Latest / PlayBetter's Golf Tech Weekly / Garmin Fenix 9 release, Approach Z10 Rangefinder and Approach R50 Update!
Transcript
- PlayBetter: Today it's all about Garmin. A free update, just made the Approach R50, a smarter launch monitor. We're taking a look at the relatively new Approach Z10 Rangefinder, and the new Phoenix 9 watch just landed. This is Golf Tech Weekly presented by Playbetter. Welcome back, Mark Schreforjan here alongside Playbetter Golf Simulator Expert Daniel Fitzpatrick. Thanks everyone for coming back. And if you're new here, glad to have you. A quick favor before we dig in, please like the video, subscribe, drop us a comment telling us which Garmin product you're most fired up about, and use code GTW at Playbetter for the best pricing on qualifying products. So today the whole show is Garmin Top to Bottom. ⁓ here's the run of it. ⁓ first a a big free update on the Approach R50, ⁓ then a bit of a review or some discussion about the Approach Z10 Rangefinder. And we close with Garmin's just launched Phoenix 9 and where it fits for golfers. So Daniel, ⁓ both you and I have had good amount of experience with the R50 and the Z10. You've been rocking the Phoenix 8 for quite a while now and are now ⁓ drooling over the new Phoenix nine. So excited to get your perspective on all of this stuff. Yeah, exciting, ⁓ exciting time for Garmin ⁓ users, even prospective Garmin users. you know, kind of what is typically kind of a lull or a a lower ⁓ part of our season in selling these type of devices. It's nice to see new products coming out. ⁓ New updates coming out and and kind of get everybody geared for that indoor golf season and and even just for you know maybe maybe some you know back to school ⁓ late time shopping with some new tech. So it's ⁓ it's a really cool time, obviously. ⁓ excited to talk about what we've got in store today. Cool. ⁓ so let's start with the R50. That is the most recent news, ⁓ just dropped ⁓ believe a day or two ago. ⁓ they came out with their system software update 5.0. ⁓ as well as their Golf Launch Monitor 4.3 update. ⁓ and if you own an R50, ⁓ it's it's already downloading over Wi-Fi. ⁓ Daniel, why don't you hit us with ⁓ with some of the high points about what this new update ⁓ brings to the table for R50 owners. Certainly and I I think one of my biggest criticisms with R fifty has always been kind of a lack of game improvement or a lack of of personal practice type features within the R fifty. I've always kind of told customers if you know if you want to play a ton of golf courses and you want a really user-friendly device, then you know the R fifty might just be perfect for you, ⁓ assuming the budget, you know, can can get to that price. now they've they've taken in a a step higher and and started to to lean into more of those practice or or self-game improvement type features. So first and foremost, we've now got a bag mapping feature, which if you don't know what bag mapping is, it's essentially ⁓ finding out how far every one of your golf clubs ⁓ distance goes on average. So it's not as far as you can hit the club or ⁓ you know, when you hit it good, it's an average. So you know it puts you through a process of of mapping out your golf bag. ⁓ With that, you also get now a shot dispersion chart. Or a shot dispersion view where you can actually see like a grouping screen and see ⁓ maybe I want to hit, you know, 20 or 37 irons and just see like how bad is the worst shot that I hit and how good is the best shots I hit and kind of where's my my average dispersion. So I think those two updates alone are something that's been like drastically needed for the R50. I don't know about you, but I like I I'm so excited for this update. It's just been so So much needed for for the driving range and practice side of of the R fifty. I totally agree with you. ⁓ the R fifty, as we've talked about in other episodes, we even did a drill down specifically on the R fifty. ⁓ there's so much about it that makes it ⁓ not even a a product that you can compare to other launch monitors. It does things just so unbelievably well and different than any other launch monitor. ⁓ but Just as you pointed out, for the very serious kind of game improvement person, it it it never really was a contender. ⁓ and so just as you said, having some of these tools, bag mapping being the the most central one, are really critical for if they want to attract ⁓ a wider kind of sect of potential users. Daniel, just kind of very briefly tell us about why bag bag mapping is so fundamentally important. playing your best golf. Yeah, it might I mean it might sound funny, but like understanding how far each one of your golf club carry distances is like so vitally important. Like so many people overlook how simplistic that can be and how much it can actually shave strokes off your golf game. I mean just knowing that ⁓ what your distances are, picking the correct club in the correct spot. ⁓ it can even help with course management, knowing, hey, if I hit you know, a four iron and then an eight iron, that's the same as, you know, trying to hit maybe a driver and a sand wedge. In reality, I probably have less chance to lose a ball. So, you know, it it can it can play into the the full ⁓ end score of your golf round, but overall it's it's really like one of the most basic things. And there's, you know, probably a good percentage of amateur golfers that still don't truly know what their their ⁓ their bag mapping is, honestly. Yeah, I'd say it's the first thing other than maybe entertainment That a golfer should do with a launch monitor. And the fact that the R50 didn't have it was just a black hole, you know. So ⁓ so we've got that s shored up now. ⁓ certainly makes the R50 much more attractive. Just as you said, shot dispersion is another one that's absolutely huge to be able to see kind of grouping wise how your shots are coming out. ⁓ I noticed that I'm all of my seven irons are missing to the right of the center line. ⁓ and I can just see that in a very simple like plotted out way is oftentimes very, very helpful for somebody to understand their golf game better. Some other really cool ⁓ options. We've now got an option for club comparison. So maybe you're shopping for a new three wood or ⁓ whatever it might be, a new driver, and you want to hit shots with both the one you currently have and the one you're demoing. ⁓ You can now group those shots together ⁓ for your your shot dispersion chart. They'll be on a different different color ⁓ and you can you can get an easy eyeball comparison of of your two different clubs side by side, which is ⁓ certainly really helpful. They've also added some new club types. ⁓ so we have things like an approach wedge, ⁓ a mini driver, which we we know is ⁓ really taking the the game of golf by storm, and so ⁓ that's another appropriate addition to have thrown in here. ⁓ you've got ⁓ multiplayer options now up to eight players, which I think is another huge, huge addition ⁓ for making this a entertaining product, one that's gonna allow you to host friends and and family and and have a great time together. in some other kind of interesting ⁓ maybe lower key ⁓ features that they've added ⁓ you can now ⁓ both putt off of the green, which ⁓ it's just great of course a Texas wedge is something we all pull out ⁓ when the situation calls for it, ⁓ and chipping on the green. Something probably less likely to do, but something we see on occasion when we turn on the TV and watch the pros on TV. ⁓ I played Riviera a few weeks ago and of course they have the famous number six donut green, par three that has a pot bunker right in the middle of the green. ⁓ and every year when we watch the pros on TV, we see them if on the the wrong side of that bunker, we'll see some of them chipping over the top of it. I definitely would not not have the guts to do that on the course itself, but In Home T Hero, that's exactly where I'd want to try to pull off that shot. So that's another cool addition. ⁓ We should mention too that all of these updates are without any kind of a price increase. So we've still got the ⁓ the Garmin Golf membership coming in at $9.99 a month or $99 a year, ⁓ which does make it really the most kind of affordable way into a a sim ecosystem ⁓ in in Golf Tech. ⁓ What else, Danielle? Any ⁓ any other th things you want to hit on on the R fifty? Yeah, I think that that pretty much covers everything. I know it's yeah, I don't think we mentioned the new scoring formats, which cover ⁓ the ability to play like Stableford games, match play, skins games. So with the with the advancement, I'm now getting eight people playing at a time. ⁓ you know, we've got some more game modes to try. So yeah, it's it's getting even more into an entertainment product. and honestly, like There's a few things they can continue to add to it and make it even better. I'm sure they will over time. But what a what a refreshing update ⁓ you know from the team at Garmin. It just feels like they kind of listened to what people wanted and and they've added some of those features. ⁓ so really, really excited to kind of you know, see how it's received and obviously how much it it makes the more the device more attractive to sell, obviously. Yes, yes. I'm glad you brought those up. ⁓ another couple of quick ones real quick. You now have the option to move around on the T-Box, which is huge for any of us that play real golf when we're talking about shaping shots, or you know, if I play a fade, I might set up typically on the right side of the T-Box and try to aim that thing over towards the left side of the fairway, or however severe my slice may be. Maybe I'm looking at the tree line, whatever it whatever it might be. You now are able to move around on the T-Box, which just makes it more realistic. And then another another cool one is they now have a forward tease thing, which As I understand it, it's going to actually start to take into account your performance or maybe your driving distances and suggest a forward T location that might not actually even be on the golf course T-Box options. So it'll build like a little mound for you out in the fairway where is now going to be your T-box for that hole. ⁓ So again, just kind of makes it accessible to every different level of golfer, which is a win for all of us. Yeah, it reminds me a little bit of what they did with the J one watch where, you know, for juniors when they're playing, they have their own T boxes. It's it's kind of the same idea from my understanding with with the R fifty and and like you said, it really opens the opportunity now for every skill level. ⁓ 'cause like you said, it it bases it off of your actual data that you that you capture. And then it it basically builds a golf course that's fair for you. And as you get better, the course gets longer. So a really really cool idea and very unique. That's something nobody else does. Yes. Yes. ⁓ let's move on to the relatively new Garmin Approach Z10 rangefinder. ⁓ this now becomes Garmin's cheapest rangefinder. It's $299.99. it ⁓ as far as a rangefinder goes, I would say it's fairly straightforward. maybe not an exact head turner necessarily, ⁓ somewhat pedestrian. ranges up to 350 yard flaglock. Got 6x magnification. It's within a yard ⁓ accurate. ⁓ You have slope adjusted ⁓ elevation or yardage. You've got the tournament mode option to turn slope off ⁓ flag lock vibration. ⁓ But what makes it special, of course, is that it interfaces with Garmin's golf watches or handheld GPS devices. ⁓ Daniel, can you kind of walk through A little bit about what that feature set includes. Yeah, certainly. So, you know, it it allows you to basically use your GPS and your your rangefinder side by side with one another. So it's a quick and easy connection, ⁓ right when you get to the first T before you start. And then every time you use the laser, you can actually see inside the viewfinder a little Bluetooth icon and it'll you'll know when you're connected or when it's searching for a connection. And as soon as you shoot the flag. It shows you your distance, your distance with slope, just like a normal, you know, standard range finder in today's world pretty much shows you. But then it also gives you data from the pin to the front and back of the green. So as you and then it not only does it show it inside the viewfinder, because again, I've got the Z10 here with me. it it shows it on your Garmin watch, on your G82 if you have a Garmin handheld that's compatible. ⁓ so it shows that front to front to pin and and pin to the back of the green distances on the GPS as well. Plus, when you pull up the green view, it shows on the green where the pin is. So it's it's like it kind of completes so many steps for you. ⁓ it's very accurate. I took it out even as little as ⁓ as late as this morning to test it out on the golf course. ⁓ blew me away honestly with how simplistic and and good the connection process was. And then just how accurate everything was. I actually walked off some of the distances after I measured them. Everything like you said, Mark, even with the laser distances being within a yard, ⁓ even those front to back and and distances between the pin and and and the green edges, it was it was spot on. So ⁓ my first time using a Garmin range finder in that type of situation, I was blown away with how easy it was. I know you've had a lot of experience using them. Yeah, I think that ⁓ for a non-Garmin user and for somebody that is not even interested in Garmin at all, I don't know that there's much here to get too excited about. It's a three hundred dollar range finder that performs about like a three hundred dollar range finder is supposed to. That said, for a Garmin user, for somebody that's already wearing a Garmin golf watch or using a Garmin GPS handheld or somebody that's interested in those products, now it becomes a value play. Now it's a $300 rangefinder that does tricks that very few rangefinders can do. ⁓ and so that makes it really, really exciting. ⁓ especially considering that it used to be that you had to get up to the Z30 to get this kind of ⁓ connectivity. ⁓ and that's two hundred dollars more. That's five hundred dollars. So we've now got those same kind of options available for three hundred dollars. ⁓ you know, another one that's cool about it is ⁓ All of what you just mentioned, Daniel, stays with you for the entirety of the hole. So once you shoot that flag one time, just kind of like with the Arcos ⁓ rangefinder, once you shoot it one time, all of that data is locked on your watch or your handheld for the remainder of the hole. So when you think about playing with a rangefinder, typically ⁓ you might be shooting, you might be pulling that thing out two or three times on a single hole very often. ⁓ here be one shot. In fact, you could pull it out on the T-Box and and shoot the flag and and now have everything locked and it's going to move with you for the remainder of the hole. You also get an arc that shows you the where you're based on your bag mapping, where your your shot is likely to land based on your averages. And so that shows you visually on your GPS or on your watch kind of all the trouble that you may or may not be bringing into play here. ⁓ if you know look at if I hit this thing the left or the right of where I'm aiming, now I'm bringing the bunker into play or the water into play. ⁓ maybe I should choose a different club. So certainly helps you to play better golf. And again, to get this for for less money is is a huge win. ⁓ talking about how it compares to the Z30, again five hundred dollars versus three hundred dollars, the Z30 is a better product. I've used both of them. It is better. My contention though is that it's not two hundred dollars better. ⁓ It's four hundred yard ⁓ flag range versus three fifty. I think that's somewhat inconsequential, honestly. IPX four rating on the Z ten versus IPX seven on the Z thirty, which which would allow for a brief submersion in water. I would say that I mean, I d I don't make a habit of dunking my range finder. I I try very hard to avoid that. So anyways, I don't know that that really matters a whole lot. ⁓ The weight of the Z10 is about an ounce less than the Z thirty, probably favors the Z ten in that case. And then the big one where the Z thirty really legitimately wins is it's got ⁓ red lettering or numbers versus the black that you get in the the Z10. The Z thirty is also an OLED display. It's a nicer display. ⁓ it is. ⁓ it the numbers pop better, it looks a little crisper. I just sure it's worth two hundred bucks. What's your what's your thoughts on on that? You've used a lot of different range finders, even if you haven't used the Z thirty, you're familiar with the difference that I'm describing. Yeah, I'm I'm probably right there with you. Like it's nice to have a few of those features, especially like I know me and you, we really prefer the red numbers. I think they just they look cleaner and and like you said, they just pop out of the screen a little bit more. ⁓ but I don't I'm with you. I don't think it's a two hundred dollar feature. ⁓ I don't I don't think that what the difference in these two are probably makes sense to to go with the Z thirty. I think the Z ten kind of checks all the boxes if you're looking for, you know, that connected ecosystem. but yeah, I I've I've I'm pretty blown away with even just the quality of of the Z ten right now. Like I said, this is my first kind of experience using Garmin Range Finders. So ⁓ you know, in comparison to some of the top tier in the market, it's it's a pretty solid option now at the three hundred dollar price in my opinion. Yeah. If you're interested in learning more about that, we did do a deep dive ⁓ written review on the Garmin Approach Z10. So if you go over to playbetter.com and search for that product, you'll find that. ⁓ Now, one of those ⁓ golf watches or ⁓ GPS devices that Garmin makes that you could use with a Garmin Z10 would be the new Garmin Phoenix 9. Now, this one's interesting for a golf show in that The Phoenix Nine, the Phoenix series in general, those those are watches that aren't necessarily marketed specifically towards golfers. However, because they are Garmin's top of the line and they've thrown every piece of technology that they have into those products, it includes everything that they've come up with from the golf side of things. So your Phoenix 9, just the same as your Phoenix 8, actually has all of the same golf functionality as Garmin's ⁓ approach Z or S70 golf watch, which would be kind of their top end dedicated golf watch. ⁓ Daniel, you ⁓ you are a Phoenix eight owner. ⁓ I know it's a product that you really love. can you talk a little bit about maybe what's interesting about the Phoenix nine and maybe we can kind of start to talk through ⁓ any differences in in what they've what they've changed here ⁓ in in the upgrades that they've made. Yeah, so they've they've taken really the the top smart watch in my opinion and they've made it just a little bit better. ⁓ you know, they've they've made the case of it a little sleeker, a little lighter, a little less bulky on the wrist. ⁓ they've got a whirlwind of different versions of the watch. I mean it you can get it in in three different sizes and you can get it in in four different models. So I mean there's there's so so many different variations of the watch you can get. It kinda is nice 'cause you can choose what you want, but then you also get a budget or a price that might fit you a little better based on what you actually need the device for. but a big part of of obviously getting the sleeker and smaller case was they also added the ability to get the pro version of the Phoenix nine in the forty three millimeter. Before that was only available in either the forty seven or the fifty one. So they've got now kind of the highest tier of that Phoenix watch now available in the smaller size, which I know my wife is very jealous of because she wears the forty-three millimeter size because she you her s her wrist is smaller. So for females or people with smaller wrists, ⁓ you know, now you have the ability to get the pro version in that smaller ⁓ bezel size. ⁓ but they've they've really taken it and and you know, kind of made it all around a better watch. The the display is gonna be brighter and just a little bit bigger. So the glass, not maybe the bezel size, but the actual visual screen size is gonna be slightly larger. ⁓ we talked about the sleeker and lighter case and then they've upgraded the battery life to to be even longer. I mean, that was the one of the biggest reasons I bought the Phoenix eight was I did you know, I got tired of charging my Apple Watch every day or every two days. ⁓ I'm about fourteen days on my on my Phoenix eight and you can get bit depending on your settings, you can get up to thirty one days out of this this new Phoenix nine if you're in like battery saver mode and everything. So If you're a person who does a lot of outdoor activity, it's like, man, this this watch just got better and they honestly didn't kick the price up on it too much. ⁓ it's it's still right in that same price range, around that twelve to thirteen hundred dollar price point. So overall some really impressive ⁓ you know, upgrades. What what was your first reaction? I know that you've kind of studied from abroad with this device. So like what what was kind of your your first reactions anyway? Sure. ⁓ I have not used either the Phoenix 8 or Phoenix 9, full disclosure. ⁓ hope to get my hands maybe on on the Phoenix 9 ⁓ upcoming and maybe test it from the Golf perspective. ⁓ but I guess what jumped out to me was if I'm if I'm not mistaken, they they doubled the storage. ⁓ so we're now up to 64 gigabytes of storage. ⁓ they added 50% more RAM. ⁓ and the as you said, the AMLED display is now ⁓ 3,000 nits. ⁓ also I understand that the maps loading is faster. They're calling it 30% faster, I believe. ⁓ and I'm intrigued by the full titanium case because I just think that looks super cool and that's gotta be that's gotta be super cool. ⁓ I guess ⁓ I look at it from a golfer's perspective and and ⁓ I guess the the thing that jumps into my mind is like, okay, who who that's that's into golf wants the Phoenix 9? Why might you buy something like that or the Phoenix 8, which is gonna be, you know, now gonna come available as more of a of a deal opportunity, I would expect. ⁓ why would you buy something like that instead of the S70 or the S50? And Daniel, you're the guy to answer that question because you're you're a golfer if I've ever known one, but you also ⁓ do a lot of other things in your life. And I know the Phoenix 8 has been kind of perfect for you. Can you kind of talk about why somebody might choose that product? Yeah, definitely. honestly, a big part of it is the multi sport capabilities out of it for me. ⁓ I mean, I I use it for diving as a dive computer. ⁓ I'll use it for even just like fitness tracking if I'm if I'm on a walk or on a bike ride or doing a workout or something like that. ⁓ and even they've they've even expanded this ability with the Phoenix Nine. I know we didn't mention this, but they actually have what's called Garmin Epic now in this Phoenix Nine, which allows you to combine activities, which I think is awesome. Because for me or even any other golfer out there that would be using this, let's say you want to go walk around a golf like I do in the mornings. If I'm not using my my golf GPS on my watch, I actually just log it as like a fitness walk so I can get all my health data or a little more deeper health data with it. The Garmin Epic would allow me then to pay or to to use two activities at the same time. So I could say, hey, I'm gonna do a walk and play around a golf at the same time. So it'll track all of my walking in-depth data. with my golfing, you know, statistics and GPS while I'm using it. Or if you're, you know, maybe doing two different other type of activities at the same time or combine them or doing them back to back, it just it makes it the flow of it much simpler. It gets you more in-depth data with the health features and stuff like that. So ⁓ I think that's a big appealing thing to those people out there who are pretty active in their lifestyles or want a lot of fitness tracking. I didn't realize how much I'd fall in love with like tracking my sleep. And like understanding how how much better like my day goes if I properly have, you know, good sleep data and stuff like that. So you know, it it's really endless the amount of things that you can use this device this watch for. I mean, I I go through the activities looking at it sometimes and like, really? Like you can track that with it? Like it's it's it's pretty cool and ⁓ it's remarkable at the end of the day what what the what it's really capable of and how small they really are on your wrist. Yeah. ⁓ ⁓ a couple of things to call out, I guess. R one, as far as golf specific things, that there's no changes here, ⁓ at least as I understand it. ⁓ so but again, why would there need to be any? It will you're already getting the full suite of their golf ⁓ tech offerings in the Phoenix eight, and so you're getting that same ⁓ level in the Phoenix nine. ⁓ another thing just to call out is when we compare it to something like the Apple Watch, ⁓ you know, one thing that I love about the Apple Watch is ⁓ You have that opportunity to integrate with Arcos, which is and it's really, really seamless and and really a slick way to do it. you don't get that, of course, with ⁓ Garmin, because Garmin's got their own CT10 and CT1 club sensors, and they would prefer that you use those. ⁓ I like the Arcos system, so ⁓ I consider that little part of it an advantage to the Apple Watch. ⁓ but man, in terms of battery life, that is where these Garmin watches just absolutely crush the Apple Watch. Do you agree with that, Daniel? Yeah. And it's it's not particularly close. I mean, it's like like my me and my wife were both the same way. We're like, you know, we we wanted smartwatch, but if we had an Apple Watch, it would just die every couple of days. And so like the first couple of weeks we wore them, like we could not believe how long the battery life is and and how fast it is to charge it after that. I mean, it takes less than an hour to recharge it for that fifteen days of use. Like that's insane to me. That is that is crazy. ⁓ all right, so ⁓ a lot of good options for the Garmin line if you're interested in golf. And you certainly do not have to spend up to the Phoenix 9 if especially if if you're mostly interested in a golf specific watch, you've got something starting with the S forty four, got a really, really nice middle ground with the S50. And if you want to keep things kind of golf specific, but do want a taste of all of those advanced kind of fit tr fitness and lifestyle metrics. The S70 is an awesome awesome ⁓ option. But if you want to go all the way and you want one watch that does everything, and this is literally a supercomputer strapped to your wrist, and you're not going to be wanting for anything, whatever your life might include, and you also want to wear it on the golf course, then this becomes really, really exciting ⁓ and something to consider investing in. ⁓ all right. ⁓ Daniel, are you comfortable with ⁓ what we've covered or is there anything else you'd like to point out before we ⁓ before we get out of here? No, I think that covers everything. I mean, I think it just shows that, like we said earlier, you know, Garmin is always, you know, advancing, you know, integrating and and innovating. And ⁓ you know, I think they just continue to remind us why it's a good idea. At least I know we're big Garmin fans, but I think they just continue to remind us why people continue to invest in their company and invest in their products is because ⁓ Not only do they continue to come out with new ones, but they they make their you know their current ones even better just through through easy and and active updating. So ⁓ props to the Garmin team. I'm I'm excited to see how this all this all flows through ⁓ getting out to the public now. Yes, well said. All right, fantastic. ⁓ thank you everyone for joining us once again. ⁓ please do like, subscribe, comment, ⁓ and use code GTW at playbetter.com. Check out all the Garmin products that are available there, as well as the reviews that we've done. And please tune in next week for another episode of Golf Tech.