Callaway’s new product range for 2026 sees the introduction of the Quantum irons, replacing last year’s Elyte.
The Elyte irons looked great, but Callaway felt that they may have got a bit lost in the plethora of other mid-handicap distance/players distance irons. Essentially, they didn’t look game improvement enough and that may have put some golfers off.
The Quantum Max is looking to make things a bit more straightforward again, as it’s more of a return to something that’s unashamedly a game improvement iron. As a result you’re going to get a nice long blade length, generous topline, offset at address and some pretty strong lofts too.
That’s the theory, but how do they perform? Let’s find out…
Who Are They Aimed At?
While the Elyte may have bridged the gap somewhere between game improvement and players distance, the Quantum Max are much more like your traditional game improvement iron.
As a result, they’re best suited to golfers with handicaps into the teens and even the 20s, who are looking to break 90 and need a bit of help along the way.
There are three models in the range: the standard Quantum Max, the super game-improvement Quantum Max OS and the lightweight Max Fast.
With an RRP of £1249.99 for 7 iron, they are on the upper end of the scale for a game improvement iron. Both the new TaylorMade Qi Max irons and Srixon ZXiR, which are direct competitors in this category, are at least £100 cheaper for a set.
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The Tech
Callaway say that the Quantum Max are designed to offer high ball speeds and launch, consistent carry and forgiveness across the face.
This is achieved through a new 360° Undercut Cavity. The two piece design offers perimeter weighting and an exposed undercut, which adds more flex to boost ball speeds.
A Tri-Sole design sees new shaping on the sole. This changes as you move through the set from long irons to wedges, and is designed to improve turf interaction and keep up speeds even on mis-hits.
As usual with Callaway, they are using AI to help with the design of their face. This time they’re using data from real impact patterns to shape the face and expand the sweet spot. It’s said to deliver faster ball speeds, and better launch, spin and dispersion.
We also see a return of the urethane microspheres, which have been used in Callaway irons for a number of years now. They help to make game improvement irons like this feel and sound better by absorbing unwanted vibrations.
The Quantum Max irons are offered from 4 iron all the way down to sand wedge, with a choice of both steel and graphite shafts available.
Callaway Quantum Max Irons Review
Looks
As expected, it’s pretty clear from the outset that these irons don’t look quite as good as the Elyte irons. They’re much more of a traditional game improvement iron design, with a clear, chunky cavity and the pretty pronounced undercut.
They actually reminded me a bit of Callaway’s Big Bertha or X Hot irons from years gone by, complete with the red detailing on the badge.
Down at address, they have quite a rounded shape with is a hallmark of Callaway irons for me. There’s a generous topline and a fair bit of offset, particularly as you move up to the long irons.
The new Tri-Sole design is pretty clearly visible, and does add a little bit of visual confidence that it’s going to help you out if you don’t strike it perfectly.
New this year is a white scoreline on the bottom groove, like you would see on a Ping iron. I like this as a tool for aligning the face, and the ball in the middle of the face, and it also helps a little bit when focusing on strike too.
Feel
Essentially, the Quantum Max feels exactly as you would expect from an iron like this. It’s not the softest, but very solid and powerful off the face.
This combines with a pretty decent ‘thwack’ at impact for a pretty punchy overall feedback on each shot.
This firmer feel may mean it’s not quite as easy to tell when you haven’t hit it quite out of the middle – but some of that comes thanks to the forgiveness.
I looked up a couple of times after thinking I’d struck one poorly, only to still see it flying long and pretty straight too – that’s where these irons really excel.
Performance
Callaway say that they’re looking to deliver ball speed, easy launch and consistent distance with their new Quantum Max irons.
Testing them on the launch monitor, the performance was pretty impressive.
29 degrees for a 7 iron definitely puts these on the stronger end of the scale, and this is reflected in some of the distances I saw. An average carry of 172 yards is about a club longer than my current Titleist T150 irons, and whilst the spin rates were pretty low at around 4700rpm, they launched and flew pretty high which did suggest they’d probably stop on the greens pretty quickly.
As a low-spin player, I do struggle with keeping long irons in the air at times. Having said that, seeing the 5 iron carry nearly 198 yards was impressive, especially with a spin rate than was well under 3500rpm.
I went in to this review expecting to find that the irons are draw-biased, but that wasn’t really what I saw during my testing. I’d say my miss was pretty equal left and right, so if you’re someone who worries about losing the ball left then these irons aren’t to be feared.
In terms of consistency, I saw a gap of around 11 yards between my longest and shortest shot with the 5 iron, and 9 yards with the 7 and 5 iron. This is pretty impressive and suggests that Callaway’s technology has produced good performance across the face, as there were definitely a couple of mis-strikes in there.
To be honest I didn’t see a huge amount of difference with the new Tri-Sole design, although I’m looking forward to testing these irons on the course out of a few different lies to see if that makes a difference.
Callaway Quantum Max Irons Verdict
The Callaway Quantum Max irons are really a return to exactly what you’d expect from a game improvement iron from Callaway. They’re big and friendly, with plenty of distance and forgiveness.
They’re not the best looking irons in the world, especially compared to the Elyte last year. But in terms of performance, there’s very little you can fault them on.
I think it’s fair to say that they’re not the type of product that’s really going to move the needle. But if you’re in the market for a new set of game improvement irons, these are a great option.
Callaway very rarely get things wrong in this category, so lets see if this return to tradition pays off…
Would I Use Them?
They’re a good iron, but a bit too chunky and low-spinning for me.
