Garmin Approach S70 vs Garmin Forerunner 955
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| GarminApproach S70 | GarminForerunner 955 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | May 2023 | June 2022 |
| Display | ||
| Case sizes | 42 mm or 47 mm | 47 mm |
| Panel | OLED | Memory-in-pixel |
| Always-on display | Yes | Yes |
| Display detail | 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. | 1.3-inch (33 mm) transflective colour memory-in-pixel touchscreen, 260 x 260 pixels, with five buttons. |
| Screen protection | 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. | Corning Gorilla Glass DX. |
| Health and fitness | ||
| ECG | No | No |
| Blood oxygen | Yes | 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 | Dual-band (L1 and L5) | Dual-band (L1 and L5) |
| Water resistance | 50 m | 50 m |
| Sensors | 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. | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, multi-frequency GNSS, Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate, Pulse Ox, barometric altimeter, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer and thermometer. |
| Health features | 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. | Pulse Ox, HRV status, sleep score, all-day stress and Body Battery energy monitoring. |
| Fitness features | 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. | Training readiness and status, morning report, race widget, real-time stamina, PacePro, ClimbPro, triathlon profiles and full-colour maps with turn-by-turn route guidance. |
| Safety features | Incident detection during supported activities and assistance require a paired compatible phone and available network; not standalone emergency communication. | Incident detection and assistance require a paired smartphone; LiveTrack. |
| Battery and connections | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 16 days | Up to 15 days |
| Mobile data option | No | No |
| Works with | iPhone and Android | iPhone and Android |
| Storage | 16 GB | 32 GB (better) |
| Battery life detail | 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. | Up to 15 days in smartwatch mode, 42 hours in GPS-only mode without music or 20 hours with all-systems multi-band GNSS without music. |
| Charging | Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery; Garmin proprietary charging/data connector and supplied USB cable. | Rechargeable battery with Garmin charging cable; this standard model has no solar charging lens. |
| Connectivity | 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. | Bluetooth, ANT+ and Wi-Fi; Garmin Pay, Connect IQ, notifications and on-watch music storage for up to 2,000 songs. |
| Design | ||
| Weight (lightest version) | 44 g (better) | 52 g |
| Software | Garmin | Garmin |
| Case materials | 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. | Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel and silicone band; 5 ATM water rating. |
| Size | 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. | 46.5 x 46.5 x 14.4 mm; 52 g. |
| Bands | – | QuickFit-compatible 22 mm band; fits wrists 130–220 mm. |
| Colours | – | Black. |
| Reference and release detail | 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. | – |
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