Garmin continues to stretch its lead in the handheld golf GPS market with the introduction of new Approach G8 and G7 models. The $399 G8 becomes the new top of the line from Garmin. It boasts an all-new chassis that is slimmer and lighter than its predecessors. It also has Garmin's largest golf GPS screen, at 240 x 400 pixels and 1.5 x 2.6 inches. As you might expect, the G8 has every feature you can imagine and some you may not have thought of. Like other Garmins, it comes with a free, and free-to-update database of 30,000+ courses world-wide. It also has Smart Notification technology, which communicates with your smartphone to receive emails, texts, and call alerts.
Garmin is also in the process of adding golf tracking features to its free online Connect services, so the G8 will feed stats to Connect when you are ready to keep a log and to analyze performance and scores. A new PlaysLike feature adjusts distances for uphill and downhill terrain if you opt to use it. A rechargeable lithium-ion battery lasts 15 hours in full GPS use. Other features include touch-targeting, manually moveable pin, shot distance tracker, stat tracker, and digital scorecard. A new G7 model ($299) shares most of the same features but has a smaller screen.