SkyCaddie LX5 GPS Watch Review

If you’re serious about accurate, up-to-date GPS yardages, SkyCaddie have stood out for years.

They insist on getting out there and measuring courses on foot – regularly – unlike most of the best golf watch suppliers who rely on measured distances from aerial photography and satellite information (which can be out of date).

But two years ago SkyCaddie took things to a new level of detail when they revealed the SX500 handheld GPS. It was similar in dimensions to a plus-size mobile phone, had a touch screen and happily calculated yardages to any point on the course all day long. But the feature that really sold it for us was how it showed how far was left behind a flag, and how much green there was to play with either side of the flag – features a laser could never compete with.

Related: SkyCaddie reveal luxury LX5C GPS golf smart watch

So in depth was the yardage information the system spat out that, for the first time ever, several high profile tour players adopted the system and ditched their yardage books forever. And when you’re playing for your livelihood and hundreds of thousands of pounds a season, that’s a really big deal.

Wind the clock forward nearly two years and SkyCaddie have now rolled out the same kind of functionality and vivid graphics in the smaller SX400 and now in a watch, the LX5 GPS – and here’s what you need to know about it.

READER TEST: Four TG readers test SkyCaddie’s SX500 handheld GPS

Scroll and pan

Just like SkyCaddie’s larger GPS handhelds you can scroll and pan around each hole. The system is constantly calculating yardages to hidden hazards showing how far you’ve got to carry or lay up short of them.

The LX5 is more than just a GPS

The LX5 lets golfers track stats too. Access your score, total putts, fairways hit and missed as well as how many greens you’ve hit in regulation.

TWIN TEST: SkyCaddie SX500 vs Garmin Approach G80 GPS

The LX5 is packed with features

SkyCaddie have thought of everything with the LX5, even down to selecting the tee boxes you’re using, which all increases accuracy. Here’s a full list:

• Golf’s largest and brightest color touchscreen measuring 1.39” (3.5 cm)
• Full HD graphics
• Preloaded with over 35,000 course maps
• Zoom and pan for extra detail and precision targeting
• IntelliGreen tech provides exact shapes of greens for distances to front, back and any point in between from your angle of approach
• Digital scorecard and stats
• Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled
• Multiple watch faces
• Fitness: Heart rate monitor and step counter with distances
• Battery life: Up to two rounds
• Includes 3-year worldwide membership

ROBOT TESTED: Which golf ball suits your game?

Which SkyCaddie GPS suits you?

SkyCaddie SX500 £379.95

The biggest, most feature-laden GPS money can buy. A great solution if you like keeping a GPS in view by attaching it to a trolley handle, as the bigger size is trickier to squeeze into a pocket. The five-inch full-colour HD screen is light years away from the competition when seen side by side.    

SkyCaddie SX400 £299.95

The best handheld GPS for club golfers who don’t like wearing a watch while playing. Just as much yardage information as the SX500, but in a more compact package. You also don’t pay for the least used function, an HD camera. Most people have one on their phone anyway. 

SkyCaddie LX5 £299.95

The most powerful and accurate GPS watch you can get your hands on right now. There’s a mass of extra features like a heart rate monitor for exercising, and we like being able to measure how far you hit each club.

SkyCaddie LX5C GPS watch

RRP £349 | VIEW UK OFFER | RRP $349.95 | VIEW US OFFER
Number of courses: 35,000 | Battery life: ‘Up to 2 rounds’
Pros: Large screen | Detailed | Feels good on the wrist
Cons: Not as great off the course