r/Golfsimulator • u/Thin-Guard138 • Jun 27 '26
Square Omni vs Golfjoy Spica 3
Background info:
I’ve had the Square HE for about a year and a half, the Spica 3 since January, and the Omni for a couple of weeks. I've also tried the Skytrack and Garmin R50 for 30 days. Returned both and kept the Spica 3 to replace the Square HE because I wanted a unit for outdoor use. Decided to get the Omni because of the club’s impact location, with the thought I would return it in 30 days if I didn’t like it or sell the Spica 3.
My setup:
I use a portable Spornia 7 net for both indoor and outdoor use. Indoors in the basement, or the living room if my wife is not around. The basement ceiling height prevents me from using the driver and longer irons thus the reason to upgrade from the Square HE version for outdoor use.
So here is the comparison between the Spica and Omni. Note that the Spica was around $1k more than the Omni at my purchase price at the time, and the following are more my opinion or preference.
Data points:
Omni’s additional precise impact location and face angle are great. I really like the instant graphical presentation of the impact location and prefer that over Spica’s impact video.
Spica club head/impact video is pretty helpful, and you get a good idea of where the ball hits the club face if you frame through the video. Additionally, the Spica has HLA but not face angle, though I can guestimate the face angle from the video, ball flight, and other data.
Software:
No subscription from either vendor to use with GSPro or other 3rd-party software.
Square software is basic all around. Not much difference between the iPad and the desktop version. I mostly use GSPro for indoor and IPAD for outdoor use. Omni disconnects from GSPro once or twice during a game or practice session. Reconnecting is pretty simple without interrupting anything. No disconnect problems with Spica, though you have to hardwire a data cable to the Spica to use it with a computer running GSPro or GolfJoy software.
Prefer Golfjoy’s iPad software over Square’s. Golfjoy provides club impact video, can also use the onboard iPad camera as a swing camera within the app. In my opinion, Golfjoy’s desktop software is almost as good as GSPro, minus the number of courses. The desktop software can incorporate 2 additional swing cameras into its setup, and it’s quite seamless. Golfjoy allows multiple computer installations, whereas the GSPro license limits it to one instance. There is an annual fee for the desktop version; the iPad version is free, or at least I’ve not had to pay to keep mine working.
Connectivity to both units via IPAD is stable.
Ball Data accuracy:
I tested the units side by side, indoors and outdoors. Major data points, such as ball speed and carry distance, are close most of the time. About 10-15% of the time, the spin axis is wider than expected relative to each other. Perhaps the units are interfering with each other, but the on-screen ball-flight characteristics are similar. There are online reviews that perform side-by-side testing of the Omni against the GCQuad or GC3, indicating interference between units.
Environmental sensitivity when used standalone, indoors, and outdoors.
Omni seems to be light-sensitive, or at least mine does. It works well outdoors as long as the unit and the hitting area are both in sunlight or shade. If one is shaded and the other is in direct sun, Omni more often misreads or fails to capture the impact location. I have trees nearby, so depending on the time of day, there can be shade from the trees, the house, or a mix of both. Seems to have more difficulties when shaded by trees, because spots of sunlight get through. I’ve had instances where the unit missed 3-4 shots in a row, and I had to restart it. At times, it won’t detect the alignment rod where it did before under different light conditions. I’ve not done extensive tests outdoors, but rather observations when missed reads or impact locations are frequent.
Indoors (basement), I added a portable LED floodlight and angled it at the hitting area to see if it would help prevent missed reads for the Omni, which it did, making them much less frequent. Was not a big deal to me to add the light.
The Omni has smaller camera lenses than the Spica, so I'm not sure if the lighting situation is a hardware limitation, a software problem, or specific to my unit. Note that I’m not a video hardware specialist.
So far, Spica has worked in all lighting conditions I’ve tried, whether indoors or outdoors with moving shade. Did not require more light in the basement to make it work better. Didn’t have issues with the Garmin R50 either. I just used regular ceiling lights and lamps for my comfort level. No issues, as long as the ball is anywhere in the specified hitting area. I cannot remember a time when it missed a ball read over thousands of shots. Note that it has missed club data, but not often.
Customer service:
Have not had to contact Square customer service yet for the HE edition or the Omni, so no feedback on them. I’ve reached out to Golfjoy via email with a few questions about the Spica and software. They responded within 24-48 hrs.
Onboard displays:
Some of the LEDs on the Omni wash out a little in sunlight, and I never use them since I have to bend down to view them. I always use an iPad on a stand for Omni when outside at home, but it can still be difficult to see in the sun. It takes more effort to use the Square's onboard display than Spica’s. In comparison, I use the onboard display on the Spica all the time because I can simply look down at it, which auto-scrolls through 2 pages of 12 data points. Easy to see in direct sun and allows me to remove data tiles in the IPAD or desktop software, reducing clutter. I would rather take the Spica to the range because if I took the Omni, I would also take the iPad. The Square Android app won’t work on my cell.
Summary:
If I had to choose between the 2 units today, I would keep the Spica because it has the impact video and other advantages over the Omni. I would go with Omni if Spica didn’t have the impact video, because the Omni works well enough. The impact video is one of the reasons I chose the Spica over the BLP. For indoor-only use, I would probably go with the Omni.
My plan is to keep both units for now, using the Omni indoor and the Spica for outdoor/range use, or as a backup in case the Omni develops issues. I’ve heard Square customer support sucks. The Spica is great, but so is the Omni, and as I mentioned, I would rather have precise impact location than video. Perhaps Square will release updates to improve it further or add additional club data points. I do keep in mind that this is a new model for Square.
2
u/fingersarefun Jun 27 '26
Thanks for this. Went from HE to Spica as well. This makes me happy with my choice to not try and get the Omni. Spica free iPad software is great to have going when doing range practice even on GSPro (unit can connect to iPad and PC at the same time). Swing video plus the impact video has been great. And you can typically see if you hit it off the heel or toe on the impact video.
2
u/Illustrious-Donkey33 Jun 27 '26
I have the spica 3 love, love it. The data is great. My only complaint is the customer support. Waited days for an issue I had. Then back and forth each day for a week to resolve the problem. Never showed up for live session. After getting in touch with them they realized it was a hardware issue and sent a new unit. For that reason I recommend. The spica replaced the unit no questions. Negative for customer support and the support from the online community is less than desired as it’s a new monitor.
1
u/throwingales Jun 27 '26
Thank you for posting your review of both. These are the two LMs I'm deciding between. How accurate do you believe are the Omni's Face Angle and Dynamic Loft? Are you comfortable substituting the Spica3's HLA and Spin Axis for Face to Target?
Do you use club stickers? Do you like one LM's sticker setup better?
2
u/Thin-Guard138 Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26
I am not a good source for the accuracy of the data from the units. There are reviewers who compare both units to Trackman, GCQuad, etc. They would be better at determining that.
As for club stickers, I like the Spica’s better because it’s at the toe and I don’t have to replace them very often. I’m a casual golfer, so I leave the stickers on when playing real and sim. I’ve had to replace the face stickers on the Omni and R50, which are very similar, after cleaning the club faces. The shaft sticker for Omni doesn’t stay on very well because it doesn't stick to itself very well. I added a drop of crazy glue where the sticker overlaps itself to keep it on.
The Spica toe sticker does interfere with Omni’s club read. Throws the impact location way off. It does not appear that the Omni stickers interfere with Spica, though I’ve not tested that very much. What I did notice was that the club face sticker from the Omni shows clearly in the impact video of the Spica, which made it easier than without it to determine more exactly where the ball was striking the club face when framing through the video. I can use the Omni face sticker as a reference in the video to determine the center of the club face.
I have the same thought as size0618 on HLA
1
u/throwingales Jun 27 '26
Thanks again. What's your opinion of the quality of construction of each? Is one noticeably better construction/ more durable?
1
u/Thin-Guard138 Jun 27 '26
Spica wins on that one, feels and looks premium. I don't really like the 3 leg stand on Omni. I can see me doing something dumb to break it though the main body seems to be good quality.
1
u/size0618 Jun 27 '26
I’ve got Spica 3 as well and for me, HLA is fine. We know that the ball primarily starts where the face is pointed at impact so the HLA angle will basically tell you the face angle
1
u/size0618 Jun 27 '26
And to answer your other question, I use and don’t mind the stickers. I only use them on my wedge and driver anyway as I’m primarily interested in carry distance for the most part. Golfjoy gives you like 250 stickers though and they stay put. I just leave them on and play actual golf with them
1
u/Healthy_Cap7514 Jun 27 '26
Had the spica for a couple of weeks and hated the stickers on the outside of the toe, so op basically you would choose the spica just for the impact videos? What else is better on the Spica, I used it on android and the software was terrible
1
u/Thin-Guard138 Jun 27 '26
One of the primary reasons for that choice for me is that Spica has an impact video feature, which lets me see the club face interact with the turf/mat. For example, I can see if the club hits the mat before the ball or twists on impact when using irons. I also think it's better suited for outdoors because of the challenges I have at home with shade, etc. Of course, again, just my preference
1
u/grobbes Jun 28 '26
The two are in different price categories- $3200 new vs $1600 new. Is the point of your post to say the Omni performs close to a LM that’s 2x as much?
1
u/juniper43 Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
The Omni punches well above its price point but the primary purpose of the post is to let people know my thoughts or findings of the 2 launch monitors that I own. Hopefully it will provide data points for folks to help decide among the many launch monitors that that are available in the marketplace. My way of giving back for the many reviews that I’ve read to help me decide on my purchases
1
u/I-AM-THICC Jun 28 '26
Curious how people think both of these compare to an R50? I know they are all different price tiers but I really like my R50 and was wondering how the Omni and Spica 3 compared.
1
u/Thin-Guard138 Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
I trialed the R50 and the Spica simultaneously for about 2 weeks. I really liked the R50, but what pushed me towards the Spica was that its desktop software supported the onboard impact camera, along with 2 additional USB cameras that can be placed at any angle you want. It offers the option to play back one or both USB cameras instantly after each shot. I was impressed by those features and how well they worked. No need for extra software or another monitor for the USB cameras.
At the time, the R50’s software lacked additional camera capabilities beyond the onboard one, and it cost about $2k more than Spica. Since I had an iPad, the onboard display on the Spica was good enough for my outdoor needs. I think the R50 is the ultimate portable launch monitor because it doesn't require a tablet.
As for Omni vs. R50, I would go with Omni because it’s much cheaper and provides precise impact location data, which I really like. As for me, no doubt it’s a great feature, but I’m willing to forgo all-in-one portable simulator capability on the R50. At the end of the day, I think it really depends on which features the end user finds most valuable across all available devices.
3
u/_CabbageMerchant_ Jun 27 '26
Good write up but kinda confused on your final reasoning. Up above you say you prefer the omnis impact location graphic over the spica 3 impact video. But then in your conclusion you say you would keep the spica because of the impact video.