Garmin made the Approach S72 official this morning, and the biggest number in the announcement is the price.
The new flagship golf smartwatch starts at $799.99, which is $150 more than the Approach S70 cost when it launched in May 2023. Garmin has packed in real upgrades to justify some of that, but a premium golf watch crossing the $800 line is the part golfers will argue about.
It landed the same morning as the Garmin Enduro 4, so Garmin rolled out two new watches in a single day.
The Hardware Steps Up
The S72 comes in two sizes, 43mm and 47mm, and both move to a brighter AMOLED display. Around that screen you get a titanium bezel and a sapphire lens, which is the same premium recipe Garmin uses on its top-tier adventure watches.
The other physical changes:
- A new lightweight ComfortFit fabric band (the S70 used standard silicone straps)
- QuickFit band compatibility, so you can swap straps without tools
- A built-in flashlight with both white and red light
- A speaker and microphone
That last one is the headline feature. Garmin calls the S72 its first golf smartwatch with phone calls and voice commands, which means you can now take a call or bark at the watch without pulling out your phone mid-round. Standing over a putt with a client on speaker is a choice, but the hardware is there if you want it.
Swing Metrics Come to the Wrist
The genuine golf upgrade is on-wrist swing tracking. The S72 records hand speed, backswing length, and wrist rotation directly from the watch, giving players data to work with instead of pure feel.
Garmin pairs that with heart rate context. The watch logs your heart rate before and after each shot, and after a round it can show how your heart rate lined up with your score. That is a different kind of feedback than a rangefinder gives you, and it speaks to the golfer who wants to understand nerves and effort as much as distance.
There is one practical addition that matters more than it sounds: a dedicated driving-range activity. Range sessions now log in Garmin Connect as their own activity, so practice time counts toward the same history as actual rounds. If you have ever wondered whether your range work is showing up in your scores, the S72 finally tracks both sides of that.
Green Reading Now Needs a Membership
The S70 introduced green contour data, and the S72 pushes it further. On courses Garmin has mapped, the watch shows which direction a putt breaks and the average slope percentage, so you can pick an aim point instead of eyeballing it.
There are also putting analytics in the Garmin Golf app covering speed bias, direction bias, and make rate, plus aerial imagery of the hole for layup and miss decisions.
The catch: Garmin says green reading, the putting stats, and the aerial view all require an active Garmin Golf membership. That is a subscription on top of an $800 watch, and it is worth knowing before you buy. The watch still comes preloaded with 43,000 courses for basic on-course GPS.
Battery Depends on the Size
The two sizes do not share battery figures:
- 47mm: up to 20 hours in golf activity mode, up to 16 days as a smartwatch
- 43mm: up to 15 hours on the course, up to 10 days as a smartwatch
Off the course, the S72 carries the standard Garmin health suite: wrist heart rate, stress tracking, Body Battery, and sleep monitoring, plus activity profiles for strength and mobility work. Garmin is pitching this as a watch you keep on after the round, and the 10 to 16 day smartwatch numbers back that up.
The Price Jump Is the Real Story
Set the S72 against the watch it replaces and the gap is stark.
The Approach S70 launched in May 2023 at $649.99 for the 42mm and $699.99 for the 47mm. The S72 starts at $799.99, and Garmin has not published a full price list for the larger and special-edition finishes yet.
Colour options are getting the premium treatment too:
- 47mm: Carbon Gray with a red DLC titanium bezel, and Silver/Citron with a fog gray and citron band
- 43mm: Carbon Gray with a heritage bronze DLC titanium bezel, and Soft Gold with a blush pink titanium bezel
For that money you are buying two things at once: the best on-course tool Garmin makes, and a competent everyday smartwatch. Whether that bundle is worth $800 depends entirely on how many rounds you play.
Should You Buy It
If golf is your main sport and you want the most capable on-course watch Garmin sells, the S72 is the new top of the line. Swing metrics, heart rate per shot, and the deeper green data are genuine steps past the S70, and a tagged search for the Garmin Approach S72 is where to start if you are ready to order.
If you already own an S70, the case for upgrading is thinner. The screen and the health suite were already strong, and the new swing tracking is the one feature that might move the needle for you. Everyone else can wait for a sale.
And if you want one watch for golf and everything else, the Garmin Fenix 9 still plays the courses the S72 does through the Golf activity profile, with far more training depth for running, cycling, and the gym. It is heavier on the wrist, which is exactly why Garmin built the S72 as a slim dedicated golf watch in the first place. If you are weighing the whole lineup, our Prime Big Deal Days roundup is a good place to compare prices.
The Bottom Line
The Approach S72 is the most capable golf watch Garmin has built. On-wrist swing metrics, per-shot heart rate, and a driving-range activity are real additions, and voice calling makes it a more complete everyday watch than any Approach before it.
The problem is the price. A $150 jump over the S70 pushes the entry point to $799.99, and the best green-reading features sit behind a Garmin Golf membership on top of that. Golfers who live on the course will get their money's worth. Casual players should look hard at what they actually use before paying flagship money for a sport-specific watch.
Garmin's press release says the S72 is available now, though Garmin Rumors noted some listings pointed to an October 9 ship date. We followed Garmin's own materials on availability and flag the discrepancy.
Sources: Garmin's official Approach S72 press release dated October 6, 2026, for the announcement, the $799.99 starting price, the 43mm and 47mm sizes, the AMOLED display, titanium bezel, sapphire lens, ComfortFit fabric band, the swing metrics (hand speed, backswing length, wrist rotation), heart rate before and after each shot, green contour data and putting analytics requiring a Garmin Golf membership, the 43,000 preloaded courses, the 47mm and 43mm battery figures, the health suite, the colour options, and the Susan Lyman quote; Garmin Rumors' October 6, 2026 launch report for the driving-range activity logging in Garmin Connect, QuickFit compatibility, the white and red flashlight, the speaker and microphone, the claim that the S72 is Garmin's first golf smartwatch with phone calls and voice commands, the putting analytics detail (speed bias, direction bias, make rate), the aerial hole imagery, and the October 9 shipping date; Garmin's May 23, 2023 Approach S70 press release and Garmin Wiki for the S70 launch pricing of $649.99 (42mm) and $699.99 (47mm) and the S70's May 2023 launch date; Gadgets & Wearables and Golfshake for UK and Ireland pricing of 699.99 pounds and 799.99 euros. Garmin's release says the watch is available now while at least one outlet listed October 9 as the ship date; we followed Garmin's own materials on availability. Colors and full pricing for the larger and special-edition finishes were not fully published at the time of writing and are described from Garmin's launch imagery as reported by Garmin Rumors.
