Review on Garmin Approach Premium Virtual 010 02200 00 by Wagner Witlin

It's been a long time since Garmin combined the best of the S60 with the S40. Now you can have all the best. You can have "playable" distances, important battery life, AND an easy-to-navigate list of hazards. If such things are important to you (as they were to me) then buy this watch. Having been a s60 user for more than two years, I chose this watch because of the "plays like" distance. It's important to me to consider the altitude I'm playing at, but this watch's cursor function was poorly implemented, required too many button presses, and made it difficult to find distances and avoid hazards. I was relatively happy, but I always wanted more. On golf trips I had to turn it off in late 18 while we were having lunch and it may have lasted another 18 and mostly. Not. So, below is my rating of s62.FACE: a little lighter. The display says the face area is 17 percent larger, so that's a good thing because the s60 seemed too small when trying to look at the hole view. S62 more? Yes, partly true, but the real benefit here is that it's both sharper and easier to read in the sun. The more direct sunlight the S62 gets, the better and easier it is to read. I love it so much, it's a win-win situation. And that was before I downloaded the free blue faced rolex watch (poor man's rolex). It looks good in watch mode which allows me to customize information (heart rate and battery percentage). Battery life: Almost reason enough to buy this watch yourself. This is madness. Where I only get 1.5 rounds on a full charge on the s60, I get 3 full rounds on this watch and then some more. It is so good. For 18 (plus drive time in watch mode) it could be 25 percent. I charged it back up to 25 percent but could probably get another round out of it. TIME TO FIND SAT: Much better here too. While I've never had to wait for the s60 to find them, it's noticeably faster. I never knew how great it was to find it so quickly until I got it. I would never want to go back. PROS: Could it be better than before? Oh well. Yes, because when you open the Garmin Golf app (and put yourself in your shopping cart) you can feel the wind on this watch. direction and speed. I'm not exactly sure if Play Like affects the wind or not, but whatever it is, I account for it with my human brain, and knowing 10 mph from a left turn helps me. DANGER LIST: I like the s40 my buddy has better anyway. This is a straight forward list of hazards, and you'll walk through them. The S60 didn't have squats and I hated it. It was very difficult to get to the water. s62 is better and I take it. What you do is touch the map next to your hazard and usually by default it points to the nearest bunker. Then there are these interactive buttons that appear on the face itself, actually arrow keys, and you switch between nearby hazards. It works out? Yes. Is the s60 better? No questions. I find it a bit strange, but it works. It finds water on my 11th hole just past the bunker and gives me "rough distance" (in front) and edge distance (to clear). OTHER THINGS: It works better knowing I'm starting at the 10th breakpoint (my course reversed nines for COVID to improve distance) and it's noticeably better than my old watch which finds it automatically. i like it more Sometimes moving to another hole isn't as easy as it used to be where you just had to swipe up or down to change holes. As far as I can tell this s62 requires access to the Change Hold menu (easy enough to find) and then you toggle between numbers. It works out. Everything is OK. Unless. If you have s60 or s40 it won't bother you at all. If so, it takes a little getting used to, but you don't have to do it much, so it's finicky. PULSE 02 and HR: Boom.it Always on heart rate (easily accessible by pressing the back button and looking at the complication of my watch face) is nice (if only I could figure out why it's 20 beats higher than my Apple Watch). pulse 02? It's cool too, especially now. You have to swipe up to access the widgets and start reading (similar to the Apple Watch's ECG feature), then stand still for half a minute to a minute and you've got it. This is a good feature. GARMIN CONNECT/GOLF APP: Getting better, never understood why they separated them, it's weird, but the golf app's claims (driving shots, approach, cleaves) are a nice feature, as are the course stats. Without having to type anything! It's great to know I'm hitting 67 percent of the fairways - as good as Bryson DeChambeau, albeit 80 yards shorter. WHAT'S BAD: Not much other than the price. But given that you get a ton of other health data (which I don't really use with them), it's really not a big deal. I think it's worth it; There is a good aftermarket for the S60 on auction sites and I got $200 for mine. This brought the cost of the s62 down to a point where it made sense as it could probably be replaced again in two years. I've owned about 4 different Garmin golf watches over the years. If, like me, you prefer watches over phone-style devices or lasers, this watch has the best features currently available. Tag Heuer doesn't even have $1500. Skycaddie has added a competitor (with a 2 or 3 year subscription) but for now it's mostly vaperware. I recommend this to serious golfers who also want things like steps, stairs, flights, heart rate, pulse ox.