New Voice Caddie SC4 Launch Monitor

[mktrout]

5 hours ago, Jnaldo said:

So I ordered about 2 weeks ago through one of the affiliate links, actually for it for $500 but only the unit, no case or charging cable. I’ve hit into a net a handful of times and just finished taking it to the range for the first time and here’s my early impressions:

 

aesthetics: great looking unit, small enough to carry easily but large enough to see the screen. The speaker volume is great too

 

ease of use: super easy to set up, remote works like a charm. I spent time imputing my exact club lofts/lie in the app to hopefully help with accuracy. App itself is ok, pretty basic visuals. 
 

accuracy: seems dead on with wedges and irons, and numbers were consistent between net and range for all irons and wedges. Woods/driver seems to be a different story. The only time the unit didn’t register a shot was when using a hybrid, and it happened a couple of times. Driving distance seemed really short compared to trackman and real life distances. I have a Paradym triple diamond, 9.0 degree loft, around 100pmh swing speed and usually carrying around 250, and this was way off. Also the unit didn’t register any launch angle with the driver shots. I’m going to set it up side by side with the trackman at our club indoors and see what the numbers look like but the driver/wood data is disappointing. 
 

also there’s currently no ability to download E6 connect as there’s no corresponding tracking system in the app with Swing Caddie/Voice caddie. I emailed voice caddie support but have yet to get a response. 
 

overall I like the unit, I had the rhapsodo mlm last year but returned it because of accuracy issues and this is by far better. Jury is still out on driver/wood/hybrid accuracy and not idea what to say about E6/simulation. 

Not a very good first review, but consistent with other swing caddie products that could never get a driver correct and them never responding to emails.

[pdxhak]

8 hours ago, Jnaldo said:

So I ordered about 2 weeks ago through one of the affiliate links, actually for it for $500 but only the unit, no case or charging cable. I’ve hit into a net a handful of times and just finished taking it to the range for the first time and here’s my early impressions:

 

aesthetics: great looking unit, small enough to carry easily but large enough to see the screen. The speaker volume is great too

 

ease of use: super easy to set up, remote works like a charm. I spent time imputing my exact club lofts/lie in the app to hopefully help with accuracy. App itself is ok, pretty basic visuals. 
 

accuracy: seems dead on with wedges and irons, and numbers were consistent between net and range for all irons and wedges. Woods/driver seems to be a different story. The only time the unit didn’t register a shot was when using a hybrid, and it happened a couple of times. Driving distance seemed really short compared to trackman and real life distances. I have a Paradym triple diamond, 9.0 degree loft, around 100pmh swing speed and usually carrying around 250, and this was way off. Also the unit didn’t register any launch angle with the driver shots. I’m going to set it up side by side with the trackman at our club indoors and see what the numbers look like but the driver/wood data is disappointing. 
 

also there’s currently no ability to download E6 connect as there’s no corresponding tracking system in the app with Swing Caddie/Voice caddie. I emailed voice caddie support but have yet to get a response. 
 

overall I like the unit, I had the rhapsodo mlm last year but returned it because of accuracy issues and this is by far better. Jury is still out on driver/wood/hybrid accuracy and not idea what to say about E6/simulation. 

 

 

Appreciate the review! Hopefully Voice Caddie provides a software update to resolve the issue with the woods.

 

The last four or five LMs releases I have followed have all had issues so not surprising there are some with the SC4. I pre-ordered a couple weeks ago and still waiting for the email it is ready to ship.

[pdxhak]

2 hours ago, mktrout said:

Not a very good first review, but consistent with other swing caddie products that could never get a driver correct and them never responding to emails.

 

Seems like the other recent LMs that have been released. All and issues with spin and various other areas that required firmware updates to fix. 

[Joeyw3704]

No disrespect to that person but,  his first comment was about this launch monitor.  I'll wait for a little bit more information from someone with a little more history on WRX  But I don't doubt it has problems.  Sounds like it was rushed to production.  I still have it on pre-order though LOL!

[Tyrone_4]

42 minutes ago, Joeyw3704 said:

No disrespect to that person but,  his first comment was about this launch monitor.  I'll wait for a little bit more information from someone with a little more history on WRX  But I don't doubt it has problems.  Sounds like it was rushed to production.  I still have it on pre-order though LOL!

Yeah, I agree. Most likely he is telling the truth, but it is hard to fully trust his review.

[SE Gamer]

4 hours ago, pdxhak said:

 

Seems like the other recent LMs that have been released. All and issues with spin and various other areas that required firmware updates to fix. 

 

Yep. Ordered the MLM 2. Should be here soon. Just seeing some rumors today in the FB group that they're halting distributor orders until May. Allegedly due to hardware and FW issues. Again, I can't confirm the accuracy of the above. The Rapsodo rep was tagged, but is staying quiet at the moment. 

All that to say, there are clearly some issues Rapsodo is working through. And ask me how well taking a gamble on the Hybrid X3 from Swinglogic went, lol. 

Hopefully they get the SC4 sorted sooner rather than later. Just nice to see some units getting to end users. Hopefully that means we'll actually see some videos/reviews of it in action. 

[Garydean]

One guy got one

[hammersia]

2 hours ago, Garydean said:

One guy got one

Interesting, it kind of confirms that the device measures shot direction but not shape. Obviously no radar measures face to path directly, but it implies that it's seeing a very limited part of the ball flight, maybe more limited than the R10 does for example.

[njmack]

On 4/25/2023 at 1:19 AM, dwboston said:

And I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade here.  I hope the SC4 turns out to be a fantastic device at this price point.  It's just that I've seen a few iterations of Voice Caddie LM's at this point and it's best to temper expectations.  It's rare that a consumer electronics company puts out multiple average or sub-par devices in a row, then all of the sudden releases a gem.  I hope they do.  

 

I tend to agree here. I owned an SC300i for a little bit & eventually traded down to the SC200+. For my use cases, they were functionally identical.

 

Yes, the 300i definitely had more bells and whistles attached to it w/ the app & it does show spin calcs/launch angle... but the spin metrics in the app were hardly reliable & launch angle data doesn't really move the needle for me. Honestly, the best part of the 300i was having a rechargeable battery lol & the video recording feature in the app. But the rest of the data: SS, ball speed, yardages--I didn't see any noticeable difference.

 

Having said that... I am patiently awaiting all of your reviews of the SC4 b/c the sim & features involved could be a game changer for a <$600 unit. 

[Les Paul Jr]

Does the SC4 track swing speed when not hitting a ball?

[Kenner300]

Glad to see units are shipping. Let’s get some reviews up on YouTube boys! 
 

 

[Garydean]

Id like to see some better in depth review, just seems like voice caddie has no marketing division like they seem more worried about gps or rangefinders. I can't gauge what they're trying to do, are we over hyping it and just an evolution of sc300i with sim. So far seems like a worse version of r10 with a display 

[sgb]

Ok so even though the sc4 was released Monday and started its shipping it looks like the may have possibly over promised. I was trying to figure out why play better hadn't posted anything about the sc4 or whether they were also going to be shipping this week aswell and I found out on the Korean site for voice caddie that there is an alert on the sc4 saying that they ran out of stock before finishing the pre-orders so people who pre-ordered before a certain point were going to receive them but the people after a certain point would have to wait for a restock at the end of May beginning of June. I contacted play better and they told me that they were trying to contact voice caddie but hadn't had a response yet so they are unsure when they'll be shipping. So just an unfortunate update for some people I suppose cause i don't really know if the out of stock thing apples to their American warehouse so....

[golfun]

The Korean site shows a very nice club/ball view in the app with lines. Guessing it’s the same as app in states?

[pdxhak]

23 hours ago, sgb said:

Ok so even though the sc4 was released Monday and started its shipping it looks like the may have possibly over promised. I was trying to figure out why play better hadn't posted anything about the sc4 or whether they were also going to be shipping this week aswell and I found out on the Korean site for voice caddie that there is an alert on the sc4 saying that they ran out of stock before finishing the pre-orders so people who pre-ordered before a certain point were going to receive them but the people after a certain point would have to wait for a restock at the end of May beginning of June. I contacted play better and they told me that they were trying to contact voice caddie but hadn't had a response yet so they are unsure when they'll be shipping. So just an unfortunate update for some people I suppose cause i don't really know if the out of stock thing apples to their American warehouse so....

 

Do you have a link to that Korean site? 

[zlawson36]

My unit got delivered yesterday, albeit to the wrong house on my street. Thankfully the woman dropped it by this morning on her way to work. (Damn USPS)

 

First impressions is that the unit is very sturdy. The kickstand helps level the device obviously, but the unit actually self-calibrates depending on if it is level. For instance, when I initially set it down, it was off to the left 1 degree, so it was showing a -1 on the screen. I let it sit there for a few seconds and it calibrated and was ready to go.

 

I have not been to the range, and the weather here has been rainy, so I can't get out into my net in the backyard. I am excited to try the unit. The app still needs some work, but realistically I bought the unit so that I wouldn't need the app unless I wanted to use it.

 

Simulation is not an option as of today, that feature will be integrated into the app shortly....

[Dan13]

31 minutes ago, zlawson36 said:

My unit got delivered yesterday, albeit to the wrong house on my street. Thankfully the woman dropped it by this morning on her way to work. (Damn USPS)

 

First impressions is that the unit is very sturdy. The kickstand helps level the device obviously, but the unit actually self-calibrates depending on if it is level. For instance, when I initially set it down, it was off to the left 1 degree, so it was showing a -1 on the screen. I let it sit there for a few seconds and it calibrated and was ready to go.

 

I have not been to the range, and the weather here has been rainy, so I can't get out into my net in the backyard. I am excited to try the unit. The app still needs some work, but realistically I bought the unit so that I wouldn't need the app unless I wanted to use it.

 

Simulation is not an option as of today, that feature will be integrated into the app shortly....

Would be a great feature if it can self calibrate. Would make the Mevo plus data better if the pitch and roll was spot on every time.  Sure it would help with SC4 data. 

[Mych]

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by Mych

[SE Gamer]

38 minutes ago, Mych said:

 

 

Saw this earlier. But didn't think it was worth posting. Nothing showing performance. Basically just an unboxing. 

[Tyrone_4]

2 hours ago, Mych said:

 

 

1 hour ago, SE Gamer said:

 

Saw this earlier. But didn't think it was worth posting. Nothing showing performance. Basically just an unboxing. 

Yeah that guy doesn't really give anything worth noting in that video. There is also a short on youtube of a guy comparing mlm2 and sc4 with 1 shot but it doesn't give any insight either. Good news is that reviews should start pouring in each day from now on.

[pdxhak]

Annoying he ordered it just before the launch and already received it. Where as others pre-ordered weeks ago and still do not have it. Good for him though. We still need more reviews.

[Bill_54]

(my apologies if this appears twice)

It's been a long time since I posted here but I thought I'd comment on the SC4.  First a little background.  I'm a retired engineer and have been playing golf over 50 years.  The SC4 is the first launch monitor I've ever owned and my reason for purchasing it was to accurately determine my carry distances and shot dispersion, especially with my short irons.

 

I ordered my unit directly from the Voice Caddie website on 4/17/2023.  I never received a confirmation email of any sort, but my SC4 arrived via USPS on 4/27.  It was well packaged (Apple like, as another poster said) and included the SC4 launch monitor, charging cable, and an SC4 pouch which is a zippered, foamed lined, semi-hard travel case.  The unit was partially charged (perhaps 60%).  It took approximately 2 hours to fully charge using the supplied charging cable connected to a built in wall outlet with a USB charging port.  With the help of my computer savvy wife I was able to download the app, pair to my iPhone 12 Pro, and enter lofts.  Today was my first opportunity to try it out on the practice range at my club and these are my first impressions.

 

- The unit is solid and seems well made.

- It's easy to use in PRACTICE mode which was my main focus today.  I did not try TARGET mode yet.

- The carry distance seemed reasonable for the 9 iron I was hitting, which was the only club I tried thus far.  When time permits I will quantify this more accurately.

- The launch direction angle value is pretty sensitive to alignment of the red range line with where you position the ball on the ground relative to your shot target line.  A little hard to explain without drawing a picture, but some alignment procedure during setup may be beneficial.  Perhaps snapping a chalkline on the ground??

- The tilt back of the display is a little too vertical for me to read easily without squatting down a bit (I"m 6 feet tall).  Not a big deal, the audible carry distance is easily heard.

- The display is plenty bright enough, but the tint of my polarized sunglasses made it hard to read.  That may be unique to my sunglasses and yours may do fine.

- Pairing to my iPhone was easy.

- There are lots ways to view the data on the app, i.e tabular, bar charts, overlay on a driving range grid, etc.  Still exploring that.

 

All in all I'm quite pleased and feel this will be a really useful tool for improving my game.  

[pdxhak]

Good news for those that ordered the SC4 with PlayBetter. I received an email over the weekend that they are getting their SC4s this week and to expect an email with shipping information. 

[Tyrone_4]

7 hours ago, pdxhak said:

Good news for those that ordered the SC4 with PlayBetter. I received an email over the weekend that they are getting their SC4s this week and to expect an email with shipping information. 

I just received that email about an hour ago, so things are looking up.

[pdxhak]

Voice Caddie just sent another email that I will be charged the remaining amount and the SC4 will ship in the next 24 hrs :) 

[mktrout]

the lack of reviews from the online "professional" reviewers is not making this thing look good.... some of them are even sponsored by voice caddie and havent reviewed it.

[Tyrone_4]

27 minutes ago, mktrout said:

the lack of reviews from the online "professional" reviewers is not making this thing look good.... some of them are even sponsored by voice caddie and havent reviewed it.

If anything I'm sure the hardware is ready and capable but they may be slow getting everything out there because they are still tweaking the software. But that will be improved through updates just like what happened with the r10 and what is happening with all the issues with the mlm2 pro.

Edited May 2, 2023 by Tyrone_4

[dwboston]

1 hour ago, Tyrone_4 said:

If anything I'm sure the hardware is ready and capable but they may be slow getting everything out there because they are still tweaking the software. But that will be improved through updates just like what happened with the r10 and what is happening with all the issues with the mlm2 pro.

 

That's the definition of optimism.   Voice Caddie isn't exactly known for diligent updates post-launch.

[Mych]

 

[BigRightMisss]

Alright, first time poster here. I know some will take this post with a grain of salt because it is my first. However, I had no idea this forum existed until I started researching the SC4 in mid-April. 

 

I am an 11 handicap golfer that has been golfing most of his life and I decided to jump into the launch monitor purchase to help improve my game, get clubs more dialed in and get my handicap down into single digits. When on the course, I generally know my distances pretty well but don't have much hard data on it. A secondary use of the unit, for me at least, is the simulator aspect. I plan to use this in the off season to keep swinging clubs, hang with the fellas and just have fun. I purchased the unit direct from Voice Caddie during their pre-sale campaign and received the unit last Thursday. Included was the carrying case and the mat/guide thing they sent with it. 

 

One with my thoughts (I have taken the unit to the range once so far and that is it. We have had some insane wind and lower than expected temps so I haven't gotten to use it much)...

 

Cons

-out of the box, the simulator capabilities are not active. They plan on rolling this out in the near future. This is not a deal breaker for me as I do not plan to use this feature for several months. If this is your primary use for the unit, you may be waiting a bit for a review on the simulator functionality.

-the unit does not measure spin on anything below a PW. Again, this is not an issue for me, as I am not as concerned about spin on my wedges as I am some of my other clubs. 

-there were several shots that did not register. The majority of these shots were skulled/bladed/etc. so I kind of get that but a handful of others were not. I am not sure if there is something I did wrong or what so I am not in panic mode yet. Additionally, I kind of feel like the unit was sitting a little higher behind me than is recommended which could lead to it. It was grass and the range was packed so I didn't have much choice here. 

 

Pros

-extremely easy to setup and user friendly. Turned the unit on, was prompted for an update and followed through with it. Update took a few minutes and once done, the unit immediately connected to the VC app on my iPhone and I was ready to roll. Not a single issue.

-the app is pretty straight forward and tracks the data you would expect. You can also export a .CSV file if you want to mess with the data a little more. I am a spreadsheet geek and plan to mess with this in the future. 

-the display is bright and very easy to read. Hit the shot, look back and you have your shot data. Pretty straight forward

 

Overall Impressions

-accuracy is probably the question most want to know about and from what I can tell, the unit is fairly accurate. I was hitting into a 2 club wind on the range and the distances on the unit matched up with the yardages on the range as far as I could tell. I am not really sure if it takes wind into consideration but it sure seemed like it did. If the unit doesn't factor in wind, well, there could be a problem. As soon as mother nature cooperates, I am getting it out to try again. 

-the launch direction (degrees left or right) was pretty spot on. If I had a little fade to the ball, it registered. Same for a slice, draw, hook, etc. 

-ball spin seemed accurate to me as well. I spent some time indoors at my local club fitter hitting some shots over the winter and the spin numbers were really close to the numbers on the GCQuad. Eventually, I would like to get the unit to the fitter to track both at the same time. 

 

I have not yet hit into a net to check numbers. Like I said, I am not planning on doing any simulation until the fall so I don't have a net, mat, etc for the garage yet. That said, my plan is to head to my buddy's house this weekend to hit off of his mat and into a net to see how it works indoors. This will also allow me to get his thoughts on the unit as well.

 

So there it is. Far from being able to make a definitive "yes you should buy this" or "hell no, stay away" statement but based on my first experience with the unit, I am happy and optimistic that the SC4 will be exactly what I wanted. 

 

Feel free to ask up whatever and I will answer the best I can.