Garmin S70 Golf GPS Watch - 2023 Forum Review

[goaliewales14]

9 hours ago, FallenSaber said:

That's interesting. How tight do you wear the watch or how tight is it up against your glove?

I just went to go grab my glove and this is what it looks like if I take my time both putting on the watch and the glove.  The glove gets extremely close to the power off button.  (I do take my glove off after each shot)  You can also see that there's not much room left for me to adjust the watch to make it any looser to allow me to slide up much more.  I'm wearing the watch just left (on my left hand) of my wrist bone, so where you'd typically wear a watch.  

 

[Parshooter36]

I will check my watch to glove distance at league tonight, but it has not been an issue for me.  I was use to wearing a watch while playing, so I guess I didn't pay that much attention.

[FallenSaber]

Having some fun with the dial face. Photography is a side hobby of mine so it's nice to add some of my favorite photos as back round images for the dial. Also threw in some golf themed and MyGolfSpy themed options. You can use practically image you want as a background. I've been very impressed with the range of color on the display. It has taken every image I've used and made it look great! An image of a golf ball works great as well. I really like how the MyGolfSpy version turned out. There are also a lot of pre-designed options you can download. Some have a ton of data displayed if you want to see everything at a glance and some are more traditional. You have to download the ConnectIQ app. You can also get additional apps for the watch. I just downloaded the Amazon Music app and downloaded a Playlist with 110 songs on. Downloading the Playlist does drain the battery a bit. I think it dropped about 8% over the course of the download.

[Josh Ross]

I definitely spent a lot of time playing with custom watch faces too. I love the ability to be creative with it.

Something I want to report on is durability. I did not intend to test it this way, but at football practice today it took a direct hit from a player's helmet. I didn't look down at it for a while because I just knew it was broken. As a coach I rarely take any contact but today a kid blindsided me and there was nothing I could do. Thankfully when I looked at it there wasn't even a scratch but it's safe to say it won't be on my wrist at practice anymore.

[Parshooter36]

Is anybody else having issues with the watch retrieving weather data?  Everyday mine just has dashes on the weather which causes my plays as numbers to be way off.  I did a search that lead me to the Garmin forum and the only workaround that was found was to uninstall and reinstall the Gamin Golf app from your phone.  I did that and it worked, but the next day I had to do it again to get weather data befor my round last night. Woke up this morning and had no weather data again.

[Shrek74]

12 hours ago, FallenSaber said:

That MGS one is super cool looking with the old-school hands. Clean and sharp.

[Josh Ross]

1 hour ago, Parshooter36 said:

Is anybody else having issues with the watch retrieving weather data?  Everyday mine just has dashes on the weather which causes my plays as numbers to be way off.  I did a search that lead me to the Garmin forum and the only workaround that was found was to uninstall and reinstall the Gamin Golf app from your phone.  I did that and it worked, but the next day I had to do it again to get weather data befor my round last night. Woke up this morning and had no weather data again.

I haven't had that issue, my weather has been visible and accurate since the start. Odd that the fix was only temporary. Any chance your phone has a restriction on the Garmin app? Like if it can run in the background or have access to that data it needs?

[Gopokes14]

On 8/8/2023 at 7:49 AM, Brad F said:

Hi guys,

 

I have this watch and I'm absolutely loving it so far.

I wonder if anyone can help though; after you've played 4/5 rounds it has learned your distances and makes club recommendations. 

Does it continue to track distances and change its recommendations after this initial learning period?  Say if your swing gets better and are hitting further or put a new wood in rhe bag which you are longer with.

 

I wasn't sure if it continues to track distance and update its recommendations over time or if learns initially and then stops?

 

Looking forward to hearing what others think of it!

I have it also (3-4 weeks) and I don't know for sure but I assume yes. One issue I have had is I will attempt to select the club I hit and accidentally hit the club below or above it. I don't know how to correct that once its done? I also am noticing really strange PLays Like suggestions on windy days. I researched it and Garmin uses your local airports as the wind speed and direction etc... It will suggest 4 clubs more for shots that really only need 1 or 2 clubs more to get there? But on calmer days where the winds at the airport or more like 5-15 mph, it seems very accurate.  

[Parshooter36]

50 minutes ago, Josh Ross said:

I haven't had that issue, my weather has been visible and accurate since the start. Odd that the fix was only temporary. Any chance your phone has a restriction on the Garmin app? Like if it can run in the background or have access to that data it needs?

I accepted every permission it asked me for when I installed the app, but maybe there is something deeper in the settings that I have not found.  I will try and look when I get home tonight.

[Gopokes14]

16 hours ago, FallenSaber said:

Having some fun with the dial face. Photography is a side hobby of mine so it's nice to add some of my favorite photos as back round images for the dial. Also threw in some golf themed and MyGolfSpy themed options. You can use practically image you want as a background. I've been very impressed with the range of color on the display. It has taken every image I've used and made it look great! An image of a golf ball works great as well. I really like how the MyGolfSpy version turned out. There are also a lot of pre-designed options you can download. Some have a ton of data displayed if you want to see everything at a glance and some are more traditional. You have to download the ConnectIQ app. You can also get additional apps for the watch. I just downloaded the Amazon Music app and downloaded a Playlist with 110 songs on. Downloading the Playlist does drain the battery a bit. I think it dropped about 8% over the course of the download.

Thanks for this. I just did it and it was easy. I already had the Connect IQ app on my phone. Went to watch faces and selected + and chose a file from my pictures on my phone, selected a watch display to apply and boom! 

[goaliewales14]

11 hours ago, Parshooter36 said:

Is anybody else having issues with the watch retrieving weather data?  Everyday mine just has dashes on the weather which causes my plays as numbers to be way off.  I did a search that lead me to the Garmin forum and the only workaround that was found was to uninstall and reinstall the Gamin Golf app from your phone.  I did that and it worked, but the next day I had to do it again to get weather data befor my round last night. Woke up this morning and had no weather data again.

I did have weather issues during my last round.  It was registering 0 mph winds at times, but I had at least 10-15 mph while I was playing

[rkj427]

Hope no one minds if I chime in with a little information on the "weather" issues, as I have had some, and no longer use that feature due to how they reportedly have it set-up.

I have used a S62, and currently have an Epix Gen 2 which is similar to the S70 but has additional features.

For me to use weather while golfing, I need to make sure that the watch is paired to my phone, with the Garmin app on my phone also opened.

Don't know why they have it set this way, but I do get messages or notifications on my watch that this is what needs to happen for it to register weather conditions.

Sometimes I get that, even if not golfing and just wearing my watch on a daily basis.

 

[FallenSaber]

2 hours ago, rkj427 said:

Hope no one minds if I chime in with a little information on the "weather" issues, as I have had some, and no longer use that feature due to how they reportedly have it set-up.

I have used a S62, and currently have an Epix Gen 2 which is similar to the S70 but has additional features.

For me to use weather while golfing, I need to make sure that the watch is paired to my phone, with the Garmin app on my phone also opened.

Don't know why they have it set this way, but I do get messages or notifications on my watch that this is what needs to happen for it to register weather conditions.

Sometimes I get that, even if not golfing and just wearing my watch on a daily basis.

 

Thank you for the info! 

8 hours ago, Gopokes14 said:

Thanks for this. I just did it and it was easy. I already had the Connect IQ app on my phone. Went to watch faces and selected + and chose a file from my pictures on my phone, selected a watch display to apply and boom! 

Really like the PXG dial! Nice work! 

[Parshooter36]

19 hours ago, Josh Ross said:

I haven't had that issue, my weather has been visible and accurate since the start. Odd that the fix was only temporary. Any chance your phone has a restriction on the Garmin app? Like if it can run in the background or have access to that data it needs?

You were right. I reinstalled the Garmin Connect app and when it got to the weather setup it said I needed to set my location to always allow for the weather widget to work properly. I must have missed that the 1st time I installed the app, because it seems to be working correctly now. Thanks for the tip.

[Bohnson]

Congrats testers I like my Garmin! I’ve used one for about 5 years! 

[Josh Ross]

22 minutes ago, Parshooter36 said:

You were right. I reinstalled the Garmin Connect app and when it got to the weather setup it said I needed to set my location to always allow for the weather widget to work properly. I must have missed that the 1st time I installed the app, because it seems to be working correctly now. Thanks for the tip.

Glad it worked! Although I'm glad to be out of it and in the golf industry now, those 9 years of tech support for Internet and cell phones come in handy sometimes haha.

[EmAnkh]

Congratulations Testers! Reviews so far have been informative! Will be on the lookout for more intel...especially rangefinding features and accuracy.

 

[Parshooter36]

1 more thing I'm having issues with is the seeing the screen outside. Everybody online is raving about how bright the screen is, but mine is very hard to see outside and impossible to see in the sun. The only display setting I can find is brightness which I have maxed out. Here are some pics of the S70 compared to my old watch. These were taken inside, then outside, then in direct sunlight. 

 

[Josh Ross]

That's odd @Parshooter36, mine has seemed plenty bright when outside. The picture I shared from my round the other day was outside in partial sun but honestly it looked similar in full sun too. I wonder if something's going on there?

[Parshooter36]

7 hours ago, Josh Ross said:

That's odd @Parshooter36, mine has seemed plenty bright when outside. The picture I shared from my round the other day was outside in partial sun but honestly it looked similar in full sun too. I wonder if something's going on there?

It dims as soon as I step outside. I was hoping I had some kind of adaptive brightness setting turned on, but I cannot find anything like that in the settings.

[Parshooter36]

On 8/15/2023 at 10:45 AM, goaliewales14 said:

I just went to go grab my glove and this is what it looks like if I take my time both putting on the watch and the glove.  The glove gets extremely close to the power off button.  (I do take my glove off after each shot)  You can also see that there's not much room left for me to adjust the watch to make it any looser to allow me to slide up much more.  I'm wearing the watch just left (on my left hand) of my wrist bone, so where you'd typically wear a watch.  

 

I finally got around to checking my watch to glove distance an my glove actually overlaps my watch a bit. I have never noticed the buttons getting pushed by the glove and like I said earlier, I've worn a golf watch for several years not so it's not something that bothers me.  I could absolutely see how it could be annoying for someone that is not use to weare a watch though.

[Shrek74]

1 hour ago, Parshooter36 said:

It dims as soon as I step outside. I was hoping I had some kind of adaptive brightness setting turned on, but I cannot find anything like that in the settings.

There has to be a setting somewhere like you mentioned. I can't believe that a golf watch, designed to be worn outside in direct sun does this and won't be nice and bright and clear in and out of the sun. Have you reached out to Garmin about it? Might be worth a call.

[Parshooter36]

I have been checking out some of the health monitoring features of the watch even though I'm mainly interested in the golf features. While looking at my heart rate report from the other day I noticed that my heart rate was elevated during my entire league match Tuesday night.  It was not a very close match and was very casual, so I was surprised to see that data. 

[Josh Ross]

Charging the watch for the first time since getting it. It was still at 17% but figured I'd go ahead and charge it up. 

The health features have been amazing. I'm getting all the data I need about my heart rate and variability, and for the first time in a long time I'm able to accurately and comfortably monitor it overnight. I'm loving how lightweight this watch is and how versatile it is as a watch. Getting out for another two rounds this weekend to further test that part of it.

[RwsGolf1]

7 hours ago, Parshooter36 said:

I finally got around to checking my watch to glove distance an my glove actually overlaps my watch a bit. I have never noticed the buttons getting pushed by the glove and like I said earlier, I've worn a golf watch for several years not so it's not something that bothers me.  I could absolutely see how it could be annoying for someone that is not use to weare a watch though.

I wonder…although when I wear a watch it is on left hand, if it might make sense to try the right hand to not interfere with glove?

[RwsGolf1]

On 8/16/2023 at 12:06 PM, Shrek74 said:

That MGS one is super cool looking with the old-school hands. Clean and sharp.

Wow, what is your home course in Crossville?  Lived there for 11 years.

[Shrek74]

1 minute ago, RwsGolf1 said:

Wow, what is your home course in Crossville?  Lived there for 11 years.

I actually live in Fairfield Glade, so I have 5 home courses.

[RwsGolf1]

13 minutes ago, Shrek74 said:

I actually live in Fairfield Glade, so I have 5 home courses.

I owned a home in FFG for 11 years.  Know all those courses quite well.  How is the playability now that most are zoysia vs. the old bent and blue?

[goaliewales14]

11 hours ago, Parshooter36 said:

I finally got around to checking my watch to glove distance an my glove actually overlaps my watch a bit. I have never noticed the buttons getting pushed by the glove and like I said earlier, I've worn a golf watch for several years not so it's not something that bothers me.  I could absolutely see how it could be annoying for someone that is not use to weare a watch though.

So glad I'm not losing my mind on that issue!  

[goaliewales14]

On 8/17/2023 at 6:37 PM, Parshooter36 said:

1 more thing I'm having issues with is the seeing the screen outside. Everybody online is raving about how bright the screen is, but mine is very hard to see outside and impossible to see in the sun. The only display setting I can find is brightness which I have maxed out. Here are some pics of the S70 compared to my old watch. These were taken inside, then outside, then in direct sunlight. 

That's so weird that yours is that dim with the maxed out.  If it keeps being dull, would you be able to factory reset it just to see if some random feature was turned on?