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Garmin S62 Front/Middle/Back Distances to GreenLearn MoreThe Garmin S62 is the long awaited successor to the Garmin S60 and I definitely thought it was worth the long 3 year wait. I think the improvements to the Garmin S62 make it one of the best golf watches and fitness trackers because it comes with a heart rate monitor, pulse oximeter, Garmin Pay contactless payment solution, wind gauge and Virtual Caddie feature. The Virtual Caddie is my favorite new feature because it acts like a human caddie: for each shot, it recommends a club based on wind speed and direction and the distance I typically swing with that particular club.
I wrote a more extensive article about the biggest differences between the Garmin Approach S62 and Garmin S60 located at this link: Garmin S60 vs S62 review.
In May 2023, Garmin released the Garmin S70, the successor to the Garmin S62. I was disappointed that it only came with minor improvements to the golf features including an upgraded virtual caddie but it pleasantly surprised me with a lot of extra running and hiking features that I would expect to only find in one of my Garmin Fenix or Forerunner watches. Read this article to learn more about the Garmin s62 and s70: garmin s70 vs s62 review.
I thought that the new golf and fitness features added to the Garmin S62 made the Garmin S62 better than the Apple Watch 7 or any other Apple watch including the Apple Watch Ultra because I will no longer have to pay a monthly fee for a golf gps app with slope or virtual caddie.
There are two different versions of the Garmin S60: Premium and Standard. The biggest differences between the Garmin S60 Standard and S60 Premium are that the Premium has a leather watch band while the Standard has a silicone band and the Garmin S60 Premium has a ceramic bezel while the S60 Standard has a polymer bezel that is easier to scratch.
If I wanted a $100 cheaper alternative to the Garmin S60, then I would go with the S40 and never regret it because the Garmin S40 has the same features as the S60, except for slope and overhead views of each hole, and the Garmin S40 has a 15 hour battery life in GPS mode while the S60 has a 50% shorter 10 hour battery life which gives me an extra day between recharges.
Both the Garmin Approach S60 and S62 come with a color touchscreen, overhead view of each hole, touch targeting, slope compensation and blind shot assistance, making it easier for me to use and saving me some strokes on the course.
For times when I want to do something besides golf, the S60 and S62 have sports apps for tracking some of my metrics rekated to running, cycling, swimming, rowing, skiing, and snowboarding. The S62 also allows me to save up to 5 hazard locations that I cannot find on the course map.
Also the Garmin S62 has the longest battery life of any golf watch from any company. The Garmin S62 has a 20 hour battery life in GPS mode. This will give me 5 rounds on the golf course. It also has a 14 day battery life in smartwatch mode.
The Garmin Approach S62, S60, and there other more recent golf watches all come with a shot tracker, club tracker, step counter, sleep monitor and scorecard and they all will give me distance information to the greens, hazards, doglegs and layup markers.
Best Garmin Approach S62 Features
Longest battery life of any golf GPS watch – The Garmin S62 has a battery life of up to 20 hours in GPS mode which is the longest of any Garmin golf watch. This gives me 5 rounds of golf on a single charge. It also has a battery life of 14 days in smartwatch mode which is great for when my Apple Watch is malfunctioning and I need to use my Garmin as an everyday watch. Wind Speed and Direction – Only the Garmin S62 will display the wind speed and direction which will make figuring out which club I should use and which direction to aim my shot in a lot easier. Virtual Caddie club recommendation feature – The S62 has a virtual caddie feature that recommends the club I should use based on my average club distance as well as the wind’s speed and direction and also indicates where I should aim my shot on the course map. Hazard View – This hazard view feature allows me to scroll through each hazard on the course map and get front and back distance information for each hazard. This information will let me know how far to hit the ball to either layup or carry my shot to avoid having my shot end up in the bunker or water. Garmin Pay contactless payment solution – Only the Garmin S62 has the Garmin Pay contactless payment solution that lets me make convenient payments with my watch so that I breeze through checkout lines. Garmin Pay only works with some credit and debit cards from participating banks. Major banks such as Bank of America, Chase, Capital One, and Wells Fargo already support Garmin Pay. All I have to do is add my supported cards into my Garmin Pay wallet so that I will be able to enjoy all the rewards and benefits of my physical cards on my wrist. Color display – Most golf watches only come with a black and white display. Garmin S62 has the biggest display of any Garmin golf watch – The Garmin S62 has a round touchscreen display that is 1.3″ in diameter Garmin S62 has the highest display resolution of any Garmin golf watch – The Garmin S62 has a display resolution of 260 x 260 pixels. Overhead views of each hole – displays bunkers, water hazards, greens, fairways, etc. for each hole Touchscreen – The touchscreen will allow me to access the different menu items by swiping up or down to go to the next screen. This is great for people who hate pushing buttons on their watch. Touch targeting – Touch any point on the course map, including fairways, sand traps, water hazards and more, and the S62 will display the distance to that point from my location. S62 can track statistics related to more different types of workouts than any other Garmin golf watch – The S62 has many different workout apps that come with preloaded activity profiles for measuring different statistics associated with many different types of workouts including Strength, Cardio, Treadmill and Elliptical Training, Stair Stepping, Indoor Rowing, Walking, Yoga, Running, Indoor Track Running, Skiing, Snowboarding, XC Skiing, Stand Up Paddleboarding, Rowing, Biking, Indoor Biking, and Pool Swimming. S62 comes with vibrating smartphone notifications – The S62 will vibrate when I get a notification on my watch from my iPhone. PinPointer blindshot directional assistance – PinPointer blindshot directional assistance consists of a directional compass that will tell me the direction the flagstick is in which will be handy when my shot ends up in the woods and I am unable to see the green or pin. Both the S62 and S60 come with Slope corrected distances (also called PlaysLike distances) – Slope correction accounts for uphill or downhill elevation changes on the course. Interchangeable QuickFit watch bands – The Garmin S62, S60 and S40 enable me to change my watch band, without tools, to match my activity. Changeable watch face – Both the Garmin S62 and S60 allow me to download custom watch faces or customize my watch face with any photo. View past rounds, player statistics and shots on the watch face – Both the Garmin S62 and S60 allow me to view all of my previously saved rounds, player statistics and shots on the device. For other golf watches, I will have to use a computer or handheld device to see this information. Garmin S62 comes with more sensors than any other Garmin golf watch which will give me improved shot detection accuracy – The S62 was released to the market on January 21, 2020 so it will come with more sensors for detecting shots than their other golf watches.
Garmin Approach S62 Pros and Cons
Pros
Cons
• Really long battery life – The Garmin S62 has the longest battery life in GPS mode of any Garmin golf watch. It can last up to 20 hours in GPS mode which will give me 5 rounds of golf on a single charge. It also has a battery life of 14 days in smartwatch mode.
• Wind Speed and Direction – displays the wind speed and direction which will make figuring out which club to use and which direction to aim much easier.
• Virtual Caddie club recommendation feature – recommends the club I should use based on my typical club distance and wind speed and direction and also indicates where the golfer should aim his shot on the course map.
• Garmin Pay contactless payment solution – enables me to quickly make payments with my watch so that I can breeze through checkout lines. Garmin Pay only works with some credit and debit cards from participating banks.
• The S62 comes with a touchscreen and some side buttons for me to make menu selections.
• Touch targeting – I can touch any point on the course map and get the distance to that spot. Overhead course maps – Only the Garmin S6, S60, and S62 golf watches come with an overhead course map for each hole that shows fairways, bunkers and greens. Slope Adjusted Distances – The calculated distances for the S62 will be more accurate because the S62 can take into account the uphill and downhill elevation changes on the course. Many Sports Apps for tracking statistics related to different recreational activities – The S60 can track the statistics for many recreational activities including Strength, Cardio, Treadmill and Elliptical Training, Stair Stepping, Indoor Rowing, Walking, Yoga, Running, Indoor Track Running, Skiing, Snowboarding, XC Skiing, Stand Up Paddleboarding, Rowing, Biking, Indoor Biking, and Pool Swimming. Vibrating feature for smartphone notifications or alarm – The S62 will vibrate when I have iPhone notifications or my alarm has gone off Can view entire scorecard or golf statistics on the watch – The S62 will allow me to see my entire scorecard or statistics on the watch. Fitness Tracking features – includes move bar inactivity alert, sleep monitor, step counter, automatic daily step goal and displays calories burned and distance traveled List of Layup and Dogleg distances – The S62 will display a list of distances for doglegs and layup markers for each par 4 and 5 hole. Automatic shot tracking (comes with AutoShot round analyzer) – Automatically detects my shots (except for putts and chip shots around the green) and enables me to view the shot locations and distances on an 3D overhead course map after the round is over. Manual Club tracking – I can manually enter the clubs I used for each shot so the watch will keep track of the clubs used as well as the average shot distance for each club. When I upload my round information to Garmin connect, it will show me where each of my shots went and shot distances for each club. Smartphone Notifications – read my emails, texts, etc. on my watch Digital Scorecard – easily keeps track of my score throughout my round Stat tracking – keep track of strokes, putts per round, greens in regulation and fairways hit Hazard Information – The Garmin S62 comes with a convenient list of layup and carry distances for each hazard.
Garmin S62 Front/Middle/Back Distances to GreenLearn MoreThe Garmin S62 is the long awaited successor to the Garmin S60 and I definitely thought it was worth the long 3 year wait. I think the improvements to the Garmin S62 make it one of the best golf watches and fitness trackers because it comes with a heart rate monitor, pulse oximeter, Garmin Pay contactless payment solution, wind gauge and Virtual Caddie feature. The Virtual Caddie is my favorite new feature because it acts like a human caddie: for each shot, it recommends a club based on wind speed and direction and the distance I typically swing with that particular club. 
