Garmin Approach S42, GPS Golf Smartwatch, Lightweight with 1.2″ Touchscreen, 42k+ Preloaded Courses, Rose Gold Ceramic Bezel and Tan Silicone Band, 010-02572-12

This is a great mid-level option for a great golf watch. I’ve tried a few other watches and devices that proved to be of limited value or were just to cumbersome and intrusive to use during play. The S42 strikes a nice balance. Here are some responses to the negative reviews that I read and some thoughts…-Screen brightness. I’m not sure why some have an issue is here, it seems fine to me. Keep in mind that Garmin uses a transflective screen rather than an OLED/AMOLED screens of other devices. The transflective screen provides better visibility in direct harsh sun than other screens found on watches or tablets. It also does not require a backlight (but it has one to be readable unless in darkness). The downside is that resolution isn’t as good as your Apple watch…. but we’re keeping golf score and tracking distances, not watching 4k movies… so it is more than adequate. Also note that when you interact with the device, the backlight comes on briefly to help with visibility. The backlight then turns off very quickly in the factory setting… you can change this duration in the settings so that the backlight stays on longer… if you have an issue, just adjust the duration setting.-Acquiring satellites. My watch seemed to acquire satellites quickly (2-3 minutes) if kept open to the sky for just a few minutes. (it should be obvious, but do this outside!) It took even less time to acquire satellites on the second use. Pro-Tip: Set your watch up at home and get familiar with the functions, let it locate satellites in your area… there are some great videos and the manual is very straightforward. Don’t wait til you get to the course to crack open the box with 10 minutes to your tee time!-Easy to use/ Easy to understand the UI. It is VERY simple to use. Very! The manual is simple and easy as is the device. As I said, just spend a few minutes playing with it before you get to the course… it’s very intuitive. Even without the manual, it’s pretty easy to figure things out. You will, however, get a better understanding of all the features if you watch some videos and read the manual.-Score keeping was really good, fast easy and you can track some stats and it will even do some club/shot tracking. I’ve used tons of devices for score from phone apps and watches, this one is one of the fastest and easiest even when tracking stats (# of putts, penalties, etc) It’s nice to be able to play a round without pulling your phone out.-Club Shot tracking – This worked great. Really good even without the CT10 sensors. Just go into the app before hand and list the clubs in your bag. It picked up all my shots very well with the understandable exception of putts and light chips. You can review your shot history on a course map in the app and even make adjustments after play.-Accuracy – It was spot on. I read some other reviews that listed this as a problem. It was spot on for me all day.It’s a price-point device… not the most feature rich but not barebones either. I think it strikes a great balance between providing some data and scoring and keeping it simple and fast to use without becoming a distraction out on the course.

This watch works really well if worn on the lead wrist. Right handed, on the left wrist. This allows it to detect impact of a shot being hit and automates the distance tracking feature for each shot. Hazards are put in order from your next shot going away. Easy to scroll thru and see distance to enter a hazard and distance to clear that hazard. It takes a few minutes to read the directions but it was quite easy to figure out. The touch screen can be a bit finicky at times. The ability to move the flag stick around on the green view is nice but again it’s a watch face. So I did get some crazy distances a few times because I had lost the flag stick completely from the green view and it was moved over 2 holes away! I figured it out after a couple of instances of that. Happy with it so far. Played 6 rounds with no issues.

This is my second Garmin watch in 12 years. So much fun once I figure out all that it can to. Enjoy.

The s42 is the absolute G.O.A.T! I will not go golfing without it! I’ve connected all the CT10 sensors to all my clubs and it accurately tracks all my distances. Wearing the watch adds a form off confidence I’ve never had and it’s really proved to improve my game. Ease of use and it looks dang good as well!! I can even hop on the garmin golf app click score cards and review each hole(the picture included). If your on the fence on this product just by the dang thing, it’s literally the bees knees.

I absolutely love the watch. Very very happy with the purchase. The battery life is my favorite part about it. It is nice not having to plug it in every single night. The distances are spot on. Only thing I wish was different (maybe you can change it but I can’t figure it out) but I wish you could choose which notifications go to the watch. I love the texts and phone calls but I hate when I get notifications from other apps on it (Facebook, Instagram, etc…). Overall though, the watch meets every expectation as it should!! It’s also very easy to set up when you get to the course!