S70 smart watch so it will be an interesting test to compare these two giants in golf tracking. Previously I used a Garmin Fenix, the S62, and prior to that I used Game Golf. I believe if you are not tracking your stats, you are probably missing some easy areas to improve your game.
 
I want to test this product by comparing it to my gamer, the Garmin S70. I will plan on playing a few holes most nights and a couple of rounds weekly. It will be interesting because the S70 has the extra smart watch features and the V5 is purely a golf watch. I will play some rounds with both watches on. I will offer some pros and cons to each product. The product will stay in the bag if I see a benefit to using the product instead of the Garmin S70. I expect that it will be challenging to move off of the Garmin S70 because it measures wind, slope, etc. I know the V5 is great for tracking club performance and showing clean statistics. The Garmin S70 does some of this if you have the club tracers. What I can tell you is that the ShotScope is a lower cost option for golfers not looking for all of the extras that the Garmin provides. Really this is going to come down to a cost benefit analysis. The Garmin app is not great so I pair the Garmin tracking with DECADE to really analyze my data. The shot tracking tags for the ShotScope are smaller than the Garmin so that seems like a big win off of the bat. I think this will come down to what is the biggest bang for your buck. The Garmin is expensive and provides extras. The ShotScope seems like it will provide some great data and save time! I love the testing process and have tested, OnCore VEROX2, TopFlite Gamer, Callaway Chrome Tour White Box, and the sub70-849-pro-driver!
First Impressions (9 out of 10)
First impressions were good. The watch is nice. The boxing was on the nicer side. They sent a nice congratulations note! I love that they took the time to do that! The tags are very organized. The instruction manual and quick start are perfect for any user. They can open the box, charge the watch, download the app, set up an account, and be ready to go in a fairly expedient fashion. It is a good weight and the tags are on the smaller side so I really like that. The charger, watch, and tags are great so no complaints on my end. The Shotscope V5 is an update to their best-selling V3. The OEM states the new V5 GPS watch features the latest advancements in golf technology, whilst maintaining the easy-to-use functionality that our users have come to expect. The V5 comes with Full hole maps, F/M/B distances, automatic shot tracking for every shot you hit on the course, multiple watch faces and 36,000 golf courses plus much more! The V5 band feels a little less durable feeling than the Garmin S70, but Garmin has been in the business for a long time. Screen is not as clear as the Garmin either, but the Garmin is much much more expensive. My initial impressions are that Shotscope, dollar for dollar, is going to be a stalwart. They offer a free app. The price of the watch is great for a pure golf watch. Pretty impressed with what they are offering the golf community. For the price of the V5 my impressions are 10/10.

Unboxing
Aesthetics (9 out of 10) 
The aesthetics of the watch are good. They are not as high end as the Garmin S70, but we are comparing apples to oranges. The S70 from Garmin is a smart watch with a touch screen and it is triple the price of the Shotscope. I like the smaller size of the V5 compared to the Garmin. I also really like the lighter weight and size of the V5. The fit is fine, but I have to warn any potentials buyers that the strap buckles on the opposite side. Shotscope I believe did this because the sensor is on the traditional side a watch would clip. It takes a little getting used to. The shape is good and it came in a standard black. Love the weight and size of the tags compared to previous tags from other OEMs that stick out too much. Charger has a unique port. Would be nice if every OEM had the same charging port. LOL I tend to lose chargers so buying extra is always a pain. I do not believe you can customize the watch, but I would not be interested in doing that. I think the watch is built to last as the hardened Mineral Glass face and silicone with UV dust resistant coating band are meant to be outside in the heat of a round. No storage case comes with the watch, but I do not think that is necessary. 9/10 because the strap is a little different.
 

The Numbers (18 out of 20)
The yardages are similar in accuracy to the Garmin. I think they are pretty solid for front, middle, back yardages. I use my range finder to get the pin and the watch to know front edge or back edge depending on the distance to the pin. For instance, I would want to know the yardage to the back edge if the pin is in the back so that I do not go long and have the dreaded downhill chip to a back pin. Most greens slope back to front. I did not have any issue with the numbers as they are plus or minus a yard or two compared to the Garmin. In my book that is close enough! The Shotscope V5 does not have a slope, wind, weather calculation like the Garmin S70 does so I was not able to obtain a calculation for “plays like” distances. The intermediate targets were good, but you have to press a few buttons to get to the distance instead of just touching a touch screen or your GPS on your cellular device. So, this does take a little bit of a learning curve knowing what buttons to press and how to toggle to what hazard, pin location, or target you want. No troubles once you figure out how to use the features! The setup was good besides having to take the time to screw in the club tags. The instructions were clear and easy to understand. The watch charge quickly and the battery lasts a couple of rounds depending on how slow you are or the groups in front of you. The more you use the features, it will drain the battery a little more. As I mention above, the charging cable is proprietary, I have not seen an adapter like it before. No need to ask for help or search online for an answer during setup. The only thing of note was the putter tags. My gamer putter grip is a SuperStroke, so I had to get a box of putter tags. The putter tag pack has a tag desienged for SuperStroke grips. For those of you who frequently switch out putters, this is a great thing. Extra tas so you can get some data on strokes gained for separate putters to see which putter you play best with. Customer service hooked me up with the extra putter tag packs so that was great. They sent me extra as well. Not sure if that’s indicative to my putting stats where they are like, “this guy needs ot try some other putters!” Kidding, but that was a great interaction and you can tell customer service goes the extra mile to make sure their users are happy. The most useful metrics presented are on the app. I cannot say enough about the app and visuals that Shotscope provides. Provides for FREE! The free app with the watch purchase is by far the best thing since sliced bread. So many data points to help your game and see how you are performing round to round and month to month. You can see how you rack and stack compared to other players or even pros. The visuals and interface are exceptional. I wish Garmin had something remotely close to this. You can track performance by club, tee shots, approaches, short game, putting, and scoring. You can also view rounds, and compete for medals, and track the leaderboard. These features are really impressive and well thought out.

On-Course (17 out of 20)
I did have to think about and remember setting the pin and making sure the watch grabbed the club I was using. When I play quickly the watch sometimes missed an approach shot or did not tag the club I was using. The watch display shows the club you are using so you can put the sensor close to the watch screen to make sure it grabs the club. You also have to set the pin after you tap in and record the number of putts. This is easy to forget, but you can edit it after the round. I recommend using a desktop to edit your round afterwards and not the app. It seems to be faster. You will want to make sure to do this after the round to make sure everything is accurate otherwise you might have some outliers. Not hard to do after you get the hang of it. The pin setting feature did interfere with your normal golfing routine because I am not used to touching my watch to set the pin location right after I putt and it is a little awkward for your playing partners. The watch is intuitive using it on the course especially if all you care about is front middle back. If you want yardages or to change the pin position you do have to toggle around on the watch. I did not like using it to toggle around or set the pin position. I mostly used it for front middle back.
Compared to the Garmin S70 the app and stats for the shotscope are hands down better. The S70 has so many more smartwatch features that the shotscope does not offer. The S70 is a touch screen so that is easier to use for me and much faster. Yardages are both good for both watches. I used the GameGolf tags in the past and I loved them since they were small. I love the shotscope because they are small as well. The Garmin tags (I have not used them) or Arcos (I have not used them), are bigger so I think the smaller ones are a win for shotscope. I am playing about the same with both watches, however the Garmin wind, weather, and slope function makes my yardages more accurate. The strokes gained feature for Shotscope makes it really easy to know what you need to work on so that is an A+!

The Good, the bad, the in between (17 out of 20)
Highlighting my favorite parts about this device is easy. Great bang for the buck. A high-end app, customer service, small club tags, strokes gained, good website, great articles and tools to improve all for a one-time cost is really hard to beat. The fit of the tags on the clubs are good and none of them broke so that is a bonus. I like that you can set multiple tags and active/inactive clubs if you are switching or trying something new/old out. The issues I have are the pin setting is not all that accurate and you have to put in more time after the round to edit everything. The technology is not perfect and misses some shots sometimes. Seems to mostly miss my approach shots. Maybe 5-10 shots missed a round. It will not miss them if you, the golfer, are cognizant enough to check the watch and make sure it is tagged. There is an icon on the watch that shows the club. If it still says D (driver) after your approach shot, it did not grab it. All good though because you can edit all of this after the round. Sometimes mistakes clubs as well. I have had issues with active and inactive clubs. So, there might be a little glitch in the system. It is good, but does take some time. I also had some quirks with rounds that were one offs. Nothing that I could not edit on the desktop after the round. But, a little frustrating to have to edit shots and rounds. The fit is solid, but the band is not quite on the Garmin level. The S70 is much much more expensive though. I love the medals; I think that is really cool and fun to track how you are doing and highlight your good play. It is encouraging golfers to have fun and enjoy the good shots instead of focusing on the bad ones (easy to do). I think the V5 is a real winner for the golfer who wants a budget friendly option and not have to pay for a subscription or smart watch. I think the charge on the watch is adequate enough. I am one who just throws it back on the charger after the round. If you are not one to do that, it might be an issue.


Play it or Trade it? (18 out of 20)
All things are equal, and I did not want the Smart Watch features of the S70, I would game this watch in a heartbeat. I am trading it because the Garmin S70 has the Smartwatch features I use. The watch was super convenient for tracking and fun to see medals and strokes gained. Oh, by the way, the pros are really good. Really good at everything so it was humbling to see how I rack and stack. I did not use the watch in my stroke play city championships because of the distraction of setting the pin and having to click the watch. However, I think people could use it without any qualms. The device helped me play my best because it showed me some great statistics. As stated above, the asking price is fair for the product. It is in my opinion really hard to beat. The type of golfer do I think this product would fit the best is the golfer looking to improve by tracking stats and not break the bank. If you like to wear a traditional watch and not have a smart watch, this is the pure golf watch you need. The price is unbeatable for all of the data, game improvement articles, medals, and fun that goes with the game we love.   
Conclusion
In conclusion, this golf watch is a great bang for your buck. No subscription, easy setup, small (not bulky like other OEMs) club tags at the end of the clubs and all of the data an amateur golfer could ask for. If you are not tech savvy, there is a little learning curve. But once you are used to the watch you cannot ask for more. Love the app and website. You can track stats, prepare for a round, etc. Great product overall and you can find more information on their website clicking here. They have laser range finders as well as GPS watches. I really loved the strategy for a new course and seeing the data in beautiful visuals like I highlighted above and below. Stats guys love these and the make percentages are good to know. Would be cool if they did monthly competitions amongst the users. I do love the shotscope blog as I am a golf junky, so any research or ways to improve are key to playing good golf. The golf blog is nice! 


Final Score (88 out of 100)

Final write up and review posted guys
 
Final write-up and review
 
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Final test write up and review posted. 

Final Test review.
 
 
 

Congratulations on the reviews guys, great and thorough work done to test every aspect of the watch.
I like that everyone have their own opinion, cause that is what independent testing is all about!
Definitely worthy of a look at the Shot Scope V5!
Thanks guys!

Final Review Posted! Thanks  again myspy staff and shotscope!
 
Final Review Post!

Introduction:
First of all I would like to give a huge thank you to the MGS staff and Shotscope for giving me the opportunity to test and review the new Shotscope V5 golf watch.
Who am I?:

Hello spies, my name is Jeff Ross. I live in Radford, VA along with my beautiful wife Jill and my 7-year-old son Liam. I am a bingo supply salesman in Virginia and West Virginia. I enjoy spending time traveling with my family, fishing, golf, working out and the outdoors. I'm a die hard UNC Tarheels fan, this where my screenname uncross derives from. I’ve lived in a golf course community for the last 3 years but unfortunately, I have never played the course, but plan on playing it soon, its a beautiful course.

I started playing golf when I was in college in the late 90’s. Although I played a lot, I never really improved very much. I just enjoyed playing with my buddies and never took the game too seriously. I gave up about a dozen years or so after getting married and moving back to Southwest Virginia. I started fishing more and more, and really got into bass fishing tournaments for several years. 

A few months ago, I decided to take my son on a round of golf with my dad for some quality grandpa time! Liam only made about 7 holes, but in those 7 holes I found the passion for the sport that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I decided to give golf another try. It is also awesome playing with my dad and spending so much more time with him that I probably wouldn’t have gotten the chance to without being together on the course. 

I recently joined the county club back home and try to play at least once a week. 
Blue Ridge Country Club -

My golf game is definitely a work in progress.  I am currently around a 20 handicap and seem to struggle on most aspects of the game especially putting.

Testing Plans:
I have been using shotscope H4 for a few months now.  I plan to compare how the V5 performs verse the H4 in performance, gps, ease of use and shot tracking.  I will also compare the V5 to a few of the iPhone watch apps that I have tried briefly. 
I am excited about testing an actual  golf watch.  Compared to the H4, I am excited see the full hole maps and distances to doglegs and automatic club tagging. 
Unboxing Post
Final Write-up and Review- 
First Impressions- 9/10 
I was extremely excited to receive my Shotscope V5 watch. I had been using a Shotscope device for a while but had not tried one of their watches or any golf watch for that matter. The V5’s advertised key features include full hole maps, 5 color themes, built in score card, green view with pin placement, improved tracking, and font middle back gps distances. I was most excited about the full hole maps. 

The watch was impressive right out of the box. The watch has an exceptionally clean look, solid black watch, and band. The face of the watch was a bit smaller than I was expecting. The watch came with 16 of the newest version of the club tags. The new tags were quite a bit larger than the old tags from my other Shotscope device.  




Here are a couple example of screens with gps distances.

Size comparison with an Apple Watch.

The only initial dislike is the way the watch charges. I would much rather have some type of usb style charger. This was the reason I took 1 point off. 

 
Aesthetics (8 out of 10)-
The watch has a genuinely nice clean design. It has an exceptionally clean, sporty appearance. The watch is extremely lightweight, you barely notice that you have it on while playing. The watch looks good enough to be worn all the time as a regular watch. Along with the lightweight, the soft rubber band is also wonderfully comfortable. The size of the face of the watch is ok, it is a little smaller than I would like. I would prefer a bigger face, but it is large enough to function as it should. 

The watch is easy to custom1ize with 5 color themes. There are also different color bands available on the company’s website, but I prefer the black. The watch appears to be solidly constructed and well made. I have not had any issues with durability yet.
I subtracted 2 points for the size and brightness of the screen.  I would really like a little larger screen and a way to change the brightness when needed.
The Numbers ( 19 out of 20)-
 
I was already using the Shotscope app with another device, so setup was a breeze, The instructions were simple and easy to understand. After the firmware was updated, it only took a few minutes to set up the watch.  
The battery has been very impressive to me so far. It charges quickly, I have not timed it, I usually plug it up over night the night before I play but had forgotten one night and plugged it up in the car on the way to the course and it charged it enough to play the round. The battery life has probably been one of the monst impressive things so far about the watch. It lasts much longer than the battery on the H4 device that I had been using. One day I walked 27 holes and came home and plugged it in and it had over 50% battery life left. I would have no problem getting 2 rounds, maybe 3 out of the battery. 
The GPS ditances are very accurate. I have compared them with my club’s golf carts with GPS distances, a Bushnell range finder and a Bushnell digital device that displays GPS distances. Most of the time the V5 watch is within a couple yards of the other device.  
The watch has a lot of extremely useful features. The basic front, middle and back grren distances are the most used but I have found some of the others to also be very useful. One of my favorites that I use the most playing by myself is the last shot distance, it gives me a promising idea of where to start searching for my ball. 


 
As much as I love the battery life, I do dislike the proprietary charger. I removed a point for that, really wish it used a common charger. 

 
On-Course (17 out of 20)-
I was previously using the Shotscope H4 device for my yardages and shot tracking. The distances are identical on the 2 units, but some things are quite different. The V5 has automatic club tagging, so I removed the manual club tagging from my pre shot routine. Some of the other benefits of the V5 watch are the full hole maps, the green maps, and I like that the last shot distance stays on the screen until you go to another screen on the V5.


I have had a few issues out on the course with the V5 watch.  These are the reasons I am removing 3 points. The first issue is the automatic club tagging misses several more shots per round than my H4 did.  Some are user error some are not, I had it not pick up a drive last time out. I played in the rain with a rain jacket over it and it missed a bunch of shots that round.  Another issue I have on my home course is the watch connecting to the GPS and starting a round, there have been a couple rounds that I have had to start my round and go back and edit the first hole or 2 later because the watch would not start the round in time. 

The Good, the bad, the inbetween (15 out of 20)-
My favorite thing about the Shotcope V5 watch is the shot tracking and all the great data you receive from it. Shot scope has really changed the way I focus my practice time. The performance averages is a great metric for club gapping. There is so much valuable information on the app and desktop site that you can go over for hours. 



One of the best features of the watch itself is the full hole maps.  We played a course on vacation that did not have GPS carts or hole maps on the card.  I had everyone in the group asking to look at the map on several holes. 
Most everything about this watch is particularly good, however there are a few things I do not like, or think could be improved.  The biggest thing is the number of missed shots.  Far more than on my H4 device.  I really wish this watch had the vibrating notice when your club is noticed by the watch like the H4.  I would also like to be able to brighten the screen when needed, it's not very bright. 
Play it or Trade it? (18 out of 20)-
I will continue to play with this watch. I believe the shotscope platform has really helped improve my game. The watch is a great buy for the price. All of the features that it includes on the watch itself along with the shot tracking app with no subscription is the best bargain in golf.  
Conclusion-
The Shotscope V5 watch is a great golf watch packed full of features. Some of these features include shot tracking, GPS distances to lay ups, hazards, and dog legs, GPS distance to the front, middle and backs of greens, full hole maps, and green maps.  With the watch you get tons of shot tracking information on the shotscope app without subscription fees.  
A few things that I would like to see improved are a bigger and brighter screen.  Less missed shots. I would also like to have a vibrate club tag notification added to the functions of the watch. 

Final Score (86 out of 100)
 
 
 
 
 

Final Review Posted! Thanks  again myspy staff and shotscope!
 
Final Review Post!

Date 06/29/2024 Course Name Blue Ridge Country Club Gross Score 87 Course Handicap 22 Gross Strokes over/under par 17 Net Score to Par -5 Net Score 65 Net Birdies or better Longest Drive 69.6/134
par70

Date 06/29/2024 Course Name Blue Ridge Country Club Gross Score 87 Course Handicap 22 Gross Strokes over/under par 17 Net Score to Par -5 Net Score 65 Net Birdies or better Longest Drive 69.6/134
par70