Callaway Elyte Vs Taylormade Qi35 Max Drivers Comparison Overview
The latest Callaway and Taylormade drivers for the 2025 season go head to head in today’s review and there isn’t too much between them in terms of performance.
Callaway Elyte Driver Overview
The brand new Elyte range of drivers from Callaway for 2025 won’t win any awards for their design but they might win a couple for their performance. They will certainly end up in a ton of golfers bags in 2025 and beyond.
The Cloudy Carbon and Blue design from the Paradym AI smoke is gone, replaced with a fully black glossy finish in the Elyte drivers.
Callaway have invested $2 million in a 3d printer, combines with their AI technology has produced over 70 prototypes before landing on the final design of the Elyte.
They say it has reduced the drag on the downswing from the AI Smoke and we did notice an extra 1 mph on the club speed in our testing.
Next up is the 10X AI Smart face which now has 10 times more sweet spots across the face which should lead to a tighter dispersion in terms of distance and left to right.
The driver comes in three models, the Elyte, the Elyte X to fix a slice with higher spin and more forgiveness and the triple diamond for tour players.
The sliding weight from the AI smoke is also now gone and is replaced by a 13g tungsten weight at the back of the club which has three positions, neutral, draw and fade.
Overall a quality driver that was a little longer, lower spinning and more accurate than the Qi35
Taylormade Qi35 Driver Overview
The Taylormade QI35 comes in 4 different flavors.
The Taylormade looks great at address with the Chrome crown standing over the big and friendly looking profile.
The Twist Face stands out as premium and replaced the Red and Blue face of models past but it is still made with Carbon.
The Twist face now has more sweet spots across the face and this means straighter shots, tighter dispersion and more consistency.
The COG has been lowered and deepened and there are two adjustable weights at the front and the back of the club which can be repositioned for your particular swing.
The Taylormade sounds really good on impact and it is very forgiving with great distance but it was a little behind the Callaway in our testing. Maybe the Carbon face is not the most advanced yet!
Callaway Elyte Vs Qi35 Max Testing
The Callaway Elyte performed a little better for us in testing but by all means, there will be many golfers who will much prefer the Taylormade Qi35 in one of its many forms.
The Callaway had a tighter dispersion to both the left and right and a tighter distance dispersion.
We were missing a couple to the left and I know the QI35 is supposed to be good for golfers who slice the ball. There was a few that came up a bit shorter low on the face as well.
Overall the Callaway had more distance, a lower launch and less spin. The Callaway wins this one.
Taylormade Qi35 Max Driver
In 20 Words or Less
A Large Profile with a beautiful carbon design and a black twist face coupled with premium performance in Distance, Spin And Forgiveness.
Taylormade Qi35 Max Driver – First Impressions
“The Black Carbon Twist really stands out as a premium looking driver and the Carbon Crow And Sole Screams, Hit Me.”
The QI25 Max is a driver you can pick straight off the rack and put into play and it has no adjustable weights to play around with and optimise for your particular strike. Indeed the standard version has lower spin and is almost just as forgiving.
Taylormade have managed to get this driver up to 10k MOI by lowering and deepening the COG for optimal launch and forgiveness.
The Crown and sole of the driver is wrapped in Carbon to reduced the weight and it also looks great at addres with a big forgiving profile and a massive face.
Twist face technology is used in the black carbon face to keep shots moving straight, long and far.
There is a fixed 34g weight at the back of the club that is not adjustable so minus changing the shaft, this is very much an off the rack driver.
There is a toss up between the QI35 and the QI35 Max which are very close in terms of performance and maybe Taylormade only needed to release one of these drivers in 2025.
Overall a very nice drive that sounds amazing and delivers on its promises of max distance and max forgiveness.
Callaway Elyte Driver
In 20 Words or Less
Callaway have used a 3D Printer to reduce drag and an AI Super Computer to increase forgiveness across the face.
Taylormade Qi10 Driver – First Impressions
“The driver is less flashy than the AI Smoke and its an Epic green finish on the bottom with Thermograde Carbon on the crown.”
The driver may not look as premium as some other drivers but it sounds and performs amazing.
There are 4 options with the driver – the standard ELyte for most players, the Elyte X for max launch and forgiveness, especially for a slice. The Max Fast for slow swing speeds and the triple diamond for better players with less spin and more distance.
Callaway investing into a new 3d Printer that spit out almost 100 prototypes for this new driver. The big improvement, they say, lies in the reduction of drag from the old AI smoke and we did see a small increase in club speed during out testing.
Forgiveness is the other big improvement. Callaway have more data in the AI Super computer now and that means more control points across the face. It’s now called the Ai10X face as it has over 10 times more sweet spots along the face.
These new drivers are very forgiving to the point where you can almost always hit the fairway with any sort of decent strike.
The sliding weight has been removed from the Ai Smoke and there is a 3 position 13g Tungsten weight in its place to optimise the club for your particular miss.
Overall, a very impressive range of drivers for 2025 and beyond.
Taylormade Qi35 Max Driver Selling Points
- Carbon Crown And Sole Look Amazing
- Black Carbon Twist Face For Speed And Forgiveness
- Straight Shots Anywhere On The Face
- 10k MOI for Forgiveness and Ball Speed
- 34g Rear Weight Which Lowers The COG
- Large Profile To Inspire Confidence
Callaway Elyte Driver Selling Points
- 4 Models Available
- Thermograde Carbon Crown
- Ai10x Smart Face with 10 times more sweet spots
- Back Tungsten weight with 3 positions
- Reduced Drag from Ai Smoke
- More Distance And Lower Spin Rates
Who is the Taylormade Qi35 Max for?
“The QI35 Max is for All golfer but especially high handicappers who want straight shots with decent forgiveness and a lot of distance”
There is 4 drivers to choose from and the QI35 Max will suit moderate to slighter faster swing speeds.
If you are somebody that struggles with slicing the ball, the twist face technology has been ramped up in the carbon face to ensure you get straight ball flights with tight distance dispersion almost all the time.
The QI35 Max is very close in terms of performance to the QI35 standard and that comes with an adjustable weight too allowing the club to be optimised for you particular swing and approach to driving the ball.
Overall a great looking, sounding and performing driver that lives up to the claims that Taylormade have made about it.
Distance: 97/100
Accuracy: 96/100
Forgiveness: 97/100
Feel & Control: 94/100
Overall Score: 95/100
Who is the Callaway Elyte for?
“With 4 Models available, the Callaway Elyte driver is for everybody who wants to play golf.”
With the increased accuracy of the face, the standard Elyte model will suit plenty of high, mid and even low handicappers.
If you struggle with a slice or have a slow swing speed Callaway have also got you covered. The triple diamond will be getting plenty of air time on this year as well.
The Ai10 face really does improve the consistency of this driver. Even when we hit the heel or toe in testing, the ball never went out of control and we always hugged the fairway on the left or right side, despite poor contact.
The ball sounds really good off the face too and in terms of speed and forgiveness, its right up there with the Ping G440 Max drivers.
More forgiving than the Taylormade Qi35 and slightly longer.
Distance: 98/100
Accuracy: 97/100
Forgiveness: 98/100
Feel & Control: 95/100
Overall Score: 97/100
