If you are looking to shave a few strokes off of your game, Approach X40 might be the secret weapon to your next golf game.
Priced at $249.99, the Approach X40 is the latest in the Approach series of golf-specific wearable devices developed by Garmin. This watch joins fitness and sports wearables, including the Vivosmart HR Fitness Tracker and the Forerunner 630 Smartwatch, among others.
It has a built-in GPS that provides players true distances to the green from either the front, middle or back. Its Green View feature displays the shape of the green on each hole, allowing golfers to manually place pins to accurately measure yardages. The Approach X40 brags a rich library of more than 40,000 courses that golfers can access to mark layups, doglegs and course hazards.
By simply wearing the device, golfers can also keep track of their daily wellness data, including heart rate, steps taken, hours of sleep and calories burned. It also reminds users to keep active throughout the day.
"The Approach X40 is the perfect all-in-one solution for golfers who want to know distances on the course and track wellness data without the hassle of switching between multiple devices," said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of worldwide sales.
The wearable device also functions as a digital scorecard and keeps track of key data such as greens in regulation, fairways hit and putts per round.
To help players improve their game, the device enables the users to overlay their shots onto a single map to view personal trends and techniques. Another cool feature of Approach X40 is called AutoShot, which provides players important information like the average distance for each club, as well as the longest drive per round.
Perhaps the best part of Approach X40 is that it can be paired with a mobile phone. The wearable device can receive calls, texts and emails, as well as display calendar reminders.
The device has a 1-inch high contrast display, but allows full readability even in bright sunlight. It is rated to be water-resistant and is durable enough to survive rain shower.
It is powered by a lithium-ion battery, which can keep users from reaching the charger for up to 10 hours in GPS mode. In watch mode, the low-power consumption and the powerful battery, will run the watch for up to five days.
The Approach X40 is expected to begin shipping this quarter. It will be available in black, white and frost blue. Users who are interested in the device can sign up for more information on Garmin's website and they will be notified once the device becomes available for purchase.
