The Definitive Rapsodo MLM2PRO Review: To Buy or Not To Buy

For months, I’ve been reading reviews and comments both good and bad about the Rapsodo MLM2PRO. I can’t remember a product about which I’ve been more thoroughly confused ahead of having the chance to test it myself.

So many people have talked about how incredible this device is. How it’s the best golf launch monitor under $1,000. How it’s revolutionizing the entire product class.

While so many others have complained — often passionately — about issues they’ve had, mostly with problems maintaining consistent connection. They talk in tones of disgust about how using this thing has led to so much frustration that they’ve had to return it.

I could not wait to put the Rapsodo MLM2PRO to the test. I just had to know if it was the real deal or a waste of time and money.

Finally, after an exhaustive evaluation encompassing both indoor and outdoor settings, spanning driving range sessions and studio setups, engaging in practice games and simulated rounds, while executing shots ranging from delicate chips to hard-swinging drives, I’m ready to share my definitive opinions about what the Rapsodo MLM2PRO can and can’t do, what it gets right and what it gets wrong, and who should and shouldn’t consider buying it.

If you’ve been unsure about this product or on the fence about purchasing it, especially considering all of the similar golf launch monitors on the market right now, this review is for you.

First Impressions Upon Unboxing the Rapsodo MLM2PRO Launch Monitor

Now this isn’t reason enough to buy this candidate for best golf launch monitor, but it certainly doesn’t hurt that the packaging for this product exudes a sense of class and quality.

Nothing over the top, mind you. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it luxurious.

But right out of the box, the feeling the MLM2PRO left me with was that this was a serious piece of tech produced by a company that thought things out well enough to nail the ever-important first impression.

Not to knock the SkyTrak+, which I recently tested, but to my taste, the Rapsodo MLM2PRO’s presentation is just cleaner and classier. Again, the SkyTrak+ is fine. Nothing at all wrong with it. But with the Rapsodo, it all just feels so well designed. All the parts and pieces just fit so tidily. Nothing is wasted, from space to the words in the instructions. You get a genuine feeling of a functional, quality, classy product that, if anything, feels like it should cost more than $699.99.

I also love the carrying case. It reminds me of a Bushnell rangefinder case, which is the gold standard for that product class. With the Rapsodo case, everything fits securely and simply. The unit itself can attach and detach very easily from the tripod legs, which fold inward to minimize the space needed for storage.

The carrying case will fit easily into the side pocket of any golf bag that comes to mind. To me, portability is very important. I want a launch monitor that I can easily take on the go. Because if I have to think about how I’m going to arrange things in order to carry it, I’m inevitably going to decide to leave it behind on many occasions.

Setting Up the Rapsodo MLM2PRO

This, to me, is where using the Rapsodo really caught my attention. I am not exaggerating when I say that, aside from the time it would take to charge the unit, you could be set up and using the Rapsodo within 15 minutes of unboxing it. That is far and away the fastest turnaround time between receiving a product and using it that I can remember with a golf launch monitor.

The MLM2PRO is unbelievably simple to set up. When I say “within 15 minutes”, I’m talking about your very first use. That includes the time it will take you to register an account. For your subsequent uses, you could be tracking shots with the Rapsodo literally within two minutes of pulling it out of its carrying case.

Thanks to the built-in cameras, alignment is brain-dead simple. You just turn the unit on, pair it with your phone or tablet, attach the unit to the tripod legs and then set it on the ground, pointed at your target. Then, on your phone or tablet you’ll see an image that includes a target line and a yellow box that represents the hitting zone. All you have to do is confirm that the target line is pointing where you want to aim, place a ball in the hitting zone, and you’re ready. Seriously, two minutes is erring on the long side. That’s if you’re moving slow.

I am a sucker for simple. And I think a lot of people are turned off by golf gadgets that require too much time and attention to set up correctly. A lot of us just want something that we can pull out and use to our advantage without any bother. The MLM2PRO is that product. I mean, it’s crazy how easy this thing is to set up. I think it’s one of the biggest selling points for this device.

As far as pairing the launch monitor with the app on your phone or tablet, you have two options:

• If you have WiFi access, you can connect your device and MLM2PRO to the same network.
• If you don’t have WiFi access, the MLM2PRO will output a signal which you can connect to with your phone or tablet. This worked great for me, especially as I really liked using my phone to run the app. But if you were using a tablet that didn’t have cellular, connecting this way would mean that you wouldn’t be able to use your tablet for any other browsing while you were connected to your Rapsodo.

Now, there have been a lot of users that have reported constant frustration with maintaining connection between their app and MLM2PRO and having the app crash mid session. People have reported lots of missed shots, ruined practice sessions and incomplete simulator rounds regardless of which method they’re using to connect.

I admit that I may have gotten lucky, but I can only report what I experienced. And for me, connection was never an issue.

I know that Rapsodo has issued updates to address this problem, and it could be that I was fortunate enough to test this product after they’ve finally resolved those bugs. All I can say is that I had very, very few missed shots, even during marathon range sessions. Connectivity and crashing were never something I had to worry about, and that’s after operating the unit via local WiFi and through the Rapsodo’s outputted signal. 

The one minor setup gripe I have is the process of inputting your golf clubs into your Rapsodo account. For whatever reason, the Rapsodo app requires you to input the makes and models of each of your golf clubs. It ends up taking longer than it should to build your bag on the app. You have to work through numerous drop-down menus to select the correct club options. I understand that this feature allows for the possibility that you may have multiple sets of golf clubs. But most of us use just one set. So why should we have to specify that our 5 iron is a Callaway Apex 21? Why can’t we just call it “5 iron”? Anyway, this is a one-time pain point. After you get set up the first time, you don’t have to deal with that issue anymore.

Using the MLM2PRO Golf Launch Monitor Outdoors and Indoors

One thing about the Rapsodo MLM2PRO is that it does stand out. Like, it's really tall. Set up on its tripod, it sits 13 inches above the ground or floor, much taller than other golf launch monitors. I bring that up in case you’re hoping for something more discreet. With some launch monitors, you can set them up and gather shot data without really calling too much attention to yourself. If you set up the Rapsodo outdoors at the range, everyone there is going to notice that you’re using it. So don’t be surprised when people approach with questions and curiosity.

Once you have your Rapsodo aligned and paired with the app, which again is going to take you a couple of minutes at the most, you’re ready to hit some shots. If you have the premium subscription (more on this later), the app will show you three options: “Practice,” “Combines,” and “Play.”

Regardless of which option you choose, you’ll next be asked whether you’re hitting on a range or into a net, what type of ball you’re using (range ball, premium ball, or Callaway RPT ball), and your elevation (sea level, current elevation, or a manually inputted elevation).

The MLM2PRO uses a dual camera system combined with Doppler radar to output 13 data metrics. Seven of them are measured while the others are calculated using an algorithm. Data includes:

• Carry distance (measured)
• Total distance
• Side carry
• Club speed (measured)
• Ball speed (measured)
• Smash factor
• Launch direction (measured)
• Launch angle (measured)
• Spin rate (measured when using Callaway RPT golf balls)
• Descent angle
• Spin axis (measured when using Callaway RPT golf balls)
• Apex
• Shot type

I love the amount of information available with the Rapsodo. We’ll get to accuracy in a minute, and we’ll also talk about these Callaway RPT golf balls. But as far as data is concerned, you’re getting pretty much everything you would want to know about your golf shots.

However… And this is a fairly big buzz kill to me… You can’t see all of your data for any given shot while you’re in a session. 

I really like using my iPhone with the Rapsodo. I like it because it adds to the overall portability and simplicity of the whole experience. But on a phone (and the Rapsodo is compatible with both IOS and Android), you can only see three data metrics for each shot while you’re in a session. Granted, you can choose which three metrics you want to view. But once you’ve made that choice and have started your session, you can’t see the rest of the data until you conclude your session and go back to review each shot.

The larger the screen — on a tablet, for example — the more metrics you can see at once while you’re in session. But you still can’t see all of them until after the session.

This is a bit of a limiter. There are times where, based on how a swing or contact felt, you may be curious about a certain piece of data that is not immediately available to you. It’s frustrating to know that the MLM2PRO captured that data point but that you can’t see it at your convenience.

I think that better players and teaching pros are going to struggle with this limitation. They typically want all the numbers all the time. For those groups, this could be a deal-breaker.

Back to the positive side of the ledger, the Rapsodo has no trouble reading shots hit outdoors off of natural turf. With a unit like the SkyTrak+, for comparison, you’re pretty much limited to hitting off of mats. That’s a non-starter for many golfers who plan to use their golf launch monitor at the driving range. With the MLM2PRO, you won’t have any issue whether you’re hitting off grass or mats.

Operating the MLM2PRO in Practice Mode

This mode works similarly to most other golf launch monitors in that the unit will track your shots and provide data while you hit on a driving range or into a net.

But there are a couple standout features that enhance the MLM2PRO experience relative to other launch monitors.

One thing that’s super cool is that when you’re using the unit outdoors on the range, you get a real-life view of the actual range where you’re hitting. You can see your shots either from behind, using the cameras. Or you can switch to a GPS aerial view. Either way, I really enjoyed seeing my actual driving range rather than a generic, video-game-looking screen like with most golf launch monitors.

But what really impressed me was the dual camera system. So, regardless of which mode you’re in, after you hit a shot, the Rapsodo app will show you the readouts for the three data metrics you’ve selected and will then automatically show you a video replay of your swing with a shot-tracer line showing your ball flight. Not only that, but you can set the replay video speed to 0.25x, 0.5x, 0.75x, or 1x in case you want to see things in slow motion.

I think that having instant video feedback is incredibly useful. When I hit a shot that’s particularly good or bad, I love being able to see if what I felt matched what I’m seeing on video.

And if you really want to go deep with the video, the MLM2PRO is capable of interacting with your phone to record an additional video angle. So, using a stand, you could set your phone up to face you from the side and then get video of your swing from both behind and face on.

What’s even cooler is what Rapsodo calls “Impact Vision.” The top camera on the unit records a closeup of impact. You can toggle between the video replay options to see either your full swing or just the moment of truth when the club contacts the ball.

Again, this is incredible feedback. To be able to visually confirm that, “Yeah, now I see why the ball started off left; my clubface was closed at impact,” is really cool.

With a premium subscription, you can save up to 10,000 swing videos. Because, yeah, we all definitely need to be able to see our swings that many thousands of times. But, hey, I’ll take it.

The MLM2PRO can produce accurate spin rate data. But to get it, you have to use the special Callaway RPT golf balls. The unit does come with a pack of three RPT balls. But if you want to buy more, they cost $70 per dozen.

I’m not a fan of stickers and dots and special golf balls. And I did find that, when using the MLM2PRO indoors, it was a bit of a bummer to have to retrieve the balls after every three shots.

Obviously, when you’re using the Rapsodo at the range, you’re not going to want to hit your expensive RPT balls, unless you have some means of easily retrieving them. So that means no spin rate data for outdoor use. Again, this could be a problem for a competitive player or teaching pro, for whom monitoring spin rates is very important.

Following any practice session, you can review all of your data for each individual shot and get an overview breakdown of your complete session. The app will show you a graphic with your shot dispersion, which you can isolate by club if you prefer. You’ll even get a few sentences of session insights, telling you what you should work on in your next session.

Is this Rapsodo Golf Launch Monitor Accurate?

Ease of setup is nice. And cameras are wonderful. Portability is certainly a plus. But if a golf launch monitor isn’t accurate, it’s all but useless.

And I’m happy to report that the MLM2PRO is incredibly accurate as confirmed in a head-to-head comparison with the Foresight Sports GC3. In case you don’t know, the GC3 is universally regarded as one of the most accurate golf launch monitors available. It’s a go-to tool for many professionals.

The MLM2PRO and GC3 were reading carry distance, ball speed, smash factor, and launch angle almost identically. Seriously. With most shots, the numbers were either exactly the same or only off by one or two. Spin rates were generally within 200 revolutions per minute, which isn’t bad at all.

To test things further, I used a laser rangefinder outdoors to confirm the total distance numbers I was getting with the MLM2PRO. Once again, incredibly accurate.

Now for all that good news, there are a couple of experiential things that I don’t like about the MLM2PRO.

The first is that I wish there was a way to edit what club you hit after the fact. You get an awesome amount of data to review after your sessions. But there were a few times where I switched, for example, from a wedge to driver but forgot to input the club switch in the app. That means that all those drivers that I then hit ended up labeled as wedge shots. Which means that when I’m reviewing my data, the averages are skewed and inaccurate. If I could simply manually edit those shots to indicate that I had hit a driver instead of a wedge, it would be very helpful.

I also wish that there was a way to flag specific shots during a session. When you hit one especially good, or bad, it would be nice to be able to flag that shot so that later you could review it and note the data points of that particular shot and how they compare with other less spectacular shots.

Using the Combines Feature

Combines allows you to gamify your practice in a way that has real game-improvement potential.

You take 24 swings using three different clubs. You can choose whichever clubs you’d like and can set the target distances however you want.

So maybe you want to start with 150-yard 7 irons, followed by 200-yard hybrids, and then drivers.

You’ll hit each shot two times before moving to the next club. You repeat that cycle four times for a total of 24 shots.

At the conclusion of your Combines session, the system shows you the dispersion pattern of all your shots, assigns a handicap score for each club you hit, and offers targeted advice on areas for improvement.

This is a really cool way to add some focus to your practice. So often, at the range, I’m just mindlessly bashing golf balls. But engaged with a game and with a score on the line, this made practice more fun and, I think, more impactful.

Using the Rapsodo MLM2PRO as a Golf Simulator

With a premium subscription, which we’ll get to in a minute, you can play simulated rounds on pretty much every golf course worldwide. However, this isn’t a full-blown, lifelike simulator experience. Instead, Rapsodo Courses is very similar to the Home Tee Hero feature on the Garmin Approach R10. The graphics look more like a video game than an in-person experience.

The MLM2PRO is compatible with E6 Connect and Awesome Golf, both of which provide the real-deal golf simulator experience. Upon purchase of your Rapsodo, you’ll receive five free E6 Connect courses. For more courses, you’ll need to purchase an E6 membership just as you would to play courses via Awesome Golf.

The MLM2PRO does not read putts. Instead, for simulator rounds, you can pre-set your putting parameters. For example, you can decide that anything on the green and inside of 10 feet is an automatic 1 putt, inside of 25 feet is a 2 putt, and outside of that is a 3 putt.

Here’s the problem that I ran into. The MLM2PRO does not consistently measure little touch chip shots. In my experience, even with the RPT balls, I could not get the unit to regularly measure shots shorter than 15 yards.

That becomes a bit of an issue when you’re playing simulated rounds, especially when the putting is predetermined.

Say, for example, you hit a shot that lands just off the green. But the pin is tucked to that side and you only have 5 yards from your ball to the flag. In my experience, the Rapsodo isn’t going to read the short little chip shot that this situation requires. Instead, you’re going to have to intentionally hit the ball too far. Which will mean that you’ll automatically end up with a higher number of putts. You won’t have the opportunity to get up and down.

Hopefully this is something that can be improved, because it is a bit of a drag to have shots added to your sim score for no reason. The game is hard enough as it is.

Will You Be Happy Without the Premium Subscription?

The MLM2PRO can do some incredible things. Things that no other golf launch monitor, even some that are much more expensive, can do.

But there’s a bit of a catch.

Most of those cool features? Yeah, they require a premium subscription.

Do you want to play that Combines practice game I was talking about? Premium subscription required.

Are you intrigued by the insights the app can share with you after a practice session? Then you better sign up for premium.

How about spin rates, simulator functionality, and the super cool Impact Vision? Premium, premium, premium.

Now, a premium subscription is only $199 per year, and you do get the first year free. For all that you’re getting, I don’t find the price of the subscription to be outrageous. It’s just that the whole thing has a bit of a bait-and-switch feet to it. It’s like to use this thing beyond just at the driving range to get shot data, you’ve got to have a premium subscription. I would have preferred that some of these features be built into what you get out of the box, even if that would mean a slightly higher purchase price.

If I were you and was considering purchasing the Rapsodo MLM2PRO, I would just budget for a premium subscription. I think you’re going to want all of those features.

Should You Buy the Rapsodo MLM2PRO?

For $699.99 (plus that damn premium subscription), I don’t know what more you could hope to get out of a golf launch monitor.

Yes, I know that there have been a lot of people who have had issues with connection and crashing. But I really think that those problems might be behind us, or at least quickly improving.

And there are a couple of limitations that I think will be non-starters for golfers who want the best data. Namely, the inability to see all of the data at once during a session and the inability to get spin rates outdoors.

I also have a few annoyances, like the fact that I can’t edit golf clubs after a session and the unit’s inability to read short chip shots.

But on the whole, I give this product my highest recommendation. If the above-noted issues aren’t deal-breakers for you, this is a fantastic golf launch monitor.

About PlayBetter Golf Reviewer Marc Sheforgen

Marc Sheforgen is a golf writer whose passion for the game far exceeds his ability to play it well. Marc covers all things golf, from product reviews and equipment recommendations to event coverage and tournament analysis. When he’s not playing, watching, or writing about golf, he enjoys traveling (often golf-related), youth sports coaching, volunteering, and record collecting.