Garmin Approach S44 vs Garmin Descent G2

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Approach S44 compared with Descent G2

	GarminApproach S44	GarminDescent G2
Overview
Released
Released	January 2025	February 2025
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	43 mm	45.5 mm
Panel
Panel	OLED	OLED
Always-on display
Always-on display	Yes	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	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.	30.4 mm (1.2 inch) AMOLED touchscreen, 390 x 390 pixels; optional always-on display, large-font option and red-shift mode. Five physical leakproof inductive buttons.
Screen protection
Screen protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 3 lens.	Sapphire crystal lens.
Health and fitness
ECG
ECG	No	No
Blood oxygen
Blood oxygen	No	Yes
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	100 m (better)
Sensors
Sensors	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.	GPS, GLONASS and Galileo for surface positioning; no multi-band positioning mode. Depth sensor, barometric altimeter, three-axis compass, gyroscope, accelerometer, thermometer, Garmin Elevate wrist heart-rate monitor and Pulse Ox sensor. Satellite signals do not work underwater.
Health features
Health features	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.	Continuous heart rate, resting rate and high/low alerts; respiration, HRV status, Body Battery, stress, relaxation reminders, sleep score, sleep coach, nap detection, breathing variations and Health Snapshot. Spot-check, overnight or all-day Pulse Ox; hydration and menstrual-cycle or pregnancy logging through Garmin Connect. Not a medical device; Pulse Ox availability varies by country.
Fitness features
Fitness features	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.	Seven dive modes — single gas, multi-gas, closed-circuit rebreather, gauge, apnea, apnea hunt and pool apnea. Bühlmann ZHL-16C decompression model with adjustable gradient factors; air, Nitrox and Trimix, one bottom gas and up to eleven decompression/backup gases. Dive planning, custom data screens, compass, configurable audible/vibration alarms, automatic surface entry/exit coordinates and Garmin Dive logs. Dive Readiness, NDL Aware depth metrics, post-dive activity guidance and compatible-computer settings sharing. No wireless tank-pressure air integration. More than 100 sport profiles, including running, cycling, triathlon and pool/open-water swimming; Garmin Coach, daily suggested workouts, VO2 max, training readiness and status, training load/effect, recovery time, heat/altitude acclimation, running dynamics and power, and breadcrumb navigation. Some advanced running and cycling metrics require compatible external sensors.
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.	Incident detection during supported activities, assistance and live-location sharing require a paired compatible smartphone and mobile connectivity. Above-water inReach Mini 2 remote messaging/SOS additionally requires the separately sold communicator, dive case and satellite subscription.
Battery and connections
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 10 days	Up to 10 days
In low-power mode
In low-power mode	–	Up to 12 days
Mobile data option
Mobile data option	No	No
Works with
Works with	iPhone and Android	iPhone and Android
Storage
Storage	4 GB	4 GB
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	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.	Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Up to 10 days with gesture display or 4 days with always-on display; up to 12 days in battery-saver watch mode, 27 hours diving, 20 hours GPS-only, 15 hours all-satellite systems, 44 hours maximum-battery GPS or 10 days expedition GPS. Claims depend on settings and connected sensors; the exact September 2026 owner guide confirms that battery-saver endurance is days, not the hours in a review table.
Charging
Charging	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.	Proprietary Garmin clip charger and USB charging/data cable. Charging temperature 0–45°C; operating/storage -20–60°C, underwater operating 0–40°C. Battery capacity, fast-charge wattage and full-charge time are not published.
Connectivity
Connectivity	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.	Bluetooth Smart and ANT+; Garmin Connect, Garmin Dive and Connect IQ; iPhone and Android notifications, calendar, weather, find-phone/watch and smartphone music controls. Text replies and notification images are Android-only. Garmin Pay with participating providers. No standalone cellular connection, Wi-Fi or onboard music playback.
Storage
Storage	4 GB for preloaded golf/course data and activity history; no offline music storage capability.	4 GB for activity/dive history and compatible Connect IQ content; capacity does not establish offline music playback.
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	42 g (better)	61 g
Software
Software	Garmin	Garmin
Case materials
Case materials	Anodised aluminium bezel and fibre-reinforced polymer case; silicone band. Swiss exact-model datasheet labels the buttons as plastic.	Sapphire lens; fibre-reinforced ocean-bound plastic bezel and case; silicone band. Garmin says all plastic in the housing, bezel and buttons is recycled ocean-bound plastic, rather than claiming the entire watch is recycled.
Size
Size	43 x 43 x 11.4 mm; 42 g including the silicone band. Fits wrists 125–202 mm.	45.5 x 45.5 x 15.2 mm; 61 g with band.
Water resistance detail
Water resistance detail	5 ATM, pressure equivalent to 50 m; this is not a dive-depth rating. Do not press buttons under water.	Dive-rated 100 m / 10 ATM; depth sensor accurate from 0 to 100 m under EN 13319, with 0.1 m resolution below 100 m. This model's explicit diving rating is distinct from an ordinary watch pressure claim.
Reference and release detail
Reference and release detail	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 industry-standard quick-release bands; not QuickFit.	22 mm QuickFit bands; standard silicone fits wrists 135–230 mm, supplied extra-long silicone adjustment strap 128–373 mm. The UK table's '22 m' band entry is a unit typo; the exact manual and QuickFit accessory designation use mm.
Colours
Colours	Silver aluminium bezel with Black or Twilight silicone band; Black also sold with 16 CT1 club tags.	Black/Black and Paloma/Shell Pink are currently sellable on the UK exact-model page. South Korea's August 2026 BARREL Deep Blue cosmetic edition adds an Azure band, Wave watch face and co-branded swim cap; no new hardware generation is claimed. Regional Garmin Pay availability differs.
In the box
In the box	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.	Descent G2 watch, extra-long adjustment strap, charging/data cable and documentation. Korean BARREL edition adds its labelled regional accessories.