By Jay Hubbard
At Ace, we test and review every product we sell. Many customers are thinking about spending $4,000 to $7,000 on a portable launch monitor and are considering the Foresight GC3 and the Uneekor Eye Mini.
Foresight has been a mainstay of the U.S. simulator business for decades. However, a newer player in town, Uneekor, is gaining popularity due to its lower pricing and club path features. We decided to test the Foresight GC3 against the Uneekor Eye Mini launch monitor and looked at some of their key features.
The Foresight GC3 Essentials sells for $6,999 and includes:
- A launch monitor with FSX 2020 and FSX Play.
- Full ball and club data: Launch Angle, Side Angle, Ball Speed, Total Spin, Carry, Side Spin/Spin Axis, Ball Apex, Ball Descent Angle, Ball Offline, Club Head Speed, Smash Factor, Club Path, Angle of Attack, Loft/Lie, Face Angle, Impact Location, and Closure Rate.
- 25 courses.
- Awesome Golf
- No subscription required
The Uneekor Eye Mini starts at $4,500 and with a Pro Package subscription includes:
- View software with Club Optix and club path view
- Refine and 5 courses
- 19 ball and club data points: Ball Speed, Side Spin, Back Spin, Side Angle, Side Total, Launch Angle, Angle of Descent, Flight Time, Spin Axis, Distance to Apex, Apex, Ball Flight Type, Carry Distance, Run, Total Distance, Club Speed, Smash Factor, Attach Angle, and Club Path.
- Third-party connector that allows you to add GSPro, TGC, and other course play software.
- Five user accounts and 100 sessions/practice records
Both launch monitors are also easy to set up. The GC3 is smaller and lighter, weighing 5 pounds, measuring 6” wide x 5” deep and 12’ tall, and includes a touch screen and a 7” by 10” hitting area. The Mini hitting zone is larger in size at 6.5” deep x 6.6” wide x 15.75” tall, and it weighs 7lbs 15 oz. It features a liquid crystal display with push-button controls allowing you to navigate to the menus: Power, Data, Putting, Align, LCD Brightness, and Menu. In addition, each monitor can be controlled and used with a mobile app to gain additional features.
You can use either launch monitor indoors or outdoors, and we’ve found the Mini’s display to be slightly easier to read in brighter sun. The main LCD display for the GC3 features Ball Speed, Launch Angle, Carry, Total Spin, and Spin Axis. The Uneekor’s main screen highlights Carry, Ball Speed, Launch Angle, Smash Factor, Club Speed, and Back Spin. Both units require club stickers to capture club data, but the Eye Mini provides impact video as part of the View software and their Club Optix feature. Battery life for the GC3 is 5-7 hours compared to 5-6 hours on the Mini.
We tested both units by having a 10-handicap golfer hit five shots with a pitching wedge, 7-iron, and driver. Both launch monitors provided realistic carry, ball speed, and launch angles for our golfer’s usual performance.
When testing, we typically see the largest data discrepancy on driver shots, but the pitching wedge had the most significant differences for this test. The GC3 had an average Carry Distance of 112 yards compared to 106 yards on the Eye Mini, for a 6-yard difference. Each unit measured similar spin and launch angles. The GC3did track an average of 2 mph more swing speed on the pitching wedge.
For our test golfer’s 7-iron shots, Foresight showed an average Carry Distance of 167 yards compared to 162 yards on the Mini. The 5-yard difference on the GC3, similar to the pitching wedge shots, is probably attributed to the extra two mph ball speed measured by the GC3, as the spin and launch angles were nearly identical.
Foresight measured an average of 226.8 yards on the driver compared to the Uneekor’s 225.4 for a variation of 1.4 yards. The GC3 showed 1.4 mph more ball speed and .86 fewer degrees of launch angle.
With the shot data being nearly identical, we believe golfers would be happy with the data accuracy from either launch monitor. So, if you are choosing between the two, select the launch monitor with the features that matter most to you.