Full Review of Greenfinder vs vCaddy vs SkyCaddy
I just posed a full review in the iTunes store. I repost here for anyone that wants to read it:
I have been waiting for this weekend to test Greenfinder and vCaddy against a SkyCaddy. I am a 10 handicap golfer and require a very accurate GPS rangefinder if I am going to rely on it. After playing yesterday at Lido Golf Club in NY, I can say that this application is not only impressive and accurate, but at $35 it’s a steal compared to a SkyCaddy. Detailed comparisons between GF and VC and conclusions below:
Start-up Time: When you load up Greenfinder for the first time, it is very easy to find your course. You can choose the auto-locate feature or manually type in the course name. A list of matched will be displayed and you download your course so it’s stored on your phone. Finding course on the vCaddy is also straight forward, although you can not type in the name and instead must first search by state, then scroll through the list of courses to find the one you want. This is a few more steps and frankly less functional. Note that vCaddy currently has more courses mapped than Greenfinder although both companies say they are mapping hundreds a week (but both have marked much less than SkyCaddy). Advantage: Greenfinder.
GPS Satellite Lock: With Greenfinder, after finding the course, the GPS locked onto the first hole in about 20 seconds. I tested this a few times by manually locking the phone. In some cases, the GPS locked on in a few seconds in other cases in took about 10 seconds. For most of the round, I left the iPhone on with no auto-lock. For each measurement, the GPS takes between 1-5 seconds to settle to its correct reading. No measurement changed by more than 5 yards from the initial time I got to my ball or to the tee. I consider this good although a SkyCaddy usually locks on within 2 seconds. With vCaddy, the first GPS lock took a little longer at just over 30 seconds. Subsequent tests took between 15-30 seconds after an auto-lock. After I left my iPhone on, subsequent GPS measurements take about 5-10 seconds to settle. I did find that I could have up to an 8-10 yard swing from the first measurement. Advantage: Greenfinder
Accuracy: To me, this is where the Greenfinder excelled. I tested the GF against 12 course markings. It was + or – 1 yard 7/12 times and within 2-3 yds on 4/12. Only one marking was off by more than 5 yards and when I compared it to the SkyCaddy, it too gave me a reading that was +5 yards. I also made 20 comparisons to the SkyCaddy. The GF and SC had the same reading for center of the green 8/20 times, the GF was within 1-3 yards on the SkyCaddy 9/20 times, and the other 3/20 times the GF had a +5 yard difference then the SkyCaddy (these three were always on the tees for some reason and but were never off by more than 8 yards). Overall, this was truly impressive for me and I felt like I could trust the GF by the end of the round. The vCaddy also performed accurately at times but my biggest problem with it was that it was repeatedly off by more than +5 yards and even off by 8-12 yards on occasion. For some, this may be acceptable performance and a nice app to have on the iPhone but for low handicap golfers, this will not suffice as the only measurement tool. Advantage: Greenfinder
Feature Set: Greenfinder is most like a SkyCaddy in that it gives you Front, Center, Back measurements, measurements to hazards, and an ability to mark shots to measure drives. I found that there was some significant difference between the front and back measurements between the GF and the SkyCaddy. While the center measurements were highly accurate, the front and back could range between 0-10 yards. This is likely because SkyCaddy employs over 150 course walkers and mappers that physically go to a course and measure distances. However, I found the GF usually within an acceptable range for these measurements and very helpful in more than one occasion in determining which shot to hit. Measurements to hazards were also fairly accurate and probably differed from the SkyCaddy by 0-7 yards. vCaddy only measures to center of the green and I have already reviewed this above. Again, for the occasional golfer, paying $10 for this application may be helpful (and it certainly is a great value) but for better golfers, I would choose the GF over the vCaddy (for now anyway).
Battery Life: I will tell you right now, if you want to use this like a SkyCaddy and leave it on, you will need a spare battery pack. I did not test the difference in battery life between both applications but I both will slowly drain the battery down likely before the end of your round. I fully charged my iPhone before I left my apartment. I spend an hour on the train, using the iPhone minimally before I arrived at the golf course. I had turned off BT, wi-fi, 3G and turned the brightness down to 25% (approx). During my 6 hour round (yes it was that long), having only auto-locked the phone manually a few times for testing, the iPhone displayed its 20% battery life warning 3 hours and 52 minutes into my round (I checked one email and sent two text messages). Assuming that this warning is accurate, I would have been able to extract another 35-45 minutes from the phone. Luckily, I went to radioshack and bought a Lenmar battery pack for the iPhone. For $30, this thing is awesome. It can charge your phone twice before it runs out. I added that to the iPhone and easily finished out my round. But I do think if you are considering this app and want to use it just like a SkyCaddy, you have to consider the cost of a spare battery pack.
Overall compared to the vCaddy, the Greenfinder is a much more accurate and more functional GPS application for the iPhone. I could not live with any application that was not highly accurate and GF looks like a very competitive product to a MUCH MORE expensive SkyCaddy. In all fairness, I need to test this on other courses but if my experience yesterday was any indication, I could never see justifying buying a SkyCaddy when this application performed so well.
Pros:
1) Very good accuracy rivaling a SkyCaddy and matching the course markings a majority of the time.
2) Great feature functionality including front, center, back measurements, hazard measurements, and shot measurements
3) Easy to use, nice interface, and it even shows a little satellite icon to show you when it’s locked onto a signal
4) Unlimited downloadable courses (no subscription fees) over the air
Cons:
1) Battery life drain is a problem – although any application of this nature will have this problem
2) No scorecard. Personally, I would not keep my score in my iPhone and I do not look at this feature as essential for a GPS rangefinder. However, to stay competitive with other apps as they come out, the application should probably include this (although it will drain your battery faster)
3) Needs more courses. Many of the ones I play are in there but many are not. Luckily, the application even lets you mark your own course using the GPS tracking on the iPhone.
4) While the accuracy was excellent, the time to lock on the correct yardage could still be improved. When the new 2.1 software is released for the iPhone which supposedly will include improvements in GPS accuracy, I hope the authors of this application look to improve this functionality even more.
