If you’ve been standing over a 160-yard approach shot trying to remember whether that bunker on the left is 145 or 155 yards away, you already understand why GPS watches exist. The Garmin Approach S70 takes that basic premise — knowing your distances — and layers on so many intelligent features that it genuinely changes how you experience a round of golf. This isn’t just a watch with a yardage number on it. It’s the closest thing to having a real caddie strapped to your wrist.

I’ve been wearing the 47mm S70 through a full season of golf, from early morning frost delays to late-afternoon summer rounds where the sun hammers down on the display. Here’s my honest take on whether this watch is worth its premium price tag — and who it’s actually built for.

Why a Dedicated Golf GPS Watch Beats Your Phone

Before we get into the S70 specifically, it’s worth addressing the obvious question: why buy a $599–$699 watch when there are free golf GPS apps on your phone?

Three words: glance-able, wrist-accessible information. When you’re in your pre-shot routine, the last thing you want is to fish your phone out of your pocket, wake the screen, wait for the app to load, and then try to read a screen while squinting into the sun. A GPS watch gives you distances in under a second. And the S70 does it with a gorgeous display that’s actually readable outside — which, surprisingly, a lot of GPS watches still struggle with.

There’s also the accuracy issue. Dedicated golf GPS devices maintain a lock on satellite signals throughout the entire round without the battery drain concerns or connectivity hiccups you get with phone apps. The S70 uses multi-band GPS (GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo) for positioning that’s sharp enough to make you question whether you even need a laser rangefinder anymore.

Display and Design: Where the S70 Immediately Stands Out

The AMOLED Screen is Genuinely a Big Deal

Most golf GPS watches run transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) displays. They’re perfectly readable in sunlight, but they look like something from 2012. The Garmin Approach S70 switches that up entirely with a 1.4-inch (47mm) or 1.2-inch (42mm) AMOLED touchscreen — the same technology you’d find in a premium smartphone.

What does that mean on the course? Course maps that actually look like course maps. Fairways in rich green, water hazards in deep blue, bunkers in warm sand tones. When you pull up the hole overview before a tee shot, it reads like a satellite image, not a cartoon diagram. I’ve had playing partners stop mid-round just to look at my wrist because the display is that sharp.

In direct sunlight, Garmin has applied an anti-reflective coating that does a solid job. It’s not perfect — polarized sunglasses can make it tricky at certain angles — but it’s far better than a standard touchscreen and on par with the best wearable displays out there right now. The screen also has an always-on mode if you prefer it, though that will hit your battery life harder.

The 47mm variant gets a titanium bezel option, which looks properly premium and adds durability without meaningful weight gain. Both sizes use Corning Gorilla Glass DX on the face, and the whole thing is rated to 50-meter water resistance. Rain rounds, sweaty summers, the occasional water hazard closer than expected — none of it is a concern.

Physical Buttons vs. Touch

The S70 uses a hybrid control system — five physical buttons plus the touchscreen. On the course, you’ll mostly use buttons for quick navigation and touch for the more detailed map interactions. Once you’ve got a round or two under your belt, the muscle memory kicks in and it feels natural. The buttons are important for when your hands are wet or you’re wearing gloves, since touchscreens and wet fingertips don’t always cooperate.

Course Maps: 43,000 Courses and Actually Useful Data

The Map Library

Garmin preloads the S70 with over 43,000 courses worldwide, updated regularly via the Garmin Golf app. In practical terms, unless you’re playing some obscure private club that opened last month, your course is going to be in there with full data.

But quantity of courses isn’t the interesting part. The quality of data per course is what separates Garmin from cheaper alternatives. You get:

• Full-color overhead hole maps — not just a green with a flag, but the entire hole with fairway, rough, trees, hazards, and cart path marked
• Moveable pin placement — tap and drag the flag to match where the cup actually is that day, and all distances update accordingly
• Hazard distances — front and back of every bunker, water carry distances, and out-of-bounds markers
• Layup yardages — the watch will suggest layup distances to preferred yardages on par 5s
• Green contour mapping — visible slope direction and grade on approach and when you’re on the putting surface

Accuracy in the Field

Over a full season, I’ve consistently seen front-of-green distances accurate to within a yard of a laser rangefinder. Center and back of green are equally tight. Hazard distances occasionally show a 2-yard variance, which is entirely acceptable when you’re already getting a laser-level view of the entire hole.

One thing worth noting: the S70 gives you distances to the front, center, and back of the green simultaneously on the main screen, without any button presses. That’s a small convenience that genuinely matters when you’re trying to decide between a hard 7-iron and an easy 6.

PlaysLike Distance: The Feature Casual Golfers Overlook

Here’s one of my favorite things about the S70 that doesn’t get enough attention: PlaysLike Distance. Standard GPS gives you raw yardage — the horizontal distance to the target. But golf is played on terrain with slopes, and a 150-yard uphill shot to a green elevated 30 feet above you plays very differently than a flat 150.

PlaysLike Distance accounts for elevation change and gives you an adjusted yardage — the distance it effectively “plays” given the slope. The S70 calculates this automatically using its barometric altimeter. So instead of seeing “152 yards” to the center, you might see “152 yards / plays like 158.” That six-yard difference could mean the difference between a solid 7-iron and a strained one.

Once you start using PlaysLike, going back to raw yardage feels like you’re missing information. It’s one of those features that sounds like a minor add-on until you realize you’ve stopped hitting approach shots short into uphill greens.

Virtual Caddie: Garmin’s AI Club Recommender

The Virtual Caddie feature is where the S70 starts feeling less like a GPS device and more like an actual assistant. Here’s how it works: as you play rounds, the watch tracks which club you’re using for shots of various distances. Over time, it builds a statistical model of your actual carry distances — not what you think you hit, but what you actually hit, based on real shot data.

Then, when you step up to a shot, the Virtual Caddie crunches your personal distance data along with:

• The current distance to target
• Elevation change (via the altimeter)
• Wind conditions (if you’ve connected to weather data)
• Your recent performance with each club

It then recommends a specific club and sometimes a strategy — “take the aggressive line at the pin” versus “play to the fat part of the green.” It even factors in course context, like whether missing short means a tough chip from thick rough versus a routine bunker shot.

Does it get it right every time? No. No caddie does. But it’s right often enough that I’ve started second-guessing myself when I disagree with it — and more often than not, when I ignore it and pull the wrong club, I remember that the watch told me otherwise. The recommendations improve significantly after 5–10 rounds as it accumulates data on your real carry distances.

The Virtual Caddie pairs naturally with the Garmin Golf app’s shot tracking, so after a round you can review whether following the recommendations actually led to better outcomes. It’s genuinely useful if you’re the kind of golfer who wants to understand your game beyond just the scorecard.

Battery Life: Actually Good Enough for Golf Travel

Battery anxiety is a real thing with GPS watches, and Garmin has put serious work into making the S70 last. Here’s what the numbers look like in practice:

• GPS golf mode: 20+ hours — enough for a full weekend of 36 holes without charging between rounds
• Smartwatch mode (no GPS): 16 days — wear it through the week and charge it on Sunday
• Music + GPS mode: 8+ hours — enough for most rounds if you’re listening while you play

In my testing, the 47mm model routinely hits 22–23 hours of actual GPS golf tracking. I played a 4.5-hour round on a Saturday and another 4-hour round on Sunday without charging in between, and came home with around 60% battery remaining. That kind of stamina makes it travel-friendly — a golf trip where you’re playing five rounds in four days is completely manageable.

The AMOLED display does consume more power than a MIP screen, which is the tradeoff. Always-on display mode will cut the battery life significantly. I run it in gesture-on mode (screen activates when you raise your wrist), which strikes a good balance.

Smartwatch Features: Wearing This Every Day Makes Sense

The S70 is designed to be your everyday watch, not just a device you strap on for rounds. And it actually earns that role, which isn’t something you can say about every GPS watch.

Notifications and Connectivity

Paired to your phone, the S70 pushes texts, calls, emails, and app notifications to your wrist. During a round, this is mostly about screening calls — you can see who’s calling and decide whether it’s worth pulling the phone out. The watch doesn’t try to do full messaging from the wrist, which is the right call for a golf device.

Music and Garmin Pay

The S70 has 32GB of onboard storage, and you can load Spotify playlists, podcasts, or downloaded tracks directly onto the watch. Pair it with Bluetooth headphones and you’re playing music without your phone. Garmin Pay handles contactless payments at the turn or the pro shop — a small convenience that adds up when your hands are covered in sunscreen.

Health Tracking

As a 24/7 wearable, the S70 tracks:

• Continuous heart rate via optical sensor
• SpO2 blood oxygen monitoring
• Sleep stages and quality scoring
• Stress tracking throughout the day
• Body Battery energy level (Garmin’s readiness score)
• Step count, calories, and active minutes

The Body Battery feature is legitimately useful for golfers. It combines sleep quality, HRV, stress levels, and activity data to give you a 0–100 readiness score. If you tee off with a Body Battery of 32 after a rough night’s sleep, you might think twice about attempting hero shots on the back nine.

Other Sports

The S70 handles running, cycling, swimming, strength training, yoga, and a long list of other activities. It’s a real multisport watch wearing a golf costume, which means if you’re training in the offseason or active year-round, one device covers everything.

How It Compares to the Competition

The premium GPS watch market is pretty crowded, so let’s be specific about where the S70 sits.

Watch	Course Count	Display	Virtual Caddie	Battery (GPS)	Price (approx.)
Garmin Approach S70 (47mm)	43,000+	AMOLED	Yes	20+ hrs	$699
Garmin Approach S62	41,000+	MIP (color)	Yes	20+ hrs	~$449 (discounted)
Bushnell Ion Elite	38,000+	LCD	No	~25 hrs	$299
Apple Watch Ultra 2	Third-party apps	LTPO OLED	No (native)	~6 hrs golf	$799
Shot Scope V5	45,000+	MIP	Limited	15+ hrs	$299

S70 vs. Garmin Approach S62

The S62 is the previous flagship and it’s still a very capable watch. But the AMOLED display on the S70 isn’t a minor upgrade — it’s a completely different visual experience. If you’ve never used an S62, you won’t miss the MIP screen. If you’re upgrading from one, the S70’s display will genuinely surprise you. The S70 also gets PlaysLike Distance as a more polished feature and the updated Virtual Caddie algorithm. At current pricing with the S62 discounted, the value gap is closer than it used to be, but I’d still spend the extra money for the display alone.

S70 vs. Apple Watch Ultra 2

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is an excellent smartwatch. As a golf watch, it’s a decent option if you’re already deep in the Apple ecosystem. But it relies on third-party apps (Hole19, Golfshot) for course data, which means an additional subscription, varying data quality, and an app layer between you and the information. There’s no native Virtual Caddie, green contours are app-dependent, and the battery in golf GPS mode runs around six hours — not enough for some golfers to finish 18 without anxiety. The S70 is simply purpose-built for golf in a way the Apple Watch isn’t.

S70 vs. Bushnell Ion Elite or Shot Scope V5

If you’re happy with just yardages and basic hole maps, the Bushnell Ion Elite or Shot Scope V5 save you $400. They’re solid, accurate, no-frills GPS watches. The question is whether the extra intelligence — Virtual Caddie, PlaysLike, green contours, AMOLED display, full smartwatch functionality — is worth the premium. For serious golfers who play 20+ rounds a year, it usually is. For casual golfers playing eight rounds a summer, probably not.

Worth noting: if you’re currently using a rangefinder and considering whether to add a GPS watch, check out our roundup of the best golf rangefinders under $300. For some golfers, the ideal setup is a mid-range GPS watch plus a rangefinder for precise pin distances on approach shots.

Setup and Getting the Most Out of It

Setup is straightforward: download the Garmin Golf app, pair the watch via Bluetooth, and courses sync automatically when you start a round at a registered location. First-time setup takes about 15 minutes. The watch will prompt you to walk through the main features, and most of them are intuitive within a few rounds.

A few tips to get more out of it faster:

• Adjust pin position every hole — it takes five seconds and makes yardages noticeably more useful
• Let Virtual Caddie learn before you trust it — give it at least three full rounds of data before relying heavily on club recommendations
• Use the Garmin Golf app post-round — the shot replay and stat analysis are genuinely interesting, especially if you’re working on a specific part of your game
• Enable PlaysLike Distance in settings — it’s not turned on by default on all firmware versions
• Set up Garmin Pay before your first round — paying for beverages at the turn without pulling out your wallet feels small but satisfying

Who Should Buy the Garmin Approach S70

The S70 is the right choice for a specific kind of golfer. Let me be direct about who that is.

Buy it if you:

• Play 20+ rounds per year and take your game seriously
• Want detailed course intelligence, not just yardages
• Care about tracking your stats and improving over time
• Want one device that serves as both your golf tool and everyday smartwatch
• Travel for golf and need multi-day battery life
• Are upgrading from an older GPS watch and want a real visible improvement

Skip it and look elsewhere if you:

• Play fewer than 10 rounds a year — the price doesn’t justify the frequency
• Only need basic front/center/back yardages — a $150 GPS watch will do that
• Already own a high-end rangefinder and don’t want smartwatch features
• Prefer the Apple Watch ecosystem and don’t mind using a third-party golf app

If you’re gearing up your whole bag and want to understand how GPS tools fit into a broader tech setup, it’s worth looking at what a launch monitor can add to your practice routine alongside course-round tools like the S70. They serve different purposes — one for on-course play, one for range work — but the combination gives you a detailed picture of your game.

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
AMOLED display is the best in class — genuinely sharp in sunlight	$599–$699 is a serious investment, especially at 42mm
43,000+ courses with detailed, high-quality map data	Always-on display hammers battery life faster than expected
PlaysLike Distance adds real shot-decision value	Virtual Caddie needs several rounds before recommendations become trustworthy
Virtual Caddie improves meaningfully over time	47mm size is large on smaller wrists
Green contour data genuinely helps with approach planning	Some premium features (like green contours) require a Garmin Golf subscription after the trial
20+ hour GPS battery — handles a full golf weekend without charging	Music + GPS mode reduces runtime to ~8 hours
Full smartwatch: music, payments, health tracking, notifications	No built-in speaker — no alerts or audio feedback
Titanium bezel option looks legitimately premium	Touchscreen can be temperamental with wet hands or gloves

Final Verdict

The Garmin Approach S70 is the best golf GPS watch you can buy right now. That’s a straightforward conclusion, but it comes with an important asterisk: it’s the best because it’s built for golfers who actually want all of it — the data, the intelligence, the premium hardware, the everyday smartwatch utility. If that describes you, there’s nothing else on the market that competes at this level.

The AMOLED display alone is worth a meaningful chunk of the price premium over older GPS watches. Then you add PlaysLike Distance, green contour maps, a Virtual Caddie that actually learns your game, 43,000+ courses at full detail, 20-hour GPS battery life, and a complete smartwatch platform — and the value math starts to work, even at $699.

What I’d tell a friend at the range: if you’re playing golf regularly and you’ve been using a phone app or an old GPS watch with a grainy display and basic yardages, the S70 will feel like an upgrade in a way that’s immediately obvious on the first hole. The course maps are beautiful. The playsLike numbers will change how you pick clubs. And the Virtual Caddie will make you better over time if you’re willing to trust the data.

It’s not the right buy for the golfer who plays twice a year on a scramble. But for the golfer who’s out there most weekends, tracking handicap, actually caring about the shot they’re hitting — the S70 is worth every dollar.

Our Rating: 4.8 / 5

And if your off-season prep extends to the range or simulator, check out our picks for the best golf launch monitors under $1,000 — pairing good practice data with on-course intelligence is one of the fastest ways to actually improve your handicap.

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