Motocaddy S5 Connect: Review

Motocaddy’s S5 Connect is now on sale, a product they are dubbing the “world’s first smart trolley.” This revolutionary piece of kit from the pioneering British brand combines a GPS system with the their smartphone app to give users accurate distance data and mobile alerts at over 36,000 courses worldwide.

The S5 CONNECT trolley can be synced to the Motocaddy GPS App via a Bluetooth connection on any compatible smartphone; allowing the trolley’s digital display to be used in place of a conventional GPS. 

Front, middle and back distances to the green, along with the par of the hole, clock and round timer are displayed on the trolleys handle. 

Tony Webb, Managing Director at Motocaddy said, “It acts as the ultimate caddy for any golfer out on the course – carrying your bag and giving you accurate yardages on each hole.”

The new trolley can also receive and display notifications alerting you of any missed calls, text messages, emails or range of app alerts, including WhatsApp and Facebook.

“We’re not encouraging golfers to keep checking their phones during play,” explained Webb. He continued, “On the contrary, the smart trolley could reduce phone use, because it tells you all you need to know and can be pre-set to let you focus on your game.”

Read more -> Motocaddy release ‘most advanced trolley’

I was lucky enough to get my hands on the new S5 Connect over the past few days, playing at the stunning Bro Hof Slott Golf Club in Sweden. The S5 includes the modern look and features found on the latest Motocaddy S-Series models and syncing your smartphone to the trolley was incredibly quick and easy, and only has to be done once.

According to Motocaddy, research shows that roughly 75% of golfers simply want front, middle and back distances from a distance measuring device.

At a glance, I could get the distances and feel confident that I had pulled the right club out of the bag on every shot.

My personal preference is to use a laser rangefinder but despite this, having the front, middle and back distances was simply invaluable. At a glance, I could get the distances and feel confident that I had pulled the right club out of the bag on every shot.

If you want a little more information however, the app also provides overhead maps and detailed yardages, distance of the last shot and dedicated greenside information when the power save mode is switched off. Being able to access this information was again invaluable, and crucial for me when playing two new courses for the first time.

Thanks to the notifications feature I was definitely checking my phone less during the round. When I missed a call or received an app alert I could easily decide whether it was important enough for me to get my phone out the bag, which invariably it wasn’t.