What They Have in Common
Both are AMOLED touchscreen GPS watches with ceramic bezels, full-color hole maps, hazard views, green views, digital scorecards, heart rate monitors, WiFi, and tournament modes. They pull from large course databases — Garmin at 43,000, SkyCaddie at 35,000 ground-verified maps. Neither requires you to drag a separate rangefinder out of your bag.
Where They Differ
Screen Size and Course Mapping Philosophy
The LX5C has a 1.39-inch AMOLED display. The 42mm S70 has a 1.2-inch AMOLED. That's a meaningful difference on a wrist — SkyCaddie has been pushing this as the largest color touchscreen in golf wearables, and it shows in how their HoleVue maps render. You can zoom and pan across the hole image and tap a cursor anywhere on the green to get a distance. IntelliGreen shows the exact green shape from your angle of approach, not just a generic outline.
The Garmin has its own green view with contours, but those require a Garmin Golf membership ($99.99/yr). Without the membership, you get front/center/back distances and a basic green shape. With it, you get the contour overlays. The LX5C's green view comes free — it's built into the included membership.
That brings up the actual math on cost.
The Real Price Comparison
The LX5C lists at $299.95 and includes a 3-year Eagle membership bundled at purchase. SkyCaddie bundles the watch and membership together for $429.90 — so the membership adds $130 over three years. (Renewal pricing isn't publicly listed on the spec sheet, so factor in that unknown for year four and beyond.)
The S70 42mm is $649.99. Add Garmin Golf membership at $99.99/yr for three years: $949.96 total if you want green contours and enhanced course data. That's a $520 gap over three years compared to the LX5C bundle.
Whether that gap is worth it depends almost entirely on how much you value what the Garmin does that the SkyCaddie doesn't.
Shot Tracking and Analytics
The LX5C has no automatic shot tracking. You can log a scorecard and sync stats via SkyGolf 360, but there's no built-in AutoShot detection, no strokes gained breakdown, no shot dispersion data.
The S70 has AutoShot built in. It detects shots automatically and builds a shot history that feeds into Virtual Caddie — a club recommendation engine that factors in your actual swing tendencies, not just yardage. It incorporates wind data and barometric elevation changes. Over time it learns your distances and tendencies. None of that exists on the LX5C.
If you're the kind of golfer who reviews round data afterward and wants to know why you're leaking shots from 150 yards in, the S70 is doing work the SkyCaddie simply can't.
Smartwatch Features
The S70 is a full smartwatch. Music storage (16GB), Garmin Pay for contactless payments, sleep tracking, fitness profiles, smart notifications — you can wear it all day and it functions like a proper wearable. Battery runs 15 hours in GPS mode and 10 days in watch mode.
The LX5C is more golf-focused. It has a heart rate monitor and step counter, but no smart notifications, no music, no payments, no sleep tracking. Battery is rated at "up to two rounds per charge" — a functional spec, but hard to compare directly. The charging type and exact GPS hours aren't confirmed in SkyCaddie's published specs.
Weight and Build
The S70 42mm weighs 44 grams. SkyCaddie describes the LX5C as "lightweight" but doesn't publish a specific weight. For reference, 44 grams is light — you mostly forget it's there during a swing. The S70 42mm exists specifically because some golfers find the 56g 47mm model too bulky. If weight matters to you, the Garmin gives you a concrete number to evaluate.
Who Should Buy Which
Get the Garmin S70 (42mm) if:
- You want club recommendations that factor in your actual shot history, wind, and elevation
- You track round stats seriously and use strokes gained to identify where you're losing shots
- You want a single device for golf and everyday life — music, payments, notifications, fitness
- You're willing to pay the Garmin Golf membership for green contours and enhanced data
- You prefer a lighter, smaller watch case for comfort during the swing
Get the SkyCaddie LX5C if:
- You primarily want clean, detailed course maps and large-screen green views without a subscription add-on cost
- You don't need automatic shot tracking or AI club recommendations
- You want three years of membership included at purchase rather than paying annually
- Ground-verified course maps matter to you — SkyCaddie's 35,000 courses are built to their own verification standard
- Your round budget is set and the S70's price point isn't in play
The Bottom Line
The S70 is the more capable device by a wide margin — better analytics, smarter recommendations, full smartwatch functionality, and a more mature platform. The LX5C punches above its price with a bigger screen, strong course mapping, and three years of membership baked in. At $350 less out of pocket, it's not a bad deal for a golfer who just wants GPS and green shapes. But if you're going to spend $430 on the LX5C bundle over three years anyway, the jump to the Garmin gets you a lot more for the extra money. The three-year cost gap is real, but so is the feature gap.
Get the Garmin S70 (42mm).
See Also