Garmin Approach S70 (42mm) vs Garmin Approach S70 (47mm)

The Quick Verdict

Same watch. Different size. That's genuinely the whole story here — Garmin built one GPS watch and put it in two cases, and the only real question is which fits your wrist better and whether the $50 price difference bothers you. The 47mm gets you more screen, more battery, and more storage. The 42mm is lighter and less conspicuous. If you have smaller wrists or hate the feeling of wearing something on your wrist, get the 42mm. Everyone else should probably go 47mm.

What They Have in Common

Everything that matters: AMOLED touchscreen, 43,000 preloaded courses, full-color hole maps, Virtual Caddie with wind and elevation, AutoShot tracking, green contours (membership-locked), barometer-enhanced plays-like distances, strokes gained, heart rate, sleep tracking, music storage, Garmin Pay, 5 ATM water resistance, ceramic bezel, USB-C charging, and a 1-year warranty. Same app. Same ecosystem. Same Garmin Golf membership requirement to unlock the premium course features.

Where They Differ

Size, Weight, and Screen Real Estate

The 42mm weighs 44g. The 47mm weighs 56g. That's a 27% difference, and you'll feel it — not in any painful way, but the 42mm genuinely disappears on your wrist during a round. The 47mm is noticeable. Whether that's good or bad depends on you.

The screen difference matters more than you'd think. The 42mm runs 1.2 inches at 390×390. The 47mm runs 1.4 inches at 454×454. On a green contour map or a hole overview, that extra 0.2 inches is real estate you'll actually use. If your eyes aren't what they were, the 47mm makes the numbers easier to read without squinting. On the 42mm, the text is still readable, but you're working a little harder.

Battery Life

42mm: 15 hours in GPS mode, 10 days in watch mode. 47mm: 20 hours in GPS mode, 16 days in watch mode. For most golfers, 15 GPS hours is plenty — that's three to four full rounds before you need to charge, depending on your pace. But if you're someone who forgets to charge your watch, the 47mm's 16-day watch mode is a meaningful buffer. I'd guess the battery difference only becomes a real issue for people who wear the watch 24/7 and resent having to think about charging.

Storage

16GB on the 42mm, 32GB on the 47mm. If you're loading the watch with music for your round, this could matter. 16GB holds a few thousand songs — probably more than you need, but the 47mm has room to be less curated about it. For anyone using it primarily as a golf watch, this distinction is probably irrelevant.

Price

$649.99 vs $699.99. Fifty dollars. In the context of a $650–700 golf GPS watch, this is a minor consideration. The decision should be wrist size and preference, not fifty bucks.

Who Should Buy Which

Get the 42mm if:

• You have smaller wrists and a 47mm case would look or feel oversized
• You're self-conscious about wearing a big watch off the course and want something that reads more as a dress watch
• You prioritize weight — 44g on a swing vs 56g is genuinely different in feel, especially over 18 holes
• You already charge your watch regularly and 15 GPS hours is plenty for your routine
• You want to spend $50 less and don't care about the other differences

Get the 47mm if:

• You have larger wrists or prefer a bigger case — the proportions just look better
• You want the larger screen for reading green contours and hole maps mid-round
• You tend to forget to charge things and want that extra battery buffer
• You load your watch with music and want the headroom of 32GB
• You wear this as your everyday watch and want the display to be genuinely easy to read at a glance

The Bottom Line

Neither watch is a compromised product. Garmin didn't cheap out on the 42mm to push people toward the 47mm — it's the same feature set, just smaller. The 47mm wins on screen, battery, and storage; the 42mm wins on weight and price. Most people who try on both know immediately which one feels right. If you're shopping online and can't try them, go with your wrist size: under 7 inches, probably 42mm; 7 inches or more, probably 47mm.

Oh — and whichever you pick, remember that green contours require the Garmin Golf membership ($99.99/yr). Factor that into your three-year total: the 42mm runs ~$950 over three years with membership, the 47mm runs ~$1,000. Same math, different case.

Get the Garmin Approach S70 (47mm).

See Also

• Garmin Approach G82 vs Garmin Approach S70 (47mm)
• Garmin Approach S70 (47mm) vs Garmin Approach Z82
• Garmin Approach G82 vs Garmin Approach S70 (42mm)
• Garmin Approach S70 (42mm) vs Garmin Approach Z82
• Garmin Approach S50 vs Garmin Approach S70 (47mm)