Looking to upgrade your sporting armoury? Garmin's latest golf watch, the Garmin Approach S62, is a clear cut way to better performance on the course and beyond. The brand, already renowned for its sophisticated GPS golf gadgets, brings us an even smarter watch with all the hallmarks of a seriously high-tech device. This is pretty much our fault. But you have to be prepared to fuss over data either on course or straight after to really get the most out of the app.

All of the data recorded during the round will be sent to your Garmin account whenever you sync the watch with your smartphone. This is great for keeping tabs on how your game is progressing and discovering which areas you need to improve. The best part is that this is all free. As you can see from the data, these watches share identical specs. That’s because the only difference between Garmin S60 and S62 is that the S60 Premium has an improved watch band and bezel. As a lead-on point, we should mention that wind speed and wind direction monitoring is a completely new feature of the S62. To use it, you’ll need to open the app and have a stable internet connection. Heart Rate Monitoring

The watch can hold a charge for up to 16 days in smartwatch mode and up to 20 hours when using GPS. This premium smartwatch comes with over 42,000 full-color CourseView maps of golf courses worldwide. It also has the Green View feature that the S42 has. Key Features The Garmin S62 has a 5 ATM waterproof rating. This means it can withstand depths of 50 m, more than enough for the average user. Is the Garmin S60 Tournament Legal?

In terms of the new features that the S62 brings to the table, the most exciting is the virtual caddie. It’s a smart feature that uses your pre-existing shot data to make recommendations about approaching your next shot. It does this by analyzing specific factors such as wind, elevation, and the course layout to advise you, firstly, which club you should use, and, secondly, where you should aim. We’re not actually a fan of manual club logging on the watch. It takes attention away from the round, your buddies and the beautiful scenery, and onto fiddling with the watch. For us, that’s not what a golf watch is about. It’s a personal choice though, and for many it's a useful feature to have on board. On the other hand, the Garmin S60 is ideal for those who want a cheaper device with the essential features to help you on the course. Head to the Performance Stats screen and you’ll get a handicap (and told whether it’s going up or down), score averages, and data on where in your round you're gaining shots or losing them.In past rounds we haven’t made sure the on-watch scoring has been totally on point, thus our handicap data isn’t quite right. Likewise, sporadic tagging of shots has left average shot distances in disarray.

GPS golf watch goes beyond the course with larger full-color display and critical information from more than 41,000 course maps worldwide As far as golf watches go, the Garmin Approach S62 is certainly at the more expensive end of the market. You can get a cheaper watch that will get you around the course just fine and do most of the things you need it to do, but the S62 goes that extra mile and does things you didn’t realise you needed until it showed you. The display has seen an upgrade to 1.3-inches with a clear and colorful 260 x 260 resolution. That's a 17% size increase without the watch taking up more room on your wrist – keeping it comfortably light at 61g and not affective your swing. The biggest difference we see is in the screen size. The S60 measures 1.2”, whereas the S62 measures 1.3”. This gives the S62 >15% greater overall surface area. While this makes the watch a little bulkier, it will certainly be a great trade-off for those who love larger screens. The Approach S60 (the predecessor to the S62) is an excellent cheaper alternative and offers many (but not all) of the on course functions you get with the S62. If the S62 is a little out of your budget then the S60 is a fine option in its own right and if you already have the S60 then you probably won't need to upgrade.The large 1.4″ easy-to-read AMOLED display is also a great advantage if you are going to be using the watch for more than just golf. Which Garmin GPS Watch is Best for Non-Golf Features? The first is the ability to interact with phone notifications. This includes answering or declining calls and responding to text messages. However, the latter is only available if you have an android device (sorry, iOS users). Avid players can gain even more insight into their game after pairing the Approach S62 with the Garmin Golf ™ app for access to the new golf performance widget. Stats are calculated in the app and then sent to the watch so users can review handicap index, fairway and approach shot hit/miss percentage, and green in regulation percentage. The app even provides analysis for strokes gained and allows users to participate in leaderboards and tournaments with other players around the world.