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We tested the Blue Tees Rainmaker · PlayBetter's Golf Tech Weekly

• PlayBetter: Mark and Daniel with you once again, and today we're discussing the most talked-about and most controversial product in Golf Tech right now, the Blue Tees Rainmaker. We're getting into the good and the bad, all of it based on our own first-hand experience. Stick around, this is Golf Tech Weekly, presented by Playbetter. Daniel, all right, this is a big one. I think this is one that ⁓ a lot of viewers and listeners have been anticipating. people are starting to receive their Blue Tease Rainmaker launch monitors, and the results, just like our testing indicated, are a bit mixed. let's set the table here. ⁓ Daniel, give us ⁓ give us a little taste of what the Rainmaker is, why it's been so anticipated, and and maybe a tiny taste of ⁓ Some of the issues we've hit once we got hands on. Yeah, thanks, Mark. ⁓ so yeah, the Blue Tease Rainmaker. ⁓ I've actually got one here with me. ⁓ it's very portable ⁓ launch monitor. It's a radar powered device. ⁓ as we touched on a few episodes ago under the thousand dollar mark, ⁓ at five hundred and ninety-nine dollars with a built-in display. Capability of doing golf simulation, it it really kind of has a lot of features that consumers have been wanting out of launch monitors. ⁓ 20 data parameters or a little over 20 data parameters that come with it, the ability to store shots on the device so you don't have to have a phone or tablet with you during use. You can, you know, transfer it to there later and you know kind of review your sessions. So, you know, having this All of these built in, it has a remote that comes with it so you can control it from from like your teeing area or your range stall area without having to bend over and mess with things. They they really did think a lot about the wants and needs of consumers with this product and they kind of packed it all into one device. So I think like you were, Mark, when when we first saw it at the PGA show, we were kind of like, okay, this this really could be something here. ⁓ and paired with the ecosystem and the integrations that they have with the rangefinders and everything, all around it it really has some amazing potential. ⁓ especially when we're talking about five hundred and ninety-nine dollars, all of a sudden it's it's really affordable and and packs a lot of ammo into its arsenal. you know, we have both tested it. ⁓ I've had it out as recently even as of this morning, ⁓ to this recording, just testing it on course and kind of putting it through its paces. overall I think it's very positive. ⁓ you know, I don't want to sit here and tear it all apart. I think overall it's been very positive. ⁓ I think we're early enough in the launch where we can be critical, ⁓ but still be ⁓ hopeful at the same time that some of this stuff will be ironed out. Like I think we know it will. Yeah. ⁓ but right away, I mean it's functional, it is mostly accurate. ⁓ but there's just a few things I think we'd both like to see get tidied up ⁓ as it matures in the market, wouldn't you say? I would definitely agree with that. I would say the imperfections are real and we're going to get into some of those. ⁓ but ⁓ just as you're saying, Daniel, let's not lose sight of the positives. I think it's somewhat easy to do so because let's face it, ⁓ at the moment, ⁓ this is a product that is suffering some some fairly poor momentum when it comes to ⁓ kind of reaction on the internet. ⁓ as I see it, Just as you were saying, there's so many reasons that it was so anticipated and people were so excited about it. and then I think there is a kind of a consensus feeling of being underwhelmed or even in some cases disappointed. ⁓ I think a lot of those reactions are very, very fair, and I think Blue Tease has some issues that they clearly need to address. And I think some of those issues ⁓ maybe need a little bit of context or a little bit of explaining. ⁓ and potentially are somewhat unfair. And so that's what we're gonna try to do today. We're gonna try to unpack all of this. but just as you say, Daniel, there's still a lot to like here. ⁓ we're talking in a $600 device with a built-in 4.3-inch ⁓ screen, 21 data metrics. ⁓ it is the cheapest way into a connected ecosystem, that meaning that if you have a Blue Tease range rangefinder or speaker. You have the option to pair your launch monitor data with your rangefinder or speaker and get personalized club recommendations based on your bag mapping that you do with the Rainmaker. And ⁓ as we'll get into, I think there's actually still a very compelling case currently for somebody that's in that use case ⁓ to continue to be interested and excited about the the Rainmaker. ⁓ It's got GS Pro compatibility. The build quality on this is ⁓ I think both of us agree ⁓ very strong for the price point. ⁓ the setup, Daniel, talk about the setup. I found it to be ⁓ very simple, ⁓ very straightforward. ⁓ your experience with that. Yeah, shockingly fast. ⁓ you know, I kinda expected it to be a little more cumbersome or a little bit more ⁓ you know, picky maybe with the way that it was set up. But honestly, I mean as you can see with the design, the handle literally folds. To a position, if you're on incorrect turf, you you can finesse that, you know, to where you want it to a certain point. ⁓ and it tells you right on screen if you're not level, whether it's with the ⁓ with the tilt and roll or with the tilt angle. so it's it's honestly it's very simple to set up. Honestly, you push the power button and within I'd say 10 to 15 seconds it's it's on. And the one thing you just have to remember, which I took a while to realize, it's not a touch screen. ⁓ you do have to use the remote to navigate some things on board. but it's as fast as picking what type of session you want to do, whether that's a practice session, speed training, or some target practice. And you pick your club and you're kinda off and running. So I mean it's honestly less than a couple, you know, maybe thirty seconds to a minute and you're you can be set up and running. ⁓ it does sit five feet behind you, so that's a little bit different and probably an advantage versus other radar products in the field. Most of them require a little bit more setback distance. So if you are going to use it indoors or you know, set it up for a golf sim, there's less required space now with this device compared to others. Yep. ⁓ which I think is a positive. But overall I think the setup is is fairly simple. ⁓ again, I usually some of these things it takes a little bit of time to align them, ⁓ to make sure you got it right. But this one was pretty quick. I I was pretty impressed with the setup process and experience. Yeah, and you can use it indoors and outdoors. ⁓ we'll get into some of the challenges that we encountered in indoor testing. But as for outdoors, ⁓ not only can you use it ⁓ off of hitting mats, but off of real turf as well. In in my experience, ⁓ both capture rate and accuracy ⁓ to an extent and mostly ⁓ very positive, accuracy off of natural turf also right there. You're Your experience with that as well? Yeah. And ⁓ you know, we tested both, obviously. I mean, I've ⁓ our drive in range here locally is all hitting mats and we took it on course and tested it. So we were able to test with both natural turf and and artificial turf and ⁓ overall capture it was pretty solid. ⁓ had a few points where it didn't capture, but ⁓ you know, that could have been me not having it perfectly level or set up correctly too. You know, when you're on course it's sometimes you're just going through things quickly. So ⁓ I found it very good. ⁓ you know, overall, pretty solid. I mean, yeah, you and me both know when these products launch, there's typically a little bit of of friction out of the gate, but overall capture rate was pretty solid. Yeah, yeah. All right. So that all to say that there's still quite a lot to be excited about. Another point to to dive into ⁓ regarding positives or potential positives, Daniel. ⁓ You've seen a lot of products roll out over the years, including a lot of these affordable launch monitors. ⁓ and sometimes when they arrive to market, ⁓ they're not the same product that we have, you know, a year or two years or even six months down the road. Can you can you kind of speak to that and maybe talk about how this isn't necessarily a fully baked cake yet, which we'll get into ⁓ some of the pro some of the clear indications that it is not, but maybe some hope for things to continue to evolve or mature with the product. Yeah, I think those of us that have been in the industry long enough, I think we realize and this this honestly in my opinion, it really it really ⁓ appears to be prevalent with ⁓ with radar products. And there is a reason why they are very sensitive to what the way you set them up and that you set them up properly. And that's because a lot of things can interfere with the radar signals, can cause the data can be inaccurate, it can cause inconsistency of capture rate. ⁓ so that's why a lot of these companies they they emphasize making sure you have things set up properly. But in my experience, ⁓ a lot of the manufacturing companies do tend to have a little bit of struggle out of the gate, and that's just because they're not in their isolated testing environment. And we've we've talked about this even before ⁓ when we were talked about our PGA show. ⁓ products that we saw and how excited we were, but at the same time we wanted to see them outside of their isolated environments and and being used in the real world per se. ⁓ and that's typically what these manufacturers are looking for. They want to get them out there. They want to hear the feedback and then they can put their engineering teams to work so they can, you know, fix those problems. We saw it with the Garmin R ten, you know, when that product was launched, I remember testing it and thinking, okay, this is a cool toy, you know, it's not gonna be, you know, for serious golfers. And then over time, ⁓ pretty quickly even they they fixed a lot of the issues and now it's a really good product and really reliable product. I would expect the same thing here with the Blue Tease Rainmaker, and I hope I guess not not not not say to put pressure on the Blue Tease team, but ⁓ I do hope that they are able to remedy some of the issues we've seen, ⁓ or some of the inconsistencies maybe instead of issues. ⁓ and I think they're getting that feedback and there there will be updates and it will get better. We have to remember This is their first launch monitor. So they're still learning every step of the way too. Exactly right. All fair points. ⁓ and I think very realistic to expect ⁓ some improvements. And I I dare say that they're going to have to make some improvements because as it stands right now, ⁓ not only are they in a very competitive space with a lot of competing options, which we're gonna get to some of the comparisons with the competition, ⁓ but right now they're facing kind of a ⁓ a wave of negative momentum that ⁓ I think they're going to have to address, ⁓ at least to appease the ⁓ the more discerning or harder core user. ⁓ surely there's some casual users out there that are are gonna kind of buy sight and seeing or without a lot of research, but those users that are going to put in the research are going to encounter some ⁓ some red flags. ⁓ so let's talk about some of those. ⁓ just as Daniel said, we've used this now indoors on the driving range, off of natural turf, off of hitting mats, ⁓ even on the actual golf course, ⁓ we've hit shots throughout the bag from driver down to the wedges. Should note that this is a device that does not read putting. Not uncommon at all for a ⁓ a radar in this in this class, ⁓ but no putting with the Rainmaker. But wedges all the way up to driver, ⁓ we've hit whole bunch of shots in a whole bunch of different scenarios and we've got feedback. ⁓ Thoughts to share. ⁓ I have to say, just off the top, ⁓ this felt like a bit of a rushed release. ⁓ I know that Blue Tease had promised a Father's Day release ⁓ at the PGA show, and it seems to me that they were hellbent on kind of making that deadline. And ⁓ you know, also we don't know, but ⁓ surely there's a a massive investment that is has happened that they're anxious to start. ⁓ recouping some some money and ⁓ get things flowing in the in the right direction ⁓ from a cash flow perspective. So there's those pressures that that may have gone into all of this. But all that to say when I got the first copy ⁓ to review the product, ⁓ the product was already shipping to consumers at that point, which is ⁓ a bit unorthodox. Typically ⁓ a product would be there'd be some period of time where reviewers would be testing and and ⁓ even sharing feedback, ⁓ publishing their their reports, and and the scramble would begin from there. Then the product starts shipping to the consumer. That allows for kind of a more of a of a marketing on ramp and and and all of the kind of cascading effects. In this case, it it all felt very, very rushed. ⁓ the product showed up. Initially I got the product, there was no app. This is a a product that does have the built-in screen, so you can get data right on the device itself, but to ⁓ to do any of the bag mapping, to store any of your your data in ⁓ compare sessions, to get the virtual driving range, ⁓ to get the target practice, the speed the speed training. Actually you can do that on the device itself, but to store any of that stuff, to review any of that stuff, you need the app. There was none. There was no there was no app. I mean the the product literally shipped with a dead QR code. Meanwhile, this is already going out to consumers. So so that was a bit shocking right off the bat. There was a bit of a red flag. ⁓ within a couple of days, they did launch a ⁓ tablet only app. ⁓ they then came back to me saying the phone app will not be available until July. Again, a bit of a head scratcher ⁓ considering that I think that is the app that people at a driving range are most likely going to be depending on. So Here again, we have the product releasing initially with no app at all, finally with an app, but ⁓ but limited to only a tablet. ⁓ All felt a bit haphazard. And and and this is before we even get into kind of any of the ⁓ the critiques that we're about to point out. I just wanted to say that from the start, again, try to be fair, this was their first ever launch monitor release. It is a very good company. They are very cool people. We're not here to pile on. This isn't a hit piece. ⁓ we want to be tolerant. We want to be patient. But I gotta say, it was a rushed release, man. It just was. Yeah, a hundred percent. And ⁓ honestly, like ⁓ from my understanding, like, yeah, they were always targeting Father's Day and then they pushed it out even earlier than that. So You know, it's like we could have even given ourselves that Father's Day timeline and we we could have had the app and we could have had some internal testing and you know, typically we like to try to be aligned with with our partners like that so that way we can ⁓ we can kinda promote it together and kinda announce it together type of thing. ⁓ so yeah, it d it definitely feels rushed. I'm I'm in a little bit of a limited testing scenario 'cause I don't have a tablet. So ⁓ I am just using the onboard screen for testing, which works great. I can see the data after every shot, but I can't go back and review anything. And obviously the in-depth analysis, which I'd like to see, isn't currently available. So yeah, I'm right there with you. It's just, it's, it's leaving a little bit to be desired. Yeah. And another part ⁓ in that same conversation of ⁓ it being a bit rushed. So ⁓ we went to Blue Tease with a lot of questions when we when we initially got the device, we started to notice ⁓ some of these discrepancies, some of these issues, and we went back to them saying, Hey, what's up? ⁓ one of them was ⁓ at launch no RCT ball integration. Now they they are in testing with Titalist and that is supposedly an imminent immigration integration that is ⁓ coming very, very soon. ⁓ but this is really the root cause of most of the issues we encountered ⁓ and to roll this thing out. without that being in place and to claim it as a indoor outdoor unit, ⁓ it was like they were begging for an internet beating. ⁓ in and they're getting it. ⁓ so okay, so let's let's talk about some of the stuff that we found. ⁓ again, the app issue ⁓ continues to be a bit of a of a head scratcher, ⁓ a little bit of a stumbling block. The no RCT ball situation, that is really ⁓ showing itself ⁓ with serious indoor ⁓ accuracy issues, most specifically with spin. ⁓ to be very fair, any radar unit without marked balls is going to have an i ⁓ have a tough time or is not going to be able to give you accurate indoor spin rates. But Daniel talk about what you were seeing and then the down the line effects that that has ⁓ for indoor use. Yeah, so for for full transparency here, I I tested it right alongside a pro T V X ⁓ on an indoor isolated environment. And ⁓ you know, in my experience, Pro T V X is is very good ⁓ as far as measurement and consistency here. So I set up the blue tees while I was playing just a a round of golf in our in our simulator league and honestly like the spin rate was was very, very poor. ⁓ Indoors. And we're talking like like half spins a lot, like hitting seven, eight, nine irons and seeing like three, four, five thousand RPMs of spin, which is very, very low. Now you might say, ⁓ you know, whatever, you know, it's not that big of a deal. Well, it is it's a huge deal because spin affects carry distance, it affects apex height, it affects the amount of curvature that you're seeing on the golf ball. it it affects so many different it it basically it affects the trajectory and distance overall. And that's a huge thing when you're trying to practice and hit shots, especially wedges. You're trying to flight different wedges and things. And it's just hard to get that full analysis ⁓ without that consistency of accuracy. Now at times it was dead on, but it there were times where it was very, very far off. And that's where I think we with our experience we know that R C T ball in integration is going to help tremendously. I actually had some metallic stickers that I use with other radar devices on hand and I put those on a golf ball and hit those a few times and that didn't help the consistency at all. ⁓ which tells me their firmware isn't trained to look for those things, which is fine. They don't have that anywhere in their literature to use that. That was just a simple test I did. ⁓ but you definitely again left left some ⁓ some desire there for it to be more more consistent ⁓ as far as spin rate ⁓ indoors. Outdoors on the golf course, I found it to be pretty solid, but we're dealing with a lot more space to track the golf ball with radars. That should be the case. So ⁓ I really only saw it indoors, just for full transparency here. Yeah, well, that was my testing as well. And and by the way, you can read ⁓ the full in-depth review that we did at playbetter dot com where we ⁓ tried this product out. ⁓ in fact, I think we may have been the first on the internet to publish. ⁓ some of these ⁓ issues that we're that we're noting here. ⁓ we are not the last. There are plenty of people that are are getting on board ⁓ now, but I should say we have not edited a single word of that review since it was published. So ⁓ please check it out and and see what you think. yes, ⁓ when you're talking about indoor ⁓ in all of those down the line effects, you know it's a it's a real issue when we talk about ⁓ a product that is intended to be available to use indoors. They're even talking about having their own native SIM software ⁓ coming by the end of the year. ⁓ GS Pro integration, E6 integration are all very positive parts of the story. But who would want to use it if you can't depend on on the ball flight? I mean, you're not going to be able to to ⁓ see an an accurate representation of what your shot did indoors. and so it's ⁓ at the moment, I would say limited to outdoor use, frankly. now back to the positive side of things. I will say the build quality of this product, including the weather rating, is strong. It's a nicely built, legitimately solid product. For $600, you feel like you're holding something that's every bit of six hundred dollars, if not more than six hundred dollars. ⁓ I even happened to suffer a bit of a downpour as I was in a range session and I didn't leave it soaking for any longer than I had to, but no issues at all with it ⁓ getting a little dousing there. So ⁓ those things were good. Now here's the big one that I know shocked both of us the first time we used it. ⁓ first shot I hit, I looked back at the at the Rainmaker waiting for the data and assumed that I had a no read. One for one I thought no read right off the bat. Then some six seconds later, it honestly felt like about an hour hour later, ⁓ the data appeared. ⁓ so I hit another shot and noticed the same thing and and another and noticed the same thing. I mean, Daniel, you can you can shotgun a beer in the time that that it takes for the data to show up after you after you hit a shot. Not that I'm advising that, but you you got a lot of time on your hands. it is the longest ⁓ latency or shot to show delay I've experienced, and I've tested now ⁓ well over twenty launch monitors. that's a problem. I gotta I gotta call it like it is. What was your experience? What was your reaction? Yeah, I ⁓ you know, you had actually tested it before me and you you kinda gave me a little heads up. but it it was shockingly long. you know, I'm I'm pretty ⁓ I kind of rapid fire at the driving range. So when I hit balls, ⁓ and and again, we have a short driving range here that's pretty netted. So We only see about sixty yards of ball flight. And when I use launch monitors, I'm typically looking straight to my screen or straight to the device and I'm used to seeing the info. And a lot of the times I just thought that it missed the shot. Yeah. And a couple of times I even pulled out the remote and went to go check the settings, check the levelness, and then the data just like appeared. And then you kinda have to train yourself like ⁓ holy cow. Okay. Yeah. It's just it takes a while for it to to run its algorithm or or fully measure things, which if you've used radar products in the past, you do know that some products wait for the ball to land to report some of the data, but I don't think that's what's happening here. I think that it's just taking a while to gain the metrics it does measure and run its calculations. it is definitely the longest shot delay that's out there. ⁓ However, I will say this, if you've never used a launch monitor before, you may not think it's as bad as we're probably telling you it is. It's a great I think I think one thing we have to put out there is that we use launch monitors that have zero second shot delays. So it's gonna probably feel to us like it's really long, even though it is long. I mean it's six seconds. But for anybody who's never bought one, this may not be a deal breaker for you because you might be someone who really takes their time on the range, you're deliberate and and you you just may not even notice it. So I I think it's really noticeable for us, but it may not be a huge glaring issue for every golfer out there. Absolutely very, very valid point. ⁓ and as I said in in in my review, I don't think that alone is reason enough not to buy the product. And just like you said, Daniel, first of all, if you get used to it, you get used to it. Second of all, if you have nothing to compare it to, you may not even realize that you're you're you know, that that's successive. ⁓ The bottom line is really what we want is when the data does show up for it to be good. ⁓ our our kind of a big complaint ⁓ right now is that indoors there are some question marks to that data. ⁓ and that is really probably the bigger issue here rather than the shot to show delay. ⁓ but it is something to note. ⁓ another one, ⁓ in my experience in testing ⁓ outdoors off of natural turf, ⁓ I had Mostly no reads when it came to ⁓ shots under say fifty yards. ⁓ so I I did a lot of testing with ⁓ various kinds of high f high lofted shots, ⁓ kind of flop shots or just kind of try to throw it straight up in the air, ⁓ or even just ⁓ somewhat lower flighted but short shots, little touch shots, and did not get very good results at all, got mostly no reads. Can you talk about that kind of limitation as it as it pertains to ⁓ radars like this device. Yeah, so and this is this is honestly a a very common thing ⁓ with radar products, believe it or not. And it it dates back to when radars were first started being used. and the problem is is that when radars, when they start dealing with ⁓ especially off of natural grass, ⁓ off of hitting mats, it's it's usually less common. But off of hitting or off of natural turf, the issue that that happens is that there's a lot of debris flying through the air typically on these type of shots. So a lot of extra grass, a lot of lot of just things that can confuse the radar signal. That's why devices like Flightscope Mevo Gen two, Rap Soto, MLM two Pro, they're gonna excel a little bit more in comparison because they're using cameras on board to help assist them and say, okay. Here's the golf ball, here's the golf club in the midst of all of these different things flying through the ri air. And it allows it to say, okay, measure this, measure this, ignore the rest. ⁓ and you can clearly see that with the blue tease, that it doesn't have that type of technology built in. And a lot of times when these devices have that confusion, they don't report data at all, or if they do, it's likely to be inconsistent. So that that's probably why we're seeing you know, that inconsistent capture rate and even when it does capture probably that aren't the most accurate is these radar devices that don't have assistance by cameras, they they tend to struggle, especially with wedges and and like we kinda talked about before, Mark, this was a common thing with track man. I mean, this was a twenty five thousand dollar device that had these issues. ⁓ Before the Flightscope X three, Flightscope previous products, they had struggles with this type of thing. This is a very common thing, and these products were way more expensive. So they have alleviated, they have fixed, they have advanced, they've they've found ways to make it more accurate and and use onboard pieces of the technology. That may be a limitation with Blue Tees moving forward because there is no onboard camera that they can tap into and and use to assist them here. Yep. Yeah, ⁓ and when we get into to that and and also no putting again f fair and common ⁓ at this price point or with radar in general, just as Daniel said, without the camera integration. ⁓ but as we you know it's it's it's good to disclose this stuff because when somebody wants to use this device for a simulator setup, ⁓ those are limitations, you know, those are those are potentially going to prevent you from having ⁓ the realistic experience that you're hoping for, ⁓ or to finish a hole or or play a round of golf. ⁓ you know, even when you get into autoput, that's one thing. and you know, a lot of people, even if they can putt with a simulator, prefer not to for good reasons. but when it comes to, you know, some of the shorter shots, well how are we supposed to get them all on the green? You know, ⁓ so you know, Daniel's hitting greens from the From the fairway and its approach shots. ⁓ I am not. So I I need this, I need this ⁓ these chip shots to read. Anyways, ⁓ that is ⁓ that is not something that's limited only to the rainmaker, just as we said. That is one of those things that's ⁓ important to disclose, but also important to to contextualize and to realize that that's not something that's ⁓ a short-sightedness of only the rainmaker. Let's talk about kind of some of the comparisons with some of the other products that are out there. ⁓ we just did last week our ⁓ our favorite launch monitors under a thousand dollars. ⁓ we had the Rainmaker as part of that group because of all the things we talked about kind of at the outset here. There's still a very good news story to tell, and it's still one that we expect to continue to evolve and get even better. ⁓ but just to kind of summarize. How the Rainmaker is positioned in the market. It's a $600 launch monitor. It gives you 21 data metrics, gives you a built-in screen. It gives you GS Pro integration. it's got a thousand ⁓ shot onboard storage. ⁓ probably most notably, it allows for a connected ecosystem experience, as we talked about, meaning you can interface with your rangefinder or speaker to get ⁓ Club recommendations out on the golf course. Now, the point is that there is no under $1,000 launch monitor that does all of those things. There are some launch monitors that do one or two of those things that I just named. ⁓ and most of them do ⁓ either none of those things or or a couple of them. There's none of these launch monitors that do all of what the Blue Tees ⁓ Rainmaker promises to do. And that is why there's so much hype. And that's also why, you know, in some cases there's so much letdown ⁓ or so much ⁓ interest at least in this product, ⁓ good or bad. So let's kind of walk through some of the competing options. ⁓ Daniel hit me with ⁓ just kind of thoughts or comments on on how do you see this stacking up to something like the the Garmin R10, kind of the OG in this space? Yeah, ⁓ I think it's it's it's close. It has the potential to to definitely be. beat the R ten, I think, ⁓ overall. ⁓ just for the fact that it has the built in screen. ⁓ it does have ⁓ some pretty cool ecosystem capabilities here with the rangefinders. I do think the the biggest thing though is is the capability with the onboard screen and ⁓ hopefully that eventually with the with with advances it becomes more accurate than the Garmin R ten because it is more expensive. ⁓ Even though, know, typically it was as we've seen, these products get newer, they get cheaper. Well, now we're still above that R ten price. and we still are paying a small subscription. It isn't huge, but it is a small subscription. overall, I think, like I said, I think it can eventually, you know, beat out the R ten in a direct head-to-head comparison. But right now, the accuracy and consistency of R ten and the value of R ten is tough to beat. ⁓ I think they're neck and neck right now. I'd still probably give the edge to the R ten just because it's matured and it's fixed a lot of the glaring issues that they had with it. ⁓ but the potential is there. ⁓ they they just need to tidy up the things we've talked about for as far as the blue teas goes. Yeah. Another kind of note on the on on Garmin is of course with the R ten, if you do pay the the Garmin membership, ⁓ you get ⁓ home tea hero. So that's that's you know, more than what forty three thousand ⁓ virtual golf courses. ⁓ not necessarily the graphic fidelity of something like GS Pro or FSX Play or or the ⁓ the gameplay software from Unicore or shot or ⁓ Skytrack or some of those other options, but ⁓ nonetheless, ⁓ you get that that native sim software. So that's a component that we're still waiting on from Blue Tease. ⁓ ⁓ they they have said that they're going to have their own native SIM software coming ⁓ by the end of the year. We don't really know what that's going to look like and we don't know what the pricing for that is going to look like. ⁓ and so that will be kind of one remaining piece to to compare to the R ten. another one, similarly, the RapSoto MLM two pro also has its own native sim software, RapSoto Courses. ⁓ It also has ⁓ native GS Pro integration, just like the Blue Tees does. ⁓ talk about the MLM two pro and how you see it positioned against something like the Rainmaker. Yeah. MLM two pro, quite frankly, is a workhorse. ⁓ it it really is an impressive product. The amount of data you get, ⁓ they do have options. Obviously, their subscription is quite a bit higher than than the rest of them in this class. ⁓ But they have a lifetime subscription option too, where you can just pay once for $599 and kind of be done with it. Plus, right now, as of this recording, it's at a really good price for the MLM two pro. I believe five ninety nine ⁓ for the entry price. Then you can pay another five ninety nine for the lifetime, and you've got a a pretty kick-ass golf launch monitor for for no more annual fees. ⁓ tons of golf courses. You can record swing videos from the device itself. ⁓ Man, the amount of data, ev just everything that it packs into. It's really easy to set up and use. ⁓ it's even portable. I mean, I I honestly we haven't talked about this too much. I do think the Blue Tease is probably the most portable in this class because of the screen and the way they've designed it. MLM Two Pro is very portable as well, but you do have to have a a phone tablet connected to it to run the software. I really do love the MLM Two Pro. It's just consistently ⁓ really good for all levels of golfers. If you want the most accurate and measured metrics, yes, you do have to use the RPT golf balls, but they do make them in quite a few premium golf ball options that if you want to take it on the golf course, you can use it for reliable data on the golf course too. So I think all around MLM Two Pro just checks so many boxes. I do think that that blue tea still does have some potential there, but they do have a lot of groundwork to make up. When you compare these two products. Yeah. ⁓ we were kind of talking earlier. I think the MLM two pro comes out of this kind of shining, looking, ⁓ y you know, almost capitalizing on on some of the initial shortcomings of the of the Rainmaker. ⁓ but it is another device to point out that there's a device that continuously has improved ⁓ since it it rolled out. ⁓ not to say that it was ⁓ a a bad device when it launched. It wasn't. It was a great device right from the start, but it has gotten considerably better. They've done a number of different improvements, ⁓ even added a couple of ⁓ directly measured metrics, all without raising the price, or just as you said, now backing up and lowering that price a little bit. has the that built-in camera with the built-in ⁓ swing down the line swing video you get a ⁓ a slow motion ⁓ impact video as well ⁓ but you don't have a built-in screen just as you said you have to interface with the phone ⁓ when you're out on the range. ⁓ and so ⁓ you know, there's trade offs. There's trade-offs. ⁓ but overall, and for the serious player, man, the MLM two pro in that sub thousand dollar class is is looking more and more like a shining star. ⁓ what about something like the Flightscope Mevo Gen 2? Is it fair to compare the Rainmaker to something like that? ⁓ and if so, what do you see as Comparable and what do you see as ⁓ maybe apples and oranges? Yeah, I think it is still fair to compare them. ⁓ they're close enough in price. ⁓ you know, I will say that the the Mevo Gen two, if you compare them directly to each other, the the Gen two is gonna come out looking flawless. ⁓ overall usability, accuracy, consistency, it it does kind of blow the blue teas out of the water right now. ⁓ And honestly, I feel like they should. They've been making radar products for a very long time. They have a lot of of really experienced engineers on their team that that have built their products and why they've been so successful with Mevo Plus into now Mevo Gen two. ⁓ you know, honestly, I think that it is still comparable, but when you look at how much you have to get into with Face Impact and Pro Package and everything to fully load that unit up, it it is almost ⁓ it is over triple the price of this Blue Tease device. So I think that's again why we've talked about why it's so appealing for this Blue Tease product because of the data that's there. I mean there's Club Path data there. There is quite a few club metrics without having to put any club stickers on. ⁓ we just need to dial in the accuracy, maybe reduce that shot latency, and then it really can compete with the with even some of these products over a thousand dollars in my opinion. Yeah. Great point. ⁓ One product that I think is probably the most ⁓ the easiest to compare directly to, and I tried to do this in in the written review, is the Swing Caddy SC4 Pro. ⁓ these are very, very similar devices. ⁓ the build quality, the form factor of them, ⁓ the the built-in screen. ⁓ the SC4 Pro before the Rainmaker came along was the only ⁓ under a thousand dollar ⁓ simulator compatible ru ⁓ launch monitor that had that built-in display in. So that was kind of its calling card. And the this was the product that in my mind I saw as the most threatened by the Rainmaker's arrival. Same price point. ⁓ Now the SwingCaddy SC4 Pro comes with some ⁓ E6 Connect courses right out right out of the box. ⁓ but it is E6 Connect only. ⁓ so you don't have that GS Pro ⁓ integration opportunity that the Rainmaker provides. ⁓ you don't have that same onboard shot storage. You don't have the connected ecosystem opportunity. ⁓ and so overall the Rainmaker, when working as advertised, gives you more than the SC four pro. ⁓ do you think that's fair, Daniel? Yeah, I I truly think that ⁓ you know, and not to say anything bad about SC four pro. I think it's been a good product, but I do think Blue Tease kind of looked at that and said, Okay, that's a good product, but I can I can maybe one up it or or maybe add something to it that makes it better. both controlled by the remote. I mean, honestly, when you when you kind of peel back the layers and look at it, it's it's kind of shockingly similar how how the design they even look kind of similar to each other. ⁓ so yeah, I agree with you. ⁓ the SC four pro has, like you said, it's matured in the market very well. It's it's hit a perfect little target market. And now I think these two are really gonna compete with each other. Especially for people who who want something that are maybe they're already a Bluetooth customer and they they want to advance their ecosystem, then it's kind of a no brainer when you compare those two products. Yeah. Let's talk about that. Who who should buy this and and and who maybe should hold off? What how how do you read it, Daniel? Yeah, I do think you know, people who go to the driving range a lot, this could be a really good product. I think again if it it might take some shot latency reduction for that to be really, really good for for range rats per se. ⁓ and especially people who are already in the Blue Tease ecosystem, it just makes sense. ⁓ we've talked about that a lot in in previous episodes where people who are Garmin users, you know, it's smart to stay within the ecosystem because you quickly realize how well things work together. ⁓ but I think that's a huge part of this Blue Tease launch monitor is the ecosystem. And I know you had direct experience with this, and maybe you can touch on it a bit here. that part of this launch. ha to my to my knowledge has been almost flawless, which can be a huge hiccup or a huge ⁓ almost annoyance with a lot of other products that have launched. Typically those integrations, those experiences, they have they have some ⁓ some rough patches, but w from your experience it was pretty smooth? Yeah. It's a two app system. And initially that might intimidate you or you think ⁓ these two apps have to talk to each other. I gotta register two apps. ⁓ man, it already sounds like a headache. Very, very seamless. Very simple. ⁓ you're you once you log in with your account credentials to the second of the two apps, ⁓ the two apps, talk to each other seamlessly without you having to do anything. That part of it is just as you said, that seems to have been ironed out ⁓ prior to launch, and I applaud Blue Tease for that. ⁓ they have a very slick model going here and one that is likely to be very successful. ⁓ once again, if you were to come into a launch monitor and you were interested in getting that connected ecosystem experience prior to the Blue Tees, you're looking at ⁓ something like buying a Bushnell Launch Pro ⁓ and a Bushnell Pro X3 Plus, you know, $600 RangeFinder, ⁓ or buying a $7,000 Foresight GC3 and getting the the Rangefinder included in the price. Regardless, you're talking at price points that are far, far, far more. Then the $600 Rainmaker and the $250 Captain Air or $300 Captain Pro. Both, by the way, excellent lasers on their own, in their own right. Both very, very good optics, ⁓ very ⁓ quick flag lock, ⁓ great build quality. ⁓ and so ⁓ I haven't yet tested the connected ecosystem experience with the speaker. ⁓ but I was expect that that would likewise be be a good experience. And so just as you said, Daniel, if you're all in on blue tees, there's reason to be very excited about the Rainmaker, even with some of the issues that we've discussed. outdoors, carry distances in my experience were very, very strong, especially for the price. ⁓ and so when you think in terms of a connected ecosystem and getting those club recommendations in your rangefinder. You're talking about bag mapping, that's having to do with carry distances. So you can still go through a bag mapping session out on the range and get data that you can trust. Not only that, but one of the really cool things about the Rainmaker is that data is dynamically updating. So ⁓ as your swing speed changes and you start hitting the ball further, or as you age or get injured and you start hitting the ball less, ⁓ all of that stuff is changing with you so that you're getting kind of real time information. when you're out on the course and getting the correct club to pull based on the reality of your game. ⁓ so that's a great strong point to to buy into the Rainmaker and to not be scared off by some of the chatter that's out there right now because I think it's easy to look at it and just kind of catch a snapshot and say, ⁓ this product is trash. That's not fair and that's not true. ⁓ there's some issues and I hope hope we've kind of identified them fairly and honestly. ⁓ But ⁓ yes, still plenty of reasons one might be interested in a Blue Teas Rainmaker. But Daniel, is it fair to say that as of now, as of this moment, as of this shooting, ⁓ if you're a strictly an indoor user ⁓ or you're looking to this product for indoor sim golf, ⁓ maybe it's not the best choice at the moment. Yeah, I I actually was gonna make that point next. I'm glad I'm glad you brought it up. Yeah, I think right now it's not. I think once they get RCT ⁓ golf ball integration, it could be. ⁓ I think that's why there's still a little bit of anticipation from both of us. you know, if they can dial in the indoor accuracy, then yeah, it absolutely becomes a a great simulator option. There's plenty of of devices that don't offer the putting and simulation. I mean heck with with G S Pro, believe it or not, you can hook up a webcam and do putting that way. So if someone really wants to get putting, they can still find a way. yeah, I I think if if that comes soon, like they say it's going to, that could change. But as of right now, that's why I think it's it's great for people who want to practice on the range, someone who wants to use it outdoors. Great product for that right now. I have the hope and I do believe there's potential for it to be a good simulation product in the near future. Awesome. Perfectly well said. ⁓ should remind everybody that ⁓ here we are working for playbetter.com. we are not incentivized to to like or not like the Rainmaker. kind of want to like it because it's very cool on the surface and and I like the people. ⁓ but Playbetter sells all this stuff, so ⁓ they sell the competing products as well. So we're just trying to we're just trying to share the information based on our experience, help people ⁓ make an informed decision, ⁓ maybe prevent ⁓ buying a product that they're disappointed in. ⁓ and also to remind people all of the reasons why there's still ⁓ a lot of reason why you may very well want to buy a Rainmaker ⁓ or may want to buy ⁓ one of the alternative options because there's a lot of ⁓ out there. ⁓ Daniel, anything else to add before we ⁓ before we get out of here? Yeah, no, I think we covered everything. One thing I will add on there to your to your last piece was just, you know If you have questions or if you if you just want to know more about our experience and maybe something we might have not covered, give us a call. Ask for our sales team. We have golf experts on staff. We can talk to you about this. We we literally test these things very thoroughly. And as Mark said, we sell every product. So we compare and contrast and and ⁓ we have different skill levels of golfers. So it's not like we just have highly skilled or or not skilled golfers testing these things. It's an all-around testing experience and we collaborate with each other and ⁓ I think that's what makes us unique and puts us ⁓ apart from everybody else. It's not just, you know, the way that that we test it, but also the way that you, the consumer, can cons ⁓ basically get this information too. So give us a call, shoot us an email if you have questions, leave a comment on the video here. ⁓ we're happy to answer any questions you have, and if we don't know, we'll go find out for ya. Very well said. He's one of the experts right there, Daniel Fitzpatrick. ⁓ thank you for that Daniel. ⁓ thanks as always for joining. Thank you everyone out there for watching and listening. And ⁓ please like and subscribe and check us out next week for more Golf Tech Weekly.