Flightscope Mevo Launch Monitor Review
The Mevo is the most compact, affordable portable launch monitor Flightscope offers in its comprehensive range which includes the Mevo+ and the premium X3. Having already thoroughly tested the Mevo+, I was curious to know what you’re sacrificing by opting for the less expensive model and the answer is not a great deal.
The first thing that strikes you is how small the Mevo is. Incredibly small. I couldn’t believe when I opened the box how compact it was, barely bigger than two golf balls. That said, it still looks and feels premium and well made. Inside the box, you get instructions, a material drawstring carry bag, a frustratingly short charging cable and small metallic stickers to apply to the ball when using the Mevo in a net.
(Image credit: Future)
Setting the Mevo up is pretty simple – just unfold the stand, turn it on, place it six feet behind the hitting area and pair it with the Mevo smartphone app. This process is easy to do and once you’ve toggled on or off all the settings, you can hit away. There’s no camera on the Mevo which means you’re never sure exactly where it is aiming, nor is there an overhead view that shows you the dispersion of your shots to see how the reality compared with where the Mevo is plotting them. So in that sense, you are hitting somewhat blind but you can rest your iPhone against the Mevo and capture swing videos this way while checking the Mevo’s alignment at the same time. The swing videos automatically save to your phone’s camera roll for viewing at a later time too.
(Image credit: Future)
The square in the top right corner of the app turns green when the Mevo is ready to capture your shot and I liked the audible ‘ready’ that plays to signify this. It captures eight data parameters that include the things most golfers look for when seeking basic feedback on shot performance – club speed, ball speed, launch, spin, carry distance and apex height among others. You have a few different viewing options – the trajectory tab shows the most data points but the ball flight graphic compilation is buggy on iPhone (it might be better on iPad). It’s also only viewable from side on and displayed in 2D, so you can’t see shot shape – something you can see with the Mevo+ launch monitor. I’d probably rather see a Birdseye view of where shots landed, like you can on the Full Swing Kit, so this was somewhat disappointing.
I liked that it’s easy to add new clubs and then compare them in the table tab, which shows averages and even standard deviation stats for each metric – something not many of the best cheap golf launch monitors do. On the whole the numbers stacked up with my expectations although there were a few anomalies during my extended irons testing session (spin numbers of 500rpm, for example) and clubhead speed and therefore smash factor was not captured at all a few times. This all means that the data is somewhat useful for the casual golfer seeking basic feedback on club performance, but as someone that tests equipment on a regular basis I would be inclined to go elsewhere for something more consistent and reliable.
Make no mistake, this is an excellent piece of kit. Compact, easy to use and versatile (you can use it outdoors or into a net) it’s undoubtedly one of the best portable launch monitors around, especially at the modest price of $499.
