The much anticipated Callaway upro mx+ has finally come to market, and its feature set and aggressive price point have erased the bad taste left by the bumpy launch and recall of the upro mx. The original upro set the standard for slim and lightweight GPS devices, and the upro mx+ continues the tradition, weighing in at a mere 3.15 ounces. A reasonably functional touchscreen is supplemented with a nifty optical finger navigation button, which operates like a mini trackpad, and touchscreen shortcuts, such as double-tapping anywhere on the hole map to zoom in on that point.

Changing up its business model from past devices, Callaway now provides all levels of its course maps with no additional yearly or per course fees. GoMode and Basic Mode text and green maps are already preloaded on the device, and you can add as many advanced ProMode maps (which include satellite imagery) as you’d like without spending an additional dime.

With aerial satellite photos, you don’t have to worry about whether an artist has failed to sketch in an extremely relevant creek. Callaway also continues to provide its slick video flyovers, which are extremely helpful for understanding the way to think about each hole, particularly the first time you play a course.

Our primary complaints are that the touchscreen doesn’t always respond as quickly as we’d like, the optical navigation button sometimes stopped working (necessitating a restart of the unit), and the positioning of the buttons on the touchscreen crams the two features we accessed most often (zoom and score entry) nearly on top of one another. We also would like to see Callaway add basic shot distance tracking to the device. And we never quite figured out the arbitrary nature of the battery meter.

With the upro mx+, Callaway has re-entered the golf GPS market with a more stable device than the upro mx. There were still too many rough edges for us to truly fall in love with the device, but the satellite images, form factor and price alone make it worthy of consideration in your purchase decision.

SCORE
91
GRADE
A-
Setup/Syncing
95
Course Availability
89
Ease of Use
90
Course Details
95
Features
94
Accuracy
93
Cost/Value
93

Pros:

Cons:

Retail price: $249.99
Availability: Discontinued. No replacement product is planned. Unfortunately, Callaway has moved in a different direction and has de-prioritized golf GPS devices. A sad tale that started with a company, uPro, that held such potential and floundered and now died under Callaway ownership. It is unknown how long Callaway will continue to make their upro mx+ supporting website, Callaway uxplore, available, and we do not recommend purchase of this product.
Amazon.com price: Check price now


95 / A

SETUP/SYNCING

The Good: Basic and GoMode courses are preloaded on the device. Syncing software automatically launches Callaway uxplore website and syncs the device when plugged in.

The Bad: ProMode courses must be individually selected and downloaded – but at least they’re free! We did experience syncing issues, but these were solved by uninstalling and then reinstalling the uxplore software.

Details:

What’s in the Box: The Callaway upro mx+ comes with:

Downloads:


89 / B+

COURSE AVAILABILITY

Critical Golf Test: Callaway is slowly but steadily improving its ProMode course coverage, moving up in our course coverage test. The upro mx+ still, however, trails most competing devices.

Manufacturer’s Claims: Callaway claims to have more than 25,000 courses available around the globe, which places it about average in our course coverage comparison test.


90 / A-

EASE OF USE

The Good: Lightweight and slim, making it easy to carry around. Optical finger navigation and shortcuts such as double-tapping the screen enhance usability.

The Bad: Positioning of buttons on touchscreen is suboptimal. Lag in touchscreen and optical navigation button response. On occasion the optical button stopped working and required us to restart the device. Inaccurate battery meter.

Callaway upro mx+ Golf GPS Device

Click for image

Details:

For more details, check out the Critical Golf comparison of golf GPS ease of use.


95 / A

COURSE DETAIL AND MAPPING

The Good: The ability to determine the distance to any point on the course. A plethora of pre-mapped targets that don’t clutter the screen because they aren’t revealed until you zoom in. Indicator shows the player’s position on the hole map, and distances to the edges of the green and/or hazards are shown relative to that position.

The Bad: No real complaints – although if we’re making a wish list, it would be nice to have green contour maps such as those available on the Skycaddie SGXw.

Callaway upro mx+ Golf GPS Device

Click for more views

Details:


94 / A

FEATURES

The Good: Video flyovers, scorecard entry,

The Bad: No ability to track the distance of your shots.

Callaway upro mx+ Golf GPS Device

Click for more images

Details:

For more details, check out the Critical Golf comparison of golf GPS device features.

Suggestion Box: It would be nice if there was some visual differentiator on the score entry screen to indicate the holes for which scores have already been entered – there’s nothing to tell you that you’ve forgotten to enter a score unless you separately click to view the entire scorecard.


93 / A-

ACCURACY

Device Accuracy: Our test of the Callaway upro mx+ on a variety of courses revealed readings that were within 3-4 yards of sprinkler head markings and our laser rangefinder readings. The upro mx+ will show distances regardless of how close you are to the green, which gave us comfort in the accuracy of the device.

Mapping Accuracy: The maps are generally accurate, although on one course, the image on one hole was clearly dated, as a bunker that no longer exists was still displayed.


93 / A

COST/VALUE

Retail Price: The Callaway upro mx+ has a retail price of $249.99, making it the least expensive device that provides hole maps (as opposed to just textual distances).

Fees for Access to Course Database: Callaway has changed its pricing model, and access to all course maps, including ProMode maps, is provided at no additional charge.

Three-Year Total Cost of Ownership: With no cost for access to the course database or updates, the three-year total cost of ownership of the Callaway upro mx+ stays at $249.99 (hey, that’s math that we can do without a calculator!), making it one of the least expensive devices in our cost comparison of golf GPS devices among those that provide hole maps, and the least expensive with satellite views (the competitor being the Sonocaddie V500).

Value: The Callaway upro mx+ is attractively priced for a device that has a strong feature set (excluding, of course, shot distance tracking). The touchscreen wasn’t our favorite, but the double-tapping feature and optical finger navigation button provide alternatives. Add in a sleek lightweight form factor, and you’ve got a device to be reckoned with.


29 Responses

  1. Is there really no fee? See the Callaway Website for ProMode pricing.
    29.99 for 25 courses
    49.99 for unlimited courses
    19.99 for upgrade from 25 to unlimited.
    All advertising and articles on the web say no additional fees. 

      1. It’s all in the wording, “No ANNUAL fee or SUBSCRIPTIONS…”. The one-time fee/charge is on website link that you note, click on the blue info icon right next to Find out more about ProMode pricing. All the media posts seem to want to change the word “annual” to “additional”. 

        1. Thanks for pointing this out – that certainly does show additional fees!!
          This to us contradicts the press release, which states regarding additional fees:
          – Golfers will be able to purchase this product at a new product introduction price of $249 with no additional fees. Each device will come with access to free and unlimited ProMode course downloads.
          – ProMode courses, which include hi-resolution aerial photography and video flyovers, can be downloaded from the Callaway uxplore site for no additional fee or subscriptions.
          Press release URL: https://ir.callawaygolf.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=68083&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1697356&highlight=
          We are contacting Callaway now to confirm the pricing – stay tuned…

          1. UPDATE:
            I have spoken with the Communications Manager at Callaway today and he informed me this is an ERROR on the Callaway website.
            His quote: “There are no packages or plans with the mx+; it costs $249 for its lifetime.”

          2. After what happened last year it is hard to believe they could make such and error during the big release of the MX+. Another strike for Callaway GPS. Many are looking forward to your review.

  2. When can we expect your full review?  I’m holding back on getting a Garmin G6 until seeing what you say about the mx+.  Given the Callaway history, it might be a risky gamble.

    1. We don’t have a set time yet for release – we are about halfway through the review process (we have multiple reviewers use each device on multiple different courses to get a good sense for the product). We should have it up shortly though…stay tuned! We also announce our releases on twitter and facebook, so follow/like us if you would like to be notified.

  3. There’s no way in Hell that I’ll ever buy another GPS from Callaway. What a debacle the last attempt became. Stick to clubs, Callaway!!

  4. just bought upro mx plus, battery would not charge up to 100%, you can only load 50 promode views if you can get them to load. was on their site for over 2 hours to load 13 courses kept kicking me off to load others finally i gave up. called customer service talk to a rep said he would get back with me by the end of the day. 2 days later no hear. distance accuracy was off by 10 yards on some holes. no way to mark your shot distance yet. the course i did get promode very very difficult to read in the daylight. i think callaway just updated previous mx models and changed the software and called them mx plus. no reference of upro mx+ on the device but upro mx is displayed. my old upro worked much better but it went craps. i will be returning this device and looking at something else. i told the golf store rep i bought this from not to recommend.

  5. I wish I had not purchased this unit. The touch screen is very difficult to use. It keeps jumping to a different screen. No shot tracking.

  6. I have been using the unit for a couple of months now. No problem acquiring a signal, sometimes took a few minutes, no problem with the touchscreen. Yardages have been surprisingly accurate.
    I would say the unit is designed for younger people. small screen, need good eyesight and because the screen is small need smaller fingers to operate.
    No problem with uploading courses and tracking stats. I don’t need shot tracker to tell me how far I hit my clubs, I already know because I know distances.
    However, must charge after every round. Even with sleep mode, I have never been able to use the unit for more than 1 round.
    I would say an excellent device for people with good eyesight and average sized fingers. And the price is very good with no additional fees!

  7. My wife bought this product and it consistently turned itself off and when it worked, it lasted less than a round. to Callaway’s credit, they replaced the unit. Unfortunately, the new unit is only margnially better. My Golf Buddy lasts a mimimum of 2 1/2 rounds, her Callway on round max, and it continues to have the turn off problem. Definitely not recommended. She’s looking for a new GPS for Christmas!

  8. The Original Upro was better. this one is is not convienient to use, a tiny little button on the side resets the timed out screen while a big button on the front is practically useless, Flyover is a waste of time, it is slow and consumes a lot of power, and it is diifficult to see and pretty much useless,

  9. The plug-in for the unit was very difficult to use. After the first few times recharging with no problem, when I plugged it in the red charging light did not activate. I had to play with the connector to start charging. After several more uses over the course of 4 months, the connection eventually failed. Now, the unit does not recharge.

  10. I’ve had the Upro MX+ for one year now, and I’m relatively satisfied. My two issues are not having shot tracking, and a scoring issue when playing a 9 holr course. Callaway has been saying that the shot tracking is upcoming and will be available “soob”. I’ve been told this since last summer, so it seems is a relative term. My biggest gripe is that I play at a course that only has 9 holes. Consequently, I have to play it twice to finish a full, 18 hole round. When it comes time to upload the scores and statistics into the system, it won’t save the stats properly because it reads them as 2 separate 9 hole rounds, rather than 1 18 hole round. It sucks, because one of the best features of the Upro is the ability to keep track of putts, greens in regulation and fairways hit. I.ve spoken with Callaway twice regarding this issue, but apparently there aren’t enough people in my situation to make it worthwhile for the company to do anything about this problem. I do find the on-course features to be very accurate and helpful.

    1. Though we are still surprised shot tracking isn’t available, we probably shouldn’t be. Historically both uPro (prior to Callaway) and now Callaway have an extremely poor track record of product/software updates. This is all the more disappointing given Callaway resources ($) available. It seems the upro mx+ could rise to the tops of the rankings if the team buckled down, but for whatever reason, it seems like this just isn’t in Callaway’s plans. It’s a bummer since this device has so much potential.

  11. I had the Upro MX+ for a year and it was a piece of garbage. Would jump holes, go back to square one and just shut off. Tried Callaway “customer support” many times and all I ever got was the auto reply saying that they would contact me within 2-3 days. They never did. Finally I contacted Bobick’s Golf in Ft. Wayne IN where I bought it while on vacation through their corporate customer service in the Carolinas. Within an hour I received a call from the Ft. Wayne store saying that they had removed the Upro MX+ from the shelves due to the volume of complaints. They had me send it back to them and they sent me a Golf Buddy World which has worked perfectly out of the box. Turn it on and it finds you even if you have a shotgun start and don’t start on the first hole.

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