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Agriculture · head to head

SMARTBOW vs Toro Lynx Central Control

SMARTBOW logo

SMARTBOW

Agriculture

Ear tag cow monitoring with real-time indoor location, from Zoetis

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Toro Lynx Central Control logo

Toro Lynx Central Control

Agriculture

Golf course irrigation control where the mobile app stops working if you let the NSN subscription lapse

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: SMARTBOW real-time location depends on receivers covering the whole barn plus an on-farm server, so the install is a building project and the price bears no relation to what a simple activity collar costs.; Toro Lynx Central Control nSN is free only for the first year after purchase, and the Lynx mobile app is tied to an active NSN subscription, so the remote control feature demonstrated at sale disappears in year two unless the club renews an item the capital budget did not carry.
  • They diverge on capability: SMARTBOW covers Real-time location, Toro Lynx Central Control covers Course mapping.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which SMARTBOW and Toro Lynx Central Control actually diverge.

Attributes where SMARTBOW and Toro Lynx Central Control differ
AttributeSMARTBOWToro Lynx Central Control

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), platforms (Windows, Web, iOS, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Agriculture).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in SMARTBOW

  • Real-time location
  • Heat detection
  • Rumination monitoring
  • Health alerts
  • On-farm server
  • Individual baselines
  • Herd software integration

Only in Toro Lynx Central Control

  • Course mapping
  • Flow management
  • ET and weather adjustment
  • Lynx Smart Module
  • Lynx Cloud
  • Mobile app
  • IntelliDash
  • NSN support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

SMARTBOW

  • A 1,500 cow freestall barn where finding a flagged animal by eye takes twenty minutesnot Toro Lynx Central Control
  • A dairy replacing visual heat detection with per-animal oestrus alerts to tighten calving intervalsnot Toro Lynx Central Control
  • A herd manager wanting rumination-based early warning of displaced abomasum or metritisnot Toro Lynx Central Control
  • A vet practice using behavioural data to audit transition cow management across client herdsnot Toro Lynx Central Control

Toro Lynx Central Control

  • An 18-hole course replacing a 20-year-old central control where sprinkler-level adjustment currently means walking out with a keynot SMARTBOW
  • A superintendent chasing a night-time main break who needs the flow alarm before the green floodsnot SMARTBOW
  • A resort with three courses on one pump network balancing demand across a limited windownot SMARTBOW
  • A municipal complex under a water restriction that must document applied volume by areanot SMARTBOW

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

SMARTBOW

  • Real-time location depends on receivers covering the whole barn plus an on-farm server, so the install is a building project and the price bears no relation to what a simple activity collar costs.
  • It is an indoor system; a grazing or partly grazed herd loses the location capability that is the main reason to choose it over cheaper monitoring.
  • Ear tags are consumable and go missing with the tag, so the running cost includes replacements at a rate that depends on how rough your handling facilities are.
  • Zoetis ownership means a pharmaceutical company holds continuous behavioural data on every animal alongside your treatment records, and the integration roadmap favours other Zoetis products.
  • Nothing is published on price, and sales run through veterinary and dealer channels, so comparing it against DeLaval, Nedap or CowManager requires several quotes and there is no reference list price.

Toro Lynx Central Control

  • NSN is free only for the first year after purchase, and the Lynx mobile app is tied to an active NSN subscription, so the remote control feature demonstrated at sale disappears in year two unless the club renews an item the capital budget did not carry.
  • Lynx controls Toro field hardware, so central control and sprinkler manufacturer are a single twenty-year decision and a club cannot switch software without rewiring the course.
  • It runs on a Windows workstation in the maintenance building as the system of record, which means a machine that has to be patched, backed up and eventually replaced, and courses routinely run it on hardware well past support.
  • Toro publishes no pricing at all: everything comes through a distributor quote inside a large irrigation project, so a club cannot separate the software cost from the pipe and heads to judge whether it is fair.
  • Full capability depends on the field hardware generation, and courses with older Toro satellites cannot use head-level Smart Module control without a field upgrade that costs more than the software ever did.

Pricing, plan by plan

SMARTBOW

On request
  • SMARTBOW$undefined/year
    • Ear tags priced per animal
    • Barn receiver infrastructure and on-farm server quoted per building
    • Installation and commissioning quoted separately

Toro Lynx Central Control

On request
  • Lynx Central Control$undefined/year
    • Bought as part of a Toro irrigation system through a distributor
    • Lynx Cloud included with each system
    • NSN support free for one year after purchase, paid subscription thereafter

Which should you pick?

Choose SMARTBOW if

  • You need real-time location.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want heat detection.
SMARTBOW review

Choose Toro Lynx Central Control if

  • You need course mapping.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want flow management.
Toro Lynx Central Control review

Questions people ask

Is SMARTBOW or Toro Lynx Central Control better?
Neither clearly leads. SMARTBOW starts at On request and Toro Lynx Central Control at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, SMARTBOW or Toro Lynx Central Control?
SMARTBOW starts at On request and Toro Lynx Central Control at On request.
Does SMARTBOW or Toro Lynx Central Control run on more platforms?
Both run on Windows, Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is SMARTBOW best used for?
SMARTBOW is most often used for a 1,500 cow freestall barn where finding a flagged animal by eye takes twenty minutes, a dairy replacing visual heat detection with per-animal oestrus alerts to tighten calving intervals, a herd manager wanting rumination-based early warning of displaced abomasum or metritis, a vet practice using behavioural data to audit transition cow management across client herds. Of those, a 1,500 cow freestall barn where finding a flagged animal by eye takes twenty minutes and a dairy replacing visual heat detection with per-animal oestrus alerts to tighten calving intervals are not what Toro Lynx Central Control is typically brought in for.
What can SMARTBOW do that Toro Lynx Central Control cannot?
SMARTBOW covers Real-time location, Heat detection, Rumination monitoring, Health alerts. Toro Lynx Central Control covers Course mapping, Flow management, ET and weather adjustment, Lynx Smart Module.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

SMARTBOW: What does SMARTBOW do that other activity monitors do not?

Real-time indoor location. It tells you where the flagged cow physically is, not just that she is behaving abnormally.

Toro Lynx Central Control: Is the Lynx mobile app free?

No. App access is included with an active NSN subscription. NSN is free for one year after the Lynx purchase and paid after that.

SMARTBOW: Does it work on grazing herds?

Poorly. Location depends on barn-mounted receivers, so animals out at pasture fall outside the system's coverage.

Toro Lynx Central Control: Can Lynx control another manufacturer’s sprinklers?

Not meaningfully. It is built around Toro satellites and two-wire modules.

SMARTBOW: Who owns it?

Zoetis, which also owns Valley Agricultural Software and DairyComp. The technology came from Smartbow GmbH in Austria.

Toro Lynx Central Control: Is Lynx cloud-based?

Lynx Cloud is included and handles remote access and updates, but the core system still runs on an on-site Windows workstation.

SMARTBOW: Is it cloud based?

Analysis runs on an on-farm server rather than in the cloud, which keeps it working during an internet outage but makes the server your responsibility.

Toro Lynx Central Control: What does NSN actually provide?

24 hour specialist support, remote diagnostics, the mobile app, IntelliDash and training, delivered from Abilene, Texas with offices in Belgium and Australia.

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