50 Words or Less
The Callaway Elyte driver is another step forward from one of the best OEMs. Excellent ball speed on and off center. Meaningful adjustability. Lower spin than previous generation.
Introduction
As a pedant, the misspelling in Callaway’s Paradym clubs has always irked me. I had the same initial reaction when I saw “Elyte” until I realized that this one had meaning behind it. The name of these clubs is a nod to Ely Callaway Jr, the founder of Callaway Golf. Naming these clubs after the person who oversaw the original Big Bertha is a bold step. I tested the Callaway Elyte driver to see if it lives up to the name.
Looks
The Callaway Elyte driver is promoted as having a “refined, fast” shape designed to boost speed. It definitely looks aerodynamic – the oval shape tapers gently from front to back and is nearly symmetrical. The face is also a little taller than the Elyte X driver. One other thing that stands out at address is the Thermoforged Carbon crown. The visual texture of it is a bit different than other carbon fiber crowns.
In the bag, the Callaway Elyte driver has a lot going on. At the rear of the sole, there are three weight ports. A high gloss, dark silver “V” covers the center of the sole and almost hides a round weight near the face. Small slashes of candy green appear at the edges of the heel and toe, reminding me of some of my favorite Callaway drivers of the last few years.
Sound & Feel
For several years, club design shifted strongly toward minimalism – limited colors and modest branding. That trend seems to be reversing, and with it comes an acceptance of bigger impact sounds, too. On centered strikes, the Callaway Elyte driver delivers a pronounced, low-pitched “boom.” It’s a deep, bass-y sound that could strike fear into your opponent’s heart. On off-center hits, it’s equally loud, but the sound is a “crack.” This provides very clear audio feedback distinguishing good strikes from poor.
Callaway married this imposing sound with a solid feel. Despite all the tech in this club face, it feels more traditional than fast. Like the sound, your hands will clearly know the feel of a miss versus a pure strike, but locating impact with precision takes some focus.
Performance
Over the last few years, I associate Callaway drivers with face technology more than anything else, so I’ll start there. The Callaway Elyte drivers all share Ai 10X Face. The name comes from having 10 times more control points than the previous generation’s Ai Smart Face. With this design, Callaway not only aims to maximize ball speed across the face but also optimize launch and spin whether you hit it flush or not.
It came as no surprise to me when my launch monitor testing showed that the Callaway Elyte driver produces ball speed that is – sorry, but this has been my word for years – elite. And the tech lives up to the story, keeping that ball speed high across the face. I needed to get on the outer edges of the face to lower my smash factor near 1.4.
Turning to launch and spin, Callaway bills the Elyte driver as “Mid-Low Spin” and “Mid-High Launch.” I definitely agree with the first part – the Elyte seems to be noticeably lower spinning than the Paradym Ai Smoke MAX [review HERE]. This spin reduction is likely driven by the aforementioned Thermoforged Carbon crown. With regard to launch, I would rate it “Mid” not “Mid-High,” but that’s a pretty fine distinction and your mileage may vary.
Callaway also changed the adjustability on the Elyte driver. They refer to this weighting system as “discrete” – it has three separate ports – versus the sliding weight of the Paradym Ai Smoke MAX. A someone who gets a bit obsessive about gear, I like this discrete system more – it eliminates worrying about fractional moves in the sliding weight. When you pair the 13 gram weight with the adjustable hosel, you can see very substantial changes to both your shot shape and trajectory.
Overall, I think the Callaway Elyte driver is a solid, iterative improvement on the Paradym Ai Smoke MAX. Callaway states that consumers gained up to 8 yards with an average of 1.8 yards gained when comparing the two. Based on my testing, higher spin players are the ones more likely to get closer to that 8 yards gained.
Finally, comparing the Callaway Elyte driver to the other Elyte drivers, this is the do-it-all, middle of the bell curve model that’s meant for most players. Callaway states that the Elyte has “Higher” forgiveness for players with handicaps from 0-20. The Elyte X [review HERE] has “Highest” forgiveness for players with handicaps up to and beyond 30. Both drivers share the Thermoforged Carbon Crown and titanium body construction. The Elyte Triple Diamond has merely “High” forgiveness, for players with handicaps +5 to 10. The Elyte also sits in the middle when it comes to launch and spin with the Elyte X launching and spinning higher, the Triple Diamond lower.
Conclusion
While it’s not the leap forward that Big Bertha was (within the current rules, I don’t think anything could be), the Callaway Elyte driver is a strong performer that deserves to be considered alongside the best of 2025. The combination of excellent ball speed and forgiveness will help Callaway to maintain the dominant position it’s established over the last few years.
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He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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10 Comments
Excellent review Matt. I think you have convinced me that this is the Driver for me. The adjustability looks a cut above the AI Smoke.
Just when I thought Mavrik couldn’t be beaten out for worse name ever, the Elyte said ‘hold my beer’.
Great review, some pretty good numbers there and I do like the top crown look.
Tell like it is , the name is a joke, back weight is a Ping copy, sound and feel on miss hits is terrible. Cheap Epic look . Flop year for Callaway .
Bubba,
I love the strong take, but I don’t know that it’s fair to say any brand owns “discrete” weighting, as Callaway calls it. And I say that as a guy who has played a TON of PING product over the years. Just trying to be fair.
Best,
Matt
I bought the max fast version and can’t wait to try it. I am now in my eighties and need a lighter driver. I just wanted to thank you again for your reviews; they have been invaluable to me, including putting the Edison 2.0 wedges in my bag. Why do I keep going back to Callaway? I was able to trade in three of my older drivers and saved some big-time money.
Thanks, Bill! Good luck with the Elyte Max Fast.
-Matt
Another good review Matt. I’m not up to date on the Big Bertha impact on drivers back in the day; ironic that I have one as my gamer. Can you explain the tech jump which USGA wouldn’t allow today? Jon
Jon,
My point was that all of today’s drivers are right against the limit of what’s allowed, so no huge breakthroughs are possible (or at least likely).
Best,
Matt
For 6 Hunny, I can fly to Hawaii fro the week. These drivers are a joke. Most 12 handicappers hit their drives 225-235 year’s. This is not the proverbial “gamechanger”. No club is.
Doc,
I clearly need a better travel agent.
-Matt