Garmin S42 Review - IS IT REALLY WORTH £279??

[@GolfGuyReviews]

Buy this watch from Play Better (USA) here - Get 10% off your first order! - www.playbetter.com/products/garmin-approach-s42-gps-golf-watch?variant=39361635057829&ghref=2301%3A575061 You can buy the watch here from Amazon: UK - amzn.to/3k7iAGR (£255) US - amzn.to/3k7iAGR ($299) I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases

[@rflick66]

I played the Garmin S2 for years. The fact that it continued to work as well today as it did 5 years ago is what lead me to stick with a Garmin and upgrade to the S42. I was looking for additional features such as distances to hazards and doglegs that were lacking in the S2. I definitely agree with your list of annoyances, but in general I’ve been very happy with my purchase!

[@GolfGuyReviews]

Thanks for watching Rob and sharing your experience with the S42 👍

[@roddnelson1519]

One reviewer thought the reason they went with that charging port was for moisture resistance. If the is the case then I think it is worth it.

[@GolfGuyReviews]

Thanks for watching Rod. That’s a really good point I hadn’t considered 👍

[@christianfuchs9971]

Hi Kevin, thanks for your excellent review. I just purchase the S42 replacing my S20 that I have had for years until the "OK" button stopped working last week (a critical button to lose and nothing Garmin recommended brought it back to life). I have to say there is some functionality missing from the S42 that came with the S20 such as tracking your shots/clubs. It would ask you what club you hit after each shot. Surprised they took that feature away...bastards, lol. I liked that feature and such a minor thing to not include, my guess is the marketing chaps took that one out to sell the Club Trackers or funnel you into the S62. I too have little wrists so a big chunky watch was out for me. The user manual is sadly lacking as well. Lots of little things missing such as when you select "Big Numbers" you lose a few things from the main screen and it does not tell you how to access them. Trying to figure this shit out when you are playing a round is unnecessarily distracting when Garmin could have put out a more extensive manual online or even an explanatory video, again engineering vs marketing teams. Cheers Christian edit: just saw your short vid on tracking clubs hit without CT10s...my bad

[@GolfGuyReviews]

Thanks for watching and sharing Christian. I was going to point you to my latest shortly video on the watch, but then saw your edit 😎 (makes me happy I made that video now! Was thinking of doing some more short explanations of key features, so will check out your point on big numbers mode)

[@Max_N-B]

Amazing review. Thanks so much!!

[@GolfGuyReviews]

Thanks so much for watching and commenting, I hope it helped 👍

[@DannyKelliher]

The cost was a major off put when looking at these Garmin watches. I went with the ShotScope V3 and I love it.

[@roddnelson1519]

$250 US now on Black Friday!

[@RajKumar-zm4ll]

Hi Kevin another great in depth review of Garmin S42 GPS watch. I have seen many past reviews of your GPS devices but have to say i am predominantly a laser man on my home course as it is more precise than GPS. Having said that i also have in my repertoire a Garmin G30 for use on courses away from my home course in conjunctoon with my trusted Bushnell laser finder.

[@GolfGuyReviews]

Thanks Raj! Yeah I’ve still got the g30 on the bag 👍👍

[@RajKumar-zm4ll]

Great little bag add on. In my opinion better than a watch due to larger screen size.

[@HaraldMartensMeyer]

I believe you've missed an essential feature with the S42. It does give you a breakdown of the length of different clubs! You have to enable Club Prompt in the settings menu! Read the manual on page 7 (under Customizing Your Device).

[@GolfGuyReviews]

Thanks for watching. Yes I had that setting turned off, which I realised after the review. I’ve filmed a comparison between the s12, s42 and s62, and I do mention it in that video (I just need to edit it)

[@timothymenchen5538]

If you're using an iPhone, could you set up a golf focus mode that only allows text messages and phone call notifications, that should limit what gets sent to your watch

[@GolfGuyReviews]

Thanks Timothy, I hadn’t thought of that, I’ll give it a try. I would still expect Garmin to do the leg work for me though, but this could be a good solution 👍

[@troybates9108]

Great review, was wondering if the s12 also track shots to the app?

[@GolfGuyReviews]

Hi Troy. It seems the S12 tracks the driving stats for sure, but I can't tell from the app if it also tracks my approach accuracy....I can't split out my stats from the S42 to S12 on the phone app....but you can link the C10 club tags to the S12.

[@kirkc8242]

Think they made the watch light and small because, its a Golf Watch. I have a garmin 265 and it just got in the way with my wrist movement when I played. Maybe this watch will make a little difference from its design.

[@kirkc8242]

By the way I just received my S42 today, reason why I looking for reviews on it.

[@GolfGuyReviews]

How do you like it?

[@nejames2000]

Thanks for the review! Any thoughts on this vs the Vivoactive 4 (or other more general Garmin sports/ smart/ GPS watch) used with Garmin's golf app?

[@GolfGuyReviews]

Thanks for watching! I haven’t tried a no -golf Garmin watch using the golf app I’m afraid. I know @letsplaythru is very positive on the new Garmin Epix 2 as a golf watch - kzbin.info/www/bejne/h2faZ4KHa8ehrtU

[@sggjose]

You can turn off notification and leave calls. No luck w/ txt though.

[@GolfGuyReviews]

Thanks for watching Jose and sharing :)

[@teejayevans]

With IOS 15 you can define a customized “focus”, call it “Golf”, then select what apps can do notifications.

[@GOLFADDICT65]

great video....I currently have the S12 and i am wanting more so trying to decide between the S42 and the S62......but having a hard time deciding.... i golf about 120 - 150 rounds a golf season and like the chance of seeing stats etc.....I am 58 and so so with tech.....is the S62 difficult to learn ? thx......cheers from Canada

[@GolfGuyReviews]

I wouldn’t say it’s more difficult to learn, but there are more features. I did a similar video to this one on the S62, so you might want to give it a watch - Garmin Approach S62: The Complete Beginners Guide kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHulmYd4arymbK8

[@craigbrookes1373]

I have the s40, great day to day watch and great on the course. Great value vs s42 price

[@GolfGuyReviews]

Thanks for watching Craig. Yeah I think the S40 is still the way to go for now. Grab a deal while you can!

[@Jonesyb1985]

Hi, with the scoring system, how does the stableford work, do you put your handicap in and it calculates your points live at every hole or is it more gross based and calculates at the end, if so can you put a hole as scratch, cheers

[@GolfGuyReviews]

Thanks for watching, and great questions. Let me check next time I'm out on the course with it and I'll come back to you :)

[@Jonesyb1985]

@@GolfGuyReviews yeah please do, its the only thing I need to know before I buy or not

[@MikeSoutham]

to stop the notifications, wouldn't you just turn off the notifications for the stuff you don't want on the iPhone?

[@GolfGuyReviews]

Thanks for watching Mike. But you can't turn the notification off just for the watch, you have to turn the notification off for your whole phone as what pops up on your phone pops up on your watch, and I wouldn't don't want to do that.

[@ryanr6240]

Is the Autoshot feature always on or can you turn it off and just measure your shots manually. For example if autoshot is always on then it will count mishits and duffs which would skew the average distances per each club

[@GolfGuyReviews]

As far as I'm aware the distance tracker that automatically pops up is always on. However, you can turn off the feature to enter which club you hit after every shot, I think it's the 'Club Tracking setting - I actually have a short video on where that's located in the menu - kzbin.infoNxDtTQ9ASyo

[@garylarson6386]

I dont want my golf watch syn to my phone, dont need mess or calls on the golf course

[@GolfGuyReviews]

Thanks for watching Gary. That’s fair enough, but I quite like the feature. Means I can have the option to keep my phone in my bag and still get notifications. I just wish I had more control over what gets sent to the watch.

[@GrumpyStevenIsGrumpy]

You can easily buy an adapter garmin-usb-c cable for few bucks. It's not great but resolves issue with charging and costs less that new garmin cable for sure...

[@GolfGuyReviews]

Thanks for sharing, I didn’t know that 👍

[@RajKumar-zm4ll]

Hi Kevin is there a way of switching off prompts asking which club was used each time you hit a ball?

[@GolfGuyReviews]

My S42 doesn’t do that. So I assume I just have a tracking feature turned off if yours does 👍

[@RajKumar-zm4ll]

Thanks Kevin if you get a moment can you go into your wqtch setting and tell me if your scoring tracking etc are all switched off as that may explain.

[@masaguchi46]

Should I wait for the S44 (if that's even real). Looks like they are on a 2 year cycle and the next one could be March 2023

[@GolfGuyReviews]

Thanks for watching. The updated from S40 to S42 we’re quite minor…an improved battery life and that was about it. So if you need a nee watch now, I pick one up for cheap in the back Friday sales….I’ve seen the s42 on offer already here in the UK, and I have discount codes for it in my description I think too 👍 If you’re not in desperate need, hold on to see what the new versions offer, but I doubt it will offer much in the way of actual golf functionality. I hope that helps 👍

[@masaguchi46]

@@GolfGuyReviews thanks for the response! Agree, I’ll see if I can snatch a good Black Friday deal here in the US 👍

[@adamhowells8494]

Has the watch got uphill and downhill yardages?

[@GolfGuyReviews]

No

[@DontMindMe_]

they just released an update, and makes you click into the score card,.... anybody know how to go back to the original layout?

[@GolfGuyReviews]

I’ve not used it for 6 months, will charge it up, download the update and take a look 👍

[@swrveGaming]

Can anyone help me out? I’m wanting the garmin s60, but is the s42 better??

[@GolfGuyReviews]

On paper, yes the S60 is far better with a lot more features…however is it better value for money? That depends if you need all the extra features of the S60. The S60 is a lot bigger as well so will look silly on my small wrists 🤣

[@ancelmogarza9605]

It is pretty much as same same S40😅

[@GolfGuyReviews]

You're not wrong, which is why I suggest looking for a cheaper S40 before buying the S42 :) Thanks for watching!

[@ancelmogarza9605]

@@GolfGuyReviews i am watching you mannn-! I am MTYKEVIN

[@GolfGuyReviews]

@@ancelmogarza9605 ah cool! Thanks bro 👍