New Launch Monitors Worth Watching (2026–27)
By Patrick Kavanagh ·
Three new launch monitors are generating search interest right now without a settled review record behind any of them: the Nova by Open Launch (a $1,500 open-platform unit from a Dallas startup), the TruGolf LaunchBox (TruGolf’s first portable monitor, $2,999 and shipping), and the Square Golf Omni (a $1,599 indoor/outdoor preorder that keeps slipping). This page is a standing watchlist: what each one verifiably is, what it costs on the record, and what to check before trusting any of them with your money. We will refresh it as units ship, and again around the 2027 PGA Show in January, which is where the next wave of announcements lands.
A note on method, since none of these has the multi-year track record of the units in our launch monitor guide: everything below comes from manufacturer pages, retailer listings, and our own recorded price data. Nobody here has published independent accuracy testing on the Nova, and the Omni is still largely in preorder. Where a claim is the manufacturer’s, we say so.
The watchlist at a glance
| Unit | Maker | Price on record | Status | Tracking tech | Measured club data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nova | Open Launch | $1,500 (openlaunch.io store) | In stock, direct only | Cameras + radar | No |
| LaunchBox | TruGolf | $2,999 (our catalog; TruGolf/retailers) | Shipping now | Dual-camera photometric | No |
| Omni | Square Golf | $1,599.99 (PlayBetter preorder, verified Sept 14) | Preorder, slipping | Four-camera photometric | Yes, with stickers |
The LaunchBox and Omni prices are the recorded figures in our product database; the Nova price comes from Open Launch’s own store, where the company’s recent messaging has been explicit about holding it: “You raised the bar. We kept the price. Nova. Still $1,500.”
Nova by Open Launch: the $1,500 open-platform bet
If you searched “nova launch monitor,” this is almost certainly the one you meant — though there are two products with the name, which we untangle below.
The Nova comes from Open Launch, a Dallas-based startup that first announced the unit in late 2024 with a Christmas target, slipped to Q1 2025, and now sells it in stock at $1,500 from its own store. The hardware approach is genuinely unusual at this price. Acconeer, the Swedish radar-chip maker, published a customer story on the project describing a compact, floor-sitting unit that combines cameras with two of its A121 radar modules — one dedicated to swing measurement and one powering the touch interface on the device itself. Most sub-$2,000 units pick one technology; Nova runs both.
On data, Open Launch’s Windows app listing says the companion app displays ball speed, vertical and horizontal launch angle, total spin, and spin axis — the five measured ball metrics that matter most for simulation — and sends shots to GSPro and to any simulator supporting its Open Connect standard. There is no measured club data, so you will not see club path, face angle, or attack angle from it.
Three things make the Nova worth watching rather than dismissing as another crowdfunded hopeful:
- The software economics. Open Launch’s site repeatedly stresses “no fees, no subscription” to connect to GSPro, The Golf Club 2019, Fitness Golf, Muni Golf Sim, and a list of smaller titles, with a Pureplay Golf integration planned for fall 2026 per the same page. The $1,500 is the whole cost of the hardware side. That undercuts the subscription-heavy pattern we document across the category in our launch monitor guide.
- The open developer platform. Open Launch pitches Nova as open-access for developers, which is why a string of indie simulator titles (Open Golf Sim, Infinite Tees, Shanktuary, Drills Golf) already list support. No other unit at this price courts third-party developers at all.
- It is actually shipping. Unlike the Omni below, the store lists it in stock, and the company has already pushed a free “Anniversary Update” to existing owners that it says improves spin feedback on drives and wedges and cuts result-delivery time by up to 85 percent — the kind of post-sale firmware cadence you want to see from a startup.
The honest caveat: there is no independent accuracy testing published on the Nova yet, it sells direct only with no dealer network, and a two-year-old startup carries obvious longevity risk on support and warranty. Those are exactly the questions a first proper review cycle will answer, and why it leads this watchlist instead of our recommendations.
The name collision: Open Launch Nova vs. OptiShot Nova
Search results for this query mix in a completely different product. The OptiShot Nova is an older unit from OptiShot that uses a single high-speed camera with infrared sensors and sits about five feet behind the golfer; UK retailer Golfbays lists it at £1,750 with 20 bundled courses. Forum threads on GolfWRX comparing “Nova v Spectrum v Square” are about the Open Launch unit. If a listing puts the sensor behind the ball instead of beside it, you are looking at the OptiShot product, not the one this page tracks.
TruGolf LaunchBox: shipped, but read the spec sheet twice
The TruGolf LaunchBox is the one unit here that has fully crossed from “announced” to “buyable”: TruGolf’s product page says it ships within three days of purchase, and PlayBetter and Rain or Shine Golf both list it in stock at $2,999 with free shipping.
The pitch is clean. It is a 2.7-pound, dual-camera photometric unit that measures all five core ball metrics optically on any ball — no stickers, no marked balls — and shows the numbers on a built-in e-ink readout, so range sessions need no app at all. The $2,999 price includes a 27-course E6 CONNECT Home license owned outright, and Shop Indoor Golf’s listing is explicit that there are no subscription fees anywhere in the product; a $3,499 package adds Pebble Beach, Oakmont, and St Andrews.
What keeps it on a watchlist rather than a recommendation list is what the spec sheet leaves out. Per TruGolf’s own published specs, the LaunchBox reports no measured club data — no club path, face angle, attack angle, or impact location — and it does not connect to GSPro, the simulator title most enthusiasts in this price range actually want. At $2,999 that is a real tension: the Square Omni below claims measured club data and official GSPro support for $1,400 less, on paper. Whether the LaunchBox’s any-ball optical spin and included course library outweigh that is precisely the comparison the first head-to-head reviews will settle.
Square Golf Omni: the preorder with a moving ship date
The Square Golf Omni was one of the loudest announcements at the 2026 PGA Show, and on paper it is the most aggressive product here: four infrared cameras, indoor and outdoor use, optical spin on unmarked balls, measured club data (with face and shaft stickers), a built-in display, and official GSPro, E6 Connect, and Awesome Golf connections with no subscription from Square — at $1,599.99.
The thing to actually watch is the ship date. PlayBetter announced preorders opening March 16, 2026; early listings pointed to April delivery, then PlayBetter moved to June, and its current preorder page takes a fully refundable $50 deposit with shipping expected late fall 2026, units going out in order received. Rain or Shine Golf lists it backordered with a 4–6 week estimate. A date that has slipped from April to late fall inside one year is not disqualifying for a small company scaling its second product, but it is the single most important fact a preorder buyer should know, and most coverage buries it. The refundable deposit at least makes reserving a line position low-risk.
We maintain a full spec and availability page for the Omni, so this watchlist will not repeat it — the short version is that early firmware reports (Golf Simulator Videos hit crashes and launch errors on flop and bunker-style shots) are exactly the teething pattern you would expect, and worth re-checking once general shipments start.
What the recorded prices say
Across our tracked price snapshots since September 21, the original Square Golf Launch Monitor has held $699.99 at PlayBetter without moving a dollar — Square is not discounting its shipping product while the Omni preorder is open, which tells you the $1,599.99 Omni price is likely firm too. The Omni’s preorder price has sat at $1,599.99 since we first recorded PlayBetter’s listing on September 14, and the LaunchBox has held its $2,999 launch price across every major retailer carrying it. None of these three is a wait-for-a-sale product right now; new hardware in this category historically holds list price until the first holiday cycle after general availability.
The next catalyst: PGA Show 2027, January 26–29
New launch monitor announcements in this industry cluster around one event. The 2027 PGA Show runs January 26–29 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando — the 74th edition, with more than 1,150 brands and an upgraded New Product Zone, per the PGA Show’s own announcement. Demo Day on January 26 at Orange County National is traditionally where launch monitor makers run live ball-flight demos, and it is where the Omni itself debuted a year earlier.
That is the scheduled refresh point for this page. Expect the 2027 show to produce the next batch of announced-but-unreviewed hardware, and expect this watchlist to grow before it shrinks: of the three units above, only the LaunchBox has fully shipped, and none has a mature independent review record yet.
How to read a watchlist unit before reviews exist
Until independent testing lands, four checks separate a promising spec sheet from a risky one, and they apply to everything on this page:
- Measured vs. calculated. A spec listing “15 data points” means little until you know which are measured by the sensors and which are modeled. The Omni, for example, measures spin and impact location but calculates face angle, per the specs Square publishes.
- The ship-date trail. One slip is normal; a trail of slips (April, June, late fall) means plan around the latest date, not the first one.
- Where the subscription hides. All three units here genuinely market “no subscription,” but the Omni meters its built-in simulator courses with credits after an included 1,000, per PlayBetter’s FAQ. Free connection to GSPro still means buying GSPro.
- Refund terms on preorders. A refundable deposit (the Omni’s $50) is a line position; a charged-in-full preorder on slipping hardware is a loan to the manufacturer.
For how these newcomers fit against the established field once they do ship, our launch monitor guide covers the full market, and each watchlist unit’s catalog page carries its live spec record as we update it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Nova launch monitor?
Nova is a $1,500 floor-sitting launch monitor from Open Launch, a Dallas-based startup. Per Acconeer's published customer story, it combines cameras with two Acconeer A121 radar modules — one for swing measurement and one for its touch interface. Open Launch's Windows app listing says it reports ball speed, vertical and horizontal launch angle, total spin, and spin axis, and connects to GSPro and Open Connect-compatible simulator software with no fees or subscription.
Is the Nova the same as the OptiShot Nova?
No. They are two unrelated products that share a name. The Nova by Open Launch is a $1,500 camera-plus-radar unit that sits on the floor beside the ball. The OptiShot Nova is an older, separate product that uses one high-speed camera with infrared sensors and sits about five feet behind the golfer; UK retailer Golfbays lists it at £1,750.
Is the TruGolf LaunchBox actually shipping?
Yes. TruGolf's own product page says the LaunchBox ships within three days of purchase, and retailers including PlayBetter and Rain or Shine Golf list it in stock at $2,999 with free shipping. It is the only unit on this watchlist you can have in hand this week.
When will the Square Golf Omni ship?
Preorders opened March 16, 2026 per PlayBetter's announcement, and the timeline has slipped repeatedly — early listings pointed to April, then June. PlayBetter's current preorder page takes a fully refundable $50 deposit with shipping expected late fall 2026, in order received, and Rain or Shine Golf lists it as backordered with a 4–6 week estimate.