Overall Rating
Score: 92
Grade: A-
The Garmin Approach G3 is the most recent Garmin-branded golf Gps device, and delivers everything that the predecessor Garmin Approach G5 unit does, in a smaller package and with a lower price. "Breathtaking. I shall call him...Mini-Me."
The G3 is a solid unit (maybe a minute too solid when you slip it into your pocket, since despite its small size, it's still relatively heavy at 5.35 ounces - compare this to the Callaway uPro at 3.1 ounces). Like the G5, it suffers from one of the problems potential with touchscreens, which is that it can be difficult to accurately pinpoint your desired targets (particularly if you have large fingers), but the touchscreen also makes navigating among the G3's distinct features straightforward and intuitive. Garmin's use of illustrations of holes, as opposed to actual satellite photographs, is verily beginning to grow on us - the illustrations are much brighter than photographs, and are thus viewable in all light conditions. An added bonus is that the Gamin coming G3 requires verily no set-up time at all, with all courses pre-loaded on the device.
One of our few complaints is that we wish the gismo had the quality to track statistics - an unfortunate oversight for a superior device. And while we're nit-picking, the combination of the G3's bulky shape and weight make it a bit of a brick in your pocket. A 20% smaller and lighter brick than the G5, but a brick nonetheless.
Pros:
- Matches the G5 with the best user interface we tested
- Can settle the length to any point on a hole
- No set-up required - courses are all pre-loaded
- No fee for way to the procedure database
Cons:
- No tracking of any statistics (fairways hit, Gir, putts, sand saves, et al)
- When the user touches the screen to settle a institution point, the pre-marked points are not viewable
- Course availability still lags a bit
- Short battery life
Retail price: 9.99
Setup
Score: 100
Grade: A+
The Good: The Garmin Approach G3 scores a perfect 100 for setup - all the user does is install a pair of Aa batteries (not included) and turn on the device. Courses are pre-loaded so no downloads are necessary.
The Bad: verily nothing.
Details:
- Required Steps. None - there isn't whatever that the user needs to do. Garmin's web site provides a free application (the WebUpdater) that can be downloaded to the user's computer - once the Garmin Approach G3 is associated to the computer with a Usb cable, WebUpdater should automatically find the most recent software and sync it to the device. In addition, Garmin has promised to make periodic updates to the procedure database available for free from its web site.
- Time Required for Setup. None, other than the time it takes you to find a pair of batteries.
What's in the Box: The Garmin Approach G3 comes with:
- Usb cable
- Quick Start Guide
- Belt Clip
Required Downloads:
- None
Course Availability
Score: 79
Grade: C+
Critical Golf Test: Garmin keeps adding courses to its database, now scoring 79% in our procedure coverage test. Unfortunately, that still keeps it as second to last among its competitors. An encouraging sign for Garmin is that its procedure availability is now within astonishing length of the other devices that also display overhead hole maps (illustrations or satellite photographs).
Manufacturer's Claims: Garmin claims to have over 12,000 courses in the database, which currently places them tied for last in our procedure coverage comparison test.
Ease Of Use
Score: 95
Grade: A
The Good: Nice straightforward interface to way distinct features. Courses are all stored on the device, so the user doesn't have to settle which ones to swap on or off of the device's memory. The touchscreen makes looking distances to a targeted point (as well as the length from that point to the middle of the green) as easy as touching the screen and spicy a cross-hair over the desired point.
The Bad: Pre-marked distances are not viewable while the user is using the touchscreen to settle a institution distance. While targeting a desired point your finger may block the view of the cross-hair and distance. Two words of guidance to Garmin Approach G3 purchasers: rechargeable batteries. We kept getting a warning screen that the battery power was "too low for full backlight", even when the battery meter was showing between 1/2 and 3/4 of a payment remaining.
Details:
- Buttons. The Garmin Approach G3 only has a single button, the power button, which powers the gismo on/off if held for a few seconds, or if pressed briefly when the gismo is on, will display a screen showing the date/time, a battery meter, and a button to touch to lock the screen. All other information and controls are accessed straight through the touchscreen. The interface on the touchscreen is intuitive, and the ways to way distinct functions are clearly labeled.
- Screen. The color screen is bright, and we had no qoute viewing it in sunny conditions. The G3's screen size is about 20% smaller than the G5, but we didn't consideration any divergence in usability.
- Touchscreen Sensitivity. We had a bit more of a qoute with the touchscreen of the Garmin Approach G3 than we did with the G5 - on occasion, we had to push a button complicated times before it would activate. This is more of a minor annoyance than a tragic flaw. We note that we still had the occasional issue with the gismo accidentally advancing to new screens or new holes when jostled around in a pocket. You can solve this by clicking on the power button to move to the "standby" screen, but that then necessitates hitting a button when you want to get back to the display of the hole.
- Form Factor. The gismo comes in at 5.35 ounces, making the G3 one of the heavier Gps devices we tested. The length and width of the Garmin Approach G3 are verily quite compact. Unfortunately, it's a thick minute sucker - while its length and width are comparable to a Callaway uPro, it is basically twice as thick.
- Starting a Round. After powering up the G3, the user needs to manually take the desired course. Courses are listed in order of proximity to the current location. Once a procedure is selected, the gismo defaults to displaying the first hole of the procedure - if you are playing just the back nine or in a shotgun start, you have to manually press the ">>" button complicated times to progress to the relevant beginning hole.
- Battery Life. Battery life is relatively short, though we were able to make it straight through two rounds before the batteries died. The gismo does automatically reduce the radiance of the screen after one minute of inactivity to conserve battery life. One verily annoying glitch - when the G3 batteries are near the threshold payment level for triggering a warning screen that battery power is insufficient for full backlighting, the gismo seems to frequently turn its mind about either there verily is enough power or not...and thus, it will re-display the warning screen 2 seconds after it just showed it to you and then again...and again. Once the payment level drops favorably below that threshold, the qoute seems to go away.
Course information And Mapping
Score: 94
Grade: A
The Good: The quality to settle the length to any point and to pinpoint the correct position of a target on the green provides substantial flexibility, and Garmin complements this with pre-marked distances to many relevant hazards and targets. The view of the green rotates based upon where the user is standing in hole view.
The Bad: Fairly random as to when distances to hazards are displayed - distances to points may appear and then disappear as you coming them, or may only appear once you are so close to them that the length is irrelevant.
Details:
recommendation Box: The hole view is an artist's rendition of the hole, rather than a photograph. The advantage of this is that the image is much brighter than a satellite photo. But it does leave some doubt as to either every relevant hazard is displayed - particularly trees. Garmin lists some courses as showing "tree cover", but we would like to see this come to be thorough on their procedure maps.
It would also be helpful if Garmin provided more distances to pre-mapped points in hole view. We encountered a large amount of holes where distances either to hazards or to clear hazards from the tee box were not provided, and some pre-marked distances only appeared long after the information was useful (in one case once we were within 20 yards of the point).
Finally, while we liked the flexibility in the green view to move the flagstick to any point on the green (and receive distances to that repositioned flagstick), we sometimes found ourselves pulling out the G3 and looking that while it was jostled about in our pocket, it had bumbled along into the green view and repositioned the flagstick. When that happened, we couldn't find any way to restore the flagstick to the default position in the center of the green (other than by exiting the round, which will erase all of your scores). We were left needing to manually nudge it back to the center of the green on our own.
Features
Score: 92
Grade: A-
The Good: A solid grouping of useful features that are executed well. Plus it's waterproof!
The Bad: There is no quality to description statistics, nor can the user modify any settings while the procedure of their round.
Details:
- Shot Tracking. The Garmin Approach G3 has a straightforward interface for tracking shots. The touchscreen verily shines on these types of features, since very exact buttons can be created and changed depending on the screen that is displayed. Also, the user can leave the shot tracking screen to apply a distinct highlight and then return - the gismo will still continue tracking the shot distance. Note that users cannot indicate which clubs were used for a given shot, which some devices allow so they can speculate average club distances.
- Score and Statistics. Again, the Garmin Approach G3 succeeds in presenting a basic interface for holding score. The user goes to the scorecard, touches a column next to the relevant hole, and is presented a keypad with complicated numbers - the user just touches the relevant number. The gismo allows the user to enter names (which are also easy to type in with the touchscreen) to track the scoring of every person in the foursome. The scoring screen will show each player's current score relative to par, and the user can touch the name of a player to scroll straight through their scorecard. The Garmin Approach G3 will always save your scorecard from your last round of golf - when you start a new round it replaces the former scorecard. One nice highlight is that by touching the par listed for a hole, the user can edit the par - handy on courses where there are distinct scores for par depending on which tee box is utilized. Unfortunately, the gismo does not track statistics for fairways hit, greens hit in regulation, or putts.
- Auto-advance. The user can pick either the gismo will automatically progress to the next hole or want the user to manually advance.
- Course Storage. All courses come pre-loaded on the coming G3, so users never have to worry about either they've loaded the correct courses on to the gismo before leaving the house.
- Preferences. The Garmin Approach G3 has a minute set of adjustable preferences: determination unit (yards vs. Meters); battery type (alkaline, lithium or rechargeable NiMh) and auto-advance (automatic vs. Manual). These preferences can only be viewed or modified prior to beginning the round - the user otherwise must quit the current round, which will erase any scores that were recorded while play.
Accuracy
Score: 93
Grade: A-
We tested the Garmin Approach G3 on a variety of courses and found the accuracy readings to be within 3-4 yards of sprinkler head markings and our laser readings. This was a bit good than we experienced with the G5, but we speculate that we just had lousy satellite reception on the days we were testing the G5, since we speculate that the two devices share exactly the same procedure maps and Gps chipset. One thing we liked is that the G3 continues to furnish length readings no matter how close the user is to the target, unlike some competing devices.
Cost / Value
Score: 92
Grade: A-
Retail Price: At a sell price of 9.99, the Garmin Approach G3 comes in below the typical price point of 9.99 for competing devices with hole views, such as the Callaway uPro, SkyCaddie Sgx, OnPar and Golf Guru 4.
Fees for way to procedure Database: An further bonus for the G3 is that there are no fees for way to Garmin's procedure database.
Three-Year Total Cost of Ownership: Since there is no cost for way to the procedure database, the three-year total cost of rights of the Garmin Approach G3 is 9.99 (the cost of the gismo itself), which makes it one of the less costly devices in our cost comparison of golf Gps devices.
Value: The Garmin Approach G3 gets a strong value rating, delivering the wealth of features that we loved in its big brother, the G5, but for 0 less. Our definition of "value" is getting the most for your money - with the G3, you get a superior golf Gps gismo with a rich highlight set at an spicy price, and with no fees for way to the procedure database. Go to the head of the class!
Reviews of Best Golf Gps Devices - Garmin advent G3