Garmin S42 and Garmin Vivoactive with golf app - what's the difference?

[nejames]

Hi, I'm just getting back into golf after a few years without regular play and just realised that my fairly ancient Garmin Approach S1 has literally decayed (well, the strap has - either way it's not useable.) Obviously this gives me an excuse to buy a new toy 🙂. Just wondering if anyone has used the Garmin Vivoactive 3 or 4 and the Approach S42. I know the VA line is considered more general sports/ smart watches while the S42 is marketed as a Golf watch with smarts, but I can't see exactly what the difference is during a round of golf... It seems like the VA has way more features with no obvious deficiencies vs the S42 for golf (my main sporting interest..) I'd really appreciate any personal experience anyone might have had on this though - many thanks in advance.

[akronswitness]

7 hours ago, nejames said:

Hi, I'm just getting back into golf after a few years without regular play and just realised that my fairly ancient Garmin Approach S1 has literally decayed (well, the strap has - either way it's not useable.) Obviously this gives me an excuse to buy a new toy 🙂. Just wondering if anyone has used the Garmin Vivoactive 3 or 4 and the Approach S42. I know the VA line is considered more general sports/ smart watches while the S42 is marketed as a Golf watch with smarts, but I can't see exactly what the difference is during a round of golf... It seems like the VA has way more features with no obvious deficiencies vs the S42 for golf (my main sporting interest..) I'd really appreciate any personal experience anyone might have had on this though - many thanks in advance.

 

The Vivo is a activity watch, the S42 is a golf GPS watch. If you into exercising and tracking fitness--get the Vivo. If you want a watch that is a golf GPS, get the S42. The S42 tracks course play, distance, yardages and scores but comes with a few things like weather and calls/text.  You can also track your activity like steps, distance, calories, ect with the S42 when paired to the Garmin Connect app on your phone.

 

Basically, the Vivofit is strictly a activity monitor with some smartwatch features. The S42 is a golf gps watch first and a activity tracker/smartwatch second.

 

For instance--my S42 on Sep 11th tracked that I had 11,382 steps, walked 5.2 mi and burned 3,053 calories when I had it on the last day I golfed. 113% of my goal for the day and tracked that I had 6 hrs and 59 mins of sleep that night. It also shows me every shot I hit in the round, tracked my club distances, totaled my score and showed me my handicap. It also receives calls/texts.

 

For the same price. Get the S42. It does everything you need. Im actually not sure how the Vivo is the same price.

Edited February 17, 2022 by akronswitness

[nejames]

Hi, thanks for your response.

 

I think you've confused the Vivofit with the Vivoactive though. The Vivoactive is a much more advanced watch. As I mentioned, I can't see that there is anything at all which the S42 offers over the Vivoactive - except maybe the need to download the course you are playing. Other than that, the only difference seems like marketing & a very slightly different screen size (bigger and smaller, depending on the size of Vivoactive you get).

 

I wonder if I am missing anything though? I have asked Garmin and all I've been sent is a list of specs to compare, hence wondering if anyone has any practical experience of the two watches..