STG Studios

Callaway UPro – A Great GPS From A Trusted Name In Golf

You’re a golfer, the name Callaway surely rings plenty of bells. What you may not know, however, is that Callaway sells more than just clubs. It also offers the Callaway uPro golfing GPS, which can help you get the lay of the land for courses in the U.S. and international. As far as units intended for the links, the uPro’s primary competition is the new Garmin Approach G5, but Callaway’s advanced features give its device a slight edge over Garmin’s.

sleek unit measuring 4 by 2 by 0.65 inches (HWD), the Callaway uPro weighs just 3.2 ounces (including its lithium ion rechargeable battery, which is rated at 10-12 hours per battery charge). That makes it less than half the weight and thickness of the Approach G5, although the Garmin’s ruggedized and waterproof casing make it feel sturdier. Given the hazards of the golf course (namely water), my trusty golf advisor, Rich Long, noted that he’d want to purchase a protective case, since the Callaway uPro doesn’t come with one (or any mounting accessories).

The screen on the Callaway uPro pales in comparison to the Garmin’s—it measures only 2.2 inches (the Garmin’s is 3), and it’s not touch-sensitive. The 320-by-240-pixel LCD is transreflective, however, so it remains quite visible in bright sunlight. You navigate on the uPro with four directional arrows, a central button, and two soft keys directly below the screen.

Unlike the Approach G5, which comes preloaded with over 8,800 courses, the uPro loads links the same way an MP3 player loads music. It arrives with no preloaded golf courses; you download them yourself via the uPro site from a database of over 15,000 in the U.S. and elsewhere and store them on the device’s included microSD card. If you can’t find the course you’re looking for, you can request Callaway add it to its database; there are no guarantees, but the company claims to be adding up to 1,000 additional golf courses each month.

You can store only 50 courses at a time, which you install or remove using the easy-to-navigate Web interface. Once you plug the uPro into your computer (Windows or Mac) via USB, it automatically launches the Web site and connects the device with your queue of courses. When you click “Sync Now,” selected golf courses transfer to the device. You can add and remove the courses to your heart’s content; they’ll never be deleted from your queue.

The uPro works in one of two modes: Basic and Pro. In Basic mode, you can download golf course maps for free. Basic maps give you the distance to the front, center, and back of the green as well as to hazards—more or less the same general information you get on the Garmin Approach G5.

Pro mode is what helps the Callaway Golf uPro surge ahead. Pro maps include video flyovers of each hole based on aerial photography and satellite imagery. You also get a SmartView that provides a customized view of the green and hazards as you move down the fairway; and, as with the Approach G5, you can measure distances on the fly with the AnyPoint feature along the way.

Pro maps, however, aren’t free. A single course map costs $10, but opting for a package deal can save you a lot: The least-expensive package is $40 for 5 courses (or $8 per course) on up to $180 for 150 courses ($1.20 per course). Thankfully, you don’t have to use all your golf course downloads at once and you can retain credits for future downloads.

The uPro also has some great perks on the course. Not least of them is the rechargeable battery—which, unlike the Approach G5′s battery, has a meter, so you know when it’s running low. There are also tons of en-route options to help you through the course, including a setting to direct the device to automatically follow you as you move from hole to hole. One downside: The uPro lacks the electronic score keeper, a feature the Garmin device offers.

Despite its lack of a touch screen and score tracker, the Callaway uPro Golf does plenty to out-perform the more-expensive Garmin Approach G5. Pro mode courses with video flyovers for improved hole visualization, Callaway’s extensive course database, a dead-simple Web interface, and rechargeable battery pack set the uPro up well above par.

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