Looking for the Best Golf GPS Watch? You’ve come to the right place!
In this comprehensive guide, we rank and provide detailed overviews on the best golf GPS watch options on sale at the moment. The guide separates GPS watches by price and features to help you find the best golf GPS watch for your game.
The GPS watches featured in this guide have been selected and assessed based on our personal experience and assessments, expert feedback, consumer reviews and feedback from the wider Golf Assessor community. We update this page regularly to ensure we keep up with new developments and releases in the golf GPS watch industry.
Other Gadget Reviews: Rangefinders | Garmin Golf Watches | Swing Analyzers | Training Aids | Golf Apps
Best GPS Watches For Golf
Below are our top picks for best GPS watches for golfers.
- Most Accurate: Garmin Approach S20 Watch
- Best Battery Life: Bushnell Neo Ion 2 Golf GPS Watch
- Editor's Choice: Garmin Approach S6 Watch
- Best Value: GolfBuddy GB9 WTX+ Smartwatch
- Best Functionality: Garmin Approach S10
Also check out our buyers guide for GPS golf watches.
Best GPS Golf Watches
1. Garmin Approach S20 Watch
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Selecting our top five was no easy business, and it’s fair to say there were a number of contenders – both within the Garmin umbrella and beyond – which could arguably have merited a place. But we like Garmin, and, more importantly, we like the S20. If you’re an ardent fan like us, you’ll probably notice the similarities with the S4. But hey, I guess you don’t always need to recreate the wheel?
I wouldn’t say it has all the bells and whistles, but the Auto Shot feature is a great way to map and analyze your shots, and the ‘activity tracking’ may tickle your fancy. We also liked that it tells you both how far you have to hazards, and how far to clear them (and other detailed measurements). Added to that, we think this is one of the more accurate GPS devices out there (matched the yardage on our Bushnell V4 rangefinder every time), and the battery life is excellent.
Probably our only real criticisms were that we had a few issues syncing the device with the app after the round, and the display isn’t the best. But other than that, there were no problems for us in terms of usability, scorekeeping and setup. All in all, our take was that this represents good value for money, and, with an update or two allegedly on the horizon, may get even better.
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2. Bushnell Neo Ion 2 Golf GPS Watch
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Bushnell are undoubtedly one of the market leaders in the rangefinder game, and many would now extend the same argument to GPS devices.
Certainly the Neo Ion 2 has added a new string to their bow – most notably through its simplicity and ease of use. Honestly, in terms of the combination of setup, updates, display and user experience, there are literally zero complications. True, it probably doesn’t boast quite the same quantity in terms of preloaded courses, data storage and features as some competitors.
But it’s unerringly accurate, has a battery that lasts for days (well, many hours anyway!), does everything you expect from a GPS watch, and does it all for a competitive price. What more could you want?
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3. Garmin Approach S6 Watch
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Okay, brace yourself… this isn’t the only Garmin you’ll see on the list. We sampled a number of Garmins, and it’s amazing how much they all have to offer in their own unique way. Yet for us, the S6 remains one of the best GPS golf watches.
We’re talking about a device which has mapped over 40,000 golf courses around the globe, with a second-to-none series of hole maps with a touchscreen that allows you to pinpoint distances to anywhere on the course. It also has great features such as ‘SwingStrength’ and ‘TempoTraining’. The explanation for each is kind of in the name, but all you need to know is that they work well, are easy to use, and generate meaningful and (seemingly) accurate data.
We’re also were really impressed with the seamless interaction between the watch and Garmin Connect platform; the latter of which provides you a plethora of scoring and stats analysis. And all of this in a watch.
True, it costs a bit. But the quality of the S6, not to mention the simplicity of the user experience, is simply not in dispute.
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4. GolfBuddy GB9 WTX+ Smartwatch
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We hadn’t heard great things about this particular watch before we trialed it. Poor battery life, hopeless customer service – you know, the usual complaints. But analyzing the watch itself in isolation, it really was hard to find much wrong with it.
In terms of appearance, it doesn’t weigh much, fits nice, looks pretty sleek and has an incredibly simple display. Yes, it was a little bit fiddly initially with the three control buttons. But once you’re used to it, things sort of flow quite well.
When we rocked up at our local club, the GolfBuddy GB9 WTX+ Smartwatch definitely won the ‘who can pick up the course quickest’ race. Added to that, it has a good shot-tracking tool, boasts a really cool feature in the Dynamic Green View (adjusts measurements to front and back of the green, depending on your angle of approach), is accurate to within a couple of yards, has all the added functions such as hazard distances, and – guess what? – the battery still had a third of its charge left by the end of the round!
All in all, it does what it says on the tin, and for that price, we’re convinced it will attract many a keen shopper.
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5. Garmin Approach S10
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The S10 Approach from Garmin ticks all the basic, but important, boxes such as being waterproof, weighing a paltry 2 ounces, comfortable on the arm and a battery life which can easily last up to rounds of golf.
But where it really cuts the mustard is in terms of features, functionality and ease of use. Setup is simple, as is pairing it up with the mobile app. So is linking it up with your course of choice, which is almost instant, and gives you all the information you’d expect about the course.
We were also impressed with things like the Auto Shot Detection for scoring, the overview and zoom, accuracy, and the display of data on screen – it tells you all you need to know, but in a comprehensive, non-cluttered way. Who needs a big screen, eh?
The biggest plus of all here though is price. For what you get, it is difficult to argue with, and this watch should appeal to golfers of all shapes, sizes and abilities.
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Golf GPS Watches - Buyers Guide
There was a time when the naked eye, perhaps guided by a 150-yard marker, was sufficient to gauge distances. But this was more by necessity (or lack of invention), rather than design. Indeed, it wasn’t that long ago that interim measurements between the 150 and 100-yard pole were considered revolutionary.
But the days of making do with guesstimate distances to the middle or front of the green are long gone and, if you’re trying to improve your game, it has become critical to know exactly how far to hit it. After all, it’s difficult enough to actually hit a high-quality shot. What’s the point of wasting one or more of these by inadvertently sending it short or long owing to a lack of knowledge?
This, of course, is where distance measuring devices (DMDs) come in, and at (or near) the pinnacle of this particular niche are GPS Watches (or related gadgets and devices) which give you exactly what you need: quick, convenient and accurate distances.
The latter of these attributes is arguably the most important, Because what can fill you with more confidence than knowing precisely how far it is from A to B, and by extension, that you (hopefully!) have the perfect club in hand as a result?
Of course, some devices perform this task better than others. So which are top of the pops? We’ve picked out the five which we believe will get the job done for you in the simplest, convenient, reliable and most value-for-money manner.
1. Design and Build Quality
When it comes to anything that requires forking out hundreds of dollars, you don’t want to be skimping on quality. A GPS Watch and/or device is an investment, so you want to be sure that boxes such as durability, reliability and look & feel are all ticked. It isn’t always easy to establish the difference between a well-made gadget and a cheap knock off, but, don’t worry… we’ve got you covered.
Of course, design is a big factor too. Not just in terms of hardware, but also in terms of user experience. Yes, you want to have something wrapped around your wrist or in the palm of your hand which looks the part. But it’s just as important that the user interface tells you exactly what you need to know. And hey, if it does so in an aesthetically-pleasing way, well, that’s a bonus!
2. Ease of Use
It’s not just about setup. Real estate on the user interface with such devices, by design, is in short supply (typically no more than 1 square inch) so it is imperative that this space is used effectively, and yields a pleasurably simple user experience.
Whether it’s a watch or a hand-held device, you need to get to where you need to be with the minimum number of clicks, and the end result needs to be data which is easy to interpret. The whole point of spending your hard-earned dollars on one of these devices is that it does the thinking for you. Determining a distance? That should be the easy part. Making a good swing?
Well, these bad boys are good. But they ain’t that good!
3. Value for Money
It’s interesting to note that such a small piece of machinery can produce quite a sizeable variance in terms of price. You can pick one up for as little as 50 bucks, or, for the same token, cough up in excess of $500!
We’re not in the business of promoting cheap knock-offs, nor do we endorse overpriced, overhyped equipment riding the wave of brand or reputation. We look at each individual product in isolation, and consider ‘good value’ to be the most important stamp of approval. And it’s not one we give away lightly! So if we say a GPS device represents good value for money, we really do mean it.
Tags: Best Golf GPS Watch, Best Golf GPS Watch 2016, Best Golf GPS Watch 2017, Best GPS Watch for Golf
