The Garmin Approach golf watch series is more than 15 years old, and now has its first model made for young players in the Approach J1.
What the Garmin Approach J1 isn’t, though, is a watch clearly made for very young kids. It still appears fairly serious, and is not cheap either. The watch costs $299 and will be available from January 23.
So how does the Approach J1 justify Garmin’s claim it’s the “first golf watch designed specifically for junior golfers,” as noted on the Garmin website?
First up is a simplified interface, and it’s one that makes fairly significant use of bold and colourful visuals, including “celebratory animations.”
The Garmin Approach J1 has a 1.2-inch AMOLED screen with resolution of 390 x 390 pixels, and the same pixel density as some of Garmin’s most costly wearables. Those animations should appear both sharp and colorful.
This is a relatively small and light watch too, with a face diameter of 43mm and weight of just 29g.
Despite that, this is not a purely practical, plastic polymer design. The Garmin Approach J1 has an aluminium bezel, and the casing comes in either black or lilac. Weight is also kept low through the use of a fabric strap. These are typically significantly lighter than Garmin’s silicone equivalents.
Garmin Approach J1 Features
A Garmin Approach J1 will suggest the club to use, provide a “pace of play” timer and has access to the same 43,000 golf course database used by the non-junior Garmin Approach S44.
One important factor to consider here is the Approach J1 is not intended to be an all-round fitness tracker as well as a golf watch. It is one of the few Garmin watches without any heart rate reader hardware. There’s a little metallic plate where such an HR array would usually sit.
It does have some exercise modes other than golfing, though, including walking, running and biking. The watch has full GPS so will be able to track your location, just not your exertion level.
Interface differences aside, the Approach J1 appears to be fundamentally quite similar to the Approach S44, which was released a year earlier in January 2025. However, where that watch uses Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3, the Approach J1 is listed as having unbranded “chemically strengthened glass.”
The Garmin Approach J1 is rated for 10 days of use per charge, or for up to 15 hours of GPS-tracked activity.
There are two finishes of Garmin Approach J1 at launch. The black watch has a “cloud blue” bezel and blue strap accents, while the lilac model has a silver bezel.