Callaway Apex Ai200 Irons and Apex Ai300 Irons Comparative Review

When Callaway released their new Apex Ai200 and Ai300 irons along with the Apex Ti Fusion irons they not only raised the bar on Apex performance, they also evolved the entire Apex line to a place where every player and every skill level will now benefit from Apex craftsmanship, feel, and technology.

This review will focus on how Ai200 improves over the Apex 21, on the comparative performance of the Ai200 and Ai300 irons, and also an interesting comparison between Ai200 and Apex Pro 24.  I'll also touch on the versatility of entire Apex line and why that makes Apex destined for greatness.

Before I get started I want to thank my friends at Club Champion for letting me use a hitting bay to confirm my findings with some numbers and get some real feedback on a variety of shots that I think will be very insightful for anyone curious about upgrading and also choosing between the new models.

Apex Ai200 vs. Apex 21: You Had Me at Hello

Bottom line, Apex Ai200 are better than Apex 21 in three main areas.  And it all starts with feel.

I Feel Good!

The very first swing I put on the fully forged Apex Ai200 (and Ai300 as well for that matter) it was patently obvious feel has been significantly improved.  And mind you, I'm not one of those out there who thought Apex 21 felt bad, though I concede it seemed to lack some feel.

Ai200 are both softer and more solid feeling at impact, and one of the closest feels to a blade that you'll find in a players distance iron like these.  If irons don't feel the way you want them to you won't enjoy hitting them.  If irons don't feel the way you want them to you won't have as much confidence hitting them.  And ultimately if irons don't feel the way you want them to you won't be satisfied.  Callaway knocked it out of the park with Ai200 feel and that's all I have to say about that.

A Quick Word on Appearance

Looks wise Ai200 has a slightly thinner topline and sole, a bit less offset, and is definitely more compact at address (smaller heel-to-toe footprint).

And just opinion here, but I love that Callaway did this.  There are a lot of players who prefer a compact looking iron that doesn't sacrifice exceptional distance and forgiveness.  And again here, mission accomplished Callaway.  And for those who prefer a larger head that's not as compact?  We'll get to that and the Ai300 below.

Distance, Spin, Trajectory, and Descent Comparisons

The Apex 21 irons were some of the longest players distance irons on the market.  And Callaway gave us a little more distance with the Ai200 because why not.

I saw 3 to 4 more yards of carry with the Apex Ai200 versus the Apex 21.  And what I liked most about this is it didn't come from higher launch lower spin.  Actually the exact opposite.  The Ai200 launch a little lower and have a slightly lower peak height than Apex 21.

Ai200 also spin about 300 more RPM than Apex 21 and descent is slightly steeper with Ai200.  So the result is more distance and also more controllable distance.  Callaway's not changing the gameplay with the new Apex Ai irons, they're just executing it better with absolute performance improvement that everyone will benefit from.

Ai200 Mishits vs. Apex 21 Mishits

Remember above I said Apex Ai200 improved over the previous Apex 21 irons in three main areas?  Well the final area is forgiveness and it might be an even more impressive performance improvement than the improved feel and added control.

On misses towards the toe, high, and low Apex Ai200 retains ball speed, spin, and launch significantly better than Apex 21.  I saw tighter dispersion with Ai200 by about 5 yards on misses both left and right and up to 10 yards tighter in downrange dispersion.  And that's going to be the difference between hitting and missing a green more times than not.

Misses towards heel with Ai200 lost the most distance compared to center strikes at about 10 yards but that's still slightly better than heel misses with Apex 21.  What might have been the best thing about heel misses with Ai200 was how they retained a tight left and right dispersion and spin rates were almost identical to center strikes.  All over the face Ai200 is incredibly forgiving in delivering consistently good results with distance, dispersion, and control performance that blurs the line between misses and center strikes.

Apex Ai200 vs. Apex Ai300: A Triumph of Consistency

This is probably as good a place as any to mention I absolutely love what Callaway has done and is doing with the entire Apex line.  

All in The Family

We have Apex MB, Apex CB, Apex Pro, Apex Ti Fusion, Apex Ai200, and Apex Ai300 irons.  Each of these irons uses shared Apex technology but are also uniquely designed to give players different spin, launch, distance, forgiveness, and workability characteristics their game needs most.

It reminds me a bit of how Titleist has done something similar with their MB, CB, T100, T150, T200, and T300.  It just makes sense and allows Callaway to use their best performance technologies and unify them in one Apex line that truly offers an iron set for everyone's game.  It wouldn't surprise down the road to see Apex Pro 24 be renamed Apex Ai100 and Apex Ti Fusion to be renamed something like Apex Ai150 TF.

I'll have a review of the Apex Ti Fusion soon as well, and compare them to the Ai200 and any other Apex irons that testing reveals interesting similarities and/or differences.

A Big Brother

Ai300 is kind of like a big brother to Ai200 in the sense it's got a thicker topline, thicker sole, and a little more offset than Ai200.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that even with Ai300 designed to be  more forgiving iron than Ai200, it still retains that strong, solid, and soft forged feel like Ai200.  Ai300 is just a tad less powerful feeling at impact, which is ironic because it gives you even more distance than Ai200.

Distance, Spin, Trajectory, and Descent Comparisons

Ai300 is a longer iron than Ai200, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.  Faster ball speeds, more distance, and not insignificant.  I averaged 7 to 8 yards more carry with Ai300.  I expected more distance with Ai300 but not that much distance.  Just wow.

An even bigger wow was Ai300 ball flight.  Ai300 launches a little higher than Ai200 and spin is a little lower.  But I'm talking only about 500 rpm less spin with Ai300 vs. Ai200.  And even crazier?  Descent angles with both Ai300 and Ai200 were almost identical.  You lose absolutely nothing in control holding greens with Ai300 compared to Ai200.

Ai300 Mishits vs. Ai200 Mishits

Dispersion for me was better with Ai200, missing equally left and right over a smaller area.  Ai300 has more of a left miss bias (and a little further left than my misses left with Ai200).  As a lot of you know I feel more comfortable hitting smaller shaped irons and that might have something to do with tighter overall Ai200 dispersion.

With that said misses towards the toe, high, and low with Ai300 retain distance, spin, and launch almost exactly like it does with Ai200.  So for example downrange dispersion on these misses stays within about a 10 yard range while left-to-right misses only extend another 5 yards more in either direction compared to center strikes.  And just like with Ai200, Ai300 spin retention on these misses is extraordinary.  And the consistency of Ai300 performance on misses is better than any game-improvement irons I've tested or played.  It's extraordinary really.

Apex Ai200 vs. Apex Pro 24: Didn't Expect This

The Apex Ai200 is so compact looking compared to the previous Apex 21 I couldn't help but wonder how it would stack up against my beloved Apex Pro 24.

The Apex Pro 24 are still a little more compact, bit thinner top and sole, and one of the reasons I love them is because of the shape and looks.  But Apex Ai200 did things for me that even Apex Pro 24 don't do.  And this really illustrates what I mentioned above about how Callaway has designed an entire range of Apex irons that will satisfy every golfer and skill level.

Ball Speed to the Moon

I mentioned above that the Ai300 has higher ball speed than the Ai200 but that alone wasn't enough to persuade me in choosing Ai300 over Ai200.  The Ai200 ball speed however compared to my Apex Pro 24 however was shocking.  And it pulled me in.

I had legitimately almost 6 mph higher ball speed with Apex Ai200 over Apex Pro 24.  If I was a high swing speed player maybe that wouldn't appeal as much as it does to me now.  But more than a full club greater distance is hard to walk away from.  I hit shots with Ai200 that carried farther than total yards with Apex Pro 24.

Launch, Spin, Descent, and Dispersion

Another big surprise for me was having launch slightly higher with Ai200 than with Apex Pro 24 (and this is with Apex Pro 24 having nearly two degrees weaker loft).  We've talked about this before.  Don't just an iron based on its loft because Callaway has clearly taken CG to low and special places with the Ai200 to give it plenty of launch and height.

Descent angles were also very comparable between Ai200 and Apex Pro 24 which again leaned me towards Ai200 with all the added distance.

The biggest difference between these irons was in spin.  Apex Pro 24 spins almost 1,000 RPM more than Ai200.  And that's significant.  Yet at the same time as I mentioned above, Callaway has increased spin in Ai200 compared to the Apex 21 so much that I'm still getting about 6,000+ RPM with my 7-iron.  And that's extremely good to hold just about any green.

Apex Pro 24 give me plenty of distance.  I'm never out there with them thinking I wish I hit them further.  And it's really Apex Pro 24's control that makes me like them so much.  And in downrange dispersion Apex Pro 24 is still better than Ai200.  Not a lot better but something like 5 yards tighter down range.  Left-to-right dispersion is also tighter with Apex Pro 24 but it's actually a pretty close call in this area.

Ai200 however does a better job retaining spin, launch, and distance on misses further from center than Apex Pro 24 does.  And that along with the crazy distance and relatively similar dispersion makes Ai200 the winner for me.  Perhaps I'll wind up blending the two sets or at least experimenting with that.  But bottom line is I was shocked the Ai200 appealed to me as much as it did considering how much I genuinely enjoy hitting Apex Pro 21.

Conclusion

The new Apex Ai200 irons and Ai300 irons make Callaway's entire Apex line an absolute team of All Stars.  Callaway's giving us distance without sacrificing feel.  They're giving us forgiveness without sacrificing control.  And they've evolved the Apex line of irons into more rarefied air in the player distance and game improvement irons categories.