Garmin Approach S12 vs Garmin Approach S44

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Approach S12 compared with Approach S44

	GarminApproach S12	GarminApproach S44
Overview
Released
Released	March 2021	January 2025
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	43.7 mm	43 mm
Panel
Panel	Memory-in-pixel	OLED
Always-on display
Always-on display	Yes	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	Sunlight-visible, transflective monochrome memory-in-pixel display, 23 x 23 mm (0.9 x 0.9 inch), 175 x 175 pixels. Four physical buttons; no touchscreen. Big Numbers mode enlarges green yardages. The grouped March 2021 launch and Swiss datasheet incorrectly describe 23 mm as 1.3 inches; the exact current UK and US specifications give 0.9 inches.	30.4 mm (1.2 inch) AMOLED touchscreen, 390 x 390 pixels; optional always-on display, ambient-light sensor and large-font option. Two physical buttons.
Screen protection
Screen protection	Chemically strengthened glass, according to the exact S12 Swiss technical datasheet.	Corning Gorilla Glass 3 lens.
Health and fitness
ECG
ECG	No	No
Blood oxygen
Blood oxygen	No	No
Skin temperature
Skin temperature	No	No
Sleep apnoea alerts
Sleep apnoea alerts	No	No
High blood pressure alerts
High blood pressure alerts	No	No
Body composition
Body composition	No	No
Fall detection
Fall detection	No	No
Crash detection
Crash detection	No	No
GPS
GPS	Single-band	Single-band
Water resistance
Water resistance	50 m	50 m
Sensors
Sensors	Built-in GPS receiver. No published multi-band, GLONASS/Galileo, optical heart-rate or Pulse Ox support.	GPS, GLONASS and Galileo; compass, gyroscope, accelerometer and ambient-light sensor. No multi-band positioning or wrist heart-rate sensor. Do not infer a heart-rate sensor from generic heart-rate alert wording in the cycling table.
Health features
Health features	Golf-focused device; no wrist heart-rate, sleep or daily activity-tracking features listed in the exact specifications or owner guide.	Step counting, move alerts, automatic daily step goal, calories, distance and intensity minutes. No wrist heart rate, Pulse Ox, sleep/stress monitoring or Body Battery; these belong to the S50. The current maker table and October 2025 guide document activity tracking beyond the step-only description in an April 2025 review.
Fitness features
Fitness features	Current preloaded coverage exceeds 43,000 worldwide golf courses; the original launch listed 42,000. Front/middle/back green yardages, layup/dogleg/hazard distances, Green View with manual pin positioning, manual shot-distance measurement, digital scorecard, statistics for strokes, putts, greens and fairways, round timer and odometer. Automatic course and hole selection. No AutoShot without club sensors, touch targeting, full colour course maps, PlaysLike distances or virtual caddie. Optional complete set of 14 Approach CT10 sensors enables automatic club tracking; sensors are not included. Current overview specifies the full set rather than the three-sensor starter pack.	Over 43,000 preloaded golf courses; front/middle/back green distances, hazards, layups/doglegs, Green View with manual pin position, PinPointer, digital scorecard, handicap scoring, statistics, Swing Tempo and custom targets. AutoShot detects shots and measures distance without tags; it does not detect putts, and some chips may be missed. Club Prompt records the selected club. Optional CT1 tags require tapping the watch before each shot; CT10 sensors add automatic club tracking, and the Z30 laser range finder shares measured distances. Full vector CourseView maps, touch targeting, green contours and elevation-adjusted PlaysLike distances require Garmin Golf membership. Tournament mode disables non-permitted features. Current UK activity profiles include running, indoor track running, biking, indoor biking and golf. The exact owner guide additionally documents pool swimming; the current web profile list omits it. No open-water swimming claim.
Safety features
Safety features	–	Incident detection in supported outdoor activities and assistance require Garmin Connect, a paired compatible phone with data service and network coverage. They message emergency contacts; they are not standalone emergency communication.
Battery and connections
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 70 days	Up to 10 days
Mobile data option
Mobile data option	No	No
Works with
Works with	iPhone and Android	iPhone and Android
Storage
Storage	–	4 GB
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Up to 10 weeks in watch-only mode and up to 30 hours playing golf with GPS. The March 2021 Swiss comparison sheet claims 15 weeks watch use, conflicting with the exact English owner guide and current UK/US table; use 10 weeks. Actual life depends on GPS usage and cold temperatures.	Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Up to 10 days in smartwatch mode with gesture wake-up, or 15 hours in GPS mode with always-on display while golfing. October 2025 owner guide describes the 15-hour claim as all-satellite-systems typical use. Actual life varies with settings and notifications.
Charging
Charging	Garmin proprietary four-contact USB charging/data cable. USB mass-storage and Garmin modes are documented. Operating -20 to 60°C; charging 0 to 45°C. Capacity, charging wattage and charging time are not published.	Garmin proprietary four-contact plug to USB-C charging/data cable. Owner guide specifies operating/storage -20 to 60°C and charging 0 to 45°C. Battery capacity, fast-charge wattage and charge duration are not published.
Connectivity
Connectivity	Bluetooth Smart pairing with iPhone or Android through Garmin Golf for scorecard upload, statistics, leaderboards, live scoring, software updates and automatic updates of frequently played courses. Garmin Express on a computer handles course/software updates over USB. No phone notification display, Wi-Fi, Garmin Pay, standalone cellular or offline music. Owner guide indexes ANT+ sensors, while the Swiss comparison table marks ANT+ absent; CT10 pairing is explicitly supported, without claiming a general ANT+ sensor platform.	Bluetooth LE with iPhone and Android; Garmin Golf and Garmin Connect. Phone notifications, calendar, weather, find-phone/find-watch and smartphone music controls. Text response, rejecting calls by text and notification images are Android-only. No standalone cellular connection, Wi-Fi, downloaded music or Garmin Pay. The manual’s 13.56 MHz radio entry and CT1 tap function do not establish payment support.
Storage
Storage	125 MB memory/history according to the exact current maker table.	4 GB for preloaded golf/course data and activity history; no offline music storage capability.
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	34.1 g (better)	42 g
Software
Software	Garmin	Garmin
Case materials
Case materials	Polymer case and bezel, chemically strengthened glass and silicone quick-release band, per exact S12 Swiss datasheet. White band has black hardware accents.	Anodised aluminium bezel and fibre-reinforced polymer case; silicone band. Swiss exact-model datasheet labels the buttons as plastic.
Size
Size	43.7 x 43.7 x 11.5 mm; 34.1 g. Fits wrists 125–202 mm. The Swiss launch table rounds dimensions to 44 x 44 x 12 mm.	43 x 43 x 11.4 mm; 42 g including the silicone band. Fits wrists 125–202 mm.
Water resistance detail
Water resistance detail	5 ATM, equivalent pressure to 50 m; not a dive-depth rating. Do not press the keys under water.	5 ATM, pressure equivalent to 50 m; this is not a dive-depth rating. Do not press buttons under water.
Reference and release detail
Reference and release detail	Available now in Garmin’s US 16 March 2021 release and same-day Swiss launch. Exact first UK shipping day was not specified. No explicit maker predecessor statement found. The current UK security table states updates until at least 16 March 2023; this minimum date is not a claim that support has ended.	Available now in Garmin’s US and German 21 January 2025 announcements; exact UK first shipping day was not specified. Current UK standalone and CT1-bundle SKUs are sellable. No explicit maker predecessor relationship found.
Bands
Bands	20 mm quick-release bands; compatible replacement bands are sold separately.	20 mm industry-standard quick-release bands; not QuickFit.
Colours
Colours	Black, Granite Blue and White original finishes; later UK entries include Slate Gray, Tidal Blue and Neo Tropic. At the source read only Black and White were sellable on the UK page; the US page offered Black. Official photos of all six finishes are retained as configurations, not separate models.	Silver aluminium bezel with Black or Twilight silicone band; Black also sold with 16 CT1 club tags.
In the box
In the box	Approach S12 golf watch, charging/data cable and documentation. CT10 club sensors are sold separately.	Approach S44, USB-C charging/data cable and documentation. Black CT1 bundle additionally includes 16 club tags; the tags are not included with the standalone watches.