Garmin Approach S50 Review: Why This Might Be the Best Golf Watch for Most People
Our golf writer, Marc, now has personal experience with every Garmin golf watch. So where does he think the Approach S50 falls in the lineup? Find out why this might be your new favorite smartwatch—on and off the course.
The new Garmin Approach S50 isn’t Garmin’s best, most feature-rich golf watch.
It’s also not Garmin’s most affordable option.
So why would I say that it just might be the best overall choice for the most number of golfers?
Because after wearing it on and off the golf course, I’ve found that it checks the most number of boxes. To me, it hits the sweet spot in the Garmin golf watch line. Which is the same thing as saying that it hits the sweet spot in the overall best golf watches of 2025 lineup. Because, let’s face it, when it comes to golf watches, there’s Garmin and then there’s everybody else.
The S50 doesn’t have every last feature that Garmin’s top-of-the-line Approach S70 has, but it’s actually a lot closer than you might think and for $250 less than the least-expensive S70 option. Plus, if you pay Garmin’s $9.99/month or $99/year membership, you can upgrade the S50’s golf features to get things like better hole overviews and green contour maps.
The S50 is $100 more expensive than Garmin’s new entry-level S44. But it does so much more, especially off the golf course.
In other words, the S50 has a lot going for it.
But it’s not perfect. And there’s no guarantee that it’s the right watch for you. In fact, there are reasons why you might prefer either the S44 or the S70.
Read on as I share my personal experience with the S50 and my thoughts on where I think this watch excels, where it might come up a bit short, and why I feel it’s the likely winner for the most number of shoppers.
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Table of Contents
The Garmin Approach S50’s Bringing Sexy Back
Right off the bat, one thing I think everyone is going to love about the S50 is the look and feel.
It’s the exact same size as Garmin’s S44. Which is to say that it’s incredibly sleek.
If there’s anything I don’t like about the S70 (and, really, there’s not much that I don’t love), it’s that it’s a big watch. Even the smaller 42 mm version feels kind of huge on the wrist. The biggest reason is the profile of the watch. The backing on this timepiece is bulky, which makes the S70 sit super high above the wrist. It’s not the kind of watch that blends in. It’s the kind of watch that stands out.
The S44 and S50, by comparison, are much, much more understated. And I like that a lot. They sit flatter on the wrist, and the buttons (especially the activity button) are a lot less bulky. I think it makes them more stylish and more appropriate for a wider variety of users.
Just like the S44, the S50 features a 1.2-inch watchface. Dimensions are 43 x 43 x 11.4 millimeters.
Also, like both the S44 and S70, the new S50 includes Garmin’s beautiful, bright, vibrant AMOLED display. That’s a huge selling point for each of these watches. It’s so easy on the eyes and great for on-and-off-course navigation.
Remember, before these new S44 and S50 models, you had to step all the way up to the S70 to get an AMOLED screen.
For both the S44 and S50, the lens material is a very durable Corning Gorilla Glass 3. And the bezels are anodized aluminum (compared to the ceramic bezel on the S70). Personally, I love the black-on-black bezel/watchface look of the S50’s Slate/Black option (it comes in a couple of colorways) compared to the more contrasting silver bezel on the S44.
S50 Introduces New Nylon ComfortFit Watchband
But where the S50 really stands apart not just from the S44 but from all Garmin golf watches is with its watchband. It comes with a more stylish, narrow, lighter-weight nylon ComfortFit band. Every other Garmin golf watch comes with a silicone band. The silicone is fine, but I think the nylon is going to be more attractive to a lot of style-conscious wearers.
Also, the nylon band makes a fairly significant difference in weight. The S50 weighs just 29 grams compared to the 42 grams with the S44 even though the two watches are otherwise dimensionally identical.
One slight annoyance about the nylon band for me is that even with the larger band option, the S50 is a bit cumbersome to get on my wrist. The nylon strap is designed so that you aren’t supposed to have to unclasp it entirely. Instead, it’s intended to allow you to slide your hand through the loop and then tighten it on your wrist to your desired setting.
But my hands are no larger than average, and I can’t slide my hand through without fully undoing the strap. The problem is that undoing and redoing the strap is a bit of a pain because there are small velcro tabs that don’t slide easily through the watch’s hook buckle.
Once the S50 is on my wrist, it feels and (I think) looks awesome.
And really, the on-off nuisance is somewhat negated by the fact that the S50 is a watch that’s intended to be worn around the clock. The only times I’ve had to deal with the annoyance is when it’s time to charge it. And with a battery life of up to 10 days in smartwatch mode or up to 15 hours of GPS usage, that’s not too often.
Why is this an around-the-clock watch? Because it’s loaded with fitness and lifestyle features!
Garmin S50 vs Garmin S44 vs Garmin S70: S50 Shines off the Golf Course
The Garmin Approach S50 is, of course, a golf watch. And we’ll get to the golf features in just a minute.
But whereas the S44’s features position it as kind of a golf-only watch, the S50 goes much further.
The big differentiator for the S50 is that it includes a heart-rate monitor. As so many fitness and lifestyle metrics are tied to the heart rate monitor—things like sleep, stress, abnormal heart rate alerts, and body battery—not only does it crush the S44 when it comes to off-course functionality, it actually comes quite close to matching the top-end S70.
That’s huge! The S70 is available for $649.99 (42 mm) or $699.99 (47 mm). So to get a watch that might be as good of a health tracker for the $399.99 price of the S50 is awesome!
And like I said, for just $100 more, the S50 leaves the S44 completely in the dust when it comes to off-course features. See why I think it’s the sweet spot in the Garmin golf watch line?
Here’s what you get health-and-wellness-wise with the S50:
- Wrist-Band Heart Rate
- Daily Resting Heart Rate
- Abnormal Heart Rate Alerts
- Respiration Rate
- Fitness Age
- Boddy Battery Energy Monitor
- All-Day Stress
- Relaxation Reminders
- Relaxation Breathing Timer
- Meditation
- Breathwork
- Advanced Sleep Monitoring
- Sleep Coach
- Nap Detection
- Hydration (in the Garmin Connect app)
- Women’s Health (in the Garmin Connect app)
- Health Snapshot
Those metrics are close to identical to what you get with the S70. On the Garmin website, it shows that the S50 actually has some metrics—meditation, nap detection, and sleep coach—that the S70 does not.
But, getting hands-on with both watches, I see that the S70 actually has all of those metrics except meditation, which I’ve really enjoyed using. Paired with your phone, the watch will guide you through multiple meditation session options. You can experiment with different types and different session lengths.
The watch also gives you multiple different breathing techniques and prompts you through each action. So, for example, the watch will take you through a five-minute breath retention exercise, where every four seconds the watch will vibrate, prompting you first to inhale, then hold your breath, then exhale, then hold your breath, and so on for a full five minutes.
I’ve really enjoyed the Tranquility breathing exercise that they recommend before sleep. With your tongue pressed to the roof of your mouth, you go through a series of watch-prompted inhales and exhales that are designed to calm your body and mind.
Just like with the S70, the S50’s sleep tracking and scoring system is awesome. As someone who’s been wearing the S70 to bed for more than a year, I thought the S70 was pretty comfortable and not in the way while I slept. And then I tried the S50. It is so much lighter and less bulky that it’s far superior comfort-wise while I sleep. I’m really falling in love with this nylon strap and lightweight, low-profile design. I honestly forget that the watch is even on my wrist.
Now, before you wonder whether Garmin has cannibalized their own top-of-the-line S70 by making the S50 too good, there are some definite advantages to the S70 both on and off the golf course.
Off the course, the S70 has a few high-end goodies the S50 can’t match. For example, the S70 includes a built-in barometric altimeter that uses air pressure to determine changes in elevation. That means that you can track your elevation for activities like hiking.
The S70 also has the Garmin SatIQ, which is a GPS technology that automatically chooses the best satellite mode for any given environment. It makes the S70 more efficient and can save on battery life.
Other advantages of the S70 include a longer battery life (up to 16 days in smartwatch mode for the S70 compared to up to 10 days for the S50), a much more robust memory (16 GB for the S70 compared to 4 GB for the S50), and more and better options for customizing the look of the watchface.
Enough about the off-the-course features. Let’s see how these babies compare through a round of golf.
Playing Golf With the Garmin Approach S50
The first thing I’ll say is that the S50 is a better golf watch than the S44 if only because the S50 includes plays-like distances. With the S44, your yardages aren’t factoring in elevation changes. However, other than that main difference, the S44 and S50 are very similar in terms of golf features. And they both include the same touchscreen and two-button navigation.
Now, regarding comparing the S50 to the S70. The S70 is a better golf watch than the S50. That’s because the S70 has a few key features that the S50 does not, including:
- Virtual Caddie
- Wind Speed and Direction
- More Detailed and Interactive Hole Maps
- Touch Targeting (touch target on the display to see the distance to any point)
- Tempo Training
- Three Buttons Plus Touchscreen for Even Better On-and-Off Course Navigation
Personally, I love the Virtual Caddie function on the S70. I know not everybody needs it, but I think it’s slick as hell to have my watch recommend my clubs based on my own shot history and the current conditions.
Also, navigating around the hole on the display with the Touch Targeting feature on the S70 is much better than using the Garmin S50 golf watch, where you have to scroll through to see hazard distances and don’t have the ability to touch on a specific part of the hole to get distances to very specific spots.
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Having now played golf with both of these watches, there’s no question that I prefer the S70.
Don’t get me wrong, the S50 ain’t bad. It’s awesome actually. I love the AMOLED display. It’s comfortable on my wrist while I play. I love having the option to get my yardages in a Big Numbers setting if I choose. I love the 18 numbers around the bezel that show you what hole you’re on. I love the Pin Pointer that gives you an idea of where to aim on blind shots.
The S50 is great on the course. But the S70 is better.
But here’s the big kicker…
You can unlock most of these advanced features on the S50 if you pay for the Garmin Golf subscription. That means even better course maps, green contours, and more. In other words, you can turn your S50 into a golf watch that’s quite close to the S70.
So, now, it gets down to math.
Which is the Right Garmin Golf Watch to Buy?
The Garmin Golf subscription is $9.99 per month or $99 per year.
The Garmin S50 costs $399.99. The S70 costs $649.99 for the 42 mm version or $699.99 for the 47 mm version.
Let’s look at the $649.99 S70. That’s $250 more than what you’d pay for the S50. If you paid $99 per year for the subscription, it would take you two-and-a-half years to catch up to what you would have paid for the S70. It’s possible, with as fast as technology is advancing, that in that amount of time, you might already be on to your next golf watch.
Or, maybe you live somewhere where it’s cold and there’s no option for golf in the winter. Maybe your golf season is only six months. If you paid $9.99 per month for six months of the year, you’d be money ahead with the S50 for four years.
So, I don’t know. That’s a personal decision.
But remember, the S70 is, overall, a better watch with more advanced features than the S50.
Or is it better? I mean, I think the S50 is better looking than the S70. And I think it’s more comfortable. Those factors are going to go a long way for a lot of golfers. The S70, by comparison, looks and feels big and bulky.
Then there’s the S44. It can’t touch either the S50 or the S70 off the golf course. But it’s close to the same as the S50 on the course. And, of course, the S44 is $100 less expensive than the S50. So, if you’re not into all of the health and wellness measurements, the S44 might be the better option. Then again, it doesn’t come with the nylon ComfortFit band that is one of the key differentiators with the S50.
The sum total of all of this, to me, is that Garmin’s given us three really great options.
If you want the overall best, most feature-rich watch, it’s the S70.
If you don’t care too much about advanced lifestyle and fitness metrics, the S44 is a great money-saving option.
And then there’s what I think is the sweet spot. The Goldilocks principle. The “just right” option that’s not too little and not too much. And, to me, that’s the S50. I think Garmin’s going to sell a lot of these things.
Marc's Overall Garmin Approach S50 Rating
Garmin Golf Watch That Hits the Sweet Spot!
9.3Just Right
The Garmin S50 checks so many boxes for the majority of people: most of Garmin's golfing features; lightweight, sleek wearability; 24/7 health and fitness; mid-range price. Want the very best in terms of premium golf features and price is not a factor—go for the S70. Don't care about off-course features and prefer affordability—look to the S44. Whatever you choose, you'll get that eye-catching AMOLED display.
Hits
Premium AMOLED Display
Sleek and Lightweight
Loaded with Fitness and Lifestyle Features
Golf Performance Upgrades Available
Misses
Subscription Required for Full Golf Features
Slightly Tricky On-Off with Nylon Strap
Limited Built-In Memory
Price
9.5
Build Quality
10
GPS Accuracy
9
Ease of Use
8.5
Features and Functionality
9.5
About PlayBetter Golf Reviewer Marc Sheforgen
Marc "Shef" Sheforgen is a golf writer whose passion for the game far exceeds his ability to play it well. Marc covers all things golf, from product reviews and equipment recommendations to event coverage and tournament analysis. When he’s not playing, watching, or writing about golf, he enjoys traveling (often golf-related), youth sports coaching, volunteering, and record collecting.
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