Garmin G80 vs Swing Caddie SC300 vs Swing Caddie SC200 – Which One Is The Best

Garmin G80 vs Swing Caddie SC300 vs Swing Caddie SC200 – Which One Is The Best

If you’re not using a launch monitor at the range or on the links, you could be losing out on valuable insight that could help you improve your long game. Maybe you’re married to that driver you’ve been using for years that helped you lower your handicap.

But recently you haven’t been able to make any significant improvements. As much as you love the driver, it may be what’s holding you back. A launch monitor could help you figure out why your game is stagnating.

They can help make your drives more consistent, let you see which clubs you perform best with and they can be very helpful on the course in other ways. Today we will be taking a look at 3 different launch monitors and comparing them so you can figure out which one is best for you.

Why Choosing the Right Launch Monitor Matters

These three launch monitors are some of the most sought after in a market that is saturated with products that are either inaccurate, hard to use or have features that you really don’t need.

These are three of the best launch monitors that represent the best in ease of use, helpful features and accuracy. It is important to have all 3 in your launch monitor or else you will get false information or even worse, be disinclined to use one at all.

The following products are geared toward any golfer who is trying to improve their long game and gain valuable insight into the nuances of their swing. Let’s begin.

The Garmin G80 Key Features

As you would expect from a Garmin product, the G80 acts not only as a launch monitor; but as a golf GPS device too. It is preloaded with 41,000 course maps from around the world. It gives you distances to all the significant points on the course on its 3.5” color touchscreen display.

As a launch monitor, the G80 gives you information on smash factor, club head speed, ball speed and tempo. We really liked the tempo mode that helps you determine your backswing and downswing timings and to make adjustments to them.

You also get an estimated distance for each shot as well as a “plays like” distance that takes into account slope and elevation. The fact that you could zoom in on the green and get more detail on distances, shape and blind spots was really cool too.

Pros:

• Color display
• Has golf GPS features
• Gives a “plays like” distance
• Includes a fun virtual mode
• Accurate distances
• Rechargeable battery

Cons:

• Screen freezes sometimes
• Less accurate indoors
• Tends to overheat
• Takes a while to detect which course you are on

Get The Best Price On The Garmin G80 Here:

The Swing Caddie SC200

The SC200 has 3 modes: practice, target and approach mode. The practice mode was cool since you don’t actually have to hit a ball for it to tell you what distance, loft and smash factor you would get on any given swing.

Once you are ready to actually take some shots, the SC200 gives instant audio feedback of all the pertinent metrics like carry distance, ball speed and swing speed. It’s not too much larger than a smartphone and can even be controlled via remote.

Doppler radar also provides measurements that take into account barometric pressure for accurate plays like distances. This launch monitor is good at measuring distances between 32 and 320 yards.

Pros:

• Simple 4-button operation
• Target mode is helpful for improving distance consistency
• Approach mode is helpful for honing real-life green approaches
• Affordable
• Accurate distances indoors
• Easy to set up

Cons:

• The orange LCD display can be hard to read sometimes
• Picks up practice swings when you aren’t in practice mode
• No touchscreen
• Needs 4 AAA batteries

Get The Best Price On The Swing Caddie SC200 Here:

The Swing Caddie SC300

The SC300 has most of the features that made the SC200 so popular but its sports a much more modern and frankly, more portable design. It is smaller than the SC200 (the SC300 is 8 x 6 x 4 inches) and it comes with a rechargeable battery (micro USB).

In addition to metrics like smash factor and swing speed, the SC300 also gives you max height readings and carry distances. Like the SC200, it has a little kickstand so that you can set it on the ground to measure your swings (needs at least 5 feet of rear clearance to operate).

You can also download the Swing Caddie app and get all of your metrics sent to your smartphone. The app also allows you to store club data and get more in-depth information on your swings and stats.

Pros:

• Measures barometric pressure
• Voice output
• Remote control
• Good battery life
• Sleeker design
• Adjustable loft angles

Cons:

• Orange LCD is still hard to read
• Misses some shots
• Does not give spin rate
• Not accurate with gap wedges

Get The Best Price On The Swing Caddie SC300 Here:

Performance Comparison

The Garmin G80 worked very well and we can see why it is one of the most sought after GPS devices on the market with some amazing features, it also performed reliably with accurate distances compared to our rangefinder and gps watch.

The SC200 worked really well indoors and outdoors. Our only gripe was that the LCD screen was sometimes hard to read while outdoors and the sun was shining.

We liked that the SC300 lasted longer on the course and range and that you could adjust the loft angles. But it was inaccurate with some shots.

Price Comparison

The Swing Caddie SC200 will run you about $300 while it’s graduated version, the SC300 will cost around $500. You can pick up a Garmin G80 for around $500 as well.

Final Thoughts

All of these devices were handy in their own right. But if we have to recommend one, we suggest you go with the Garmin G80. It has the essential features that the SC300 & SC200 have, but it also doubles as a GPS Device so you get more bang for your buck!

Garmin is the leading brand in GPS devices in the market and this quality carries over into the G80. Of course, there are better launch monitors on the market like the Trackman but they cost much more and in the personal launch monitor market, we would definitely recommend the G80.

Get The Best Price On The G80 Here: