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Today I’ll be reviewing the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver.
The Paradym Ai Smoke hits the market on the heels of Callaway’s original Paradym line of drivers, with four new models. The Triple Diamond (♢♢♢) model, in particular, is engineered for lower spin, a neutral or fade bias, and a compact shape that appeals to better players.
How does the Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond actually perform when put to the test? How does it compare to the other models in the Paradym Ai Smoke family? Who is it best suited for? Is it worth putting in the bag?
Here’s what will be covered in the review:
Read on to learn what you need to know to make an informed purchase.
Note: Unless otherwise stated, stock shafts and stock grips are used when evaluating this club. In most cases, the golf clubs reviewed on Golfstead are acquired temporarily for testing purposes and are not purchased. The review that follows is based on the personal experience and research of the author. Because everyone’s swing and body are different, results with a particular club may differ from person to person.
What are the reviews like?
The handful of reviewers who have gotten their hands on the Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver view it positively in general. It won a gold medal on the 2024 Golf Digest Hot List in the performance, innovation, and look/sound/feel categories.
What People Like
- powerful low-spin results with incredible distance
- exceptional workability
- premium, bold aesthetics
- sublime feel at impact
What People Don’t Like
- minimal performance gains over the original Paradym Triple Diamond
- lack of forgiveness
- slower swingers will not tend to do well with this driver
The Features
The Paradym Ai Smoke drivers, including the Triple Diamond, revolve around the idea of having “multiple sweet spots” via an Ai Smart Face. Callaway really honed in on optimizing performance in mis-hit areas.
This driver packs more or less the same core technology as the MAX model, namely:
- Ai Smart Face: a variable-thickness face, developed from over 50,000 face iterations and using data from over 250,000 swings from real golfers, that promotes optimal launch and spin as well as tight downrange dispersions.
- Micro Deflections: part of the Ai Smart Face, these occur in mis-hit areas, improving spin and launch to achieve results similar to sweet spot strikes.
- 360° Carbon Chassis: an internal titanium support structure is added to make the carbon chassis 15% lighter than the previous generation. The mass is redistributed to enhance launch and forgiveness.
What differentiates the Triple Diamond from the other Paradym Ai Smoke drivers is:
- a more compact head shape (450cc as opposed to 460cc)
- a slightly open address position for a neutral or fade bias
- two swappable weight ports in the front and back
This driver comes with 14g and 2g sole weights. Putting the 14g weight in front will decrease launch and spin for those wanting low-spin performance. At the same time, the compact head style is more workable and visually appealing to better players.
Stock Info
The Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver is available in 8°, 9°, and 10.5° standard lofts at 450 CC.
The driver comes with an Optifit hosel that allows you to adjust loft and lie. The loft settings are -1, +1, 0 and +2 (a range of 3°). The lie settings are N (neutral) and D (draw), giving a total of 8 possible configurations.
The stock graphite shafts are the Project X Denali Black 60 & 70 and Mitsubishi TENSEI AV Series Blue 55. The stock grip is the Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360. Custom options are available.
If you’re interested, full information on the driver, shafts, grips and their specs can be found here.
Below are the specs of the Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver. Click or zoom to enlarge.
The Performance
In the sections that follow, I’ll summarize my experience with the Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver. Let’s jump right in.
Distance
As it pertains to ball speed and smash factor when struck in the sweet spot, I noticed a very marginal gain at best over the original Paradym TD. During my field test, I was seeing around 1-2 more yards of carry and a few yards more of total distance.
The largest gains in distance are in off-center regions of the face, which I’ll touch on more below.
If you have the swing speed to take advantage of the 14g front configuration (around 95+ mph), you can expect monster bombs off the tee, longer than any other model in the Paradym Ai Smoke family.
Forgiveness
The Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver is noticeably (and predictably) less forgiving than the MAX models. But it’s considerably more forgiving than the original Paradym TD, especially in the extreme ends of the face near the heel and toe.
Ball speed retention on mis-hits is impressive, but poor swings can still result in wide dispersions and missed fairways.
Ultimately, though, how you view the forgiveness of this driver will depend on your skill. The low handicappers who will flock to this driver will likely find it to provide more than enough help on off-center hits.
Playability/Trajectory
The Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver tends to produce a low-mid launch with low spin. The flight bias is neutral to fade.
With the 14g weight back, the driver is more forgiving with higher spin. Putting the 14g weight in front gives you a true “low-spin” driver with penetrating trajectories that do very well in windy conditions, although I would typically only recommend this setting if your driver swing speed is at least 100 mph.
Although it can still be tricky to get the ball airborne with this driver, I found it to be a little easier to pull off than the original Paradym TD which is great.
Workability is, as expected, exceptional. You should have little trouble curving the ball around doglegs or hitting low stingers or high bombs.
The Look
The Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver has a more compact ‘tour-preferred’ shape that is less rounded and more triangular than its sister models, both from the address position and face-on. The face appears to sit slightly open at address.
In addition, this is the only model in the family to have two fixed weight ports in the front and back of the sole.
Aside from these things, the aesthetics are mostly similar to the MAX, with the striking grey smoke texture that marks the Paradym Ai Smoke family, grey carbon crown texture, and new face geometry.
As with previous Triple Diamond drivers, an alignment aid is noticeably absent from the crown, resulting in a more streamlined, sophisticated look for better players who don’t necessarily need the visual aid at address.
I find the smoke texture to give the club an added sense of premium and luxuriousness, although I would have liked more contrast and pop between the logoing and the smoke texture surrounding it.
The Sound & Feel
Just like the MAX model, the Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver feels solid and responsive at impact.
I was surprised at how stable it felt through the impact zone during my field test, even with the 14g weight in the front. At the same time, when you catch is solidly in the center of the face, you’re rewarded with a very powerful and satisfying feel.
Impact produces a satisfying “crack” sound that makes no illusions you’re swinging a driver with a carbon body, in contrast to the more reverberating and metallic sound of a titanium driver.
When it comes to mis-hit feedback, the feel patterns across the face are more or less the same as the original Paradym Triple Diamond — you’ll know when you stray from the sweet spot both by the feel and the sound, but the feedback isn’t overly harsh.
As a matter of fact, while I love the feel and sound overall, they don’t seem to differ much from the previous generation in my experience, which I’m rather surprised by given the new Ai Face tech.
Where To Buy This Driver Online
The natural place to go to order a Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver with custom specifications (loft, length, shaft, grip, etc.) is this page on the Callaway store.
If you want to save some money, you can find discounts on eBay.
Optionally look at what’s available on PGA TOUR Superstore, Global Golf or Amazon. The first two vendors may offer club trade-ins, performance guarantees, and/or financing plans to help you minimize the financial hit.
Final Thoughts
The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver is a rock-solid low-spin offering that is more forgiving than its predecessor, although I wouldn’t think of the driver as having “multiple sweet spots” as this is mostly marketing hype.
Add onto this the potential for huge distance, adjustability in the form of two swappable sole weights, a penetrating ball flight, workability, a sharp look, and exceptional feel, and there’s a lot for better players to love here.
Having said that, the TD is geared towards a certain type of golfer. If you have a slower swing speed that is less than 95 mph or so, I suggest looking at one of the MAX models in the Paradym Ai Smoke line instead.
Are you interested in the Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver? Have you played it? What’s your experience? Tell us about it in the comments below.
