SkyCaddie SX400

I was considering replacing my Touch with an SX500, but the size of the SX500 bothers me. I went to the SkyGolf website this morning, and whoa, they just announced the new SX400 with a 4" screen. "Same Power. More Compact". Looks tempting.

[https://web.skygolf.com/products/SkyCaddie-SX400](https://web.skygolf.com/products/SkyCaddie-SX400 "https://web.skygolf.com/products/SkyCaddie-SX400")


Any current owners of SkyCaddie products receive an email with an offer on the SX400? I'm really surprised this one snuck up on us, as SG usually announces these products far in advance.

I notice that the website states that the device is estimated to ship September 30th. I assume that means that it's already late.

Looks awesome. The SX500 has been great for me so far. I don't recall if I got an email, but I did see an announcement on facebook for it a few weeks ago.

Cute but I like the size of the SX500. I also like the size of my iPhone 11 Pro Max. About the same.

My SGX died a couple of months ago - it just stopped getting a GPS signal. I used the phone app for awhile but really don't like carrying my phone around or leaving it exposed to the sun and dirt in my push cart. The SX500 seemed huge so I was just procrastinating on whether to buy one or not when an SX400 email showed up. $250 w/ the "loyalty" discount so I bought it and it arrived yesterday. First impressions are that it's very nice. It's basically the same foot print and thickness (surprised it was so think - not like a cell phone at all) as my SGX. Screen is really bright and the touch screen is nice. Boot time is about 30 sec so it's not fast but it seems plenty responsive after that. WIFI was a bit confusing at first - it's not in the settings anywhere - you configure it after telling it to sync. First round with it will be next Sunday (assuming the LA fires don't make the air quality too bad to play).

I see that they have a silicon sleeve w/ belt clip available for it. I have one for my Touch, and it helps protect it against small bumps and drops. The SX500 never had a silicon sleeve available.

Got my SX400 last week. So only 1 9-hole round played so far with the SX400.

Never got a loyalty discount -- little bummed out on that -- been a customer since the SG5 came out.

- Coming from the Touch the SX400 pretty much has all the same features - IntelliGreen, HoleVue, RangeVue, etc. - SkyGolf advertising appears to imply all this is "NEW" to the SX400 -- improved/enhanced maybe, but not new.

- Charging appears to uses a “normal” USB-C connector, but for various reasons, best to stick with the SkyCaddie provided cable. There have been some growing pains with the USB-C standards specs not being formally enforced, so get the wrong type of USB-C cable and you can fry your device.

Have not done a full charge yet - but considering the amount of current the USB-C standard allows - one would expect a shorting charging time than the Touch.

- Little bigger than the Touch – good fit in the hand – fits in pocket easily.

- Very bright display – clear text, easy to read.

- Like the Touch Silicon Skin, no cut out in the SX400 Silicon Skin for the charging port. You have to remove the skin every time you want to charge. The beltclip is molded inside the silicon, so not sure what the longevity of that connection will be.

- The SX400 (w/Silicon Skin) fits nicely in the small SkyCaddie Storage Case.

- Round settings have been moved (as compared to the Touch) to under Playing Golf, aka pick your course, load the course, then adjust round settings. It appears that some of the setting stick, i.e. settings stay the same with a different course selected, but not all. Noticed that Tee has to be set every time a course is selected.

- Had IntelliPath (beta) enabled - but apparently may not be available on all courses. Not sure how you tell beforehand if a course has IntelliPath available.

- WiFi syncing worked at home without any issues – however since none of the courses I play regularly have public WiFi available, I still have to wait until I get home to sync.

- No viable cart mount available from SkyGolf, however if you have one of the older cart mount that was made by RAM – the RAM X-Grip works. One caveat, if you have the SX400 Silicone Skin – the beltclip will cause the X-Grip arms to cover the brightness control on the side of the SX400. Does not depress the buttons, just covers it.

- No Lens Covers available yet from SkyGolf – website says “Coming Soon!”. Going to give a SGX lens cover (have a couple left) a try.

- Like the SX500, the SX400 touchscreen is NOT glove-friendly. Those that use 2 gloves or play cold weather golf, you may need to look elsewhere.

While a couple of manufactures make touchscreen friendly golf gloves (1 example is Zero Friction), none that I am aware of make a touchscreen friendly winter golf glove.

Looks like my Touch will be in service until next spring.

- The touchscreen display sensitivity seems a little low, several time (especially selecting clubs with shot tracking) was unable to get the display to register the selection.

No apparent way to adjust or calibrate the sensitivity.

- I am new to the Shot Tracking feature, however I am not impressed,

There are better – more comprehensive solutions (and some free) – available (both with and without tags). Try GolfPad for a free example.

The fact I could not select the club used (especially any club choice in the last row) did not help the impression.

Any idea if the software version is the same as the SX500? Curious if we're looking at a buggy new release, or a stable build that has been running on the SX500 for months now.

> - Had IntelliPath (beta) enabled - but apparently may not be available on all courses. Not sure how you tell beforehand if a course has IntelliPath available.

>

I've used this feature on the SX500. You have to press the icon in the top-left to toggle rangevue off so that you are using the target cursor. From my understanding and the courses i've played, it works on any course that has holevue.

Version on my SX400 - App 1.2.5 / OS 1.0.2

LASlicer - thank you for the info -- will give that a try.

Update on the Touchscreen friendly gloves -- talked to FootJoy Customer Support -- they claim that all FootJoy Leather gloves are touchscreen friendly.

I have a pair of FJ WeatherSof gloves - and - they did indeed work with the SX400. But would not work with a smart phone.

Played a round with mine last weekend and it worked great. Start up and acquisition isn't as fast as I would like but not a huge deal (I just turn it on when I'm on the putting green). The screen is great - extremely bright and easy to read even in direct sun light. Touch sensitivity was fine for me - it registered my presses fine and ignored me touching the screen when I picked it up from my cart.

I received a Holiday offer for SX500 owners yesterday (11/13). Although the size of SX400 is appealing, I doubt I will switch. I’ve gotten used to the size and weight of the 500. Nice display. And the battery life is great. Usually 86 % left for a 3 hour round, with a lot of usage. After experiencing the dismal battery life of the SGX, SGXW, and the Touch, this is the most satisfied that I’ve been with a SkyCaddie product since the SG5, which I still keep in my car as a backup. In case I forget to bring the SX500.

But a report on the battery life of the SX400 would be greatly appreciated.

I just got a NIB for $290 on eBay. Really looking forward to my first GPS unit. I’ve been a laser guy forever.

Great information Rich!

I've been really considering getting the SX400. I prefer a small GPS that I can keep in my pocket if I need to walk to my ball from the cart or whatever not to mention 20 hours of battery life was super intriguing. I can't stand charging my SGX after every round and then when I forget to do it for a course that doesn't have a USB port on the carts I'm screwed.

A few questions:

1. Has anyone tested the battery life over multiple rounds?

2. Does it say a percentage or just show a battery with a gauge?

3. Is this small enough to fix in your picket comfortably?

I'm going to reach out to SkyGolf and see if I can get that loyal discount and trade in value for my SGX. If I can, I am going to pull the trigger on this.

With a 4" screen, it's roughly the size of an older iPhone. I imagine it has to be pocketable unless one loves skinny pants on the course.

I haven’t seen either in person, but decided on the larger 500 as it was less expensive than the 400 on the Bay. If you prefer retail purchase, they’re $50 off for the holidays.

Pocket ability isn’t much of a concern for me since I play with pretty much empty pockets so it’ll be where I keep a laser.

I’m really interested in how I get on with the GPS vs laser.

> @robrey85 said:

> Great information Rich!

>

> I've been really considering getting the SX400. I prefer a small GPS that I can keep in my pocket if I need to walk to my ball from the cart or whatever not to mention 20 hours of battery life was super intriguing. I can't stand charging my SGX after every round and then when I forget to do it for a course that doesn't have a USB port on the carts I'm screwed.

>

> A few questions:

> 1. Has anyone tested the battery life over multiple rounds?

> 2. Does it say a percentage or just show a battery with a gauge?

> 3. Is this small enough to fix in your picket comfortably?

>

> I'm going to reach out to SkyGolf and see if I can get that loyal discount and trade in value for my SGX. If I can, I am going to pull the trigger on this.

I use the SX500, but played with a friend using the SX400 last week. After one round, i believe he had around 75-80% battery left. It shows the battery percentage when you press the menu icon at the top. Both of these are true in my experience with the SX500 as well. It definitely fits better in the pocket than the SX500. It is actually smaller than my iphone 8 so it should fit in the pocket fine.

'Just ordered the SX400 with the loyalty offer. $249 with free shipping, and the silicon case. It should be here in a few days.

I saw that too. It's a solid offer going on until Dec 31st. I'm definitely going to buy it before EOY. I just have to survive Cabo and then when I come back should be able to pick it up. I wish I could get it before Cabo but the warden says I have to wait.

It's been years since I owned and used a Sky Caddie. Do they still require a subscription fee?

Yes, the annual subscription is still needed. They now come preloaded with courses, but I don't think they'll work if the membership information is not loaded on to the device.

So I posted this at the Skycaddie forum but it was deleted by the administrator. I questioned why they produced a smaller model (SX400) since they went out of their way to tout the bigger size of the SX500. Are there any real differences except for the size?

According to the email that I received from SkyGolf last month, the only difference between the two is the screen size.

People prefer different things. As great as the SX500 is with the large screen, some people just want something smaller. Just like you have the regular iphone and the iphone plus models. I don't think there is much to question, its just a smaller version and less expensive. The features are the same on both. The only difference I saw other than size is the charging port is a USB C on the sx400 and it doesn't have as many buttons on the side.

I don't know why the Skycaddie administrator was so touchy then about my post.

The SG forum is pretty much useless. They don't allow any real discussion that would put them in a bad light.

A few years back there was one person that would bully anyone that disagreed with him and wrote War and Peace length posts. Since then, they have been very strict on posts. That guy ended up getting banned from the Skycaddie forum. Once he was banned from Skycaddie, he brought the same act here and was banned.

I received my SX400 late yesterday. I'll use it for the first time today. I was a bit surprised by its thickness. I assumed it would be more like a smartphone with a fairly slim profile. Instead it has quite a bit of thickness. No complaints, though. I assume they packed a decent sized battery into it.

The screen is wonderful, at least indoors. With the brightness set at 50% it was plenty bright. Can't wait to see its performance in sunlight. The screen on my Touch was one of its biggest flaws. Even when backlit it was barely readable.

Pinch to zoom has been a long time coming. Another big improvement over the Touch.

Synching over wifi was very fast. The Touch took forever to sync.

First round with the SX400 was impressive. I used 15% of the battery with the backlight set to ~50%. It should easily last 4 or 5 rounds. The screen is very readable. The response is very quick, whether it's a button press, a pinch to zoom, or a drag and drop.

I'm not sure if I care for the HoleVue yardages being displayed in the upper right corner as two yardages. I guess I got used to the Touch's method of displaying the distance on the line segments to and from the green. No big deal, though.

Lot of information to digest on the GreenVue. Any idea what the red bulls-eye represents? It looks like it shows up near the bottom of the green. I assume this is the recommended target?

SkyGolf Chat representative says the SX400 touch screen is glove friendly, but the comprehensive post by RichT51 says SX500 and SX400 are NOT glove-friendly. Thinking about upgrading my wife's SGX to the SX400, but she wears gloves on both hands. Is the SX400 touch screen glove friendly or not? And if not, are there good golf gloves available that will work? Thanks!