What They Have in Common
Both run 40,000 preloaded courses with free updates and no subscription. Both have color touchscreens, IPX7 water resistance, around 10-11 hours of GPS battery life, and green view. Neither has slope mode, virtual caddie, or automatic shot tracking. Functional overlap is higher than you'd expect given how different these devices look.
Where They Differ
Form Factor — Speaker vs Watch
This is the biggest distinction and it shapes everything else. The Player+ is a cart-mounted GPS speaker — 800g, 210mm × 84mm, magnetic strip on the back for the cart or bag. You mount it, you leave it there, and it reads yardages out loud. The aim W11 weighs 35g (body only, roughly 56g with strap) and sits on your wrist. One travels with your cart; the other travels with you — on walks, in the rough, while you're standing over the ball reading the green.
If you walk and carry, the Player+ doesn't make much sense. You'd need to pull it out of your bag, set it somewhere, or carry it in your hand. The aim W11 is just there.
Course Data — Contours vs Audible Yardages
Here's where the aim W11 pulls ahead on raw GPS utility. It includes green contours — slope visualization showing break direction on greens — for the majority of US courses, all free, no membership required. At this price point that's unusual. The Player+ has green view (the shape of the green, pin placement) but no contours. If you're working on reading putts or just want a second opinion on break direction, that's a meaningful difference.
The Player+ compensates with its speaker: front/middle/back yardages read aloud, audible hazard alerts, 30W of audio output across dual drivers. It also doubles as a power bank — useful if your phone dies on the back nine. But these are audio and convenience features, not GPS data features.
Shot Tracking
The Player+ has manual shot measurement and score tracking. The aim W11 has scoring only — no shot tracking at all. Neither has automatic shot detection, strokes gained, or analytics. If tracking your game is a priority, both will leave you wanting more (something like a Shot Scope V5 or Garmin Approach S70 fits that need better).
Price & Value
The aim W11 runs $149–179 from retailers (the MSRP isn't listed on GolfBuddy's site, so those are retailer estimates). The Player+ is $199.99. The aim W11 costs less and delivers more golf-specific data — green contours, wrist-worn convenience, no app dependency for core yardages. The Player+ costs more and adds something the aim W11 can't: a 30W speaker with audible yardages.
One more thing worth flagging: the Player+ is discontinued. Blue Tees replaced it with the Player Pro, which adds on-device features the Player+ pushes to the app. If you want a Blue Tees speaker, the Pro is probably the better call — this one's selling through remaining retailer stock.
Who Should Buy Which
Buy the GolfBuddy aim W11 if:
- You want a wrist-worn GPS you don't have to think about
- Green contours matter to you and you don't want to pay for them separately
- You walk and carry, or you just don't want anything mounted to your cart
- You're keeping it simple: yardages, hazards, scorecard, done
- Budget is a factor — it's likely $20–50 cheaper than the Player+
Buy the Blue Tees Player+ if:
- You're a cart golfer and you want music as part of your round, full stop
- Audible yardages while you drive between shots actually sound useful to you
- You'd use the power bank feature (it charges phones)
- You're okay that full hole maps and green flyovers require the Blue Tees app on your phone
- You've found it at a meaningful discount from the current $199 price (closeout stock moves)
The Bottom Line
The Player+ is a competent golf speaker with GPS built in. If you want Bluetooth audio and spoken yardages on your cart, it delivers. But as a GPS-first comparison, the aim W11 wins without much argument. It's lighter, wrist-worn, includes green contours at no extra cost, and costs less. The core GPS package — 40,000 courses, free updates, green view plus contours, hazard distances, digital scorecard — is better suited to what most golfers actually want from a GPS device. The Player+ is a nice add-on for the right cart golfer; the aim W11 is the golf tool.
Get the GolfBuddy aim W11.