Garmin Approach S50 Golf Watch Review

Alongside the new Approach S44, the Garmin Approach S50 is one half of a new duo of GPS golf watches to add to the already popular Garmin lineup. Considering Garmin makes some of the best golf watches on the market, I was excited to get my hands on a watch that could potentially serve me well as a caddy on my wrist whilst on the course and as a fitness tracker off it.

Both the Approach S44 and the Approach S50 are beautifully constructed, boasting a slim, lightweight build packed full of useful features. The crisp 1.2-inch color AMOLED display really pops no matter the weather, meaning you’ll never be squinting at your watch trying to read your yardage like a pensioner attempting to read the newspaper. 43,000 courses come preloaded with both watches and are complemented by key golf features like yardages to hazards and the front, middle and back of each green.

I enjoyed having the S50 on my wrist during testing - it felt like a miniature caddy with whom I checked in with whilst playing when I needed to. I’m naturally more of a rangefinder guy, and I don’t think that will ever change, but pairing my Approach Z30 rangefinder and the S50 together gave me absolutely no excuses for misclubbing!

As a man who has never been a fan of wearing a watch whilst playing, be that a regular day-to-day watch or a specifically designed golf watch, I was very interested to see if I’d like Garmin’s latest releases. What struck me immediately was how lightweight the S50 was. I’m easily distracted as a player and had a feeling a golf watch would do so during my swing, but instead, I barely noticed I was wearing it. Add to that the fabric strap and it's the best watch-wearing experience I've had bar none. Unlike many silicone straps, which have specific holes to fit around your wrist, this fabric strap uses a small Velcro closure that means to can fit it to any size you like. It meant no awkward fit, and the lightweight, low-profile watch barely made an impression on my wrist.

One quick glance at the watch as I arrived at my ball meant I was ready to go, as the watch gave me three important yardages to help me find the right club to hit. It’s a very basic feature, but I really enjoyed the score-tracking feature provided. The S50 will give you a soft vibration on your wrist as you walk to the next tee box to remind you to enter your score, a useful reminder, especially when I was competing in competitions. The device also turns off any smartphone notifications when it enters golf mode, another quality-of-life feature I really appreciated.

Yardages were accurate, too. Although rarely spot on, they were never more than two or three yards out. The consistency allowed me to fully trust the S50 and not be second-guessing the club in my hand as I was about to hit my approach. It features slope-adjusted distances, which are easily toggled on and off. I would have loved some more information on green complexes, but they are hidden behind a paywall. To access them, you'll have to sign up for Garmin's Golf Membership, which will set you back £89.99 for a year.

Also hidden behind this membership is the ability to use touch targeting on any point of the full hole map on the display. Instead, it gives you preset layup distances in the middle of the fairway. A final feature behind the paywall is an even more detailed hole map. Though I loved how clear and accurate the standard hole mapping was, the detail on the paid-for version is stunning. Here you can get a bird's-eye view of every tree on the golf course as well as the exact shape of bunkers, rather than just a generic graphic. I always find extra subscriptions like this frustrating when you've already forked out the best part of £400 for the hardware. That being said, I think the £89.99 a year is worth it for those who play very regularly and want that extra layer of detail.

Off the golf course, this is one of the best day-to-day watches I've used. I've been an Apple Watch user for the last few years, but the Approach S50 has very nearly persuaded me out of it. It is fully loaded with the best health tracking features modern watches can offer. Heart health can be tracked through the HRV status, blood oxygen saturation can be tracked thanks to the Pulse OX sensor, sleep is tracked in excellent detail, and all your daily activity can be tracked too.

My favourite feature was the nap detection. As a regular napper (hopefully my employer hasn't got to this part of the review), it was cool to see exactly how long I'd napped for, whether I'd hit the ideal nap time and how it had benefitted my body. You can go into as much or as little detail with all your health and activity on the S50, which makes it adaptable and appropriate for any golfer. Ultimately, my integration with the Apple ecosystem (phone, tablet and laptop) means it makes sense for me to keep using my Apple Watch. However, I can see how someone with less Apple-based integration in their life could happily use the Approach S50 as their daily driver.

Overall, bar the pesky features hidden behind a paywall, I can't fault the S50, and I loved every round I used it during my testing. As a golf watch, it is faultless with the crystal clear and intuitive touchscreen shining well above any of the competition right now. As a daily watch, it allows you to go into as much or as little detail as you'd like with your activity and the comfortable strap and lightweight build mean it makes very little impression on your wrist. If you think you don't need the health and fitness tracking capabilities, then the Approach S44, which is ostensibly the same product, is the perfect golf-only watch for you.