When a driver has the word Hot in it, it better live up to its name.
Hearing the word hot makes me think distance, pure distance, and ball speed coming directly off the clubface. The Callaway X Hot does offer quite a bit of this speed, and some forgiveness as well. All of this for a really good value.
The Callaway X2 Hot Driver comes with the VFT Face technology that Callaway has mastered in the last few years. This technology allows for variable face thickness across the large sweet spot.
When the face offers you more forgiveness in the bad spots and less forgiveness and more performance in the sweet spot, this is a good thing.
As a company, Callaway has made great strides in producing lightweight titanium drivers that produce a great deal of distance.
You can read almost any review about a Callaway Driver and see “very high ball speeds” being mentioned throughout.
This Callaway X-Hot club is not Callaway’s premium driver. It is a lower cost, forgiving option, offered at a fair price.
The Callaway X hot driver has a very large sweet spot and lots of forgiveness. Generally, when a club is made like this it is for a higher handicap player. You will see plenty of mid handicappers choosing this golf club as well.
If you are a low handicap golf player, I would look for something with a little better feel, something a bit more adjustable and potentially a Driver with better sound.
Everybody wants an adjustable hosel on a club. Some want the weight to be adjusted as well but adjustability is a trend in drivers that is sure to stay.
The Callaway X Hot Driver is adjustable but not quite like some of the other Callaway models. The Lie can be changed from an open to a closed position. Setting it more closed at address would result in something slightly draw bias.
The Center of Gravity on this club is not adjustable. You will see that much research has been done to analyze the average golf players’ swing.
Based on the results of this research the Center of Gravity is put in one spot to offer maximum forgiveness and launch.
One downside of this club is not having the ability to change the lofts. Adjustments in lofts can be really helpful for the player who is working on improving their game.
Of course the lower pricing helps make this less of an issue overall but it’s something to consider when searching for a driver.
Keeping in mind that this is Callaway’s budget option so you aren’t going to get a lot of premium shaft options, they did put a very good stock shaft in this club.
The Project X PXv Graphite (Project X Velocity Shaft). This shaft is a mid-weight, mid launch, mid spin offering, everything you would expect in a budget model release from Callaway. This is not to say that the Project X Shaft is not a good one.
The Project X Velocity Shaft is known for being very lightweight.
This Driver has the look of all the modern drivers. Large forgiving titanium clubhead in a gray/black look. The club looks very playable at address.
The sound is disappointing when compared to the Epic Flash or the Rogue but it is not ear piercing or dull. Simply put it just doesn’t sound like it is going to launch as far (even though it sometimes does!)
There are a few ways to look at feel. First is the weight, this club because of the titanium head, lightweight shaft and fixed center of gravity is light.
It feels like you can swing it faster, and you can! Feel as far as the ability to hit a draw or fade is not quite as good.
Any time a Driver is designed to be extra forgiving, you will lose a bit of workability, this has happened with the X Hot.
Another point to consider when talking about feel is the use of the word “Hot” in the title of the club. This driver does produce a feel that the ball comes off the clubface hot.
The name of the game is ball speed and when you can swing a Driver faster because of its weight, and you combine that with a VFT face, you should get a driver that feels hot.
