A $299 practice radar and the $1,299 unit built to replace it
The $299 original Mevo and the $1,299 Mevo Gen2 do fundamentally different jobs: one is a practice-only radar that reports 8 numbers and cannot run simulator software at all, the other is the August 2025 unit FlightScope built to replace both it and the Mevo+, with 14 ball metrics, 16 club metrics, and support for GSPro, E6 Connect and TGC 2019.
| FlightScope Mevo (original) | FlightScope Mevo Gen2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Street price | $299✓ | $1,299 |
| 5-year cost (hardware + sub)Hardware plus five years at the cheapest subscription that enables simulator use. | $299✓ | $1,299 |
| Tracking | Radar | Radar + camera |
| Placement | Behind the ball | Behind the ball |
| Min ceiling | 9 ft* | 9 ft* |
| Min room depthComputed: screen buffer + ball flight + device/golfer space. | 15 ft✓ | 17 ft |
| Ball metrics | 6 | 14✓ |
| Club metrics | 2 | 16✓ |
| Subscription for sim | None | None |
| Outdoor use | Yes | Yes |
| Status | Discontinued | Current✓ |
Green ✓ marks the better figure on rows where one is objectively preferable (lower price/cost/space, more data, no subscription, current model). Neutral rows have no winner. Tally on these metrics: FlightScope Mevo (original) 3 · FlightScope Mevo Gen2 3. * = ceiling estimated where the maker publishes none.
This isn't really a head-to-head — it's a question of whether $299 buys what you need. If you only want ball speed, carry and smash factor for range sessions, the original Mevo still delivers that, and by our computed model it fits a room 2 ft shallower than the Gen2 (15 ft vs 17 ft). The moment you want to play a course indoors, the Mevo is out of the conversation entirely and the Gen2 is the only one of the two that qualifies. FlightScope will also take an old Mevo against a Gen2 for $1,199, $100 under retail.
Pick the FlightScope Mevo (original) if…
- Range practice is the whole job — its 6 ball metrics are ball speed, carry, launch angle, spin rate, apex and flight time
- You want the cheapest way in: $299 certified pre-owned against $1,299 for the Gen2
- Your bay is tight — FlightScope's setup guidance puts the Mevo 4 ft behind the ball versus 8 ft for the Gen2
Pick the FlightScope Mevo Gen2 if…
- You want simulator golf — the Gen2 drives GSPro, E6 Connect, TGC 2019, Awesome Golf and Creative Golf 3D; the original Mevo drives none of them
- You want club-delivery data: 16 club metrics against the Mevo's 2, though only 4 work out of the box (10 more need the $599 Pro Package, 2 the $299 Face Impact Location add-on)
- You want a current product — the original Mevo is discontinued, and the Gen2 is what FlightScope now sells and supports
Questions buyers ask
Can the original Mevo run a golf simulator?
No. The original Mevo feeds practice data to the FS Golf app only — it has no simulator or course-play capability. The Mevo Gen2 is the entry point in FlightScope's current line for indoor simulator golf, supporting E6 Connect (8 lifetime courses included), GSPro, TGC 2019, Awesome Golf and Creative Golf 3D.
How much more data does the Mevo Gen2 actually give you?
By our dataset's count, 14 ball metrics and 16 club metrics against the original Mevo's 6 and 2. The gap is widest on the club side: the Mevo reports only club head speed and smash factor, while the Gen2 adds angle of attack and spin loft out of the box, then a further 10 club-delivery parameters with the $599 Pro Package and 2 impact-location parameters with the $299 Face Impact Location add-on.
Does either one need a subscription?
No. Neither charges a yearly fee, so the five-year cost of each is simply its hardware price — $299 and $1,299 in our dataset. The Gen2's extras are one-time purchases rather than subscriptions: $599 for the Pro Package and $299 for Face Impact Location.
How much room does each one need?
Our computed minimum depth is 15 ft for the original Mevo and 17 ft for the Mevo Gen2 — screen buffer plus required ball flight plus the space behind the ball. FlightScope asks for 4-7 ft behind the ball and at least 8 ft of indoor ball flight for the Mevo, and 8 ft behind the ball plus 8 ft of flight for the Gen2. Neither publishes a ceiling minimum, so both carry the 9 ft industry default in our table.
Is it worth trading a Mevo in rather than buying a Gen2 outright?
FlightScope's Mevo-to-Mevo Gen2 trade-in is $1,199 against the Gen2's $1,299 retail — a $100 saving in exchange for giving up the old unit. Whether that beats keeping the Mevo as a second range device or selling it privately depends on what used units are fetching, which we don't track.
Try both in your room
Space is the most common dealbreaker. Drop your room's dimensions into the room-fit calculator to see whether each of these fits — and what else does — before you buy.
- https://flightscope.com/pages/faq
- https://flightscope.com/collections/sensors
- https://flightscope.com/products/mevo-to-mevo-gen2-trade-in
- https://practical-golf.com/flightscope-mevo-review
- https://flightscope.com/products/mevo-gen2
- https://flightscope.com/products/pro-package
- https://flightscope.com/blogs/news/flightscope-releases-mevo-gen2-the-most-complete-launch-monitor-and-simulator-on-the-market-and-its-under-1-200
- https://www.playbetter.com/products/flightscope-mevo-gen2-golf-launch-monitor
- https://breakingeighty.com/flightscope-mevo-gen-2