Garmin Approach S70 Review: The Best GPS Golf Watch Ever Made
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- Опубліковано 30 чер 2024
- The Garmin Approach S70 is one of the very best GPS golf watches ever made. But what makes it so good? We'll go over all of the pros and cons of the latest Garmin golf watch in this review.
Buy the Garmin Approach S70: breakingeighty.com/garmin-s70/
Written Review: breakingeighty.com/garmin-app...
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
0:00 - Heading to the....Ozarks?
0:29 - Introducing: The Garmin Approach S70
0:54 - The best golf watch ever made?
1:50 - 2 quick caveats.
2:43 - First Impressions of the Approach s70
3:19 - Major upgrade 1
4:34 - Setting up the S70
5:22 - Size and weight
6:13 - Using the S70 on the golf course
8:44 - "Plays like" data
9:50 - Green contours
10:25 - Virtual caddie and CT10 Sensors
11:40 - Major upgrade 2
12:38 - Sleep tracking with the Approach S70
13:50 - Watch customization
15:15 - Garmin Golf Membership
16:32 - S70 vs. S62
17:18 - S70 vs. Apple Watch
18:16 - Price
19:07 - Finishing up
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One “killer app” I appreciate on the S70 is the shot racking without having any additional hardware. I used to use ARCCOS to shot track. With the S70, I hit a ball, tell it what club I used and walk to where it landed. Hit the next shot, select the club, etc. it keeps track of everything and I can review and modify with Garmin Golf app after the round. Brilliant. I too have been an avid Apple Watch fan for many years. The battery on the S70 is just blowing my mind with how long a charge lasts. I have been using this for all the sports/health… tracking as well. Very happy so far (sure I am still in the honeymoon phase). Expensive - yes. For me (an avid golfer and performance/tech nerd) worth it.
Im with you
Sounds great cant wait to use it
Great Review! Waited 3+ years! Ordered mine this morning! Should be here Thursday! Cheers!
Enjoy it!!
Superb video, thank you!
Getting mine today 😊
Looking forward to getting one
Great review. I have the Epix gen 2 and love it. Was wondering if you know Garmin will update the golf features on a new software update?
You are exceptional. Thank you very much.
Many thanks- Ordered it last night (before I saw ur video)
Let me know what you think!
@@breakingeighty Estimated shipment time is 2 weeks. I will report back.
I just picked up this watch before a 4 day 5 round golf trip and I am little disappointed as of yet. I have the s62 which is really great so I had high hopes for this watch. My main issue was it only had accurate yardages for 1 of the 3 courses I played. I even downloaded the courses before the trip and on the 2 courses where I had the errors the watch was 80-100 yards off from the tee box. I made sure the software was updated, stopped and restarted the round, and even changed tee boxes but it was still producing this massive yardage error which basically made it useless. I wish I had packed my s62 to see if this issue was happening with both watches but I did not. Luckily I carry a laser rangefinder as well so that helped.
I hope this issue somehow resolves itself because the watch is really great. I was very impressed with the battery life as most amoled watches struggle with this (Apple Watch lol). It has a ton of features besides golf so it is a legit smart watch. The apps you can add and customizations you can make on the ConnectIQ store make it a pretty powerful smart watch. But this is a golf watch and it’s kinda failed so far 😢
S62 works with Garmin Connect. I have years of fitness and health stats that I've collected during runs or rides wearing my Garmin.
People gripe about the price but I’ve lost 3 range finders already and this I won’t lose 😂
I’m like you, Apple everything, but after 8 years of daily charging my watch, I’ve had enough. Changed to Garmin instinct 2 solar and now s70. I’ll never look back
I received my S62 a week ago. I will return it tomorrow, and order the S70 once I see the money back on my account.
Haha. Received mine yesterday and returned it today. Instantly ordered the S70. Receive tomorrow. Hope we both love it.
I have no doubt you guys will be happy with it. The 70 is such a big jump from the S62. Especially if you plan to wear it off the golf course and for other activities as well.
would be really cool if they threw in those sensors if you purchased the watch. I would highly consider it
Great stuff! One question…how does it work trying to swipe/touch with a glove on? I’m left handed (wear a watch on my right wrist), but play golf right handed, so have a glove on my left hand…
You live in Portland, OR too? So do I! I use a Garmin Venu 2S with the golf app. I loved it at first but the problem is it misses several hazards on several of the courses I play here. I switched to the GolfShot App which seems to have much better maps. Do you notice the same issue? Hope to see you on the course sometime!
I got an apple watch a few months before starting golfing and now I wish I had this lol.
The one, big reservation I have about these watches are the batteries. This one says it's a built-in Lithium battery. If the battery life expires and can be replaced by Garmin then fine (but I couldn't find anything on the support site about this). But if it can't be replaced then you're stuck having to buy another brand new watch down the road when the battery expires. This happened with my Fitbit. It had a built-in battery that died after a couple of years (thereabouts) and couldn't be replaced. Granted, the Fitbit was only $150 so I guess I got my money's worth but for $700? That's another matter altogether.
Sticking with my Apple Watch. Investing my $700 in golf lessons. Next.
Great video. How about reviews on golf apps for Apple Watch other than Arccos
Noted! Will see what I can do.
Excellent review, have been wanting to upgrade S20 to S62 and hoping the price will drop. S70 looks and acts sweet, I'll have to give it serious thought. Q - wind feature is of high interest living here in TX, did you say the watch connects to the iphone and gathers the wind data?
Yep! When you're paired with the Garmin Golf app, it'll give you real time wind data. You can see mph as well as which direction it's blowing with a quick swipe. It will also factor that into the "plays like" distance, and will show you how many yards it adjusted for the wind as well.
Also worth noting if you use the Arccos watch app on IOS or Android, it too has wind data built in. So could be another option if that's a features that's important to you.
S62 has green contours as well
Great videos!...I have the Apple Watch ultra...but saw your video on s 70....I was thinking getting accos to add ti Apple Watch...maybe cheaper...I am 13 index and play maybe 2 rounds a week...I do like distance to traps or water...so was thinking g 80? any thoughts? thank you
keep up the good work!
The G80 is an awesome device, but very different than the watches. So it kind of just depends on what specifically you're looking for!
Hi, I have recently purchased the S70 and I am blown away by the battery longevity. I was wondering in your experience how much your Apple Watch ultra battery was drained using Arccos during a round of golf before you moved to the S70. I kind of miss now strongly the Apple ecosystem despite all the great features of the S70. Thanks😊
I have a Fernix 5 that I sometimes golf with. It is great...but at 47 mm its large (same size as that S70). I don't like having a watch on while golfing, but at the same time, I want the conveninece of the GPS features and maps the watch offers. I have a Shotscope H4 (No subscription, I'm dispappointed Arccos chose that model as I liked my first gen Arccos sensors) and it gets tiresome keeping that on my person. The watch is always with you on your wrist; thats a big advantage. I'm tempted to purchase this S70 TBH. The Fenix is great, but it is not golf specific.
I love your reviews/content...great job as always.
Thanks for the kind words! Yeah the subscription with Arccos is frustrating, but I also get it that this is how they're able to keep growing their business/improving the product, so it is what it is.
But if you're looking for a dedicated golf watch, the S70gets my full recommendation. I haven't used anything in the Fenix series, so unfortunately can't offer any better comparison to the differences there.
The Fenix is great. I'm a big Garmin fan myself. I have an old bike computer with pedal sensors and a heart strap, all of which I still use, I have a G8 and The Fenix 5. The S70 with the green maps is very enticing. I have no doubt it is superb.
I used to have the fenix 6 solar and by comparison to the s70 its night and day on your wrist. The s70 is much lighter, sits better on on the wrist and just like you i didnt like having my watch on while playing a round. However the s70 sits so well on your wrist that it doesnt even feel like you are wearing a watch.
Great review always, thanks. Quick question, I can find everything in the MarQ watch same like s70? Asking because I have s62 and Apple Watch ultra. I thinking to more luxury watch. Thanks in advance
Great question, and I'm still trying to work that out for myself actually. I'm pretty sure the MARQ has more in depth general fitness features (more running, trails etc). As I understand it, some of the newest golf tech like the updated Virtual Caddie recommendations will be coming in a software update in the next few months.
So if you're looking to go the luxury route, I think you can safely go for the MARQ 2 Golfer knowing that sooner rather than later the new features rolled out with the S70 will find it's way to that watch.
I'm hoping to get my hands on one to do a dedicated review soon, so if that's the case I can give a more direct update.
@@breakingeighty thank you so much for your advice. Very helpful. Great channel
Man way too excited lol. Guess I would be to if that was my day job lol. Good work
So one of the things I’ve been doing is using Strava to record “the walk”, and the Garmin Golf app for scorecards (spot the cyclist!). Is the approach S70 able to record both concurrently?
I’ve just received mine, really pleased, only thing I prefer on the s62 is scrolling through the hazards from the main screen, S70 goes to a different view and it doesn’t seem as good. Anyone else find this?
Any update to how to set pin location on the green?
Do you know if other watches like the Fenix 7 series will be getting an update with improved caddie and the advanced plays like feature as well? Great video thanks!
Hope so. Do garmin usually update old product with updates? Like Apple per say
The only older watch I know for sure that will get updated is the MARQ 2 Golfer. I'd be surprised if the older Fenix watches do.
@@breakingeighty gotcha, thanks for the info!
Great review. Just wondering about the size. Is the S62 equivalent to S70 42 or 47mm?
47mm
Looks like you have a nice watch on during the review, I like wearing luxury watches, but have a whoop and S62. Do you wear two watches? Would like to drop whoop and go full Garmin
Ha! Man this is my greatest dilemma in life. I had a Whoop for about a year, but honestly I can't do the double wrist thing. And it started to feel like I was basically wearing two watches at all times. I've considered the Oura Ring because of that, but haven't tried it yet.
I'll often wear my Apple Watch Ultra (or recently the S70) for half the day and then switch to a mechanical watch. But I'll always use the smart watch for workouts or any activities.
Now I just need Garmin or Apple to come up with a small sensor you can add to a mechanical watch to give you the same data, and I'll be golden haha
My S62 is brilliant but the Garmin Golf app needs improving, the Shotscope app as a lot more stats and info about your game on it
Wear both and/or rotate…they are both great for different reasons
Thanks for the great review. A couple of quick questions...you mentioned in the 'Best Golf Shot Trackers' video that the CT10 seem to be a bit of an after thought and there doesn't seem to be a lot of support/improvement around them. Do you think Garmin are planning to release a newer version and are just running the clock out on the CT10s. I currently use the Shotscope V3 and looking to upgrade but, don't want to buy these now for them to release an updated and improved version in 2 months (especially considering that the S70 & CT10s would run over £800 in the UK). Also, any thoughts on how big the S70 wears given its a 47mm watch, I'm conscious it might be a bit big but don't want to downgrade to the smaller size unless absolutely necessary (I want all the prime screen real estate 🤣). Thank you for the great content, really useful, and sorry for the long comment.
I dont get the impression that Garmin will be coming out with new CT10s anytime soon - but the existing ones still work great, so I wouldn't be overly concerned about this. And it'll definitely be a nice upgrade to the Shot Scope in my opinion.
I personally don't find the S70 to feel huge on the wrist. It's very light, and I tend to forget I'm wearing it. Much smaller and lighter than the Apple Watch Ultra. I have pretty small wrists and haven't found it to be an issue, so I'd think you'll be fine. Worst case you can return and exchange for the smaller size.
@Breaking Eighty thank you for the response. Really appreciate it. Might just need to take the plunge and join the S70 club!
@@amarkovacevic1578 Not sure the CT10's sensors are really needed either, I tired the first arccos Sensors long ago and it still seems that they are prone to missing shots (same as the CT10's here and there. I have used the S62 for the last 2 years and now have the S70 (which I love) and after every shot I just indicate the club used which is super easy and pretty much automatic, then put my score in at the end of each hole. It doesn't do it automatically, but I know it's accurate, nothing to miss.
@Todd Manz thanks, that's good to know. Out of interest how does thr putt tracking work with Garmin? On shotscope it breaks down your putts by distance and gives you make percentages together with strokes gained data. Is there something similar?
Hey Sean! Do you know if club data transfers from the R10 to make the smart caddie’s suggestions more accurate? What order would you purchase the equipment in, R10, CT10 (or Arccos), S70?
As far as I know club data from R10 does not have any part in virtual caddie recommendations - although that would be cool if it did! As for order really just depends on what you’re needing/wanting most personally. I’d probably go watch over r10, but that’s just because I’d get more use out of the watch in a weekly basis.
Thank you very much for your reply! Loving your content!
My wife hates you, because of this review I just ordered an S70! hahaha
But is the strap any better??? My Garmin Approach watch strap busted in 3rd season of use. Looks like S70 has no way to replace the band, right?
How does the analytics strokes gained data compare on say Apple Watch/Arrcos vs the Garmin watch and sensors
The data is pretty similar, but Arccos definitely provides quite a bit more with a much better user interface and user experience. As other people have mentioned here, the Garmin app can be a little clunky at times. I think it's better than some are giving it credit for, but for app experience, I definitely prefer Arccos.
Great review. Would liike to have the extra features that S70 has but I love the battery life of my S62.
After one round with the S70 and wore it all day still had 87% battery, so battery life will not be an issue...
"they didn't compensate me in any way but they paid for all these things for me!!!" That's compensation. Otherwise, great video.
A question I have is can you take practice shots while using this watch? For example I am in fairaway hit a shot, miss the green and want to drop a ball and hit a second one from same spot but just as a practice shot?
This is just a guess but I do use a ShotScope watch and I am assuming this is the same. It only records your shot, when you go to hit the next shot. Unless you changed clubs for the practice shot, it will only record the results of your first shot. Does that make sense? Additionally, I'm sure that you can (will likely have to) edit the recorded shots after the round to confirm that everything was recorded correctly.
If you have the club sensors it will record every shot. If you don't I'm pretty sure you have to manually select a club on the watch for it to count a shot
I can’t decide- the newest Epix or the s70? It seems the Epix has all the current golf stuff, no? Why not buy the Epix? Thanks!!! Looking to buy asap!!
S70 is more complete for golf. Epix pro will probably get the full golf features as well. Current Epix might get it. As of now Epix doesn’t have play as with wind. Slope only. So the caddie doesn’t factor in wind in decision making which makes it pretty much useless
@@nicolasbitcoin2549 Interesting read, thanks.
Sooooo, I have have an Apple Watch, an S62 and a Z82 (and G80 and R10 but that is beside the point...) and recently started using Arccos (partly) because of the rave reviews you have given Arccos. And I have to say that the stat's I get from Arccos is better than the stats I saw from Garmin last year (their stats sucked quite frankly).
Have Garmin improved on the stats so that I could dump using Arccos and get the same valuable stats from Garmin or do I need to combine Arccos with Garmin stuff to get the best of both worlds (I'm seeing using Apple Watch with Arccos and Z82 for most GPS and rangefinding stuff)? Or could I dump the S62 and Arccos and go with the S70 and be golden in the Garmin ecosystem? Or do I need to go big and get both a S70 for the great watch and the Arccos Link to get both (would still be using the Z82 though...)?
The stats with Garmin are....fine. Perfectly serviceable, and you can get some great information. That said, I still vastly prefer Arccos for everything shot tracking specific.
For my last round, I played with Arccos on my phone in my pocket and the S70 on my wrist. I missed the convenience of the one button pin setting feature for Arccos on the Apple watch, but this watch is so good that I've really been enjoying using it.
That said, if I was starting from scratch and wanted to go with a Garmin watch, I'd probably bite the bullet and get the CT10 sensors and keep everything all under one roof. The sensors when paired with the S70 makes for a pretty great setup. I personally am weird and can see myself doing both Arccos/Garmin, but that isn't necessary or realistic for *most* people.
Ordered mine today coming from the s62. But damn I hate the app and stats. The watches are so damn great, the stats are years behind unfortunately
@@SplashFPV couldn't agree more. Good HW and really bad app (even the the GPS part of the app is really bad if you want to plan game for example)
@@SplashFPV Its a bit sad, Garmin makes great hardware that won't see it's full potential until a couple of years later on when the software/firmware been updated. S70 seems really nice though, loads of fitness functions that takes it close to the Fenix/Epix and the display is the biggest ever from Garmin in that bezel size.
Couldn’t agree more and I’ve done the same, I’ve got s62 plus R10 tags, works perfect, never misses a shot, but the stat centre is awful. I’m using the s62 soon to be s70 and the Arccos tags and connect. Such a shame Garmin can’t do something with the software. It also wouldn’t be difficult because they have all the data. Maybe they are going to get an update out soon due to the s70 coming out.
Brilliant review. Thanks! And still, I bet you won’t leave the Apple Watch 😉 And why would you?
Man, we'll see. I'm sure I'll go back to the Apple Watch at some point, but I never expected to be as much of a fan of this watch as I am. It'll be interesting to see how it feels putting it back on after wearing this for a few weeks.
@@breakingeighty I had been saving for an Apple Ultra and thinking about Garmin now. Apple battery sucks ass and the s70 seems to have a lot of things i will use.
I too was going to get the Apple Watch ultra. This looks much better and does more of what I do. The whole time watching your video I was thinking “ why doesn’t Apple do that?” They seem to innovate so slowly now and push a certain agenda. I’m over it.
Great review Sean. Just strap that Apple Watch to your ankle and you’ll have the best of both worlds!
For the first time ever (and hopefully the last) I double-wristed it for a run last week ha. I'm not proud of this. But gotta do it for the reviews!
😂
Thanks for the review. The S70 looks super cool and definitely a serious consideration at this point. In the 'Best Golf Shot Trackers' video, you mentioned that the CT10 sensors don't seem to be promoted very much and you were concerned about the future of the sensors. Do you think that they are releasing new versions that are worth waiting for? I currently use the Shotscope V3 and looking to upgrade but don't want to spend all the money for them to then release new improved sensors in 2 months. Especially considering the the S70 and sensors are push £800. Also how big does the s70 wear? Concious it is a 47mm watch and my wrists aren't that big 😂. Sorry for the long comment and thanks for the content!
Just ordered mine 10 minutes ago.
Did you say when this is going to be released?
Yesterday! But based on someone else's comment who just ordered one, sounds like shipping time is around 2 weeks at the moment.
How does it compare to the Shotscope X5? ( ignoring health data )
The watch itself is lightyears better than the X5. Shot tracking I think is much better because you can edit it on the fly as opposed to having to wait until after the round. Here's my review of that: breakingeighty.com/shot-scope-x5-gps-watch
Excellent review. Sorry - $700 - no way - i'll stick with my S10 - it does just fine. I'd rather spend $700 on the new Callaway driver (which I won't do either).
Totally get it, $700 is a lot of money. And if all you need are distances, there are plenty of options out there (like the S10/S12) that do a great job.
If your s10 ever happens to go down for good. I’d recommend trying out the s12. You will get a very similar experience, but having it be able to connect to the iPhone app is a game changer and well worth the upgrade.
I received the watch this afternoon. I am coming from an apple watch 7, and iPhone 14. the screen is amazing. very sharp. the watch seems really large to me but my wife says it looks good and not too big. One thing to note for those of you thinking of making this a daily driver, I can receive text messages and phone calls on the watch but I can't do anything with them from the watch. I can answer the phone but no one can hear me speak. I have to use the phone. I can't tap on a text message and reply. Have to do that from the phone. If anyone has figured out how to do this from the watch I would really like to know. I can only imagine golf will be fantastic on this thing. When I play, hopefully tomorrow I'll leave my thoughts. I also do a lot of biking and walking.
I have the s62 and was hoping these would be with the new one... Can you view pictures sent via text?
@@bradleyjames8487 Just tried it. it shows I received a text message with 1 attachment. tapping on the message does nothing. I hope I'm just missing something and someone can tell me how.
@5:30 what do the blue white and red dots mean on the map cant work out what that means.
200, 150, and 100 yards away from center of green
@@kourt2469 thanks
You didn't mention the battery life. When wearing it 24/7. How often does it need charging? Everyone I know that has a dedicated golf watch or an Apple watch are basically charging it every day.
Honestly battery life has been fantastic. Using it for daily workouts, sleep tracking, and golf, I've only had to charge it once every 4-5 days. Could go much longer if I changed some settings as well. So while it wont be quite as long as say a Fenix series watch due to the AMOLED screen, its WAY better than any Apple Watch, which is my frame of reference. So for me, I've found it to be excellent.
@@breakingeighty thanks for that. Battery life is probably the most important aspect of a watch for me and the reason I've never had an Apple or golf dedicated one. I have a Hwawei ATM and I can get 10-14 days out of it. But the functionality is limited. 4-5 days is a lot more doable.
Great watch but… just bought the epix 2
From everything I've heard, I doubt you'll be disappointed!
They could update the shitty apps they have to accompany it instead of releasing new watches. The garmin iphone app is appalling, seems made for the first iphone back in 2007. And don’t get me started on the launch monitor. The R10. The app sucks so bad tjat basically its a must to buy a third party app for an extra 400€
S 70 is great but does not allow major banks in Canada & USA to Garmin Pay !!!!!
The s-70 is all you have said vurses Apple except it will not do Garmin pay with major Banks in Canada & USA
lol royal melbourne is my local course what the hell
You've got one hell of a local course - errr, courses! I was there in February.
The Garmin S70 is a nice golf watch but there isn’t anything special about it. It has a lot of wow features but after several rounds of use, I don’t use any of the features other than distance to hazards and the green. The virtual caddie is a complete joke and the wind adjustment is questionable at best. It’s hard to recommend this golf watch to anyone at its current price point. Garmin should include the green contour feature that currently has an annual fee of $100 which is not worth it. The green contour feature should be included with the watch or $25 annually.
I just don’t like wearing a black watch in Summer
Why would you buy a garmin watch that has no trade up???
I.m french..you speak to fast😢..for me...😊
Overpriced and oversized! Where are the offerings for women??
They actually make this in a smaller size for women as well! Realized after the edit I forgot to mention this in the video.
so youre a paid reviewer. LOL this is nice but gonna say this is a miss, it does not have NFC tag identification. still have to touch the watch way to much. i want to golf not play with my watch
Overprice and overrate. The S62 does all you need. So does the S12 for that matter. This is overkill for your wallet. 😏
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