Garmin announced the Approach X40, a wearable health band that combines daily activity and heart rate tracking with a golfing rangefinder and shot analytics. This versatile wristband uses GPS to provide precise distances to the front, middle and back of each green as well as hazards. Furthermore, the band features AutoShot tracking, which measures and records shot distances for post-round analysis in Garmin Connect. The Approach X40 boasts connected features like smart notifications and compatibility with the Garmin TruSwing club sensor to provide useful swing metrics at glance and within Garmin Connect.
“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.”
— Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of worldwide sales.
The Approach X40 comes preloaded with data for more than 40,000 courses around the world with no additional fees or subscriptions, and measures precise distances to the front, middle and back of the green as well as layups, doglegs and hazards like bunkers and water. Additionally, the Approach X40 features Green View, which displays the shape of the green on each hole and allows golfers to manually place the pin for more accurate yardages.
The wristband features the usual daily activity tracking, which records calories burned, distance, time of day, hours of sleep and reminds users to stay active throughout the day with move alerts. Featuring Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate technology, the X40 monitors heart rate 24/7 and gives users the freedom to exercise without a chest strap and helps quantify the intensity of fitness activities to provide users with better credit for their efforts.
On the golf course, the X40 acts as a digital scorecard, which can track individual stats like fairways hit, greens in regulation and putts per round. When using the AutoShot feature, X40 users can gather even more data like the average distance for each club, longest drive per round and overall. They can even see their shots overlaid onto one map to see their own personal trends and tendencies, so they know what to work on for the next round. It pairs seamlessly with the Garmin TruSwing golf club sensor to improve swing consistency. When paired, the X40 provides golfers with useful swing metrics in real time and 3-D animations in Garmin Connect so golfers can see how their individual mechanics affect their ball flight and shot results.
With a sunlight readable screen, the Approach X40 keeps up with users’ active lifestyles and helps keep them connected on and off the course. It can send any notification from a compatible smartphone, including incoming calls, text, emails, calendar reminders, social media alerts and more to the device with a vibration alert so users won’t miss a beat. Additionally, the X40 supports automatic uploads for golf and wellness data to the Garmin Connect Mobile app, so users can easily access all their data in one place. Within Garmin Connect, golfers can share their scorecards, and access all their stats including longest shots, average score, putts and more. Golfers can also view hole-by-hole details of their favorite courses to understand their individual trends and tendencies so they know what to work on for next time.
The Approach X40 has a sleek and unobtrusive design with a crisp 1-inch touchscreen that can be worn 24/7. It is water resistant up to 50m so it can withstand a rainy golf game or intense workout without fear of damage. The rechargeable Li-ion battery can get up to 10 hours in GPS mode while out on the course and up to five days in watch mode with activity tracking, 24/7 heart rate monitoring and smart notifications enabled.
Price and Availability
The Garmin Approach X40 will begin shipping in Q2 2016 and will be available in black, white and frost blue. It will have a suggested retail price of $249.99.
