Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Vs Taylormade Stealth HD Irons

Callaway-Paradym-Ai-Smoke-Vs-Taylormade-Stealth-HD-Irons

Today we’re comparing the brand new Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons to game improvement stalwarts, the Taylormade Stealth HD irons.

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Irons Overview

Ai Smoke Irons

“The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons feature an advanced AI-designed face, pre-worn leading edge for improved turf interaction and a hollow-body design.”

The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons also have a modern, downplayed cavity back design with the “Smoke” graphics adorning the shallow cavity.

The blades look long with a shallow face profile.

They provide a lot of distance through piercing trajectory and surprisingly low spin rates.

Overall, they’re great for players who need more distance but still want a moderate-looking iron at address. A complete Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke set retails for $1000.

Taylormade Stealth HD Irons Overview

“The Stealth HD irons have internal draw bias weighting, ultra-low CG and the Speed Channel.”

The Taylormade Stealth HD irons have a deeper, more traditional cavity back design; but they manage to have a similar face depth as the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons.

So you end up with a nice-looking, long blade. The top lines on these irons are thick and the offset is considerable – 5.2mm in the 5-iron.

The Stealth HD irons launch very high and the internal draw bias helps prevent a slice. A complete set of Stealth HD irons will runyou about $800.

“The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke is better for mid to high handicappers while the Taylormade Stealth HD irons are good strictly for high handicappers who need to correct a slice.”

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke First Impressions

“My first impression of the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons was that they were familiar.”

I love it when Callaway plays to their strengths and right away, I could tell the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons had classic Callaway design.

The face depth is about medium as is the width of the top line and the sole width. Again, very reminiscent of the size and shape of the Edge irons.

They look like they’re going to be forgiving at first glance and they live up to their initial appearance.

It took me just a couple of swings to get past the 170 yard carry mark with the 7-iron and I was also pretty pleased with the dispersion. Even on my toe-side mis-hits, I wasn’t over-drawing the ball.

Yes, I landed a little too right of the target, but the divergence was never greater than 9 yards.

Taylormade Stealth HD Irons – First Impressions

“The first thing that almost all of our testers noticed about these irons was the width of the sole.”

This is what makes these borderline hybrid irons. The sole looks very chunky both in the bag and behind the ball. For high handicappers, this will likely be a welcome sight. You will feel very confident taking a full swing with these irons and likely increase your striking accuracy.

Tayloramde Stealth Iron Family

“For better players looking for a bit more workability, the standard Taylormade Stealth irons would be a solid choice.”

The standard Taylormade Stealth HD irons have a more traditional iron look at address even as they are cavity backs. Mass has been shaved off of the toe area and repositioned in the sole, right under the sweet spot. So you get rewarded more than usual when you pure the ball. The flight is lower compared to the Taylormade Stealth HD irons and so are the spin rates.

The standard Taylormade Stealth irons will definitely feel better for players with faster swing speeds too. They have a neutral flight instead of the internal draw bias of the Taylormade Stealth HD irons. The standard Tayloramde Stealth irons lack the multi-material cavity badge in the back; but they don’t really need it because forgiveness is not the main emphasis of these irons.

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Selling Points

Smart Face Technology
Extra ¼ “ of length in the mid and long irons
True Temper Elevate and Project X Cypher shafts available
Hollow-body design
AI-designed face architecture
Strong lofts

Taylormade Stealth HD Irons Selling Points

Steep launch angles
Good stopping power
They play well from the rough
They will help you correct your slice
The wide sole looks forgiving behind the ball
Great for high handicap players looking to increase accuracy

Who Are the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Irons for?

In my humble opinion, I think the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons would be great for handicappers in the 17-23 range.

This is the area where you’re still going to need a good bit of distance and help staying on the fairway – two things that the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons do exceedingly well.

But if you have problems hitting the ball low, the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons are not for you.

For the naturally low hitter I would recommend the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke HL irons which, as you can probably guess, have weaker loft profiles which means higher launch.

The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Irons Family

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Irons6

In addition to the standard Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons, Callaway has released the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke HL and the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fast iron sets.

As already discussed the HL version is a weaker-lofted, higher-launching set. The 7-iron HL checks in at 30° in comparison to the 28° lofted 7-iron of the standard Paradym Ai Smoke set.

The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke HL irons also have deeper cavity backs and are generally a bit more forgiving.

Then there are the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fast irons which also feature a deep cavity back and even weaker lofts – the 7-iron is 31°.

The Max Fast irons boast a lighter design than the standard Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons so they would be better for slower swing speed players.

Distance: 98/100

Accuracy: 97/100

Forgiveness: 97/100

Feel & Control: 95/100

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Irons

Overall Score: 97/100

Who Are the Taylormade Stealth HD Irons for?

“The Taylormade Stealth HD irons will benefit high handicappers and in particular, high handicappers that need to be able to launch the ball high while keeping it on the fairway.”

If accuracy is your main concern, then the Taylormade Stealth HD irons should definitely be on your radar. If distance is your main concern, you may want to look elsewhere. The distance isn’t the main attraction with these irons. Don’t misunderstand, as we have said the distance our testers were yielding with these irons was considerable – just not anything you would write home about.