3 of the best new iron sets available under £500
Three new full-length iron sets sitting under £500 right now, and who each one suits.
New iron sets have slowed down the same way drivers have. Heads are still cast or forged from the same metals, lofts have stopped getting stronger as the limit is reached, and the AI-face thing is everywhere now (btw, that just means they used machine learning to find the best face properties during manufacturing). The price still moves though. A 5-SW set lands at £900-£1,200 in year one, drifts to £700-£800 once the next generation gets announced, and by year three it's down to ~£500 and theres plenty of deals to be had.
That year-three pricing is where the value sits. We've found three brand-new sets you can buy today for under £500. All three sealed, all three the real 5-PW lineup, not the 7-PW partials some retailers dress up to look like the same deal.
Defined modern game-improvement when it landed in 2021. Easiest to launch of the three, biggest sweet spot, slightly chunky topline at address.
The newest design here, 2024. Variable-thickness face on every iron, thinner topline than the SIM2, touch more ball speed too.
Tungsten weight in the long irons, AI face across the set. Cleaner feel than the SIM2; a touch shy of the Darkspeed on outright speed.
Why these three
TaylorMade SIM2 Max - most forgiving of the bunch. The 2021 set that more or less defined the modern game-improvement iron. The Cap Back design (a hollow back-cavity bridge replacing the usual badge) drops weight low and back, which gets the ball up easily and softens off-centre strikes. If your iron club speed sits below 80 mph, or you've ever struggled to launch a 5-iron, this is the one to look at. The downside is the topline at address.. thicker than the other two, looks more like a training iron. Some golfers find that reassuring, others find it ugly.
Cobra Darkspeed — newest tech, and our pick. Only one of these you could really call newish-gen. The PWRSHELL (no not the windows terminal, for you techies) face uses variable thickness across every iron in the set, not just the long ones. Topline is thinner than the SIM2's so it looks better behind the ball, and it's a touch faster on centred strikes than the other two as well. Honestly surprising to see this design here at ~£469 brand-new - that's why it's our CaddyCompare pick rather than the older two. We think it looks by far the best as well.
Callaway Rogue ST Max - the all-rounder. Tungsten Speed Cartridge in the long irons concentrates weight low for easier launch, and the AI-designed face holds ball speed better off the toe and heel than a traditionally milled one. The SIM2 is more forgiving and the Darkspeed is faster on flush strikes, but the feel of these is the cleanest of the bunch by a clear margin. Worth a look if you swing somewhere between 85 and 95 mph.
Worth knowing
"New" at a clearance price almost always means previous-year stock - same head spec, the launch hype has just moved on. Two things to actually check before you click Buy. The shaft matters more than the head: older sets ship with whatever stock shaft the manufacturer specced (Dynamic Gold S300, KBS Tour, Recoil ESX), and if that's wrong for your swing the head choice won't save you. The set composition matters too, confirm it's 5-PW (six irons), not 7-PW (four irons). Some retailers might have cheaper prices, but you could be getting 1 or 2 less clubs! Click the card on this page, you'll land on the actual listing.