Garmin Approach S12

amazon Garmin Approach S12 reviews

The Garmin Approach S12 is Garmin’s latest golf watch. This is also the latest version in this line, and it costs $199.99.

Buying a dedicated golf watch sounds like a reasonable investment, but this will be a significant expense for those who do not often play golf, and just want to have a few more parameters and data golf course materials. For these people, smartwatches like the Apple Watch SE and Wear OS devices are more appealing, can wear and use smart features all day, and can be used at the same time to stay on the golf course (eg distance measurement,…) through free apps like Hole 19.

The Garmin Approach S12 was born with the role of bringing more features through the golf app on a smartwatch, but also at a more affordable, more reasonable price.

But is it a good golf watch? Check out our review.

Design and features

With its price, it can be understood that Approach S12 will be less complete than Approach S40 and Approach S62, but it doesn’t affect the experience too much. It feels super comfortable to wear, and the look doesn’t feel cheap, even though the material is made of plastic. The watch is available in black, blue, and white colors. We tested the white one and it looks great.

The silicone strap is very comfortable, uses a regular buckle, is secure, and is difficult to unscrew.

Basic black and white liquid crystal pixel display, 175 x 175. It’s super simple and basic, but you don’t need too much detail on the screen either. The screen is easy to see even in direct sunlight. There’s also a big numbers mode, which shows the front/center/rear course distances in large numeric font, which is helpful for older golfers.

There is no touch screen, which is not difficult to understand because when playing golf, you will wear gloves, and sometimes it even rains. Control operation via four physical buttons, this seems a bit redundant when there are not too many functions and features.

In terms of features, it would probably be easier to talk about what this watch doesn’t have. As if there were no smartwatch functions, no other kind of sport, and no new extras. There’s no exercise tracking or heart rate monitoring either.

This means aside from the golf-related features, it’s nothing more than a digital watch – but to be fair it’s still a nice-looking watch.

You can start playing at one of the 42,000 built-in courses, with full data on distances, slopes, obstacles, and greens.

You can measure your last shot by manually selecting this feature on the menu. The watch does not automatically count strokes like other higher-end Garmin golf watches.

You can also record your score. If you turn on the scoring feature, the watch will prompt you to record your shots, after completing 1 hole and on your way to the next hole.

The watch only possesses simple features, so there are mixed opinions. When it comes to spending $200, just to get the data you can get from your smartphone for free.

However, if asked if this watch is worth its $199 price tag, the answer depends on the individual. If you can afford to pay thousands of dollars in membership fees, golf fees, and clubs, the extra cost of a watch is not a big deal.

I don’t like using my phone while playing. I also don’t pay too much attention to the features on the watch. When I’m golfing, I enjoy chatting with friends and focusing on my shot, and the Approach S12 has everything you need without being too expensive.

where can you get a Garmin Approach S12 online

Garmin Approach S12, Easy-to-Use GPS Golf Watch, 42k+ Preloaded Courses, Black, 010-02472-00: Buy it now

Garmin Approach S12, Easy-to-Use GPS Golf Watch, 42k+ Preloaded Courses, Granite Blue, 010-02472-01: Buy it now

Garmin Approach S12, Easy-to-Use GPS Golf Watch, 42k+ Preloaded Courses, White, 010-02472-02: Buy it now

Garmin Approach S12, Easy-to-Use GPS Golf Watch, 42k+ Preloaded Courses, Granite Blue, 010-02472-01 & Approach CT10 Starter Kit, Automatic Club Tracking System, 3 Sensors: Buy it now

Garmin Approach S12, Easy-to-Use GPS Golf Watch, 42k+ Preloaded Courses, White, 010-02472-02 & Approach CT10 Starter Kit, Automatic Club Tracking System, 3 Sensors: Buy it now

Golf Features on Approach S12

Measure distance (in yards)

The key feature of any golf watch is its ability to measure distance. Every time you start a round, you’ll see the distance from your current position: front, middle, and back. Approach S12 will automatically switch holes each time it’s done, so things are pretty seamless. If this is all you want, you won’t even need to touch the clock during your gameplay.

We played about five rounds with the Approach S12 watch and found the accuracy on different courses to be high.

Obstacles (lakes, sand pits, etc.)

If you are observing a lake on the fairway, and want to know the exact distance to it, then Approach S12 will fulfill this for you. You just need to press the top left button to measure the distance to the locations of any obstacles such as a lake on the way.

The lake or sandpit will both have distance parameters to the front and back edges, and you will be able to track it all from the fairway to the green. It’s pretty easy to use with little to no effort, and it’s nice that the feature is operated from a single button rather than through a menu.

Green grass area

You can see the shape of the green grass, even when there is no view, and you can also change the position of the pin (flagpole) if you are looking for an exact size measurement. Access the menu (press the top right button), select Move Flag, and move the flag to the desired position.

We haven’t tried to take advantage of this feature yet during our testing, maybe because we’re in the mid-handicap group, but we’re happy with the available data. However, if you are a more advanced person, this feature is really useful.

Shot Gauge

After you hit the tee, you can go to the menu and start tracking your distance. You will have to do this manually and remember not to go down the fairway before pressing the button to track. Some previous Garmin Approach watches have over-complicated this feature, the watch must calculate according to the swing path, and the results are often inaccurate, so simple is best.

Score (Number of shots)

As we mentioned, you can record your club count on the watch, which can be tracked in the Garmin Golf app. The score on the meter is the number of strokes you use to put the ball into the hole, but will not count toward your handicap or Stableford score.

However, this score will be updated directly on Garmin Golf, and display this number on your smartphone. From there, you can set up live leaderboards between fellow players, as long as they’re also using the Garmin Golf app.

You can also go into the settings menu and enable stats tracking, to record your putts or tee accuracy, as extra data. This will make the data in Garmin Golf more diverse and rich, helping you to analyze it more deeply.

What’s more, the Approach S12 can be paired with the dedicated CT10 tracker (if you want to invest more). This feature will record the types of clubs available in your bag, allowing you to calculate the average distance for each type of club over time, helping you choose better clubs.

Battery life

One of the most impressive things about the Garmin Approach S12 is its battery life, we were able to easily complete 5 rounds of golf between charges. A full round of 18 holes hardly reduces the battery percentage, even the Approach S12 has enough battery to use for a week later.

Garmin says the battery life when using GPS is 30 hours, and that makes sense. This is the best battery-life golf watch we’ve ever seen, with a very power-efficient display that barely drains, even when you keep it in your golf bag between rounds.