Can Artificial Intelligence help you hit longer and straighter drives? Which is the Best Callaway Driver for you in 2024?

What is the best Callaway driver for you in 2024? Our launch monitor-backed test reveals all.

Callaway have been at the forefront of golf club development for nearly 40 years, they are a market leader when it comes to the best golf clubs, and throughout their history have made some of the best golf drivers of all time.

Since the original Epic in 2017, the company has plowed huge resources into harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence to design smarter golf clubs. Thanks to tracking hundreds of thousands of real-world golf swings the most recent Rogue ST, Paradym, and AI Smoke models have faces optimized to counteract the most typical mishits of the intended audience of each different model.      

Today Callaway makes three main driver options for shots from the tee, there’s also a versatile AI Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver that can be used from the tee (possibly as a driver replacement), and fairway so long as your swing boasts plenty of speed. Where the Ai Smoke Triple Diamond is one of the best low spin drivers available (it’s used by the likes of Jon Rahm and two-time major champ Xander Schauffele) the Ai Smoke was one of our most forgiving drivers in 2024, there’s also an Ai Smoke Max D that’s specifically set-up to help slicers.

Whether you’re Xander Schauffele, a decent club golfer, or a beginner golfer there’s a Callaway driver out there for you, here’s my rundown on choosing which will best suit your game in 2024.

Best Callaway Driver – Jump to:

• What type of driver do you need?
• The Best Callaway Driver
• How we tested the drivers
• Buying Advice & FAQs

What type of driver do you need?

Low Spin

The best low-spin drivers have more weight positioned closer to the face rather than towards the rear like more forgiving models. By stacking weight in a more forward position the center of gravity (the point the club rotates around) is drawn closer to the face. With a more forward center of gravity (CG) low spin drivers react differently at impact compared to back-weighted forgiving models. It’s this impact reaction that reduces spin.

Thanks to their more forward CG low-spin drivers have lower MOI ratings, which means they are less forgiving on off-center strikes. Low spin drivers typically work best for golfers with above-average levels of swing speed, as speed usually generates more spin. Low spin drivers will generally produce faster ball speeds than more back-weighted models (as more mass is located closer to the impact location), so they’re often the longest but least forgiving option and golfers need decent levels of speed to get the best out of them.

It’s no secret that golfers who hit the longest drives have upward attack angles onto the back of the ball (which reduces spin and adds distance much more so than downward driver attack angles), so low spin drivers are often designed to compliment this motion. It’s entirely possible if a low spin driver is put into the hands of a downward attack angle golfer spin rates will increase and not reduce. Callaway’s best low-spin driver option in 2024 is the AI Smoke Triple Diamond.   

Forgiving

If you don’t have a super-fast swing speed and a slice doesn’t plague your game it’s highly likely you’ll benefit from a driver that offers a good blend of distance and forgiveness. Modern all round performance drivers typically have a tiny bit of left bias built in (for right-handers), so expect their center of gravity location to sit somewhere between low spin and the best draw models.

The most forgiving drivers are a great option for golfers prone to spraying shots across the entire face of their driver. The Callaway AI Smoke Max falls within this category, as does the TaylorMade QI10, Ping G430 Max, and Titleist GT2.

Draw Bias

The average club golfer has a handicap of 18 with a typical swing speed hovering around 92/93 mph. Research has shown a majority of these players will hit shots from left to right with a slice (for a right-handed golfer). ‘Slicers’ create more spin, which drains your game of distance and shots frustratingly end up down the right side of the golf course, so most golf club brands produce a ‘Draw Bias’ driver to help counteract the effects of a slice. Callaway makes the AI Smoke Max D, Ping makes the G430 SFT, whereas TaylorMade’s offering is the super forgiving Qi10 Max.  

Draw bias drivers have weight positioned more towards the heel, so the head naturally wants to rotate around this heel side center of gravity at impact, which closes the face and helps counteract the effects of a slice.       

Lots of golfers believe draw drivers are their most forgiving driver option, however as heel weight is usually further forward than an all-out forgiveness model like the Ping G430 Max this isn’t always the case. An exception to the rule is the TaylorMade Qi10 Max which has an MOI of 10,000 gcm2 and is the company’s easiest to square and most forgiving model.     

Mini Driver

Mini Drivers are a pretty modern invention they can serve several purposes for very different players. Mini Drivers have a smaller head size, which is more aerodynamic than a typical driver (300cc rather than 460cc). The size reduction means it’s possible to pick up speed, so even though Mini Drivers usually come with higher lofts (11.5° or 13.5°) golfers can often see very little distance difference between the pair.

Some golfers see the Mini Driver as an alternative to their regular driver off the tee, the shorter shaft length can boost confidence, improve consistency, and up accuracy while giving up very little in terms of ball speed and distance.

The smaller head size and extra loft mean higher speed players, like Tommy Fleetwood also hit Mini Driver from the fairway (expect a stronger loft than most fairway woods) which can bring the very longest of Par 5s within reach in two shots. Mini Drivers can be a really versatile option, but from all the testing we’ve done you will need strong levels of speed to launch one to a good peak height to get maximum distance from the fairway.        

If you’re looking to use the AI Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver more from the tee I’d suggest looking at the 11.5° loft whereas if you’re after a super strong option from the fairway the 13.5° loft would be a more sensible choice.

Best Callaway Drivers: At a glance:

Best for lowering spin: Callaway AI Smoke Triple Diamond | VIEW OFFER

Most forgiving: Callaway AI Smoke Max | VIEW OFFER

Best for slicers: Callaway AI Smoke Max D | VIEW OFFER

Most versatile: Callaway AI Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver | VIEW OFFER

Best for women golfers: Callaway Big Bertha REVA | VIEW OFFER

Let’s dive into the best Callaway Golf Drivers of 2024…

Best Callaway Drivers 2024

Callaway Ai-Smoke Triple Diamond Driver

Callaway's smart-faced and low-spinning offering for 2024.

Expert rating:

4.5

Best Low Spin Driver

Price: $599.99

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Price: $599.99

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Thanks to Callaway's AI-inspired supercomputer, Paradym Ai-Smoke models benefit from the learning of 50,000 electronic prototypes before settling on the most optimized iteration. Plus, thanks to the hours of real-world research, each driver is more tailored to the typical speed, path, and impact location of its intended audience - in the case of Triple Diamond golfers - swing speeds of 105 – 120+ mph and shots grouped tightly around the center of the face.

If you do fit the bill and your game is based on consistent hitting at high speeds, our test data highlights the TD as a brilliant performing low spin driver in 2024. At 276 yards carry distance, it was just a single yard back from the very longest and was our test pro’s 2^nd longest low-spin driver, posting an overall shot area (593 yds²) just inside our test average. This is a seriously fast, powerful, and strong low-spin driver option, so strong it ranks among our top two performing low-spin drivers of 2024 (alongside the TaylorMade Qi10 LS).

TG Test Pro Data (Denali S shaft – Back Weight):
Ball Speed: 161.9 mph | Backspin: 2099 rpm | Carry: 277 yds | Shot Area: 424.5 yds²

Read our full Callaway Paradym Ai-Smoke Triple Diamond driver review.

Pros & Cons Specs

Pros

• The new Smart Face concept is a really clever idea to tailor drivers more to your game.
• With four models to choose between, there's a driver solution in the Ai-Smoke family for everyone.
• Expect a good-looking, fast, and lovely-sounding driver.

Cons

• Remember this is the least forgiving driver in the Ai-Smoke family.

Lofts	8° / 9° / 10.5°
Stock shafts	Project X Cypher 2.0 (High Launch), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue (Mid Launch), Project X Denali Black (Low Launch)
Stock grip	Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360

Data comparison: How does the Callaway AI Smoke compare to other leading Low-Spin Drivers (Test Pro data)?

Callaway Paradym Ai-Smoke Max Driver

A sweeter performance no matter where shots hit the face.

Expert rating:

5.0

Most Forgiving

Price: $599.99

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Price: $599.99

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The Max is Callaway's core Ai-Smoke model. It’s the most forgiving of the family thanks to an Ai-inspired Smart Face design packed with technology, and will likely outstrip all the others put together in terms of sales. The Max is the only one of the four new drivers to have an adjustable sole weight, mass which will help golfers dial in a preferred shot shape.

At 272 yards the Max was our test pro's longest-carrying forgiving driver of 2024 (with and without a non-stock shaft). Unexpectedly this model (with the stock Tensei Blue shaft) also gave our test pro his tightest shot area across two test days. With shots being grouped into an area 37.6% smaller than our second-placed driver (the TaylorMade Qi10 Max) and 61.8% tighter than the test average. Just bear in mind though that dispersion figures usually change from session to session, so we can't say this model will necessarily be more accurate on the golf course over a season than a 10K MOI driver.

TG Test Pro Data (Tensei S shaft):
Ball Speed: 161.5 mph | Backspin: 2212 rpm | Carry: 272 yds | Shot Area: 210.6 yds²

Read our full Callaway Paradym Ai-Smoke Max driver review.

Pros & Cons Specs

Pros

• The new Smart Face concept is a really clever idea to tailor a driver more to your game.
• With four models to choose between, there's a driver solution in the Ai-Smoke family for everyone.
• These are good-looking, fast, and lovely-sounding drivers.

Cons

• These are some of the most costly drivers on the market.

Lofts	9° / 10.5° / 12°
Stock shafts	Project X Cypher 2.0 (High Launch), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue (Mid Launch), Project X Denali Black (Low Launch)
Stock grip	Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360

Data comparison: How does the Callaway AI Smoke Max compare to other leading Forgiving Drivers (Test Pro data)?

Callaway Padarym Ai-Smoke Max D Driver

An AI-inspired slice buster with excellent all-round performance.

Expert rating:

5.0

Best for Slicers

Price: $599 RRP

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Price: $599 RRP

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The Max D is the most draw-biased of the four Ai-Smoke drivers and replaces the previous Paradym X. Expect the model to hit 9 yards further left than last year’s set-up, which is also further left than setting the Paradym Ai-Smoke Max head up with the sole weight in the draw position. Expect a slightly lower MOI however, so only explore this model if a slice is your downfall. If you’re just inconsistent it could be the higher MOI Max might be a better option. 

I really enjoyed hitting this model, and my data with it wasn’t half bad, either. With just a single yard between it and my longest driver (the PXG 0311 XF GEN6), there’s little to choose between them as I know the data could be reversed on another test day. What sticks out though, in a year when MOI is the hot topic, is the Max D managed to group shots into my smallest shot area (143 yds²). With an AI Smart face optimized for low heel-to-high-toe strikes, I feel like the Max D has mine and many other club golfers’ misses covered. A cracking draw bias driver option in 2024.

Read our full Callaway Paradym Ai-Smoke Max D driver review.

Pros & Cons Specs

Pros

• The optimized Smart Face is tailored to those struggling with a slice.
• One of the longest and most forgiving draw drivers available.
• Some clever topline shaping means the face doesn't look massively closed at address.
• Powerful and stable through impact.

Cons

• Some may prefer less busy aesthetics.

Lofts	9° / 10.5° / 12°
Stock shafts	Project X Cypher 2.0 (high launch), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue (mid launch), Project X Denali Black (low launch).
Stock grip	Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360.

Data comparison: How does the Callaway AI Smoke Max D compare to other leading Draw Drivers (Equipment Editor data)?

Callaway Big Bertha Reva

Expert rating:

3.5

Best for Women Golfers

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With women now the fastest-growing group in golf, Callaway has committed to using extensive data and feedback to “develop exceptional products, experiences, and platforms to promote our passion for the women’s game.”

The brand conducted extensive performance-data research and carried out huge amounts of testing with golfers before reworking the technologies that make Big Bertha drivers long, straight, and easy to hit to ensure Reva delivers exactly what women need for their game.

The Reva features a Callaway Artificial Intelligence-designed Flash Face, which is stronger and lighter to provide faster ball speeds across more of the face.

Reva also uses Callaway’s coveted Jailbreak technology. Bars behind the face help increase its flex for even more distance, while the lightweight carbon crown has allowed weight to be placed elsewhere for more forgiveness.

There’s also a speed-enhancing RCH 40 shaft and Lamkin Women’s ST Soft Grip. 

Pros & Cons Specs

Pros

• Great ball speeds
• Excellent forgiveness
• Smart design

Cons

• No sliding weight for shot shaping adjustability

Lofts:	10.5°, 12.5°
Stock shaft:	Callaway RCH (65g R, S) 55g (L, R, S) 45g (L, R)

How we tested the best Callaway drivers

To test golf equipment, we create a controlled indoor environment at Keele Golf Centre and use a premium tour-level golf ball (the Titleist Pro V1x). We collect data from every shot our test pro is happy with, using a Foresight GC Quad launch monitor. Draw driver models are hit by Equipment Editor Simon Daddow, and Women’s drivers are tested by TG Deputy Editor Sarah Pyett.

Find out more about how we test golf equipment.

Why do we use a Titleist Prto V1x golf ball?

It would be easy to use just one test golf ball brand every year, but that inevitably leads to criticism for being too closely aligned to one manufacturer, especially if that brand’s equipment performs particularly well. To ensure fairness we like to switch manufacturers each year. For 2024 we’ve used the Titleist Pro V1x.

The brand revealed the latest Pro V1x model in 2023, and Titleist’s Senior Director of Golf Ball Research and Engineering, Mike Madson says “Consistency means when a golfer tees up a Pro V1 or Pro V1x, every properly executed shot they make is going to deliver the performance they expect and the performance they trust.”

Thanks to the Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x mopping up mountains of tour wins across all global tours we know the model is trusted by the world’s very best.

Why do we use a pro tester?

Speak to any golf club engineer about product testing and they all talk about needing a repeatable, reliable strike to offer any sort of valuable comparison. So, whilst we accept not all of the equipment included within our tests was designed for our test pro, what our data shows is a great comparison of how clubs in each particular category differ, which is hugely valuable in helping you narrow your choice as a consumer.

In 2024 we’ve tested over 50 different drivers in many different settings, during which our test pro has needed to delete very few mishit shots. He’s hit the flag from 300 yards, he has hit fades, draws, and nailed countless shots straight at his target, and he will also regularly hit 300 driver shots in a day. In short, Neil Wain is the perfect club tester due to his consistency in delivering accurate and reliable comparative data and he loves hitting balls all day long.

We would of course always recommend attending a proper fitting session, to ensure any purchase is tailored to your game.

Watch: The Best Drivers 2024 video

Best Callaway Drivers: Buying Advice & FAQs

How often does Callaway update their drivers?

Where Titleist and Ping tend to reveal new drivers every two years as they feel it takes time to work up designs that incorporate worthwhile new technologies brands like Callaway and TaylorMade usually release drivers on a 12-month cycle.

You can expect new models to appear within the first couple weeks of January, and towards the end of the year if stock levels are high you might find some on special offer or at clearance prices.

Which tour pros play Callaway drivers?

As golf’s biggest brand (the company turns over more money than any other thanks to also owning Top Golf, Travis Mathew, Ogio, and Peter Storm) Callaway has a huge tour team playing on the biggest global tours on a weekly basis. Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele are some of the biggest names to play Callaway drivers, they’re accompanied by the likes of Sam Burns, Nicolai Hojgaard, Ronni Yin, and Rose Zhang.

Sponsoring multiple elite-level athletes means the Callaway logo is never too far away from the winner’s circle. The brand’s most popular tour driver is the AI Smoke Triple Diamond, which is made in a number of configurations for the tour team.       

Which Callaway driver is most forgiving?

When I sat down with Callaway’s engineers and designers to learn about the AI Smoke family at the end of 2023 the company seemed a little on the back foot as talk already swirled about the TaylorMade Qi10 Max and Ping G430 Max 10K drivers, both of which boasted more MOI than any of the Callaway Ai Smoke drivers.

The most forgiving Callaway driver is the AI Smoke Max, its MOI is above 9,000 gcm2  yet Callaway says golfers can expect it to perform like a higher MOI driver than the numbers suggest thanks to micro-trampolines on the AI-Smart Face which tighten dispersion and help counteract miss hit shots.  

From my on-course experience and our test pro results, I’d say the AI Smoke Max is just as forgiving as any higher MOI driver on the market in 2024.   

Which stock shafts are Callaway offering in their drivers in 2024?

The AI Smoke drivers come with an excellent range of stock shafts so golfers can dial in a desired ball flight to benefit their game no matter their speed. Higher speed/spin players will likely look at the low launch Project X Denali which has been a hit out on tour in 2024. Those looking to maintain a mid-launch and spin flight should look at the Mitsubishi Tensei AV Series Blue, while lesser-speed players will likely benefit from exploring the lighter higher launching Project X Cyper 2.0.

For players specifically looking to boost club speed as their number one priority the Max Fast driver will be the best option, this model comes with a very lightweight Mitsubishi Tensei Silver shaft.       

How is the Ai Smoke Max Fast driver different from the rest of the family?

The Max Fast is a brand new model in the US and Europe, but Callaway has made something similar in Japan for several years. At 270g this is very much a super lightweight (it’s 35g lighter than the Max), easy-launch model. It replaces the Callaway Paradym Star products we’ve seen in the West before. The idea revolves around boosting club speed thanks to being so lightweight. 

Expect a fixed hosel and no sliding sole weight. This design is optimized to deliver speed to golfers who don’t already have it. Thanks to a 40g shaft and lightweight grip this very hi-tech model is a strong option for slower swing speed players. 

Should I consider buying a second-hand Callaway driver?

Absolutely do not write off buying a used Callaway driver, the brand has made plenty of excellent models over the years. Obviously, any used model from previous years won’t have the very latest game-improving technology built-in but many golfers would argue it’s hard to spot marginal gains between successive models. The average life expectancy for a driver is around five years, so you will see a difference between 5 – 8 year old models and the AI Smoke available today.  

If you really want a good all-round driver you have to look at the Ai Smoke Max even though it’s only been available in 2024 so will likely cost more money. The Max is Callaway’s best current high MOI driver there should though be some used and ready-for-resale models in the market. Always make sure you hit and try any second-hand purchases before taking the plunge.

About the author

Simon Daddow

Today’s Golfer Equipment Editor

Having tested and played more than 10,000 clubs in his life, what Simon doesn’t know about golf clubs isn’t worth knowing.

He spent a large part of his career as a golf club maker and Product Development Manager, and has worked in the golf industry for more than 30 years. He joined EMAP Active (now Bauer Media) as Equipment Editor in 2006 and has worked for both Today’s Golfer and Golf World.

You can contact Simon via email and follow him on Twitter for loads more golf equipment insight.