5 Reasons Not to Buy the New Garmin Approach S50

This… is the new Garmin Approach S50.

And it’s been getting a lot of hype since its debut at the 2025 PGA Show.

People are calling it the best golf watch for most golfers, or the sweet spot in Garmin’s golf watch lineup.

And you know what? They’re not wrong.

After using it myself, I think the S50 is amazing.

But…

I’ve also come to realize that it’s NOT perfect.

And it’s definitely NOT the right watch for everyone.

So, in this article, I’m going to share with you five key reasons NOT to buy the Garmin Approach S50.

If these five things don’t bother you—great! You can buy with confidence.

But if there’s something on this list that DOES bother you, this article could save you a lot of frustration.

Let’s get into it.

When I was at the PGA Show, Garmin shared something really interesting about the S50 and their other new golf watch, the S44.

If customers pay the $99 a year for the Garmin Golf Membership, they can actually add more features to their S44 or S50 watches. In other words, they can turn them into upgraded models.

So for $99 a year, you can upgrade your S50 with extra features, making it almost as good as the high-end Garmin S70.

That means you can add things like green contour data, detailed hole maps, a virtual caddie, and wind data.

That might sound like a pretty good deal.

But here’s the thing: The least-expensive Garmin Approach S70 costs $650. That’s $250 more than the S50.

So if you’re paying $100 a year for the subscription… After two-and-a-half years, you’d have spent more than the cost of an S70.

And I think you’re going to get more than two-and-a-half years out of your Garmin watch. These are the best-built golf watches on the market.

So, even though it costs more upfront, I think the better purchase if you’re taking the long view is the S70.

And here’s the kicker. Even with the subscription, the S50 STILL can’t do everything the S70 can.

The real problem with the S50 is that if you don’t pay that $100-a-year subscription, this is a very basic golf watch.

The golf features out of the box are almost identical to the Garmin S44, which costs $100 LESS. Yes, the S50 includes more health and wellness features, but as I’ll talk about, maybe those things aren’t important to you.

So, the S50 lands in a weird middle spot.

If you don’t pay the subscription and you really just want a basic golf watch, you’re better off saving money and getting the S44.

And if you do pay the subscription because you want those better golf features, after a few years, you’d be better off if you had just bought the top-of-the-line S70 to start with.

So I think that really eliminates a lot of potential S50 buyers who might be better off going with either the S44 or S70. As we’ll discuss, it really narrows down who would be a good fit for the S50.

So, the S50 comes with this nylon band that’s narrower and lighter than the silicone bands on all of the other Garmin golf watches.

But I gotta tell you: It’s a pain to get on and off.

The opening isn’t big enough, and undoing the band to fit your hand through is also a nuisance. I just don’t think it’s a great design.

I do think the nylon band is comfortable, but not once you start sweating like you would playing golf or exercising. So for being active, I actually think the silicone band is a better and more comfortable choice.

Some golfers are going to love the nylon band. But I think a lot of golfers are actually going to find it annoying.

The good news is that it’s easy to switch out Garmin watch bands. Seriously, just go on Amazon and you’ll see a bunch of options.

One of the less-talked-about advantages of the Garmin Approach S70 is its superior battery life. It’s rated at up to 16 days in smartwatch mode and 20 hours in GPS mode.

But I can tell you as someone who wears an S70 daily that it routinely outperforms those ratings. This thing is a powerhouse.

The S50, on the other hand, features a much more modest 10 days battery life in smartwatch mode and 15 hours in GPS mode.

The same issue extends to internal storage. The S50 has just 4GB of internal storage, while the S70 has 16GB. Four times as much!

Why does that matter?

The S70 can store more data without slowing down.

The S50 also lacks a barometric altimeter, which means it can’t track elevation as accurately as the S70 for off-course activities like hiking and running.

And considering one of the strongest selling points of the S50 is that it includes a lot of fitness metrics, that’s definitely a limitation.

Also, the S70 will automatically search for and choose the best satellite option, which saves on battery life and makes the watch run more efficiently.

Overall, the S70 is just a more feature-packed watch that performs at a higher level.

So be careful not to be short-sighted. I think that some people may buy the S50 only to wish down the road that they had an S70.

If you’re someone with larger wrists or arms and you don’t like the look of a small watch, I don’t think you’re going to be crazy about the S50.

With a 1.2-inch watch face and a size of only 43 x 43 x 11 millimeters, this watch looks and feels on the small side.

The S50, like the S44, is also a watch that sits flat on the wrist with a lower profile than something like the S70.

For some people, that’s perfect.

But if you want a larger watch, the Garmin S70 has a 47mm option, which looks and feels more substantial.

One thing I will say is that, no matter what size, the Garmin S44, S50, and S70 all look amazing because of their crisp AMOLED screens.

It’s really cool that Garmin is now including that screen on watches at the S44 and S50 price points. Before, the only AMOLED in the Garmin golf watch lineup was on the S70.

Alright, enough of the good news. Let’s get back to the reasons you might not want a Garmin S50.

One of the biggest reasons to get the S50 is its built-in heart rate monitor, which allows for an awesome amount of fitness tracking.

Everything from heart rate to sleep tracking, meditation exercises, relaxation reminders, a body battery to tell you how much energy you have left for the day, a daily health snapshot… It goes on and on.

It’s crazy how much fitness tracking they packed into the S50.

In this regard, it’s every bit of the S70 and totally surpasses the S44.

But what if you don’t care about that stuff?

What if you prefer not to wear your watch to bed so that you get your sleep tracking and body battery?

Maybe you don’t want to know your heart rate or keep track of your bicycle rides.

Maybe you’re just looking for a golf watch and aren’t interested in the advanced fitness and lifestyle information.

If that’s you, I don’t think the S50 is the right watch. Too much of its value and price tag are tied to fitness tracking. If you’re not using it, you’re paying too much. In that case, the S44, for $100 less, is the smarter choice.