Garmin Approach S12 vs Garmin Approach S70
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| GarminApproach S12 | GarminApproach S70 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | March 2021 | May 2023 |
| Display | ||
| Case sizes | 43.7 mm | 42 mm or 47 mm |
| Panel | Memory-in-pixel | OLED |
| Always-on display | Yes | Yes |
| 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. | 42 mm version has a 1.2 inch AMOLED touchscreen with 390 x 390 pixels; 47 mm has a 1.4 inch screen with 454 x 454 pixels. Optional always-on mode and ambient-light sensor. Three physical buttons. UK table pairs the 42 mm screen's 1.2 inch figure with 32.02 mm, an inconsistent conversion; neither value is silently recalculated here. Launch German datasheet also incorrectly repeats 390 x 390 for the 47 mm display; exact current model tables establish 454 x 454. |
| Screen protection | Chemically strengthened glass, according to the exact S12 Swiss technical datasheet. | Current UK and US model tables specify Corning Gorilla Glass 3. German launch article calls it sapphire, conflicting with its own attached Gorilla Glass datasheet; no sapphire configuration is established. |
| Health and fitness | ||
| ECG | No | No |
| Blood oxygen | No | Yes |
| Skin temperature | No | No |
| Sleep apnoea alerts | No | No |
| High blood pressure alerts | No | No |
| Body composition | No | No |
| Fall detection | No | No |
| Crash detection | No | No |
| GPS | Single-band | Dual-band (L1 and L5) |
| Water resistance | 50 m | 50 m |
| Sensors | Built-in GPS receiver. No published multi-band, GLONASS/Galileo, optical heart-rate or Pulse Ox support. | GPS, GLONASS and Galileo; 47 mm additionally has multi-band positioning and SatIQ. The exact German datasheet distinguishes 42 mm multi-GNSS from 47 mm multifrequency; current UK/US tables likewise list multi-band and SatIQ only on 47 mm. Both have Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate, Pulse Ox, barometric altimeter, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer and ambient-light sensor. Maker does not number the optical sensor generation. |
| Health features | Golf-focused device; no wrist heart-rate, sleep or daily activity-tracking features listed in the exact specifications or owner guide. | Continuous heart rate, resting rate and high/low alerts, respiration, Body Battery, stress, advanced sleep, sleep coach, nap detection, HRV status, Health Snapshot, fitness age and jet-lag adviser. Pulse Ox spot checks and optional sleep monitoring. Hydration and menstrual-cycle/pregnancy tracking use Garmin Connect and an optional Connect IQ widget; these are wellness features, not medical diagnosis. |
| 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, full CourseView vector maps, pan/zoom and touch targeting, green view with manual pin position, hazards, layups, front/middle/back distances and PinPointer. Enhanced PlaysLike distances account for slope, weather and air pressure; wind information requires a phone connected to Garmin Golf. Virtual Caddie offers club recommendations and shot-dispersion charts after five rounds with uploaded scorecards and either optional CT10 sensors or Club Prompt enabled; sensors are not mandatory. AutoShot detects fairway shots; optional CT10 sensors add putt/chip detection. Optional CT1 tags and Z30 laser range finder are supported. Scorecard, statistics, handicap scoring, swing tempo and tournament mode. Green contours need paid Garmin Golf membership; base maps and touch targeting do not. Running, cycling, gym, hiking, racket sports and pool-swimming profiles; VO2 max, recovery time, training load/effect, Garmin Coach and animated workouts. Current tables document pool swimming, not an established open-water swimming profile. |
| Safety features | – | Incident detection during supported activities and assistance require a paired compatible phone and available network; not standalone emergency communication. |
| Battery and connections | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 70 days | Up to 16 days |
| Mobile data option | No | No |
| Works with | iPhone and Android | iPhone and Android |
| Storage | – | 16 GB |
| 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. | 42 mm up to 10 days in smartwatch mode and 15 hours using GPS; 47 mm up to 16 days and 20 hours. Current maker web conditions use gesture wake in smartwatch mode and always-on while golfing; April 2026 owner guide labels the same 15/20-hour figures all-satellite-systems mode. Headline duration is the longest standard configuration, 47 mm. Actual battery life depends on enabled sensors, notifications and connected devices. |
| 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. | Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery; Garmin proprietary charging/data connector and supplied USB cable. |
| 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, ANT+ and Wi-Fi; Garmin Golf, Garmin Connect, Garmin Express and Connect IQ. Garmin Pay with supported banks; downloaded personal music and supported Spotify, Amazon Music and Deezer services, with subscriptions where required and Bluetooth headphones. Phone notifications, Android-only text replies and notification images, calendar, weather and morning report. No cellular version. Current UK/US tables state 16 GB memory/history for both sizes; a later Swiss S50 comparison leaflet lists S70 at 32 GB without a separate hardware identity, so that conflicting sibling comparison is not used to create a version. |
| Storage | 125 MB memory/history according to the exact current maker table. | – |
| Design | ||
| Weight (lightest version) | 34.1 g (better) | 44 g |
| Software | Garmin | Garmin |
| 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. | Ceramic bezel, Gorilla Glass 3 lens and silicone band. UK range has White/Peach and Powder Grey/Amp Yellow 42 mm finishes, and Black/Red 47 mm. US regional SKU codes differ, with the same three finishes. |
| 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. | 42 mm is 42 x 42 x 12.6 mm and 44 g with silicone band, fitting 115–185 mm wrists with a 20 mm QuickFit attachment. 47 mm is 47 x 47 x 13.4 mm and 56 g, fitting 130–205 mm wrists with 22 mm QuickFit. Headline weight is the lighter 42 mm version. Launch German datasheet rounds thickness to 13/14 mm; exact current UK figures are retained. |
| Water resistance detail | 5 ATM, equivalent pressure to 50 m; not a dive-depth rating. Do not press the keys under water. | – |
| 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. | Garmin's US announcement on 23 May 2023 states available now; German launch likewise says immediately available. This establishes the first documented on-sale day; an exact UK first shipping day is not independently established. No explicit maker predecessor relationship has been found in the read sources. |
| Bands | 20 mm quick-release bands; compatible replacement bands are sold separately. | – |
| 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. | – |
| In the box | Approach S12 golf watch, charging/data cable and documentation. CT10 club sensors are sold separately. | – |
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