Thinking about upgrading my old watch. The S44 is like $200 and the S70 is $400. I mostly just want front/middle/back and maybe hazard distances. Do I need the S70? Anyone compared them on course? The S70 looks nice but I'm not sure I'll use half the features. Also worried about battery life after the recent update issues people mentioned. Thanks.
Honestly? If F/M/B and hazards is genuinely all you want, the S44 is the smarter buy and I'll die on that hill. The S70's whole pitch is the AMOLED and the full-color maps, and ngl, half the guys I play with who bought it scroll the maps exactly twice before going right back to the plain numbers screen.
The counterpoint though: the S44's screen in direct sun is fine but not great, and the touchscreen on the S70 is way easier to poke at with a glove on than the buttons are. That's the one feature you'd actually use every single round, not the swing tempo stuff or the virtual caddie nobody touches after week two.
On the battery complaints, I'd hold off a couple weeks regardless of which one you pick. The update mess was real but they seem to have mostly walked it back. What are you coming from now? If it's already a Garmin you're in the ecosystem and the jump gets cheaper.
Eh, I'll push back on the touchscreen thing. I've got sweaty hands and play in the morning dew half the year, and a wet touchscreen is genuinely worse than buttons. You poke at it, nothing happens, you wipe your thumb on your shorts, try again. Buttons don't care if your glove is soaked. That "ease" goes away the second there's moisture involved.
Where I do agree is holding off on the update. My buddy's S70 was dropping like 30% overnight after that patch, which is insane for a watch that just sits there. They fixed most of it but I'd still give it a few weeks.
Also worth saying out loud: the S70 maps are only useful if you're the type to actually walk off yardages to a blind landing area. Most of us just want the number. If that's you, save the $200 and put it toward a rangefinder or a round somewhere nice.
What are you upgrading from though? If it's a phone app you're used to, the S44 screen will feel like a downgrade in terms of clarity regardless.