Garmin Approach X40 GPS Golf Band Review – An HONEST Opinion

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Today we’re reviewing the Garmin Approach X40 Golf GPS and I’ll be sharing my honest thoughts after testing it out. Garmin is one of the top GPS companies out there right now and the X40 has a lot of hype around the golf world. That being said, is it worth picking up or is it just another average device?

Long story short, the X40 is loaded with over 40,000 courses, so chances are the ones you normally go to are on it. It was one of the top GPS models when it first came out. It had some of the best features of any unit I’ve tested and it was super accurate. Sure, it’s a bit more expensive than some other units, and the screen is pretty small, but overall, I’d say the pros outweigh the cons.

That being said, the X40 isn’t one of our current favorites. You can see our updated list of favorite golf GPS units here.

Garmin Approach X40 GPS Golf Band Review

Garmin X40 First Impressions

The first thing I was looking at was how many courses it had and if my courses were on the thing. It came programmed with over 40,000 courses, and the ones I normally go to were on it. Check, check.

It has courses from a bunch of different countries, there are no memberships, and there are always new updates.

It’s a super small screen (I guess most watches are) so it took a bit of time to get used to it. Even though it had a small screen, the resolution was great, so if you have decent eyesight you should be good. It’s also water resistance and each charge will last you a couple of rounds.

Here’s a demo video:

It’s pretty cool that it shows distances to hazards, greens, doglegs, and pretty much anything else on the course. But the real question is…how did it actually perform?

How Did The Approach Perform?

The X40 has quite a few pretty cool features such as a green viewer, heart rate monitor, round analyzer, Garmin connect, and Truswing technology.

The green viewer shows the shape of the green, how far away it is and has a moveable pin to see different distances. Pretty cool thing and it does really help with your short game.

The heart rate monitor is pretty self-explanatory…but another pretty cool thing to have.

Garmin Connect is a feature that allows you to upload your golf data to the internet to see how you stack up to the competition. I don’t really do this myself, but a lot of people do.

TruSwing technology allows you to attach a device to your clubs to keep track of all your stats and metrics. It’s definitely something that can help optimize your game and is great to have at the range.

All the data the X40 provides and the accuracy are more accurate than I expected. Obviously, if the thing isn’t accurate there’s really no point having it, but I was pleasantly surprised with how it performed. I also liked it quite a bit more than the older Garmin X10 (if you’ve ever used that). Thumbs up for sure.

Who’s It Best For/Not For?

I’d say it’s only worth picking up if you’re someone who golfs a lot and are committed to improving your game. It’s not exactly cheap, and I think you’d only get the benefits if you use it on a regular basis.

If you’re anything like me, you might not like to wear watches, so that’s another thing to consider. It took a while before I was comfortable wearing it, but it’s all good now.

Garmin Approach X40 Specs

Pros

• It has some of the best features on the market.
• It has movable pin locations to get different distances.
• There are no memberships.
• It comes with a digital scorecard.
• It is more accurate than a lot of other GPS units.

Cons

• The screen on it is pretty small and takes some time to get used to.
• It’s in the middle of the pack in terms of price.

The Breakdown

• Performance score: 10
• Price score: 8
• Quality score: 9
• Personal score: 9

My Final Thoughts

Overall, if you’re in the market for a new GPS, are someone who golfs quite a bit, and are committed to improving your game, I think the Garmin X40 could be worth picking up.

It has a lot of cool features and is something that can definitely improve your game (it did for me anyway). If you want to see what our favorite units are, you can see the full list here.