SkyCaddie LX5 GPS Smartwatch

[Molten]

SkyCaddie’s new LX5 GPS smartwatch might be end up being one of the watches that change what a golf smartwatch is and how it performs and the features that golfers demand. It’s got the functionality of a handheld in a relatively compact smartwatch. And the controls and touch screen are snappy fast, which is new to me.

SkyCaddie sent in an LX5 for review and it certainly appears to be the most feature-rich golf watch I’ve even used having spent a few days with it.

The first thing you notice right out of the box is that the screen is really bright and crisp. I took a low light picture (below) to show you exactly what I mean. The resolution is really next level clear and that picture is not even on the brightest setting



It has your basic views from a GPS golf watch, namely the front middle and back numbers along with the hole and par.



But you also have some advanced hole view options that you can drag and locate your distances to a specific spot on the course. The “ideal” drive in the below image of 268 might be (read, is) a bit outside my wheelhouse so I pulled it back a bit for something more realistic in the next image




You can also get a feel for the real yardage by taking a look at the green and moving the pin to its location on the green.



And you can track your steps and heart rate as the LX5 adds a bit of fitness to your golf GPS.




Lastly, you have several watch faces to make it look a bit more your style off the course. I’ll be taking the below face for a spin as I wear it as my everyday watch for the time being.


I’m excited to discuss it with you all. It’s maidan voyage for me is tomorrow but I recognize some of you out there may already have one. Let me know what you think or any questions you might have.

 

[radiman]

Oh dang! That looks pretty sweet. Does it pair with your phone to operate like other smart watches?

 

[TCB2010]

love, very cool, thanks for sharing.
so after a round does all the information from the round go somewhere maybe online that you can see? like tracking distances of each shot hit?

 

[Molten]

Oh dang! That looks pretty sweet. Does it pair with your phone to operate like other smart watches?

It does sync with a phone app, yeah. I’m still trying to figure out all of the capabilities with that respect (like writing my fitness data into Apple health if possible) so I’ll keep you posted.

 

[Molten]

love, very cool, thanks for sharing.
so after a round does all the information from the round go somewhere maybe online that you can see? like tracking distances of each shot hit?

So it has the ability to keep score, although I think it is manually added and it’s linked to my SkyCaddie account. And you can measure shot distances by marking the start and end locations but it doesn’t have the true shot tracking of an Arccos or ShotScope.

 

[JB]

I believe this comes with a 3 year membership, what are the costs annually after that?

 

[Tevenor]

What's the MSRP on this one? The timeliness of the release is perfect as I am looking to replace my Garmin S6 Approach this year. Was looking at the Garmin S62 as a possible replacement but now this has me intrigued as well. I am loving the idea of the green view with contour view which is would be killer. Any unique features @Molten that really you feel is different than the other GPS watches on the market today?

 

[Molten]

I believe this comes with a 3 year membership, what are the costs annually after that?

It does come with a three year membership, exactly. The cost after that is a bit of a puzzle, wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in bacon. After the first three years, I think it’s $49.95 for one year, $49.95 for two years (not a typo), or $99.90 for three years. So that’s either 49.95 for one year, 24.98 per year for two years, or 33.30 per year for three years. If any of that makes sense, you are smarter than I am.

 

[JB]

It does come with a three year membership, exactly. The cost after that is a bit of a puzzle, wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in bacon. After the first three years, I think it’s $49.95 for one year, $49.95 for two years (not a typo), or $99.90 for three years. So that’s either 49.95 for one year, 24.98 per year for two years, or 33.30 per year for three years. If any of that makes sense, you are smarter than I am.

Okay, I am not crazy then, that is what I was seeing.

 

[Molten]

What's the MSRP on this one? The timeliness of the release is perfect as I am looking to replace my Garmin S6 Approach this year. Was looking at the Garmin S62 as a possible replacement but now this has me intrigued as well. I am loving the idea of the green view with contour view which is would be killer. Any unique features @Molten that really you feel is different than the other GPS watches on the market today?

$299.95 is the MSRP, although you can extend the membership to 5 years for $349.90.

I haven’t gotten to use it on course yet but it will get its workout tomorrow. I’ll have to get back to you on unique features!

 

[JB]

Strange question time. You have tested Shot Scope and now this at least on your wrist. How do they compare in terms of weight and size on the wrist?

 

[mikeg_74]

Thanks for the initial write up. I currently use my Apple Watch with the GPS provided by The Grint. Do you have any history using an Apple Watch? If so how does this compare?

Also what is the weight like? One thing about the Apple Watch I love is the weight.

 

[Molten]

Strange question time. You have tested Shot Scope and now this at least on your wrist. How do they compare in terms of weight and size on the wrist?

The LX5 is both wider than thicker than the V3.

 

[Molten]

Thanks for the initial write up. I currently use my Apple Watch with the GPS provided by The Grint. Do you have any history using an Apple Watch? If so how does this compare?

Also what is the weight like? One thing about the Apple Watch I love is the weight.

I’ve been using an Apple Watch for GPS off and one for two years, so yeah I’ve got plenty of experience and I’ll let you know!

 

[Muchmore]

The fact that it doesn't have shot tracking on it is my only downside is see so far. That's one thing I love about my S60 is knowing how far I hit each shot. I've also found balls that I thought were lost because of that feature. I was walking around looking for my ball and my shot tracking said I was only about 220 from my tee shot and I knew I had to be farther than that and sure enough, I found my ball about 30 yards farther up. Shot tracking on the watch is a luxury feature it seems like unfortunately

One question I have is does this have the ability to show slope adjusted distances on it or just standard distances?

Absolutely love the look of this watch and the display is a lot better looking than my Garmin. The ideal shot is an awesome feature and the hole layout looks leagues better than what I can pull up on the S60. Great preview man! Can't wait to hear more about the first real use of it!

 

[Tevenor]

The fact that it doesn't have shot tracking on it is my only downside is see so far. That's one thing I love about my S60 is knowing how far I hit each shot. I've also found balls that I thought were lost because of that feature. I was walking around looking for my ball and my shot tracking said I was only about 220 from my tee shot and I knew I had to be farther than that and sure enough, I found my ball about 30 yards farther up. Shot tracking on the watch is a luxury feature it seems like unfortunately

One question I have is does this have the ability to show slope adjusted distances on it or just standard distances?

Absolutely love the look of this watch and the display is a lot better looking than my Garmin. The ideal shot is an awesome feature and the hole layout looks leagues better than what I can pull up on the S60. Great preview man! Can't wait to hear more about the first real use of it!

When you say shot tracking, do you mean how far your last shot went or are you talking about "Average Driver distance" kind of tracking?

 

[TRA024]

Interested in the battery life with that screen. I'm guessing 18-27 holes?

 

[Muchmore]

When you say shot tracking, do you mean how far your last shot went or are you talking about "Average Driver distance" kind of tracking?

How far my last shot went. Love the feature!

 

[Snickerdog]

Great write up and info. It looks really good and easy to use.

 

[Tevenor]

How far my last shot went. Love the feature!

I think it still does that. Per the feature list:


OTHER FEATURES

• Time, alarms, timers and stopwatch
• Measure the distance you hit any shot and learn your club distances
• Tee box selection and gender
• Dual green support
• Toggle between yards and meters
• Target List View
• Digital Scorecard and Stat Tracking: Total score, total putts, GIR, round time and much more
• Fitness: Heart rate, current step count, step goal, current step distance

 

[Molten]

How far my last shot went. Love the feature!

Yeah, you can mark it from where you hit it to where it lands (or where you are in the example of a lost ball area). But it doesn't do it automatically to my knowledge.

 

[sabig27]

You can measure your shot but it does not save it for club tracking where you can
Look at it later like the sx400 and 500 can

 

[Canadan]

I am SO excited to follow along with this.

The hole view experience has to be incredible.

 

[Molten]

I am SO excited to follow along with this.

The hole view experience has to be incredible.

I’m hoping and praying the hole view is easy to use on the course because it looks awesome so far. The load times are almost nonexistent too

 

[Daddio]

Thanks @Molten solid initial look. The screen resolution and content are incredible. Be nice if as you become more familiar you discover a way to automatically track shots. I have a watch that does and as others have said it really does come in handy whenever anyone in my foursome is looking for a ball.