Get the Garmin Approach S50.
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| Garmin Approach S50 | Garmin Approach S70 (47mm) | |
|---|---|---|
| Price (MSRP) | $399.99Winner | $699.99 |
Get the Garmin Approach S50.
The S50 is the right call for most golfers. At $399.99, you get AutoShot, PlaysLike distances, full-color maps, and the same 43,000-course database as the S70 — in a package that weighs less than a car key fob. The S70 at $699.99 adds Virtual Caddie, wind data, a barometer-enhanced PlaysLike, and 32GB of music storage. Those features are real. Whether they're worth $300 more depends on how seriously you use GPS data mid-round. For the majority of club golfers, they're not.
Both run on AMOLED touchscreens, tap the same 43,000 preloaded courses, use AutoShot for automatic shot detection, and work with CT10/CT1 club sensors. Both have GPS-mode PlaysLike distances, heart rate, sleep tracking, fitness profiles, Garmin Pay, music storage, and 5 ATM water resistance. Both require a $99.99/yr Garmin Golf membership to unlock green contours.
This is the headline gap. The S70 has Virtual Caddie; the S50 doesn't. Virtual Caddie uses your swing history, shot dispersion, wind, and elevation to recommend a club. That's genuinely useful if you play frequently and have enough shot history loaded up. The S50 gives you yardages and lets you pick the club yourself, like every GPS watch ever made before 2023.
Wind data follows the same split. The S70 reads wind on-device. The S50 doesn't. If you're the kind of golfer who factors in a two-club wind on approach shots, the S70's data will actually change which club you pull. If you glance at the flagstick and estimate, you won't miss it.
Both watches adjust yardages for elevation. The S70 adds a barometer that also accounts for air pressure and temperature — so a cold morning round or a high-altitude course will produce slightly more accurate plays-like numbers. The S50 does elevation only, which is still more than most GPS watches offer. I'd guess the barometer difference shows up more on dramatic elevation changes than on flat parkland courses, but it's a real distinction.
The S70's screen is 1.4 inches at 454 × 454 resolution. The S50 is 1.2 inches at 390 × 390. Both are AMOLED and readable in direct sunlight. The size difference is noticeable side by side — the S70 has more room to display hazard views and green maps — but the S50 isn't cramped. Whether 1.2 inches feels small depends on your wrist size and how much you rely on the visual layout.
The S50 is 29g. The S70 is 56g. That's not a rounding difference — it's basically double. The S70's ceramic bezel adds durability but also adds mass. Wearing a 29g watch during your swing feels like nothing; 56g is noticeable. If you're sensitive to wrist feel during your swing, or you want something that transitions off the course without feeling like a fitness tracker, the S50 wins easily on form factor.
The S70 has 32GB of music storage. The S50 has 4GB. Four gigabytes holds roughly 800 songs, which is probably enough, but if you rely on your watch to hold podcasts, playlists, and offline Spotify, the S70 has no ceiling. On battery, the S70 lasts 20 hours in GPS mode and 16 days in watch mode versus 15 hours and 10 days on the S50. The S50 covers every round you'll realistically play in a week between charges.
Both watches require a Garmin Golf membership ($99.99/yr) to unlock green contours. Neither has them free. On a 3-year basis, that's roughly $300 in membership costs on top of whichever watch you buy — factor that into the total-cost comparison if contours matter to you.
Get the S50 if:
Get the S70 if:
Three hundred dollars is a meaningful gap. The S70 earns it with Virtual Caddie, wind data, a barometer, and significantly more music storage. Those are real, functional upgrades — not cosmetic ones. But the S50 covers nearly everything a 10-15 handicap needs in a golf watch: AutoShot, PlaysLike, full-color maps, strokes gained, and 43,000 courses in a 29g package. Unless you're actively planning to use AI club recommendations and wind data during your round, the extra spend is hard to justify.
Get the Garmin Approach S50.