SkyCaddie enhances its line of golf GPS watch offerings with the SkyCaddie LINX, which finally brings SkyCaddie’s mapped hazards, doglegs, layup points and greens to your wrist, along with scoring and statistics. The previous generation of watches on the market, including the SkyCaddie WATCH, only provided distances to the front, center and back of the green. The LINX jumped to the head of the class among golf GPS watches with its new wealth of data (although it was leapfrogged shortly thereafter by the Garmin S6 watch, which brings hole maps and a touchscreen to determine the distance to any point on the map). The LINX is also Bluetooth enabled and can thus pair with your mobile phone, enabling you to receive notifications on the watch when you receive a call or a text message, and to sync your round to your SkyGolf 360 account (the new name of SkyGolf’s ClubSG) through the SkyCaddie mobile app (SkyGolf 360 synching is not available on the previous generation SkyCaddie WATCH).

The LINX performs well on the golf course, with the thickness of the watch being our only real quibble. The bells and whistles on the device are nice, but they come at a price – the LINX itself retails for $224.95, but only comes with the “Go Play” package, which provides distances to the front, center and back of the green. For $19.95/year (or $49.95 for three years), you can upgrade to the “Par” package, which adds synching to SkyGolf 360. To really exploit the capabilities of the watch, however, you must splurge $49.95/year (or $129.95 for three years) for the “Pro” package, which, in addition to the “Par” enhancements, also adds IntelliGreen (shapes of the actual green) and distances to hazards, layup points, et al.

Our other complaint centers around glitches during the process of purchasing the “Pro” package and setting up the LINX for use (this wouldn’t be necessary for the “Go Play” package, which is ready to go out of the box), which we detail below. This has been a recurring theme for us with SkyCaddie products – we’re surprised that the technical support folks don’t recognize our voices by now.

The SkyCaddie LINX is a fine device, and is a leader among golf GPS watches in terms of the distances it provides. The subscription costs to access those distances make the LINX expensive, but if you’re a data junkie on the course (“How far is it to the bunker? How about to clear it? How about to the dogleg?”), then the LINX is the watch for you.

SCORE
93
GRADE
A-
Setup/Syncing
76
Course Availability
99
Ease of Use
95
Course Details
88
Features
96
Accuracy
96
Cost/Value
91

Pros:

Cons:

Retail price: $224.95
Three year total cost: $354.90
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76 / C

SETUP/SYNCING


99 / A+

COURSE AVAILABILITY


95 / A

EASE OF USE

SkyCaddie LINX Watch

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


88 / B+

COURSE DETAIL AND MAPPING

SkyCaddie LINX Watch

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96 / A

FEATURES

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


96 / A

ACCURACY

The LINX returned distances within our standard expected range of variance for GPS devices, usually plus or minus up to 4 yards from actual distances (based on marked sprinkler heads).


91 / A-

COST/VALUE

Retail Price: The SkyCaddie LINX golf GPS watch retails for $224.95, which is right at the average among golf watches.

Fees for Access to Course Database: The LINX only comes with the “Go Play” package, which provides distances to the front, center and back of the green. For $19.95/year (or $49.95 for three years), you can upgrade to the “Par” package, which adds synching to SkyGolf 360. To really exploit the capabilities of the watch, however, you have to fork out $49.95/year (or $129.95 for three years) for the “Pro” package, which, in addition to the “Par” enhancements, also adds IntelliGreen (shapes of the actual green) and distances to hazards, layup points, et al.

Three-Year Total Cost of Ownership: Including the fees for access to the full richness of the course database, the three-year total cost for the SkyCaddie LINX rises to $354.90 (based on purchase of the 3-year Pro Plan). This moves the SkyCaddie LINX up into the stratosphere of golf GPS watches, within spitting distance of the $399.99 Garmin S6 watch.

Value: There are a number of valuable features on the LINX, and the addition of all of the targets in SkyCaddie’s course mapping database makes it much more useful. The yearly subscription fee still irritates us, but loyal SkyCaddie users probably won’t blink about it.


9 Responses

  1. Purchssed the LINX and returned because the battery only lasts about 3-4 hrs. Received a replacement and the battery is just marginally better, but now the holes don’t auto-advance. Chat support isn’t much help as everything they tell me to do I already did when I set it up. The watch is nice to look at, but that’s about it.

  2. I thank you for your comment. I was just going to buy one but I looked everywhere to see the battery lasting time and I could not get it, it seems to be a secret.
    I will be looking for something that will last at least 8 hours.
    I appreciate.

  3. I had to exchange my Linx watch 3 times before I was somewhat satisfied with the battery strength. If you want a watch to last more than 4 hrs this isn’t it. Customer service has been good and the watch looks great. I did get the Pro pkg, but it really isn’t worth it. Bottom line this is just like most other GPS watches, nothing special.

  4. I have owned more than 5 of these watches. They all failed after 7 or 8 months or less. In each case I was advised that the warranty is only 6 months but I could buy a refurbished watch for $99. Sucker that I am I went for the offer. Unfortunatley all of these watches failed in 7 or 8 months as well. Don’t waste your time and money on this product. The company does not stand behind it.

  5. The below comments are correct- poor battery life limits usage to one round and that assumes you play in <4 hours. The chat support feature on their website is virtually non-existent as a chat box pops up but is never connected to anyone on the other end.

  6. Purchased my Linx in August 2015 (today is 10/18/16). Used during approximately 40 rounds (with plenty of intermittent issues of poor performance); & 2 rounds ago it stopped being able to “Finding Nearby Courses.” Chat tech support told me yesterday, to download new “map packs,” which did nothing to solve the problem. Then, rather quickly that chat rep texted: “I can offer you Open box Linx device for $119.95.” I was surprised that he offered No further diagnosis, & went right to the assumption that this watch has failed, could not be repaired, & that now it’s time for the customer to go spend another 50% to get a different used “replacement” product. SkyCaddie just doesn’t stand behind its product (6 month warranty, not much use if you buy at the end of a New England golf season). My take is they don’t want me as a customer! Spread the word, please, to stay away from this product & this company!!

  7. My wife bought me this watch for my birthday a year ago. Worked great, nice features. Suddenly, it stopped holding a charge for more than 8 – 9 holes. No doubt sky caddie bought cheap batteries, probably from China. Anyway, after calling sky caddie, they essentially said, too bad, but we’ll sell you a reconditioned one for $119. Told them what to do with their watch. Bought a Garmin. More features, better looking, don’t hit you up for more money for “advanced features”. Will never deal with sky caddie again.

  8. Had two(2) SkyCaddie Linx watches and after about 4 months of use, the Linx watch would NOT get me through a full 18 holes of golf. At about the 14 holes the LInx watch would STOP because the battery was DEAD. Sky Caddie did take back the 1st watch (after a conversation) and gave me a 2nd Linx. Now that the 2nd Linx is NOT working properly and with the same problem (poor battery), Sky Caddies wants $99.00 for a 3rd Linx. My thoughts to Sky Caddie … FORGET IT! You got be twice, but not a 3rd Linx for me. The battery charge for golf is very bad. The basic Watch function / battery life is about 4 to 5 months per battery charge. I did NOT buy the Linx to be a WATCH! I would NOT recommend the SKY CADDIE LINX WATCH.

  9. I bought one of these because my 10 year old or so Garmin’s band broke but the Garmin still works fine. So back to the Linx. After about 6 months the watch battery would barely make it through a round of golf (under 4 hours). Then by 10 months it would quit after about 15 holes. I contacted SkyGolf through its website and was told to reset and clean contacts. Then when that did not work I called and was told SkyGolf has no batteries and no more of this watch but the CSR with whom I talked promised someone would call me back that same day to tell me how they would deal with the problem. Never heard from them. Today it quit after about 2.5 hours on the course and I did not turn it on until I was on the first tee box. I chatted again an was given the same line of clean the contacts. After pressing I was told the warranty was 180 days and too bad – to sad toss it in the trash (well I am interpreting a bit but that was the essence of the chat). You would have to be crazy to buy one of SkyGolf’s products if the faith it has in the product is 180 days. If you just want to toss your cash in the toilet you can do so and avoid the lack of customer service you would get at SkyGolf when its products crap out.

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