Garmin Approach S70 GPS Watch Review

Garmin Approach S70 GPS Watch Review

Garmin Approach S70 GPS Watch
Grade: A+
Teacher’s Comments: The Swiss Army Knife of Golf GPS devices. I don’t want to play another round without it.

• Range Finder Features
• Automatic Course and Hole Identification
• Birds Eye View of Holes
• Distance Recording and Stat Collection
• Virtual Caddy and Scorecards
• Sports and Fitness Tracking Features
• Garmin Golf App, Garmin Connect and the Garmin Ecosystem
• Notifications, Music Controls and More
• Customization
• Conclusions

There is so much going on with the Garmin Approach S70 watch that I don’t really know where to start. Like those Swiss Army knives that were so popular in the 1980s, the Garmin Approach S70 seems to have a feature for every need. It is a full featured smart watch for general and fitness needs, with an emphasis on the golf.

Range Finder Features

Because this is a golf blog, and the Garmin Approach S70 is ostensibly a golf watch, I’ll start with the golf specific features of the watch.

The most obvious, and useful of the features is that it shows the distances to the front, center and back of the green from any point on the course.

As you can see in the top and left photos, the Garmin Approach S70 has sizable numbers on the left, and an illustration of the hole on the right.

I can easily read the face of the watch without my reading glasses. The AMOLED screen is large, bright and crisp.

While laser range-finders will give an exact distance to the flag, I am entirely unconvinced that particular piece of information is of use to any but single digit handicappers. What the vast majority of us really need to know is what is the minimum the ball needs to fly, and how much space we have before the ball rolls off the back.

Still, if you want a more precise distance to the flag, you can click on the action button, choose “view green” and then move the flag around on the virtual green for more accurate yardage to the hole. This is useful on those occasions when the flag is tucked in a corner behind a bunker.

Automatic Course and Hole Identification

At the start of a round, the watch quickly identifies the course being played. On occasion — when two courses are nearby — I have found that it presents a couple of choices and asks you to click on one.

With more than 43,000 preloaded courses, I have yet to find one that it doesn’t have — even the most isolated farm field course in rural Michigan.

For nine hole courses, it asks if you are doing nine, or intend to loop around again for a full 18.

The GPS nearly seamlessly transitions from hole to hole as you play.

I say “nearly” because on occasion I have found the S70 thinks I am on the last hole when in fact I am on the tee box of the next. This only happens on courses where greens and tee boxes are close together. The fix is quite quick: go to the main menu, swipe to the “select hole” option, then swipe to select the proper hole.

Birds Eye View of Holes

While playing, the S70’s watch face shows a bird’s eye image of the hole from where you stand. It is especially useful when playing a new course to understand the shape of the fairway, and the location of hazards. Tapping on the screen zooms in and small arrows let you cycle through various reference points and their yardages.

For bunkers, ponds and other hazards, the Approach S70 both to the front and the back.

A “plays like” function uses a built-in barometer to give players a more accurate reading of how each shot is playing.

With a $10 a month subscription, you can get a sophisticated green reading function.

Distance Recording and Stat Collection

The Garmin Approach S70 automatically records the distance for each shot. As you can see in the top photo, the distance is shown as a number after a graphic of a golf ball with a tail.

Once the ball is hit, the Garmin S70 starts recording distance. When you arrive at the ball, all you need to do to see how far you hit the ball is to glance at the watch. Hit the next shot and restart the measurement.

Somehow, the watch knows whether you have actually hit the ball or not. Try as I might, I can’t get a practice swing to restart the recording.

If for some reason you do need to restart, there is a manual measure shot feature accessible in the main menu.

In all of the watch’s features, this might be one of the most valuable. It is my observation that players consistently overestimate how far they can hit a ball, with all of the resultant bad outcomes. Playing a few rounds with the Garmin S70 can help a player know their true distances.

It also tracks shot dispersion.

Virtual Caddy and Scorecards

Using this data, and other things the watch tracks, such as historical swing data, elevation, wind speed and wind direction, the Garmin virtual caddy can suggest a club.

The Garmin S70 also can serve as your digital scorecard. When starting a round it will ask if you want to keep score. If you answer in the affirmative, after each hole, the Garmin S70 will prompt you for a number.

Forget to record a couple of holes? There’s a scorecard editor function.

One golf feature I don’t use, but which others may find useful is the ability to measure swing tempo. I’m just trying to get through a round where I don’t mishit a single ball. If you’re already at that point, measuring swing tempo could be your next level up.

At some point I’ll be there.

If this was all the Garmin Approach S70 did, it would earn an A+. But it does so much more.

Sports and Fitness Tracking Features

In addition to serving as a golf watch, the S70 will track other sports. In the photo to the left, I’m using it as a fitness tracker for cycling. I also use it for strength training and walking for fitness. It will also track running, HIIT, indoor walking, yoga, and even skiing.

I especially like it as a strength training tracker because with it, I don’t need to remember how many sets and reps I have done. That way, I can listen to my podcasts, which by the way, can be controlled from the watch.

It tracks steps as a matter of course. It also monitors heart rate (with an abnormal rate alert), stress, PulseOx, sleep, floors up and down, respiration, intensity minutes, and so much more.

Garmin Golf App, Garmin Connect and the Garmin Ecosystem

All of this is tied together in an easy to navigate Garmin Connect app for your phone. The Garmin Golf App will track your scorecards, performance stats and more. If you have a Garmin Approach R10 Launch Monitor, the app and watch will also tie into that.

Indeed, there is an entire Garmin fitness ecosystem, in which I have much invested. In addition to the Approach S70, I also own an Approach G12, a VivoSmart 4 (Amazon Link), and a VivoActive 4 (Amazon link).

I’m an unabashed Garmin Fanboy.

Notifications, Music Controls and More

Notifications from your phone can be directed to your watch, so you don’t have to pull out your phone in the middle of a round to check it.

A swipe on the watch face brings up weather, sunrise and sunset information, heart rate data, Pulse Ox, activity stats, music controls and more.

I no need for it, but Garmin also has a suite of stats and trackers designed specifically for women.

There’s a Garmin Pay function which ties the watch to one or more of your credit or debit cards so you can pay by swiping your watch over a merchant’s pay device.

Other features: Find My Phone; Stopwatch; Timers; Do Not Disturb; Screen Off.

A cool feature is the emergency notification system. If the watch senses that you’ve gone down, it will notify people in your preset list.

I thought about this a couple of days ago as I saw a player suddenly collapse two holes over on the course. I called into the clubhouse as a couple of closer groups in carts were driving to see how he was. It turns out he had been hit on the head with a ball.

Customization

The Approach S70 has a lot of customization options. There are some built-in watch faces and apps, but Garmin also has an app store with some basic apps to download to the watch.

Conclusions

The Garmin S70 is peak golf gadgetry. It has everything I would want in a golf watch — and more. It’s also a fitness watch, health monitor and general daily companion. Indeed, it has more features than I think I will ever use.

Recommended.