Shot Scope V5 - review

[MickeyTankBank]

My V5 has had no issues at all

[larrybud]

On 4/14/2025 at 3:25 PM, phil75070 said:

From what I understand hearing from Shot Scope, the proprietary charging system was due to price and size considerations.

 

That sounds crazy to me that a non-standard specialty port would cost less than a standard usb-c. You can buy those in 500 qty for 58 cents each, plus they then have to supply the cable with their proprietary connector.

[Spinozist]

18 hours ago, larrybud said:

 

That sounds crazy to me that a non-standard specialty port would cost less than a standard usb-c. You can buy those in 500 qty for 58 cents each, plus they then have to supply the cable with their proprietary connector.

Yeah I don't buy it. They did it to scalp us for new charging cables. I already bought like 3 myself.

[larrybud]

The one good thing of having to return two of these is that I now I 3 sets of tags and 3 charging cables!

 

Played today, dang if the new one didn't miss a TON of shots. WTH. I want my V3 back.

[phil75070]

On 4/17/2025 at 6:30 PM, larrybud said:

 

That sounds crazy to me that a non-standard specialty port would cost less than a standard usb-c. You can buy those in 500 qty for 58 cents each, plus they then have to supply the cable with their proprietary connector.

Why not ask Shot Scope directly why they used a proprietary charging system?

[larrybud]

Because I doubt I'd get a straight answer, or the tech support guy isn't going to know the reason behind hardware design.

Edited April 24 by larrybud

[zap311]

I’ve been using the V5 for over a year and haven’t had any major issues. It will miss shots on occasion (usually 2-4 per round), but it’s otherwise been fairly reliable. My only complaint is that it sometimes takes a minute for GPS to find the course.

 

I am happy with the GPS functionality of the watch and think it’s a much better value than Arccos, which I had tried previously. 

Edited April 27 by zap311

[phil75070]

On 4/19/2025 at 9:32 AM, phil75070 said:

Why not ask Shot Scope directly why they used a proprietary charging system?

A USB-C has the following dimensions and has 24 pins.

• Receptacle Opening: 8.34mm wide by 2.56mm deep.
• Depth: 6.20mm.
• Overall size: The overall size of the port, including the housing, will vary by manufacturer

Since the only thing that port is used for on the watch is power and ground, no data transfer (done strictly via Bluetooth), the proprietary connector may be better suited.

[SwingBlues]

On 4/27/2025 at 8:37 AM, zap311 said:

I’ve been using the V5 for over a year and haven’t had any major issues. It will miss shots on occasion (usually 2-4 per round), but it’s otherwise been fairly reliable. My only complaint is that it sometimes takes a minute for GPS to find the course.

 

I am happy with the GPS functionality of the watch and think it’s a much better value than Arccos, which I had tried previously. 

 

Did you look at the X5 before your V5 and if so, what swayed you over to the V5? Hows the screen in the bright sunlight?

 

Thanks mate

[zap311]

17 hours ago, SwingBlues said:

 

Did you look at the X5 before your V5 and if so, what swayed you over to the V5? Hows the screen in the bright sunlight?

 

Thanks mate

I was considering buying the X5 just before the V5 was released. I read some mixed reviews on the touchscreen of the X5 and I thought the buttons on the V5 would be less troublesome to use. They may have resolved the touchscreen issue on the X5 at this point, but I’ve been happy with the functionality on the V5.

 

It takes some getting used to how to navigate. I mainly use the watch for F/M/B yardages and to capture putts/scoring for my shot tracking. I occasionally use the watch to see carry distance to hazards, but I still use my rangefinder most of the time. 

[SwingBlues]

2 minutes ago, zap311 said:

I was considering buying the X5 just before the V5 was released. I read some mixed reviews on the touchscreen of the X5 and I thought the buttons on the V5 would be less troublesome to use. They may have resolved the touchscreen issue on the X5 at this point, but I’ve been happy with the functionality on the V5.

 

It takes some getting used to how to navigate. I mainly use the watch for F/M/B yardages and to capture putts/scoring for my shot tracking. I occasionally use the watch to see carry distance to hazards, but I still use my rangefinder most of the time. 

 

Yeah, thats what my research said as well with the X5. For the price, the V5 is sensational but I think it really comes down to the brightness of the screen as well. I'm trying to suss that out to see how it looks under the hot sun on a bright day. I know my VoiceCaddie T9 suxs in that aspect but it's 3+ years old.

 

I like the free tags you get with ShotScope too. Thanks for the reply mate 👍

[larrybud]

On 4/16/2025 at 11:31 AM, MickeyTankBank said:

My V5 has had no issues at all

 

Design flaws generally don't affect 100% of units. Design flaws affect a large percentage of units, and from the looks of tagging complaints, the V5 has one.

 

Could be certain internal components are out of spec, or are edge cases which just push them out of spec a large enough percentage of times where the flaw is noticable.

[MickeyTankBank]

1 hour ago, larrybud said:

 

Design flaws generally don't affect 100% of units. Design flaws affect a large percentage of units, and from the looks of tagging complaints, the V5 has one.

 

Could be certain internal components are out of spec, or are edge cases which just push them out of spec a large enough percentage of times where the flaw is noticable.

 

Or it's a small percentage with an issue

[larrybud]

9 hours ago, MickeyTankBank said:

 

Or it's a small percentage with an issue

 

Sure, but it's a large enough percentage with an issue that there are a ton of reports of tagging problems.

[MickeyTankBank]

2 hours ago, larrybud said:

 

Sure, but it's a large enough percentage with an issue that there are a ton of reports of tagging problems.

 

Do you have an exact number or are you just going off of a small number of anecdotes?

[larrybud]

15 hours ago, MickeyTankBank said:

 

Do you have an exact number or are you just going off of a small number of anecdotes?

I don't have an exact number. I don't need an exact number, because I'm comparing it to the previous model complaints and ratings. There was never a flood of complaints about tagging with the V3.
 

I've had 3 bad V5s. 2 with tagging issues, and one which stopped charging after about 5 uses. Getting 1 lemon, ok. Getting 2 lemon, man, that's unlucky. 3? You tell me. Add that to other complains of the V5.

Edited May 18 by larrybud

[MickeyTankBank]

1 hour ago, larrybud said:

I don't have an exact number. I don't need an exact number, because I'm comparing it to the previous model complaints and ratings. There was never a flood of complaints about tagging with the V3.
 

I've had 3 bad V5s. 2 with tagging issues, and one which stopped charging after about 5 uses. Getting 1 lemon, ok. Getting 2 lemon, man, that's unlucky. 3? You tell me. Add that to other complains of the V5.

 

I think you're taking this very personal and thinking what happens to everyone is the same based on just your experience. 

 

I have had no issues with mine. Don't discount my experience as not being true cause your experience is not the same. 

Edited May 18 by MickeyTankBank

[Simpsonia]

On 5/4/2025 at 1:48 PM, phil75070 said:

A USB-C has the following dimensions and has 24 pins.

• Receptacle Opening: 8.34mm wide by 2.56mm deep.
• Depth: 6.20mm.
• Overall size: The overall size of the port, including the housing, will vary by manufacturer

Since the only thing that port is used for on the watch is power and ground, no data transfer (done strictly via Bluetooth), the proprietary connector may be better suited.

 

It's clearly the depth being an issue. The Shotscope charger male side is just slightly over half the depth of USB-C. So unless you want a watch that's an inch thick (some hyperbole), proprietary ports are the way to go. 

[larrybud]

On 5/18/2025 at 2:42 PM, MickeyTankBank said:

 

I think you're taking this very personal and thinking what happens to everyone is the same based on just your experience. 

 

I have had no issues with mine. Don't discount my experience as not being true cause your experience is not the same. 

No, I'm basing it on the number of complaints of the V5 by different people vs the V3. 

[larrybud]

19 hours ago, Simpsonia said:

 

It's clearly the depth being an issue. The Shotscope charger male side is just slightly over half the depth of USB-C. So unless you want a watch that's an inch thick (some hyperbole), proprietary ports are the way to go. 

My Galaxy S20 has a USB C and is 0.31" thick (8mm). The Shotscope V5 is with their proprietary connector is 12mm thick, but perhaps there's just no practical way to embed it between the buttons.

 

IME, the V3 charging connector is better than the V5, since there's no stress on anything, and it just clips on. Also no recess for dirt to get into.

 

Edited May 21 by larrybud

[Thunders]

16 minutes ago, larrybud said:

No, I'm basing it on the number of complaints of the V5 by different people vs the V3. 

Yeah, I agree. I have now had 3 different V5's, all with the same tagging issue. And the internet is full of V5 users with the same complaint.

I have had 2 V3's that never had as many issues as the V5's

[MickeyTankBank]

3 hours ago, larrybud said:

No, I'm basing it on the number of complaints of the V5 by different people vs the V3. 

 

Mine has been perfect with no issues

[phil75070]

My X5 works practically flawlessly! I keep a scorecard so I can compare things like FIR and GIR since anytime one is close to a feature transition (e.g. fairway/rough or green/fringe) GPS inaccuracy will place the shot in the wrong location. I would say that better than 95% of the time (maybe even closer to 99%) the shots recorded match my actual score! One of the reasons the V5 was introduced was the poor performance of the X5 in the rain, but with the addition of the "Rain Mode" for the X5, I see no reason to get the V5 instead of the X5. The X5 is so easy to navigate with the touch screen, though battery life in comparison is not as good as the screen does use battery power. Unless you play 36 holes, that should not be of concern.

[larrybud]

5 hours ago, MickeyTankBank said:

 

Mine has been perfect with no issues

I'm sure it has been. I'm not saying the defect rate is 100%. I'm saying the defect rate is much higher with the V5 than the V3, hence the flood of people complaining about tagging issues.

[MickeyTankBank]

1 hour ago, larrybud said:

I'm sure it has been. I'm not saying the defect rate is 100%. I'm saying the defect rate is much higher with the V5 than the V3, hence the flood of people complaining about tagging issues.

 

Ok, not sure why your responding to me though. I'm just giving my experience and you keep trying to tell me I'm wrong. Please stop trying to say my experience is not true or not valid. You seem to have a vendetta here and trying to say my experience is worth less than yours is wrong.

[phil75070]

On 5/21/2025 at 2:58 PM, larrybud said:

I'm sure it has been. I'm not saying the defect rate is 100%. I'm saying the defect rate is much higher with the V5 than the V3, hence the flood of people complaining about tagging issues.

Question. Shot Scope says there is a "learning process" with their devices. How many people are giving the V5 time to "learn" their individual pattern vs a V3 which they have probably used for some time?

[chachang25]

I had a V3 that stopped working 1.5yr ago (watch stopped picking up any clubs, support said I needed a new watch 🙃).  Tried a year of Arccos after that experience.  Been without shot tracking for a few months since.

 

I felt like I needed to go back and audit both to make sure it got the right club, etc.  I liked pulling up Arccos at the end of the round and looking at all the data for strokes gained, though after awhile it became fairly predictable (thus my choice to not renew).  I am curious how often people use the Shotscope post-round functionality/data outside of just yardages/club.  Have they added much in that department over the past year?

[phil75070]

21 hours ago, chachang25 said:

Have they added much in that department over the past year?

They have added several data points and recently revamped both the app and the online Dashboard. One piece of data I find very interesting is Strokes Gained by club over whatever period of time you select.