What They Have in Common
Both are Garmin Tier 1, both sit in the same price band ($600-$650), and both run off the same Garmin Golf ecosystem — same 43,000 courses, same Virtual Caddie engine, same optional $99.99/yr membership for green contours and aerial imagery, same CT10 club tag compatibility, same AutoShot detection. Scorecard, strokes gained, plays-like distances, wind data — all present on both.
Where They Differ
Screen: 5 inches vs 1.2 inches
This is the biggest practical difference and it matters more than any spec on the sheet. The G82 has a 5-inch transflective color touchscreen — it's basically a tablet you carry in your bag. Course maps, hole layouts, hazard placement, green views — you can actually see all of it without squinting. The S70's 1.2-inch AMOLED is gorgeous, genuinely stunning for a watch display, and readable in sunlight in a way that LCD watches aren't. But it's 1.2 inches. On a wrist. Reading green contours on it is a different experience than reading them on a handheld the size of your palm.
If you're the kind of golfer who stares at the course map to pick a line off the tee or dial in a layup yardage, the G82 gives you real estate to do that. If you mostly want front/center/back plus a quick green view, the S70 gets the job done fine.
Launch Monitor — G82 Only
The G82 has a radar-based launch monitor built into the back of the unit. Ball speed, club head speed, smash factor, estimated distance, putting metrics (ball speed, stroke tempo, stroke length), driving range mode, target practice, virtual rounds. It runs 8 hours in radar mode — enough for a full range session and a round.
The S70 has none of that. It tracks your shots on-course with AutoShot. That's different — AutoShot marks where your ball lands; the G82's launch monitor measures what happened at the moment of impact. If you practice regularly and want swing feedback without buying a separate launch monitor, the G82 just collapsed two devices into one. At $599 vs. the $349+ entry-level standalone launch monitors, that's genuinely interesting math.
Smartwatch vs. Golf Device
The S70 is a smartwatch. Heart rate, sleep tracking, 10 fitness profiles, smart notifications, 16GB music storage, Garmin Pay contactless payments, 10-day battery life in watch mode. You put it on in the morning and it does everything until you take it off at night.
The G82 has none of that — no heart rate, no notifications, no music, no payments, no sleep tracking. It lives in your bag. You pull it out when you're playing or practicing. Its 25-hour GPS battery is excellent for a dedicated device, and USB-C charging is convenient, but it's not a thing you wear every day.
Weight: 308g vs. 44g
This doesn't matter if the G82 is in your bag, but it matters a lot if you're comparing wearable comfort. The S70 at 44g disappears on your wrist. The G82 at 308g is a handheld — you'd never wear it, nor should you. Different form factor, different use case.
Battery Trade-off
G82 gets 25 hours in GPS mode — meaningful if you're playing back-to-back days without a charger. S70 gets 15 hours in GPS mode (10 days in watch mode). Most golfers won't hit the 15-hour GPS ceiling in a single round, so this gap is less meaningful in practice than it looks on paper.
Who Should Buy Which
Get the G82 if:
- You want launch monitor data but don't want to carry a separate device
- You practice at the range regularly and want ball speed / smash factor feedback
- You prefer a big-screen handheld to reading yardages off your wrist
- You play courses where seeing the full hole layout on a larger screen actually changes your shot selection
- You're replacing both a GPS and a launch monitor — at $599 that's plausibly good value
Get the S70 if:
- You want golf GPS plus a full-time smartwatch in one device
- Wrist-worn is non-negotiable — you're not reaching into your bag mid-fairway
- Music storage and Garmin Pay matter to you (no bag needed, no phone)
- You want heart rate during a round and sleep tracking overnight
- The 1.2-inch AMOLED screen is enough for your on-course needs, which for most golfers it is
The Bottom Line
Both share the same Garmin Golf backbone. The S70 is the better everyday device — it's a complete smartwatch that plays excellent golf GPS on weekends. The G82 is for the golfer who wants a tool specifically built around golf and practice, and who sees the built-in launch monitor as the deciding feature. If you're debating these two, ask yourself one question: do you care about launch monitor data? If yes, the G82 earns its price in a way the S70 simply can't. If no, the watch wins — it's more useful, more wearable, and doesn't require you to remember to pack it.
Get the Garmin Approach G82.
See Also