Garmin Approach S70 in Australia: A$899, thin stock online and a watch set to metres

If you have looked for a Garmin Approach S70 online in Australia this month, you may have found the listing and not the stock. Garmin’s flagship golf watch has been on sale since May 2023, it is still the top of the range in September 2026, and at one Australian retailer both sizes were showing as unavailable online, backordered or to be checked in store. That is a practical detail worth knowing before you set your heart on one, and it sits alongside a rumour of a replacement and a consistent set of opinions from the people who already wear it.

This page covers what the watch is, what Garmin publishes, what it costs here, and what golfers say about it publicly, good and bad. It is a presentation, not a test. Nobody here has worn one on a course.

What the S70 is, and who it is for

The S70 is a Garmin smartwatch with a golf GPS inside. On course it draws a colour hole map with distances to the front, centre and back of the green, carries over bunkers and water, and a touch target: tap a spot on the map and you get the distance to it, in metres if you set the watch that way. Away from golf it handles sleep, heart rate, workouts, music and tap-to-pay.

It comes as a 47 mm or a 42 mm case. The larger one has more screen and more battery; the smaller one is lighter and suits a slimmer wrist. The 47 mm is listed in black and the 42 mm in grey or white.

It suits the golfer who plays often, wants one watch for the course and the week, and will use the round data. For a number to the middle of the green alone, it is a lot of watch.

Garmin’s published specifications

All figures below are Garmin’s own, from its product pages for the two sizes. Nothing was measured by us.

• Display: AMOLED touchscreen with optional always-on mode. 1.4 inch, 454 x 454 pixels (47 mm); 1.2 inch, 390 x 390 pixels (42 mm). Gorilla Glass 3, ceramic bezel.
• Size and weight: 47 x 47 x 13.4 mm, 56 g; or 42 x 42 x 12.6 mm, 44 g.
• Battery: up to 16 days in smartwatch mode and 20 hours in GPS mode (47 mm); 10 days and 15 hours (42 mm). Charging is through Garmin’s own plug on the watch.
• Courses: more than 43,000 preloaded worldwide, with automatic updates.
• Sensors: multi-band GPS plus GLONASS and Galileo, barometric altimeter, compass, wrist heart rate.
• Golf features: Virtual Caddie club suggestions with a dispersion view, PlaysLike distance, wind speed and direction via the phone app, PinPointer, Green View with manual pin placement, AutoShot shot detection, digital scorecard, tempo training and tournament mode.
• Water rating: 5 ATM.

Garmin’s fine print adds two things. Putts are not tracked automatically, and some chips near the green may not be detected, which the optional CT10 club sensors are designed to fix. Green contour maps, the slope overlay on selected greens, require a paid Garmin Golf membership.

What it costs in Australia

One Australian retailer listed the Approach S70 47 mm at A$899 and the 42 mm at A$799 in September 2026, with both showing as unavailable to order online at the time: the 47 mm backordered, the 42 mm models to be checked in store. Ring your nearest store before driving there. Add the membership if green slopes matter to you and the CT10 sensors if you want putts logged without entering them.

Is a new model coming?

Garmin has announced nothing. On 7 September 2026 the Garmin Rumors site reported that an Approach S72 is expected in 43 mm and 47 mm sizes, based on the S70’s age rather than a confirmed specification. Thin stock is not proof of a replacement, but together with that report it is a reason not to rush if your current device still works.

What golfers are saying

Collected from published reviews, their comment threads and owners’ posts on Garmin’s public forum. These are the recurring themes, not a count.

What owners like

• The display. The AMOLED screen and more detailed maps, with trees and penalty areas drawn, are the most repeated compliment. MyGolfSpy’s review named the screen as the main upgrade on the S62.
• Battery life. Despite the bright screen, owners describe a week or more between charges with golf included.
• Weight on the wrist. Golfers new to watches say they stop noticing it during the swing, a point GOLF.com’s hands-on article makes about the 47 mm.
• Automatic scoring. The watch prompts for a score as you walk off each green, which owners credit with getting them to record every round.

What owners criticise

• Green slopes behind a paywall. The complaint heard most often: a top-priced watch that still needs a subscription for contour data.
• The Garmin Golf app. Forum posts describe the statistics as basic compared with Shot Scope and Arccos, with no strokes gained, and some report lost putting history.
• Firmware problems. After recent updates, owners describe rounds that did not record or save, and long waits for fixes.
• Small map numbers. Golfers who wear distance glasses or sunglasses say the distances printed on the hole map are too small to read and want a larger font.
• Putts and chips. Without the sensors, putts are entered by hand and short shots can be missed.

Where to buy one in Australia, and what to check

Both sizes are carried by Australian retailers, and Garmin sells direct. Given the online stock position this month, call ahead or order and accept the wait.

Three local checks before you pay. First, set the units to metres on day one, so the map, the scorecard statistics and the club distances all agree with the course planner and the tee signs. Second, check your own course’s map once you are on it. Owners in New South Wales have used Garmin’s forum to ask for a course map to be updated, and the watch is only as good as the map it carries. Third, pennant and club competitions: the Rules of Golf allow distance measuring devices unless a Local Rule bans them, but not elevation or wind adjustments, so switch on tournament mode before you tee off.

If you are weighing it against a laser, our guide to rangefinders and golf GPS in 2026 has the Australian prices.

Who should buy it, and who should not

It makes sense for the golfer who wants an everyday Garmin with the best golf screen in the range, plays most weeks and is happy to pay for green contours. It is less sensible if you only want a distance, which a laser or a cheaper watch gives you, or if the statistics are the point, because the app draws the most consistent criticism.

Alternatives

• Garmin Approach S50 and S44. Newer, smaller AMOLED golf watches at a much lower price. The S50 adds PlaysLike distance and health tracking.
• A Garmin fenix or epix. Several AMOLED outdoor models carry the S70’s golf features, as replies on Garmin’s forum point out.
• A laser rangefinder. Precise flag distance with no subscription and no charging, but no score record.

How this page was put together

This is a presentation and a reading of public opinion, not a test. Specifications come from Garmin’s published product pages for both sizes. Prices and stock status were read at Drummond Golf in September 2026, in Australian dollars. The successor report is from Garmin Rumors. Owners’ views were read in MyGolfSpy’s and GOLF.com’s published reviews and comment threads and in the Approach S70 section of Garmin’s public forum, in English; nobody is quoted by name, nothing is counted, and no impression is presented as a statistic.

Nobody here has worn or used this watch. There is no commercial link on this page, no affiliate arrangement and no commission. If content on this site is ever paid for by a brand, it will carry an advertising notice at the top of the page, before the first line.