Garmin dominated the 2025 Golf GPS Test. The Approach S70 earned a 9.9, the highest score overall, and the Approach G80 was among the best handhelds. They combine premium accuracy, bright AMOLED displays and deep feature sets. But that performance comes at a price: roughly $700 for the S70 and $500-plus for most Garmin handhelds.
However, several lower-cost models performed nearly as well in testing. They might skip a few extras like green-contour visuals, smartwatch features or the sleekest display, but they deliver the accuracy, usability and reliability you may be looking for.
Here are a few to consider.
Bushnell iON Elite – Best Value Golf GPS Watch (Score 9.5)
The Bushnell iON Elite topped MyGolfSpy’s Value category and remains one of the best buys in golf tech. It features a full-color touchscreen, slope-adjusted distances and more than 38,000 pre-loaded courses. The iON Elite stood out for its repeatable distances and consistent accuracy, performing within the expected three- to four-yard range of top GPS devices.
Bushnell lists 12-plus hours of battery life, water resistance (IP67) and a crisp display that stays readable even in bright sun. The iON Elite focuses purely on golf functionality.
What You Give Up: Garmin’s smartwatch integrations, music and fitness tracking.
What You Get: Reliable accuracy, slope functionality and an easy-to-use golf-specific design for less than half the cost of Garmin’s S70.
GolfBuddy Aim W12 – High-Performance Mid-Tier Watch (Score 9.7)
The GolfBuddy Aim W12 earned an impressive 9.7 overall. It uses a 1.32-inch TFT-LCD color touchscreen and offers slope-adjusted yardages, green undulation visuals (on most U.S. courses) and hazard/front-back distances. The watch is IPX7 water resistant, preloaded with 40,000 courses and runs about 10 hours in golf mode.
Once again, it gives up the lifestyle features you’ll get with a Garmin and the display isn’t quite like the Garmin’s.
What You Give Up: Garmin’s premium display tech and longer battery life.
What You Get: A bright, reliable GPS watch with strong accuracy and helpful visuals for hundreds less.
Bushnell Phantom 3 Slope – Best Value Handheld (Score 9.0)
If you prefer a simple clip-on or cart-mounted unit, the Bushnell Phantom 3 Slope is tough to beat. It scored 9.0 overall in testing and costs about $150. You’ll get slope-adjusted distances, hazard data and the BITE magnetic mount that sticks easily to the cart.
What you give up: there’s no color display or hole-layout graphics, just black-and-white text and numbers.
What you get: dependable distances, fast setup and slope compensation that makes it a smart backup or minimalist primary device. It’s one of the easiest units to use straight out of the box.
Final thoughts
For full results and the complete testing breakdown, check out the full results here: MyGolfSpy’s 2025 Best Golf GPS Devices.
The post If Garmin’s Too Pricey, These GPS Devices Deserve A Look appeared first on MyGolfSpy.
