If you’re interested in a new golf watch, you’ll love this Garmin S70 vs. Garmin S62 review. While a lot of golfers use rangefinders, I’d argue that a Golf GPS or watch is even more helpful.
Unlike a rangefinder, a golf watch provides detailed hole overviews plus distances to the front, middle, and back of the green. But if you’ve been shopping around for different golf watches, chances are you’ve seen tons of different budgets, styles, and features.
To make your buying decision easier, we’ll compare two of Garmin’s best watches to find the right one for your game.
Garmin S70 vs. Garmin S62 Review and Comparison
Garmin is no stranger to sports equipment as they make tons of wearable devices for golf, swimming, running, and other fitness trackers. They’re also a top name in golf with some of the most trusted products and the highest reviews.
Let’s review each watch’s features so we can compare and see what sets them apart from one another.
Garmin Approach S70 Golf Watch
First off I like the marketing slogan for the Garmin Approach S70 – “If golf is your world, this is your watch.”
Make no mistake, it’s not a cheap watch by any means at roughly $699. But after learning about the features there’s no doubt this watch is like having a caddy on your wrist.
The dimensions of the S70 are 47 x 47 x 13.4 mm with a touchscreen, bright color display. It has a 1.4” diameter AMOLED display, 454 x 454 pixel display resolution, and weighs only two ounces. Other basic features include: time/date, alarm clock, auto daylight savings time, timer, stopwatch, and more.
Now let’s get into the more advanced features that make this such a great investment in your game.
43,000 Preloaded Courses
As mentioned earlier, one reason I love golf watches is that they provide more hole and golf course details than a rangefinder. This makes it easier to pick the right clubs, avoid hazards, and overall, play with more confidence.
Not to mention you’ll have confidence on more than 43,000 preloaded courses. All of which have full-color displays for golf courses around the world.
Virtual Caddie
If you’ve ever played golf with a caddie you know how much they can help your game. But most golf courses don’t have caddies and/or they’re a few hundred dollars per round.
Luckily, the Garmin S70 is like a caddy thanks to their “club recommendation” feature.
The virtual caddie experience provides recommendations for shots based on wind, elevation, swing data, and more. This watch also has a “shot dispersion chart” to show what hazards might come into play based on the club you’re hitting.
This is an impressive feature that should help you save shots and play smarter – even when playing new golf courses.
Playslike Distance
The S70 also features a “Playlike” distance which adjusts your standard yardage with slope. It does the calculation for you and factors in even more environmental factors too.
Here’s how Garmin described it,
“The latest enhancements to PlaysLike Distance also factor in air pressure, temperature, and humidity — a combination known as air density, which greatly affects how far a ball will travel. When you’re golfing somewhere other than your home course, PlaysLike Distance will account for the difference in air density and virtual caddie will recommend the proper club.”
Advanced Green View
Another way this golf watch acts like a caddy is through the green reading features. You can easily see each green’s “true shape” from any angle to map out a better approach shot strategy.
Plus, the green contour data provides a visual heat mat of green to help you drain more putts. No more guessing which way a putt breaks! Unfortunately, this feature is only available for select golf courses and requires an active Garmin Golf membership.
Other Garmin S70 Highlights
Want even more highlights about the S70?
No worries, we got you covered:
- Wind speed and direction.
- Pairs with the Garmin Golf app.
- Garmin pay contactless payments.
- Available in two sizes and three colors.
- Quick fit accessory bands to match any outfit.
- Insane battery life – up to 16 days in smartwatch mode.
- Auto Shot round analyzer tracks your shot distances to keep score and track your stats during the round.
- Health features to measure your heart rate, HRV status, stress tracking, sleep monitor, and the ability to track your body’s energy levels.
Needless to say, this Garmin golf watch has just about everything you need to track your golf and fitness with ease.
Garmin Approach S62 Golf Watch
The Garmin Approach S62 golf watch is another quality product that will help your game much more than a rangefinder.
While it’s not as advanced as the S70, it’s also about $200 cheaper ($499). But it still has plenty of features to help you on or off the golf course.
The S62 has a slightly smaller display size (1.3”), slightly heavier (2.2 ounces), but has the same preloaded 43,000 golf courses.
It also has an easy-to-read screen in the sun and several virtual caddie features as well.
Virtual Caddie and Wind Readings
Like the S70, this golf watch can help you pick targets and choose the right clubs much more easily. The virtual caddie factors in wind speed, wind direction, and provides club recommendation.
It also has club tracking (which pairs with the Approach CT10) to track your round.
It also has a “PlayLike distance” feature which factors in if this shot is uphill or downhill and does the math for you.
While it’s not as advanced as the S70, this feature is still very helpful in club selection.
Hole Overviews
Like the S70, this golf watch makes it easy to create a tee box strategy for any hole on thousands of golf courses. It provides a “hazard view” to scroll through each hazard and provide detailed yardages.
Plus, it has front, middle, and back of the green distances too. It does include green contour data but like the S70 requires a Garmin Golf app membership.
Other Garmin S62 Highlights
Here are even more highlights from the Garmin Approach S62 golf watch.
- Available in three colors.
- Garmin pay contactless payments.
- Quick fit accessory bands to match any outfit.
- Smart notifications to receive emails, text, and alerts.
- Insane battery life – up to 114 days in smartwatch mode.
- Paris with Garmin Golf app to provide more stats including strokes gained analysis.
- Health features to track swimming, cycling, and running. Plus a wrist based heart rate to measure your fitness levels over time.
Comparing Garmin S62 vs. S70 Golf Watch
While both Garmin watches are great, it’s clear the S70 is superior thanks to these features:
- Longer battery life.
- 32X more memory/history data (1 GB vs. 32 GB).
- More advanced activity tracking and golf features.
- Bigger touchscreen display and higher display resolution.
- More advanced health monitor features including jet lag adviser, health snapshot, and more detailed sleep score/insights.
However, both watches have a lot in common too including:
- Touchscreen color displays.
- Both pair with the Garmin Golf app.
- 5ATM water rating (water-resistant).
- Tournament legal (when tournament mode is activated).
- Basic health monitoring (wrist based heart rate, daily resting heart rate, sleep, hydration, and more).
- Daily smart features including Garmin Pay, find my phone, find my watch, weather, calendar, and more.
- Activity tracking features including a step counter, floors climbed, calories burned, auto goal, and more.
- Advanced golf features including yardage to layups, doglegs, digital scorecard, pin pointer, playslike distance, swing tempo, tempo training, and more.
But if you don’t need as many non-golf features, there’s no doubt the S62 will help your game. Not to mention it’s $200 cheaper and overall a big upgrade from the previous S60 watch.
Top Questions About Garmin Watches
Which Garmin watch tracks golf better?
While the S62 provides a lot of data and some tracking capabilities, the S70 is much more comprehensive.
Does Garmin charge a monthly fee?
The Garmin Golf app membership has a free plan and a $9.99/month plan.
The free plan allows you to upload scorecards, review shot history, create tournaments, and more. While the paid plan provides green contour information and pairs with the Approach R10 for extra launch monitor data.
Do Garmin watches work without a phone?
Yes, according to the company you do not need to maintain a Bluetooth connection with your smartphone. You only need it after you have your round and want to connect to the app.
Closing Thoughts
As you can tell, both golf watches are more than just accessories to help your performance on the course. Both are more like smartwatches that help you on the course but with other fitness related activities and overall health too.
You won’t regret either one as you’ll have more information about every hole on more than 43,000 courses. These watches are much more useful than a rangefinder and sure to take your game to the next level.
