
The Garmin Approach R10 is without doubt the most affordable way to get into the launch monitor and golf simulator game. While it isn’t perfect and it definitely has its limitations, the R10 manages to get nearly all of the golf simulator experience to users on a wildly-low budget and is far more capable than you’d expect from a device with a sub-$600 price tag.
What the Garmin Approach R10 gets right
For the vast majority of the launch monitor/simulator experience, the Garmin R10 delivers in some pretty big ways. Even if you stay within the bounds of the included app, you can get a lot of club data without the need of any additional subscriptions or software. And that app works on both Apple and Android devices.
Bumping up to the Garmin subscription ($99.99 for the year or $9.99/month), you get the Home Tee Hero app that utilizes Garmin’s vast GPS library to give you over 40,000 playable courses. They are very cartoon-ish and some of the elevations aren’t quite right, but this is by far the most affordable, most accessible way to play through just about any US course you can think of. There’s even a weekly tournament you can take part in if you want.
But you aren’t limited to Garmin’s software: not by a long shot. The R10 works seamlessly with TGC 2019, E6 Connect (iPad or PC), GSPro (my favorite), and Awesome Golf. Each of those options come at a price, and each take a bit of a different approach to golf simulation. For realism, you’ll want to go with GSPro. For the simplest connection and arguably the best ball physics, E6 Connect is the better option. TGC 2019 has tons of courses and some of my favorite graphic styling, but it is expensive and becoming outdated. And Awesome Golf is more cartoonish but far better for mini-games and the driving range.
It’s also worth noting that with the R10’s single radar system, you won’t be putting, but all of the simulator software options above have auto-putt options, so that’s not a huge deal. Overall, the R10 can read everything pretty accurately as long as you aren’t trying to make a tiny, sub-3-yard chip. Those can get a bit dicey for sure.
For driver, fairway metals and irons, the R10 fares quite well when compared with the Bushnell Launch Pro and adding in some Titelist RCT balls should make those spin numbers a bit more accurate as well. We’ll talk about spin specifically in the next section, but in general, the R10 gets a fairly accurate read for indoor swings and gives you very solid details when hitting with it on the range. And because it is radar based, you’re getting some nice club path details that aren’t estimated: they are measured.
And that’s another upside to this little unit: it is small and easy to move around. With the included phone clip, taking it out for a range session is no issue and setup is a breeze. That means you can pull double-duty with this device if you are looking for a launch monitor that can work indoors and outside, too.
And the diminutive size doesn’t mean you lose out on battery life. We’ve had the Garmin Approach R10 up and running all day here at the office and only need to plug it in and charge it overnight. With it being quite adept and going to sleep when not in use, the battery life is always great and you won’t have to worry about it dying mid-round or during your range session.
Where the Garmin Approach R10 falls short
Remember that whole measured spin conversation from above? There’s one place the R10 (and all other radar-based devices) falls short: spin axis. While this unit can get better spin numbers with metallic dots or Titelist RCT balls, there’s no way for radar to measure the actual direction of that spin. That means side spin is a calculated guess, not a measurement. And that means hitting draws can be a bit challenging on the R10 when indoors. Out on the range, the unit will actually track your ball flight down the range, so this is less of an issue. With only a limited range of measurement into a net or impact screen, however, your spin is being calculated with this one.
And while we’re on the subject, when being used indoors, you’ll need a bit of extra room to make this device work. 7 feet behind the ball works well and at least 8 feet to the screen (closer to 10 is better) is what you need, so if you are tight on space, a radar-based unit may be a no-go for indoor golf. And with those measurements, you’ll also need to get creative on how you get this thing aligned. With no internal camera, you’re left to alignment sticks and other accessories to try and get a proper setup, and it isn’t always as simple as it sounds.
My final grumble with the R10 is the lack of a solid fix for very short shots. The lack of a putting option is understandable, but as we outlined recently in our post about missed chip shots, the R10 just isn’t great at low, slow, short chips. And based on the hardware, I just don’t think it ever will be. It’s a limitation you can deal with as long as you understand it from the get-go, but I’ve seen plenty of complaints about this from those that simply don’t understand why it is happening.
What updated hardware could look like
Like we’ve seen with the newly-launched Rapsodo MLM2Pro, a combo of a single radar and camera can work well to fix many of the issues Garmin faces with the Approach R10. Alignment is a snap with the camera on the MLM2Pro and that same camera also takes care of the pesky spin axis problem the R10 is faced with. In addition, the slow-motion replays are a nice touch with the camera, too.
In many ways, I think a single high-speed camera on the next Approach R10 could solve many of the gripes we all have with this unit. It won’t change the need for a bit more room indoors to operate, but all the other issues go away with the addition of a camera that can function like the one on the MLM2Pro.
Even so, it’s easy to overlook those issues with a device that costs $500-$600. It just is. While I wouldn’t have that sort of patience with a $3000 device like the Bushnell Launch Pro, I can overlook small snags with the R10 based soley on price. At the end of the day, this little unit packs a mighty punch for its small price tag, long battery, and ultimate portability. And until the Rapsodo MLM2Pro shows up, I simply don’t think there’s a device anywhere close to it for the money.