How much do you love playing golf? A good timepiece with a GPS could make things easier. We not only talked all about them in our best golf GPS watch review, but we talked about the best features to look for too. Read ahead.
We summarized our best picks in the table below.
Our Pick!
The timepiece is huge. Its screen stretches 1.2 inches (30.48 mm) across – you’ll never have to squint to read the time again. Although big, it’s pretty sleek. It is all black and has a thin 22 mm band.
Playing golf, you’ll be outdoors. The Approach S60 rocks a silicone band, so muck and grease will fling right off. The timepiece has a high-resolution bright display. Glare will never be an issue.
Where are you playing? It may not be that well-known of a golf-course. However, the Approach S60 will still have you covered. It comes with a whopping 40,000 different maps preloaded.
Its screen is touch – maneuvering it would be a breeze.
It shows your location via GPS; you’ll see how many yards to green, hazards as well as doglegs in colour.
Who doesn’t enjoy playing golf for hours? The unit has a 10 hour battery life when on golf-mode. If it’s just on watch mode, its battery doesn’t have to be charged for 10 days.
Don’t worry about denting it. Not only is its display and band strong but so is its case – it was made from polymer. You can pick it up in a ceramic option as well, though.
How busy are you? You can connect the Approach S60 to your mobile, getting notifications and calls.
That’s not all:
The watch lets you connect to the Garmin Golf App. How well you performed would be logged. You can compete with others and grab a spot on the leaderboards.
It weighs 1.6 ounces (45.35 grams). When playing for hours, your wrists won’t feel sore.
What makes it special:
Its long battery life
The Most Features!
Yes, the timepiece above is the S40’s elder brother.
It’s available in multiple colours - the silver one is our favourite. It looks futuristic. You can pick it up in a all-black option if you want to.
Its display is 1.2 inches (30.48 mm). It’s made from strengthened glass; good-luck trying to scratch it. Not only is its screen tough but so is its case and band. Like the S60, you’re getting a durable polymer case. The material its strap is made from is silicone.
If you remember, silicone is waterproof. You can play in the muddiest golf courses and not worry about staining the unit.
The maps you’ll be reading would be coloured. How many do you have access to? 41,000 from around the world. Its screen is touch, so you can move around the device easily.
When on golf mode, expect 15 hours of battery life. With regular use, it’ll last for around 10 days.
We love the timepiece as it not only tracks data on how you play (more on this in a bit), but it also monitors your steps. You can input how your sleep has been, as well as log other sports activities.
So, what golf data does it track? AutoShot detection is present- it records shot distances. Unfortunately, putts are not recorded. Don’t expect chips around the green to be tracked either.
The cherry on top is its Green View feature. It manually lets you position pins, which shows you the distances to hazards, doglegs and the distance to the front, back and middle of the green.
You can connect the watch to the Garmin Golf app. With data on how you performed automatically tracked and logged in, you can see how you did on the Garmin leaderboard.
You might be very busy. That’s why you’ll appreciate that the Approach S40 lets you answer calls, and sends you notifications of texts and alerts from different apps.
How heavy is it? It is 1.50 ounces. It’ll feel like a feather on your wrist.
What makes it special:
It gives you access to 41,000 maps
It has a large screen – it’s 1.3 inches (33.02 mm). It’s made from strengthened glass. The W10 is bright and sharp enough to read outdoors.
Its display is touch. All the timepieces so far have been like this. But unfortunately, the one below isn’t.
There are a whopping 40,000 maps preloaded. What’s great is that Golf Buddy states that 51% of the courses in the US are stored inside of it. What’s impressive is that the 40,000 maps are from 170 different countries.
The courses will be in colour. You can zoom into them too.
You can pair the Aim W10 to your mobile. You’ll get notifications and calls. You can share files via Bluetooth as well.
It’ll last a while. How do you feel about 10 hours on Golf mode? Regular activity would result in it dying in a week.
You’ll be able to connect to the Golf Buddy app. Your data would automatically be logged in – you can check how you ranked on the leaderboard.
Its GPS is accurate. You’ll be told the distance to hazards. The distance to shots would be measured too.
It’s a good purchase if you also want to see how active you’ve been; it has a pedometer.
What makes it special:
The presence of the pedometer
Our Budget Pick!
The timepiece is made from tough plastic and silicone. It’s all black so it’s chic. TecTecTec says that it’s resistant enough to handle a dunk of water and dust.
You’ll have information on thousands of courses – the data of 38,000 are stored inside.
It’ll measure the distance to the front, middle and back of the green accurately. How accurate are we talking? About a yard. The Timepiece would tell you the distance to hazards, and would measure the distance of shots too.
We’re major fans of the ULT. It’s a cheap GPS golf watch. It’s actually the most affordable on our list. You won’t be able to tell that it’s so affordable from its chic looks, though.
It’s not on the top of our list for a reason – you’re not looking at a touch device. You’ll be working its features through the four buttons on its sides. We have to say, they’re pretty tactile, though.
Using the Golf watch outdoors would be easy. It has a bright display that’s sharp. Denting it would bard. it has strengthened glass.
Unlike the rest, it’s not a smart watch. You might’ve figured this out by the no touch screen. It won’t alert you about calls and texts.
Sadly, a step counter isn’t included either.
It’s hefty. It comes in at 6.38 ounces (181 grams). If you’re going to golf all day, your wrists might get sore.
What makes it special:
No touch screen
Now that you know what the best timepieces are, we touched on all the features that set the best gps golf watches apart from the rest.
The best timepieces would have large screens, so they’d be a breeze to read. Being outdoors, large displays make it easier for you to combat glare.
Speaking of the outdoors, a bright screen would definitely beat glare. The sharper it is, the more pin-like the maps would also be. Thankfully, all the options we talked about are like this.
All the choices we talked about have thousands of golf maps preloaded. Of course, they don’t include every course in the world but a good chunk of them are there.
Do research on the timepiece you want to buy and see if it’ll have the map for where you want to play.
Playing golf means that you’ll be outdoors. As you’re vulnerable to the elements, you could have a lot of muck, rain and dust thrown at your watch. If it’s not waterproof, it’ll get stained.
Preferably, its strap should be made from silicone or rubber.
You’re relaxing and playing the sport. But you have some urgent calls and messages to get back to. If your unit is smart, you’d get notified of all the apps, calls and messages that you’d need to check.
If its display is large and bright, reading the maps would be easy. Something that would make the task easier would be a touch screen. Unfortunately, not all of the units we talked about had touch displays.
With a GPS, it would tell you the distance to hazards as well as measure the front, back and middle of the green.
Check out other top watches
Now that you know what features to look for, we’ve talked about everything you need from the seller.
The watches in our list were complex tech with accurate GPS systems. The majority had smart features too – it would be a shame if they were to get damaged. That’s why a good warranty is important.
Depending on who you’re buying from, the coverage you’ll get would differ, though.
Although you might be a fan of one of the pieces we talked about, it might not fit into your personal life. You won’t know this until it arrives. If you were smart, you would’ve bought from a seller that offers a return policy.
What do you think about our GPS Golf watch reviews? Will you be picking any of the units up? They’re the best in the game. However, there are many more spectacular pieces around.
If you’re not happy with our selection, do note everything we said in our buying guide out.
