Garmin Approach s70

[bhj83]

12 minutes ago, Golfcrzy said:

Swung by the club, loaded up the course. Looks nice but the input stinks under perfect, not even playing but standing on the course conditions. I’ve got 18 in the morning I’ll try but so far it’s more frustrating to get the hazard info than I may be willing to tolerate. Will report back more after using it under live fire. 
 

Some positives are the screen is bright and colors are lovely. Numbers are accurate when compared to rangefinder and phone gps apps, even adjusted values are within a yard or two. 

 

Shame that it isn’t so slick navigating the actual hole, as it is to navigate the device. The device itself loads up fast, connects to satellites very fast, and generally is nice for a watch I guess. If it were an Apple Watch, we wouldn’t accept the input issues or the screen lag as it redraws holes. 
 

Not hating. Just reporting. 

I've been using it for about 5 rounds or so now and I'm not sure what you're referring to. It's been about the easiest watch I've used to get to the hazard info. All you have to do is touch the watch to view the hole and it takes me to the driver distance I input...from there it's the up and down arrow to move to different sand traps or what not and it shows the front and back of the bunker numbers. From there you can also drag or point to any spot to get precise numbers. I've used a few golf watches in my time and I'm not sure of a better way to do it honestly. Watches aren't for everyone though. 

[Golfcrzy]

1 hour ago, bhj83 said:

I've been using it for about 5 rounds or so now and I'm not sure what you're referring to. It's been about the easiest watch I've used to get to the hazard info. All you have to do is touch the watch to view the hole and it takes me to the driver distance I input...from there it's the up and down arrow to move to different sand traps or what not and it shows the front and back of the bunker numbers. From there you can also drag or point to any spot to get precise numbers. I've used a few golf watches in my time and I'm not sure of a better way to do it honestly. Watches aren't for everyone though. 

I just spent some time with their tech support. I found them helpful. I got the Contours working and a “tip” I was given was to press the arrows along the bezel and not try to press just the screen. This was a marked improvement in navigating the screen. Single targeting mode is fine.
 

Wearing a watch isn’t an issue. The buttons are shaped like pills and they don’t visually extend to the bezel. Treating them as precise buttons wasn’t the best way to use them. Ensuring contact with the edge of the bezel and the screen - an area outside and below the shaded button area - was the key to improved input. 

[Dan13]

Do you guys actually use and trust the virtual caddie? The only reason I haven’t picked up an S42 is the lack of full hole maps and touch targeting. The extra money spent on features beyond that just doesn’t seem worth it for me - AMOLED display not withstanding. That is a great feature. 

[sfleming]

looks pretty amazing. I find myself with the s62 being a bit of a dumbass,  unable to remember how to get to certain views. I really need to look at some more user videos on it. I don't think I'll shell out the $$ for the 7x until maybe the 8x comes out :0

[wonderif]

Coming from S60, S70 has been far superior.  I am glad I skipped S62 and waited a couple of years more.  On top of all the new features and the superior screen, I have to mention that the Battery life is just awesome!  I played two 18 hole rounds and it still shows about 65%.  I cannot tell if it could really sustain 5 full rounds as Garmin claims, but even after years of use and battery degradation in the future, S70 should be able to sustain at least 3-4 rounds of a golf trip without charging.

Edited June 11, 2023 by wonderif

[itsame]

On 6/8/2023 at 6:59 PM, Dan13 said:

Do you guys actually use and trust the virtual caddie? The only reason I haven’t picked up an S42 is the lack of full hole maps and touch targeting. The extra money spent on features beyond that just doesn’t seem worth it for me - AMOLED display not withstanding. That is a great feature. 

 

I'm not sure how the Virtual Caddie algorithm works, but I find it can be misleading. For example, it will tell me to play 3W, 56* for my next two shots for a statistical 4.7 strokes, but say 5.3 strokes if I lay up with an iron. I understand I am a lot more likely to make birdie if I hit my 3W its average distance, but I'm not sure if it takes into consideration that hooking it into the trees will lead to a double bogey?

 

I do like the 'Play as' feature though.

[Fairways_and_Greens]

On 5/30/2023 at 1:49 PM, Pepperturbo said:

Good luck with S70.

 

I have a pretty active lifestyle.  Fenix 6x Pro gives me 20–30 days of battery, Pinpointer, scoring, full color course view, golf yardages to and carry hazards, F, M & B yardages, various other yardages and adjustable pin positions, club yardages, even picks club if I wanted.  I have 2 Rolexes and other watches that never get used.  🙂  My Approach Z82 laser handles everything plus more yardages, even to blind pins, play as yardages, and left side full hole images with yardages to different hole obstacles, so I am covered for golf.  Nothing else needed. 

I still cycle, so the Road cycle app is used, and while at the gym Elliptical, Bike indoor, Cardio, Stair Steeper and strengthening are used, as well as kayaking app when in Maui.  Also, it provides multiple heart monitoring functions and health stats, monitors my stress and quality of sleep, and has a garage Door remote function, so I know when a door is opened/closed, and allows me to open and close garage doors from anywhere, plus other functions.  Additionally, the OpenWeather widget is used for immediate weather and barometer changes.  The only thing I don't have the S70 has is colored green contours with subscription.

 

Thanks for the posts. Was about to go with an S70 and ended up getting a Fenix 7 Sapphire. They're below $600 with the Fenix Pros coming out. I like the idea of longer battery life and it working for hiking.

[Golfcrzy]

Interim report after 27 holes: definitely closer to returning than keeping. Today my S70 was completely off kilter. I tried an on course reboot, reset, even took a hole off to try to get back on track. Don’t know what was going on. 
 

Distances off by significant yardages compared to my playing partners, my Demo Z82, and iPhone gps (Arccos and GolfLogix). Tens to hundreds of yards off for the first 6 or 7 holes. Reset at that point and got back on track mostly but had lost my round data I was tracking on the watch when I rebooted. 

 

Extremely surprising considering the Z82 was bang on the money, and both were connected to the Garmin Golf app. 

 

Gonna give it another two or three rounds or so as a fair try.
 

Beautiful screen, and the interface is ok.

 

Still couldn’t get the Contours, and the distance issues were extremely frustrating. While I am a proud mid cap, and don’t stress when I play, I had a very interesting guest in my foursome today and the technology got in the way of the conversation enough that I said no more after the 9th hole and stuck with Z82 alone, and my CaddyLink tracking shots. 
 

For half the price of the watch I’m only using for golf, and still keeping Arccos tracking, I might have found the device that works best for me. I wanted the SX550 to work the most, however, and that my course is not mapped properly bummed me out something awful. 
 

Update: SkyGolf has mapped my course and I’m excited to take it out. It was spared not a moment too soon as it was taped and ready to go, but I checked spam today and had a msg from their support they had remapped my home course. It really looks great and very intuitive for what it is. If the numbers hold up on course, I’m really hoping this is it. Not the least in part because it fits so nicely on my cart’s cell phone holder and the display is, for my purposes, more desirable than the smaller form factor a watch provides. 

Edited June 13, 2023 by Golfcrzy

[jacho22]

Upgraded from S62 to S70, mostly for the OLED screen.  Looks and performs great.  My only gripe is the price and you have to subscribe to Garmin Golf membership for the green contour data.

[Celeras]

Are there any improvements to the green contours on the S70 compared to the S62? 

 

With the S62, you can't download contours prior to getting to the course. You have to wait until the course is loaded via satellite... fiddle with the phone/app and try to sync... then just wait for the watch to pop up with the message and "reload" the course. Not even a progress bar or anything to indicate it is working. It's a nightmare and the last time I played I didn't even get the message until the back 9 (so no contours for half the round!).

 

Hoping that is a limitation of the S62s available memory and that the upgrade just has all the contours all the time ready to go if youre subscribed? Or is it the same?

[Golfcrzy]

23 hours ago, Celeras said:

Are there any improvements to the green contours on the S70 compared to the S62? 

 

With the S62, you can't download contours prior to getting to the course. You have to wait until the course is loaded via satellite... fiddle with the phone/app and try to sync... then just wait for the watch to pop up with the message and "reload" the course. Not even a progress bar or anything to indicate it is working. It's a nightmare and the last time I played I didn't even get the message until the back 9 (so no contours for half the round!).

 

Hoping that is a limitation of the S62s available memory and that the upgrade just has all the contours all the time ready to go if youre subscribed? Or is it the same?

That hasn’t changed. Can’t see contours unless at course. 

[Celeras]

4 hours ago, Golfcrzy said:

That hasn’t changed. Can’t see contours unless at course. 

 

Yes, but I meant the process of downloading of the course data with contours. On the S62 you have to load it on the course, THEN download the contours again by syncing with your phone, THEN reload the course a second time. All that is the same with the S70?

[Orlandogolfguru]

Any more comparisons to apple ultra?  I’m debating s70 but not sure it’s better than ultra with an app - I’m using grint and it seems to be spot on with gps. 

[geesecougar2]

I got one, used it twice, and am returning it:

 

• The 47mm is really big and obnoxious and not something I'd want to wear around day to day
• I don't like the watch face options
• I don't like how I have to download new apps to match the apps on my phone, and the app experience. For instance, I had to download Spotify and I found it very awkward and limited to control it from the watch
• Too much clicking the side buttons, not enough can be done with the touchscreen
• I find the golf experience cumbersome and too much work
  • The way different parts of the hole loads as you move your view around is annoying and feels buggy even if it's not actually buggy
  • The up/down buttons to go to different layup distances is awkward
  • You have to search and manually find distances for hazards and OB, rather than it being shown automatically. Some hazards aren't marked
  • You can't see the time while you're in golf mode, without a bunch of clicking around with the side buttons
  • Swiping down for the "plays like" stuff is annoying
  • I found myself hardly ever paying attention to the distances over my slope rangefinder. Between the distance and slope distance directly to the hole from my rangefinder, front middle back and plays like from the watch, it's just information overload that takes me out of it mentally
  • Score keeping doesn't track putts
  • I already subscribe to the Grint so if I really need GPS distances to a hazard I can use that, and I can use my rangefinder to shoot doglegs. 
  • For courses I already know, I don't need the watch. For new courses, the information either isn't there or isn't accessible enough to be that useful

 

Maybe it turns out I'm just not a "golf watch person", but I was hoping this would be a sleeker golf experience combined with being a good every day smartwatch. But for me it's not so it's just hard to justify almost $800, especially if I have to pay extra for green contours. 

Edited July 7, 2023 by geesecougar2

[awtryau89]

12 hours ago, Orlandogolfguru said:

Any more comparisons to apple ultra?  I’m debating s70 but not sure it’s better than ultra with an app - I’m using grint and it seems to be spot on with gps. 

Love my Ultra and Golfshot. Does everything I need plus I use a rangefinder. My only issue with the Ultra is fit and my glove hitting the action button. Its a small issue but very annoying. Very hard to practice with it on.   

[bhj83]

2 minutes ago, awtryau89 said:

Love my Ultra and Golfshot. Does everything I need plus I use a rangefinder. My only issue with the Ultra is fit and my glove hitting the action button. Its a small issue but very annoying. Very hard to practice with it on.   

What is the battery life like on it? How many rounds could you play on a single charge?

[awtryau89]

2 minutes ago, bhj83 said:

What is the battery life like on it? How many rounds could you play on a single charge?

I can definelty get 2 rounds on it from 100% easily. I have gone over 5 days without charging with the watch in power saving mode. I normally charge every night as I have a stand charger but the watch monitors the batter usage and only gives me 70-80% charge to keep the battery in best health. I wear all day and play a round and will come home with 35-40%.

[bhj83]

6 minutes ago, awtryau89 said:

I can definelty get 2 rounds on it from 100% easily. I have gone over 5 days without charging with the watch in power saving mode. I normally charge every night as I have a stand charger but the watch monitors the batter usage and only gives me 70-80% charge to keep the battery in best health. I wear all day and play a round and will come home with 35-40%.

Getting better I guess. I wear my Garmin S70 24/7 and take advantage of the health stats it provides. If I charge to 100% and play a round I still have over 80% of my battery left at the end of the day. 

[Orlandogolfguru]

15 minutes ago, bhj83 said:

Getting better I guess. I wear my Garmin S70 24/7 and take advantage of the health stats it provides. If I charge to 100% and play a round I still have over 80% of my battery left at the end of the day. 

I played with the ultra and grint yesterday - started at 80 percent and finished 18 at 60. The ultra is a beast on battery life compared to past AW gens. I have the s62 and just hate swapping watches. If the s70 was light years better I may consider it. The stats on grint seem to be better than Garmin app as well. 

[K-Hook]

So I got the new S70 and coming from the S62 which was great for golf and cool features like the body battery etc. The S62 complaint has always been the poor graphics/pixel (compared to an Apple Watch) and limited interface for me but the golf features were great. Now coming to the S70 the new screen is awesome in comparison and few other new features however I will say I am a little frustrated that its not quite as user friendly in the golf app. What I mean is the s62 you can just toggle at the bottom of the screen with the little arrows and it will jump to the hazards front to back distances, how far you need to hit it if you want to leave yourself a 100,150,200 yard approach shot where now you have to zoom into the hole layout and do it manually yourself which can become a little tedious when your just looking for the quick yardage. Another thing that the new one doesn't do or I haven't figured it out yet in the settings is ask you if you hit the fairway and which direction, how many putts did you putt, and log GIR. Anyone else having this issue? I know these are small grips but just my experience so far. The S70 is a big upgrade over the S62 in every aspect minus these few simple convenient things in the golf app.

[bhj83]

6 minutes ago, K-Hook said:

So I got the new S70 and coming from the S62 which was great for golf and cool features like the body battery etc. The S62 complaint has always been the poor graphics/pixel (compared to an Apple Watch) and limited interface for me but the golf features were great. Now coming to the S70 the new screen is awesome in comparison and few other new features however I will say I am a little frustrated that its not quite as user friendly in the golf app. What I mean is the s62 you can just toggle at the bottom of the screen with the little arrows and it will jump to the hazards front to back distances, how far you need to hit it if you want to leave yourself a 100,150,200 yard approach shot where now you have to zoom into the hole layout and do it manually yourself which can become a little tedious when your just looking for the quick yardage. Another thing that the new one doesn't do or I haven't figured it out yet in the settings is ask you if you hit the fairway and which direction, how many putts did you putt, and log GIR. Anyone else having this issue? I know these are small grips but just my experience so far. The S70 is a big upgrade over the S62 in every aspect minus these few simple convenient things in the golf app.

Sounds like you don't have stats turned on. Go to Settings > Golf Settings > Scoring and scroll down and turn Stat Tracking, Penalties and Prompt on. It actually tracks fairways hit automatically when you have this stuff turned on but does ask you to put in your score, number of putts and number of penalties. 

[Orlandogolfguru]

So got an s70 - what an upgrade from s62.  its not even in the same arena.  looks like ill be swapping from apple ultra to s70 - one round and loving it so far.

[bhj83]

22 minutes ago, Orlandogolfguru said:

So got an s70 - what an upgrade from s62.  its not even in the same arena.  looks like ill be swapping from apple ultra to s70 - one round and loving it so far.

Now will it replace your Apple Watch as your daily watch too? 😁 Personally, it does enough for my needs. I'm fine with just getting notifications on my watch and then going to my phone if I need to reply or something. 

[Celeras]

On 6/24/2023 at 8:10 PM, Celeras said:

 

Yes, but I meant the process of downloading of the course data with contours. On the S62 you have to load it on the course, THEN download the contours again by syncing with your phone, THEN reload the course a second time. All that is the same with the S70?

 

Anyone try this yet?

[jacho22]

Upgraded to S70 from S62 and used it for a few rounds.  S70 is better in every way, most notably the screen and speed.  I don't really use it for the activity tracking, but that is much better than S62 as well.  Apple Watch has probably improved a great deal recently, but the reason I bought an S62 was because I couldn't stand the lag time to get readings.  My only complaints are the price and the fact you need a Garmin Golf subscription for the green undulation.

[Cactus Jack]

3 hours ago, jacho22 said:

Upgraded to S70 from S62 and used it for a few rounds.  S70 is better in every way, most notably the screen and speed.  I don't really use it for the activity tracking, but that is much better than S62 as well.  Apple Watch has probably improved a great deal recently, but the reason I bought an S62 was because I couldn't stand the lag time to get readings.  My only complaints are the price and the fact you need a Garmin Golf subscription for the green undulation.

 

I upgraded from the S62 and played my first round with the S70 yesterday. Wow, just as you said, the S70 is better in every way. The screen is awesome, and the ability to zoom in & out on hole features with zero lag was awesome. The only think I was certain about was the accuracy of the air density distance calcs. I played at 7,000' and found the plays like distance was still 1-1.5 too long. Those readings would be spot on near sea level, but not in the mountains.  

[fjk]

I didn't find the apple watch ultra to be that comfortable to swing with - it was OK. Regular apple watch was fine, but the ultra being "taller" and heavier overall wasnt great, especially not with the typical strap I used (alpine loop). I had to use a velcro sport strap which got sweaty.

 

But otherwise, between S70 and the AWU, I would find the Ultra way more functional.

 

Can anyone else chime in with their comparisons?

 

@Steelhead any further thoughts between the two?

[Steelhead]

On 8/1/2023 at 6:06 PM, fjk said:

I didn't find the apple watch ultra to be that comfortable to swing with - it was OK. Regular apple watch was fine, but the ultra being "taller" and heavier overall wasnt great, especially not with the typical strap I used (alpine loop). I had to use a velcro sport strap which got sweaty.

 

But otherwise, between S70 and the AWU, I would find the Ultra way more functional.

 

Can anyone else chime in with their comparisons?

 

@Steelhead any further thoughts between the two?

I am so used to wearing my Ultra that I returned the new Garmin. Don't get me wrong the Garmin is an incredible piece of kit and if I were not so buried into the Apple ecosystem I would have the Garmin, for now it would be just another thing to charge and carry around....

[fjk]

1 hour ago, Steelhead said:

I am so used to wearing my Ultra that I returned the new Garmin. Don't get me wrong the Garmin is an incredible piece of kit and if I were not so buried into the Apple ecosystem I would have the Garmin, for now it would be just another thing to charge and carry around....

Might feel the same way. Good to know. What strap do you wear with your ultra for golf? I didnt like the alpine strap for golf but I preferred it for normal wear.

[awtryau89]

Same here. I have gone the Garmin route before. I had a Fenix and also tried the S62. They are great watches. I always come back to an AW because of the ecosystem and my uses. Traveling and using it on a day to day basis I get much more functionality from the AW. Add in Golfshot and their new Strokes Gained function, its just not worth the switch.