To give you a full picture of my experience, in this equipment review, I’ll walk you through everything, from my first impressions of the packaging to its performance on the golf course.
Packaging and unboxing
First, let’s talk about the packaging. The Snap Swing is nicely packaged in a modern-looking box, which clearly shows what the product is, what it does and which mobile operating systems it is available on. I like that the actual product is visible underneath the clear plastic with a small hole, which allows you to press the button and feel the silicone material through the packaging. Inside the box, you’ll find the Snap Swing wrapped around a cardboard tray and a small USB to Micro USB cable.
From a sustainability point of view, it’s also really good to see that the packaging is minimal and mainly cardboard-based.
Set up and connectivity
Interestingly, the instructions explaining how to set up use the Snap Swing are printed on the rear of the box and not as a separate manual, which makes complete sense given how easy it is to get it up and running.
I tested it out with an Apple iPhone running the latest version of the iOS software and managed to get it to connect to my phone first time without any issues. All that was required was to switch the Snap Swing on, enable Bluetooth on my phone and select the Snap Swing as an available device. Once connected, I was good to go.
To check connectivity under various scenarios, I switched the Snap Swing off and back on again, and removed/re-added it as a Bluetooth device on my phone before re-testing. In both scenarios, it continued to work as expected, and I didn’t experience any issues with the connection dropping out when using the Snap Swing.
Attaching to the club
The Snap Swing is really easy to attach to the grip of the golf club. All you have to do is place the device on the top side of the grip (towards the bottom), wrap the fixing loop around the grip and slot the nib through the hole to fasten in place. Easy. Once attached, it’s simply a case of checking that your thumb can reach and press the button when you’re taking your grip, and re-positining if necessary.
The device attaches securely enough to the grip so that there’s no real chance of it falling off. However, I do feel that I would benefit from more fixing points to allow it to be tightened, especially for use when capturing full swings (more on this later).
Capturing photos
One area where the Snap Swing is really useful is when it comes to taking still images of the golf swing at various positions, known as the P-Classification System. In the past, I have captured these images of my swing manually using a timer on my camera. This method makes it very difficult to get back into the correct position when moving between the ball and phone, and more often than not, results in mis-timed photos.
As an alternative method, I have also found myself taking screenshots from video footage of my swing but the quality isn’t always the best when doing this.
Using the Snap Swing to take still images at various points of the golf swing is a game-changer. It’s simply a case of putting your phone camera into photo mode, getting yourself into position with the golf club and pressing the snap button on the device. You can do this as often as you like, and the photo is captured almost instantaneously.
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Recording videos
When it comes to capturing video footage of your golf swing, the process is seamless. Position the phone behind where you’re swinging, put the camera into video mode, get into position and press the button on the device to begin recording. Once you’ve finished hitting the golf ball(s), press the button again to stop the recording. Simple.
Again, like capturing still images, the Snap Swing makes initiating video recordings so quick and easy. It’s great to not have to walk to and from the phone to start/stop recordings, and even better to not have to edit them.
However, it’s not all quite as perfect as it sounds. One slightly annoying thing it does during each swing is move to the side of the grip. This means that before the next swing, I found myself having to manually reposition it, which did get a little bit annoying. Whilst this isn’t a major issue, it is definitely something I’d like to see addressed in future design iterations.
To try and combat this, I moved it further up the grip towards the wider point, however, this meant that I had to then change my normal grip position on the club (not ideal), and to be honest, it didn’t stop the device from spinning.
In my opinion, the device would benefit from either additional fixing points (like a watch strap) or a simple mechanism to tighten and lock it in place.
Charging and battery life
Unlike most modern devices, the Snap Swing uses the older style Micro USB cable, and not USB-C. Whilst not my first choice (I’d prefer USB-C), it is at least one that most of us have spares of and not a proprietary cable.
In terms of charging duration and battery life, it’s difficult to comment on this as the device doesn’t show how much battery is remaining or when it’s fully charged. I have given it a decent charge and used it several times without it running out, so, so far, so good, but some sort of battery level indicator would be useful.
Final thoughts
Aside from the inconvenience of having to reposition the device after each golf swing and the lack of a battery level indicator, I really do think the Snap Swing is a great little golf accessory. It’s easy to set up, reliable, and in truth, it does exactly what it’s designed to do. Better still, it doesn’t need to be used solely for golf purposes. Whether you’re looking to take photos for your next thumbnail, selfies at the dinner table, or talking head videos, you can use the Snap Swing.
Pros:
Easy to set up: Connecting to your phone via Bluetooth is quick and simple.
Reliable connectivity: I didn’t experience any dropped connections during testing.
A huge time saver: Capturing photos and videos is instant, eliminating the need to walk back and forth to your phone.
Versatile: It works for more than just golf, making it useful in many scenarios.
Cons:
Spins on the club grip: The device can turn on the grip during a swing, requiring frequent readjustment.
No battery indicator: There’s no way to tell how much charge is remaining or when it’s full.
Outdated charging port: It uses a Micro USB cable instead of the more modern USB-C.
At just over £20, it’s versatile, relatively inexpensive, and an easy way to capture footage of your golf swing, something I’ll definitely be doing a lot more of as I document my own journey to becoming a better golfer.
Shop the Snap Swing
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