Ping G440 Max vs Callaway Elyte Driver: Read Our Full Head-To-Head Verdict

Ping G440 Max vs Callaway Elyte Driver: Read Our Full Head-To-Head Verdict

Callaway are always strong contenders in any discussion for the best golf drivers and for 2025 that is unlikely to be any different, as their new Elyte range of drivers will no doubt be a match for anything else on the market.

Whereas Callaway drops a new driver on us every year, however, Ping does things differently and has a two year cycle for new drivers, which if anything makes a Ping launch even more exciting. 2025 marks two years of the G430 range so it has now been replaced by the new and improved G440 family. The popular G430 Max was one of the most forgiving drivers around so if the G440 Max does turn out to be an upgrade then it will end up in an awful lot of golf bags this year.

We wanted to put the new offerings from Callaway and Ping up against each other to see who comes out on top. We tested the standard heads in each range, which are aimed at the broadest range of golfers and look to provide the best combination of distance and forgiveness and will suit single-figure players all the way up to higher handicappers.

Both the Elyte and the G440 Max drivers have been rigorously tested by Golf Monthly, so let's take a look at the head-to-head to see which one might be right for you if you want to upgrade your driver this year.

Technology

The Elyte driver family, Callaway says, is all about creating the perfect blend of desirable attributes. “Fast head shapes are unforgiving, and forgiving head shapes aren’t fast”, say the brand. So, in layman's terms Callaway wanted to merge these two worlds of speed and forgiveness together in the creation of the Elyte family.

Significant investment was made in specialist in-house 3d printing which has allowed Callaway to reduce the production time of prototypes from three months to five days. This allows for more trial and error and helps to achieve better results much more quickly. Typical prototyping usually offers around four iterations, whereas the Elyte cycle had a whopping 75, which really sets it apart from the competition.

With the Elyte range, Callaway has created a higher MOI driver but with improved aerodynamics, which in theory should mean that the golfer can move the clubhead more quickly to gain distance, while also getting additional help on mishits.

Other claims suggest that we could be looking at a 19 percent tighter dispersion pattern, and up to 7.1 yards of additional distance over the Paradym Ai Smoke range. That wasn't quite the case for me in testing, although there were indeed increases in both categories as well as a leap in clubhead speed.

The G430 Max was a big success story for Ping which means that it was always going to be difficult to find ways to make it better. The G440 isn't wildly different, it didn't need to be, but the tech story here is an interesting one. It is based around CG location, or more specifically the lowering of the CG location. Similarly to what TaylorMade has achieved with their new Qi35 driver, Ping has lowered the CG location through multiple weight-saving advancements higher up on the head, which allows that weight to then be distributed lower on the face.

A combination of a shallower face, lightweight carbon crown, and a technology Ping is referring to as Free Hosel design, which helps save significant weight in an attempt to align the CG closer to what Ping calls the 'force line' for faster ball speed, optimal spin and higher launch.

Essentially, lowering the CG will give you more chance to hit high-launching, low-spinning drives that offer maximum distance. The G440 Max is the most forgiving model of the G440 range and comes in at 460cc. It is engineered with a 29-gram, three-position adjustable back weight for dialling in your ball flight requirements.

Looks

I am a little undecided on the looks of the G440 Max, specifically when it comes to the sole aesthetic. From asking around other golfers, it seems the general opinion is also divided. The blue colorway is a callback to the original ‘G’ range and some people love it. While I can appreciate a good bit of nostalgia as much as the next guy, for me it dates the look a little and I also feel that the rest of the sole is a touch on the basic side too. That being said, the 'view from the bag' is largely irrelevant to me personally, as I am more concerned with how a driver looks in the playing position, and from here I think it is excellent.

In my opinion the new Carbonfly Wrap crown has upped the visual significantly from the G430 Max and for reasons I can't quite put my finger on, it seems to have a slightly neater footprint. This may just be an optical illusion from the new crown though. The somewhat divisive turbulators remain, but I have to say I have become totally desensitized to them over the years and barely notice them nowadays.

Prior to the official release day for the new Callaway drivers there were some leaked images online, and opinion was somewhat split in terms of the aesthetic. For sure, it isn't the best-looking driver Callaway has ever made, and the Paradym Ai Smoke was always going to be a tough act to follow visually. For me though it's fine. The important stuff is how it looks in behind the ball and I like the playing position profile of the Elyte driver.

The shaping and proportions are very appealing to the eye and in my view it inspires a lot of confidence over the ball. That being said, I do prefer the cleaner gloss black finish of the Triple Diamond model and I’m not entirely sure what has prompted Callaway to go with two such contrasting visuals across the same range. To me, it just interrupts the cohesion of the family a little, but it’s hardly a huge issue and has precisely no bearing on the performance of the driver.

Looks are subjective of course, and while neither of these really set my pulse racing in terms of shelf appeal, both look excellent at address which is the main thing. If I had to choose, I'd say Callaway just edge this one.

Feel

Onto feel and sound now, which for me are very closely linked. The sound you get at impact really influences how you think the driver feels. Don't believe me? Next time you are at the range, try hitting some shots with headphones on. If you're anything like me you will find it difficult to ascertain the feel of the driver because sound is so important.

I enjoyed the lively feel and noise at impact from the G440 Max. The G430 range was also very good in this regard but I did notice a bit of vibration at impact throughout the models, whereas with the G440 Max strikes feel a little smoother and more stable.

As for the Callaweay Elyte, the feel off the face is a solid one, certainly not as soft as something like the Cobra DS-ADAPT X driver, but there is a real robustness to it that lets you know the ball you’ve just struck well and truly knows it’s been hit!

The Ping just edges this one though.

Performance

I'll start with the Callaway this time. In terms of the performance of the Elyte, there is little doubt that this is a fantastic all-round driver that will appeal to a huge range of golfers, from single figure player to the weekend hacker. Pleasingly, I found it to be exceptionally user-friendly on my poorer strikes, which is exactly what you want in the standard model. Another thing that worked for me is that the Elyte errs on the lower side of spin for a mid-range driver, which is certainly a preference of mine. I'd say that I enjoyed the spin profile even more because it was coupled with a fairly high launch number, which led to some very impressive distance numbers.

There are some decent adjustment options too which make the driver quite versatile. The three weight ports at the back are very useful and allowed me to tune in the CG location to my own specific requirements. I also have to say that I genuinely and quantifiably did move the Elyte marginally quicker in terms of clubhead speed than I moved the Paradym Ai Smoke Max - around 1.5mph on average which isn’t insignificant and does lead to distance gains, just as Callaway claimed it would.

Onto the Ping now, and I found the G440 Max to be predictably strong, gobbling up mishits with ease and producing some really nice numbers. To be honest, the only noticeable change in data from G430 Max was in the launch angle category where the G440 Max produced around a degree more for me. This is to be expected from the CG location change. Ping is even suggesting that players may well be able to drop down in loft a touch from what they are used to, thus producing higher ball speed without compromising height.

The back weight works nicely in terms of dialling in flight and has been executed fairly discreetly from a visual point of view, and one other observation I had was that, if like me, you are someone whose miss tends to be low on the face, you will love the entire G440 range because (as with the Qi35) the CG has been moved so much lower, meaning I was seeing much less drop off in ball speed when I caught one a little on the thin side.

The main difference between these two drivers was in the spin rate. The Callaway Elyte spins less and flies lower, at least it did for me, although that did not translate to any significant gain in distance over the spinnier, higher flying G440 Max.

So the flight and spin rate of the Callaway give it an edge there, but that is cancelled out by the little bit of extra forgiveness the Ping G440 Max offered on those strikes that come off the bottom of the face. As I said, that's my regular miss, so anything that can help me with that is going to get extra bonus points from me. I can't split these two drivers on performance.

Which one should you choose?

Choose the Ping G440 Max if...
- You prefer slightly more spin and a higher flight
- You want extra forgiveness, especially on thin strikes
- You enjoy a busier aesthetic over the ball

Choose the Callaway Elyte if...
- You want a low spinning driver
- You enjoy a lower, more penetrating ball flight
- You are looking to gain a little more ball speed