Have you looked at Cobra’s website about the RADSPEED irons? Jeez. Save yourself the time and the headache.
They throw around all of these fancy-schmancy sounding “technologies” like: 3D printed medallion, PWRSHELL, radial weighting, carbon fiber topline. You aren’t fooling anyone Cobra (well, maybe a few people).
The Cobra King RADPSEED irons are a great performing set of irons, but I’m not going to bore you with stupid new “innovations”. They are really just gimmicks in disguise to make you think this iron set is unlike any other. It’s not.
You want a blunt review of these irons? We’ll give it you you. Actually, I will. It’s just me. There is no we.
Appearance
Goodness gracious. Why would they put that hideous black line across the topline of the Cobra King RADSPEED irons? They say the carbon fiber strip was inserted to save weight (literally just 2 grams) on the top of the club so they could move the weight towards the bottom.
But dang, I’d rather have the extra 2 grams than stare down at this ugly clubhead at address. Cobra says that this carbon fiber strip also makes the topline look “sleeker”. Nope, completely disagree, at the draws your eyes straight to the topline while you don’t notice the size as much on other irons.
Other than the topline, it’s a great looking club. You can tell they are moving the weight as low as possible on the club head. That’s a dead giveaway that they are going for a super forgiving, high launching design.
The screw that you can see towards the toe is a growing trend to “center” the center of gravity. The screw basically just offsets the weight of the hosel to make the center of gravity rest right at the center of the clubface, not (slightly) towards the hosel like other iron sets.
Performance
There’s no question that the Cobra King RADSPEED is a great option if you are searching for distance and forgiveness. Like all of the other game improvement irons on the market, these launch the ball into the air quickly and easily, even on slight mishits.
The sweet spot feels huge with these clubs, and that’ll benefit the majority of golfers that struggle to hit the dead center of the club face round after round. The majority of my shots with the RADSPEED irons were straight, high shots. Honestly, working the ball was tough with these. That’s a downside for someone that likes to work the ball (me), but a good thing for most golfers that would rather just hit straight shots.
If anything, these irons can sometimes be a little too long. I hit a few irons shots that flew 10-15 yards longer than the rest. I’m not shocked to see that, as it’s not a forged iron. Cast irons like this one often have small air bubbles – if hit on a certain part of the club face, the air bubble will make the ball fly with very little spin, causing you to overshoot your target by a fair margin.
Another thing to note is that these irons are very strongly lofted. While the typical PW is around 44-45 degrees of loft, the PW of this set is 42.5 degrees. If you don’t get the 48 degree GW, you’ll be left with a massive gap between the PW and your lowest lofted wedge. So while you may gain a lot of distance compared to your old irons, keep in mind that the PW of this set is probably closer to a 9 iron of your current iron set.
I always try to make a point to remind you: go ahead and get fitted if you want to maximize your results. My personal experience doesn’t offer much value to YOU and YOUR swing. We are all different. Very different. Pay the small amount of money to find the best club head, shaft flex, and shaft option for you. Do it. Thank me later. You wanted an honest review of the Cobra King RADSPEED irons… and that’s what I want to give to you!
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- incredibly long, but mainly due to strong lofts
- very high launching and forgiving on mishit shots (not hit on the center of the club face) due to the low center of gravity design and oversized design
- offered in steel and graphite shaft options
- offered in one-length for better consistency (debatable)
- comes with Arccos smart grips for tracking
Cons:
- Not great feel at impact. Sound is sorta “clinky”, unlike the muted sound of a forged iron.
- Difficult to work the ball or get feedback on your mishit shots.
- You may outgrow the set quicker than you think.
- Pretty expensive for a non-forged set. Will lose substantial value as soon as you take your first swing.
Who The Cobra RADSPEED Irons Are Best For
If you want more distance and more forgiveness and a brand new set of irons, then the Cobra King RADSPEED irons are for you. If you don’t care about distance control, feedback on your shots, or a great feel at impact, then you will be pleased with this set.
Keep in mind that where your golf game is at RIGHT NOW is important, but it’s not everything. If you are on the verge of becoming a “good” golfer (mid to low handicap), then you don’t want to lock yourself into this set of irons. You might want to consider going ahead and getting a forged set of players irons that will allow you to improve your ballstriking more quickly. Just because you want distance and forgiveness now doesn’t mean that you’ll regret the larger investment later.
If you want distance and forgiveness and also want to save money, then these are not for you due to their price tag. I’ll offer a lower priced iron set that is very comparable at the bottom of this article.
Comparable Iron Set at a Lower Price
Don’t get me wrong, the Cobra King RADSPEED irons are great. But they are out of budget for many of you out there, aren’t they? If you fall in that category, you don’t have to settle for off-brand iron sets that are complete garbage. All you have to do is go back a model or two in Cobra’s line of irons.
My better-value substitute for the Cobra RADSPEED irons are the Cobra F9 Speedback irons. Very, very similar design. Are there any components that are 3d printed like the RADSPEED irons? No, but I don’t give a flying fa-doodle about my club being partly 3-D printed. In fact, I literally would prefer that my clubs are NOT 3-d printed in any way. Oh, and same goes for the hideous topline carbon fiber strip (which the F9 Speedback doesn’t have thankfully).
The Cobra King F9 Speedback irons have had wonderful reviews from the moment they were released. And with the new models, the price of the F9 irons have fallen to around $300 for a great set of slightly used irons. This is the best bang for your buck in my opinion.
Hey, yes you. I want to personally thank YOU for reading this review. What are your thoughts on the Cobra King RADSPEED irons? Leave a comment below. Do it! Now!
