Arccos vs. Shot Scope: The Head-to-Head Winner

Arccos: $159 - $249 | CHECK AMAZON
Shot Scope X5: $299 | CHECK AMAZON

I’ll compare Arccos and Shot Scope head-to-head in four categories: Statistics & Data, On-Course User Experience, App and Web Experience, and Price. I’ll also give you my overall verdict, which is greater than the sum of all the parts.

First, check out this high-level overview of what you get from both Arccos and Shot Scope.

Shot Scope offers what I consider to be the two most important data points to improve my game. My biggest weakness is tee-to-green performance (yes, I know that’s an extremely broad area that combines multiple facets of the game). 

Using Shot Scope, I can compare how different clubs perform off the tee head-to-head, which includes a strokes-gained comparison. This data is huge in helping me pick the best fairway-finder off the tee when keeping the ball in play trumps distance.

The second data point that I study with Shot Scope but didn’t have with Arccos is a scatter-pattern of all my approach shots. Identifying my tendencies is the first step in hitting more greens. 

Shot Scope Stats & Data Highlights:

• Strokes gained by shot
• Hole history: what score with every club
• Dispersion charts with shots plotted for select distance and date ranges
• Off-the-tee club performance comparison

One of my favorite pieces of data from the Arccos system is a handicap for every specific facet of my game. Rather than working on improving my overall handicap, Arccos makes it easy to digest what facet (driving, approach, short game, putting) needs the most attention. This really helps in focusing practice time and optimizing strategy, especially for people who have limited time to devote to golf (like me).

I was always a bit irked that I couldn’t view my dispersion for distance ranges in Arccos regardless of the club, although you can see your dispersion for individual clubs, which is helpful. 

Arccos Stats & Data Highlights:

• Handicap in four different facets (drive, approach, short, putting) plus overall
• Hole history: what club, where it went

Starting a round with Arccos can be a breeze, or a hassle. Sometimes it would fire up and pair with my Apple Watch in seconds, other times it wouldn’t. 

One huge benefit you get with Arccos that you don’t get with Shot Scope, and the differentiator that gave Arccos the W in the on-course experience category, is the way it doubles as a caddy. Pull out your phone to tap for yardages anywhere on a hole, and see what trouble may be hiding up ahead. 

Arccos also gives actual and plays-like distances, which compute elevation change, weather conditions, and your performance with every club, to give club recommendations for every shot.

When it comes to shot-tracking, Arccos does a pretty good job, I’d give it an 8-out-of-10. There are always going to be shots it misses, and you should always double-check hole locations and add any penalty strokes after your round. For the most part, however, the on-course tracking captures the bulk of your round.

I must say, the club recommendations are very reliable, especially when your target is something other than the green. Tap the screen on your phone to get a yardage to your layup, dogleg, or to carry a hazard, and Arccos not only gives you the distance, but the club that gives you the best chance of success.

There are some frustrations with using Arccos on the course, too. First of all, those sensors are on the bulky side, and they fall out from time to time. I’ve had to replace one or two per year just from them coming loose and falling out on the course. That’s not a huge deal, but at about $15-a-pop, those replacement sensors add to the already top-shelf price of the product.

My other main on-course complaint with Arccos is its dependency on your phone. You must either use your phone or the Arccos Link to track shots, meaning it must stay in your pocket while you play. It also means you can kiss the battery life on your phone and Apple Watch, if you use one (which I highly recommend), goodbye after a 4-5 hour round. Finally, you can’t pair your phone with a Bluetooth speaker and play music while using it with Arccos. 

The Shot Scope X5 came up just short in this category, but there are still a lot of on-course features I like better than Arccos. For starters, you’re not tied to your phone, meaning you can use it for music, or completely disconnect, which I really appreciate.

The tags are sleeker than Arccos sensors, and so far, I haven’t had any come loose or fall out.

The Shot Scope X5 watch tracks your score as you play, and it displays the score you tell it, not the total strokes it counts during your round. That means even if it missed a shot or two, you still have an accurate score on your wrist. 

Speaking of missing a shot or two, the shot-tracking on the X5 is average, but not quite as reliable as Arccos. I’ve noticed a few more missed shots when I go to confirm everything post-round. All in all, it’s not bad and it’s definitely in the ballpark of what I’ve experienced with Arccos.

On every green, the Shot Scope X5 automatically goes into pin collect mode. All you have to do is confirm the number of putts while standing at the flag to set the pin location. This is also where you input your score for that hole.

Using Shot Scope on the course is easier than Arccos, but the lack of club recommendations, plays like distances, and an integrated app to give GPS distances to locations you select on your phone (or even just view the layout of a hole) is a minor bummer.

One additional downside to note with Shot Scope is that, while I’ve never had an issue connecting and getting my round started, it can take up to five minutes for the watch to locate the course and start tracking. You need to start this process by the time you walk from the putting green to the first tee. If you tell the X5 watch to start your round while you’re putting your ball on the tee on the first hole, it’s already too late.

Arccos has a better user experience on mobile than Shot Scope.

Shot Scope has a better user experience on desktop than Arccos. 

Let’s start with the Arccos app. It looks better and is more responsive than the Shot Scope app. It’s clean, easy to navigate, and the most useful information is at the forefront.

From a data perspective, the Shot Scope app is just as functional, even though it’s not quite as clean-looking. Remember, you don’t use the Shot Scope app while you play, you only use the watch. 

The Shot Scope app doesn’t enter the picture until it’s time to sync and sign off on your round, but that’s when the Shot Scope app begins to lose points. It’s not as responsive or as intuitive as I’d like it to be for adding shot locations or switching from one hole to the next while editing a round, but it gets the job done. You can also skip the app entirely and use a computer for this step. 

On desktop (or laptop), Shot Scope has a more robust dashboard, easy-to-set filters, and is easy to navigate to the part of your game you want to study. From there you can explore all your data and edit rounds as needed. 

Price is where Shot Scope really separates itself from Arccos. Both products do pretty much the same thing. Sure, Arccos is better in a couple areas, and Shot Scope is superior in a couple other areas, but those differences are negligible.

Shot Scope, however, is a one-time purchase, with the new X5 watch running $299. Not necessarily cheap, but also not the top end of the GPS golf watch category. Once you have the watch, you’re set. No subscriptions.

I have not had any Shot Scope tags come loose, but I’ve only been using the system for a couple months. It’s fair to assume that over the course of five years, a couple tags will come loose, never to be seen again. Shot Scope sells an entire set of 16 replacement tags for $34.99, or a set of four extra tracking tags for $29.99.

Arccos, on the other hand, gets you coming and going. First, you have to purchase a set of sensors, or the “bundle” which includes the Link. That runs between $159 and $249, and includes a one-year subscription. After that, however, your annual subscription costs $155.88 ($12.99 per month billed annually). If you lose a sensor, a replacement runs between $14-$18.

Here’s a quick five-year cost breakdown of both products.

After using both Arccos and Shot Scope for a significant period of time, I would strongly recommend Shot Scope over Arccos. 

For the record, since I began experimenting with the Shot Scope X5 watch early in 2023, I have canceled my annual subscription to Arccos.

Shot Scope delivers slightly better data and a simpler on-course experience at about one-third of the five-year cost of Arccos. 

Arccos is a great product, but I don’t feel that it necessarily performs any better than Shot Scope, and certainly not better enough to justify the staggering difference in cost.

If you choose to use either product, you’re on your way to gaining PGA Tour-level insights into your golf game that will help you improve faster.