Two heavyweight brands, Callaway and Titleist. Two game-improvement irons, Quantum Max and T350. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the main event! The gloves are off and this head-to-head review will compare performance (and appearance and feel) in five categories highlighted below. All numbers were recorded by Trackman, the same Pro V1x ball was used during testing, and both Quantum Max and T350 irons had the same NS Pro Modus Tour 120 S shafts installed.
Both irons bring easy launch, long carry, and plenty of forgiveness. But one pulled ahead on the scorecard landing cleaner punches in this split-decision showdown.
Appearance and Feel
The Callaway Quantum Max is a shorter blade heel to toe than Titleist T350. Quantum Max has a slightly narrower sole and taller, deeper face. Quantum Max also has a slightly thinner top-line and slightly less offset. Both Quantum Max and T350 have that game-improvement crisp, explosive feel at impact. Quantum Max feels and sounds slightly quieter, softer, and thicker (more solid).
Note: In the next four categories of performance metrics I'm going to be talking about shots hit pretty well. Call it a center impact area roughly the size of a thumbprint. In the last section on forgiveness we'll revisit these categories for mishits further out in all directions.
Ball Speed and Distance Metrics
With both swing speed and smash factor within decimal points of each other for both irons, Titleist T350 had 0.2 mph higher ball speed than Quantum Max on average. Quantum Max had 2.3 yards more carry yards than T350 on average. And T350 had 1.7 more total yards than Quantum Max on average. It's worth noting here that the Quantum Max 6-iron loft is 1 degree weaker than T350.
Launch and Height Metrics
Callaway Quantum Max launched the ball 1.5 degrees higher than Titleist T350 on average. Quantum Max 3DP MB reached a peak height 7.7 feet higher than T350 on average.
Spin and Descent Metrics
Callaway Quantum Max spun 350+ rpm more than Titleist T350 on average. And Quantum Max had a 1.2 degrees steeper descent than T350.
Dispersion Metrics
Titleist T350 had slightly tighter downrange dispersion than Callaway Quantum Max by an average of 2.5+ yards. Quantum Max had slightly tighter left-to-right dispersion than T350 by an average of less than 2 yards. More shots were grouped slightly left of center with Quantum Max while more shots were grouped slightly right of center with T350.
The Road So Far
You can draw some general conclusions about Callaway Quantum Max and Titleist T350 on shots hit pretty well. T350 has the edge in control for downrange dispersion but Callaway Quantum Max has the edge in left-to-right dispersion. T350 has a slight right bias, while Quantum Max has a slight left bias. T350 is slightly longer in total distance than Quantum Max, but Quantum Max launches higher with steeper descent. And at this point I'd call these very similarly performing irons in distance and control. A choice between them would likely come down to a preference for higher flight, steeper decent, and flight that takes away the right miss more (Quantum Max), or a preference for lower flight, slightly longer total yards, and flight that takes away the left miss more (T350).
I mentioned in the beginning these two irons are evenly matched and you can see this in the numbers so far for shots hit well. However the Callaway Quantum Max pull away from T350 with better overall forgiveness when we start missing further away from center.
Forgiveness
Let's revisit the categories of performance metrics now for misses outside the center thumbprint impact area (in all directions up, down, toe, and heel). I'll break this down in two forgiveness sub-categories: downrange (vertical) forgiveness, and left-to-tight (horizontal) forgiveness. I'm not going to give specific impact millimeter misses for each performance metric other than to say I'm talking about 10 mm misses in any direction (think a second thumbprint area away from center in all directions).
Vertical Forgiveness
On misses up on the face Callaway Quantum Max and Titleist T350 are equally forgiving. High misses with Quantum Max lost 5.3 yards on average while these same misses with T350 lost 5.5 yards on average. There's a significant difference however between these irons on low misses. Quantum Max low misses lost 3.4 yards on average while the same misses with T350 lost 9+ yards on average. This difference is even more pronounced on extreme low misses. And yes you read that correctly, the Quantum Max miss performance is actually better on low misses than high misses. Quantum Max also maintains launch, spin and descent better and more consistently than T350 on these low misses.
Horizontal Forgiveness
On toe and heel misses Callaway Quantum Max and Titleist T350 forgiveness is similar in keeping shots close to the center line. On toe misses Quantum Max was 3.7 yards closer to the center line on average than T350. On heel misses Quantum Max was 2+ yards closer to the center line on average than T350. Quantum Max and T350 also maintain their respective launch, spin, and descent are equally well on these misses. However the Quantum Max has a wider miss sweet spot for these toe and heel misses. So you can miss more extreme toe and heel with Quantum Max the with T350.
Final Thoughts
I think the best way to describe the difference between these two irons is by calling the Titleist T350 "better player" game-improvement irons and calling the Callaway Quantum Max "every player" game-improvement irons. T350 dispersion is excellent for a game-improvement iron. These irons will let you miss a little in any direction on the face and still deliver long, controlled distance. I guarantee there are single digit players out there who will and are gaming the T350. Quantum Max dispersion is also excellent for a game-improvement iron. These irons give you comparatively easier and higher launch, steeper descent, and more area of the face that's forgiving. And that's going to make Quantum Max the game-improvement choice for an even larger number of players, swing speeds, and skill levels.
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