SkyTrak+ vs SkyTrak ST MAX

The ST MAX is the SkyTrak+'s successor. Both pair a photometric camera with Doppler radar, and both have native Mac and iPad apps (both need an M-series chip, M1 or newer); MyGolfSpy's 2024 testing had the SkyTrak+ within 1% of a GCQuad on indoor ball speed. The ST MAX's main hardware change is the hitting zone: SkyTrak's spec tables give it about 4 by 4 inches against the SkyTrak+'s 2 by 2, so the ball has more room to sit off the exact spot. It also adds dual USB for charging and data at once, a new internal design, integrated GOLFTEC speed training, and the assurance of being SkyTrak's current model. One spec runs the other way: SkyTrak's own table lists the ST MAX as indoor, where its SkyTrak+ page says indoor and outdoor.

The SkyTrak+ is SkyTrak's previous generation, and SkyTrak has discontinued it: its own store shows it as no longer available, so what remains is retailer closeout stock. The price order has moved more than once. For a while the closeout undercut the ST MAX; from late August the ST MAX was $1,695 at SkyTrak's own store and every retailer we track — SkyTrak bills it as a sale off a $2,995 list — and for about two months that made it the cheaper unit at most retailers. As of November 2026 the closeout is cheaper again where it is still stocked: $1,095 on Amazon. Rain or Shine still lists it at $1,995, $300 more than the ST MAX, so skip it there.

So the question is what $600 buys. The ST MAX gives you the bigger hitting zone, the dual USB, the GOLFTEC module and a current model SkyTrak will firmware-support for years. The SkyTrak+ gives you the same camera-plus-radar design and the same Mac and iOS apps for less, with a smaller zone and a discontinued model's support runway. Free-year offers don't settle it: through November 12, 2026 (SkyTrak's Holiday Sale), a new ST MAX comes with a free first year of Core: Foresight, and PlayBetter's SkyTrak+ comes with a free year of Foresight course play too, so at PlayBetter the offer doesn't change the gap. We couldn't confirm one with Amazon's unit; without it, the ST MAX's free year narrows the five-year gap there to about $300. The caveat is the one every closeout carries: the stock is finite, and the price goes when it does.

So the rule depends on what you value more than on the retailer. At $1,095, the SkyTrak+ is the value pick for anyone who doesn't need the larger hitting zone or GOLFTEC; put the $600 into a better mat or screen. Pay the ST MAX's $1,695 if those matter or you want the longest support window, and buy it outright anywhere the SkyTrak+ is $1,995. If you are shopping months out, plan on the ST MAX either way — or on SkyTrak's own certified pre-owned units, which its store listed at $895 for a SkyTrak+ and $1,195 for an ST MAX in October 2026.