Last Updated:
Pre-loaded Courses: 30,000+
Display Area Size: 2″
Weight: 2.75 oz
Battery Lifetime: 12+ hours
Recharge Time: 7 hours
Waterproof: Yes (IPX6)
Tournament Legal: Yes
Our Rating: 
IZZO Golf Swami 5000 GPS Review
Swami is Izzo’s line of golf GPS products designed to streamline your round to par success. Some of you may remember or own the very popular Swami 3000 and 4000+, but the 5000 comes in as the new and improved model. It’s faster, even more accurate, and the display has been redesigned with color to be bigger than ever.
If you’re not at all familiar with the Swamis, let’s give you a quick crash course on the highly intuitive and inexpensive GPS golf unit!
The larger, 2-inch display incorporates a color screen with large, easy-to-red numbers and simple icons that are easily identifiable. The entire handheld unit is slimmer than its predecessors, and the yellow/black color scheme is appealing in the way that a Camaro also shares the same bumble bee stripes.
As expected for a golf GPS device, it automatically detects your course out of over 30,000 courses worldwide. The auto hole recognition is said to be much faster than the older models and you don’t have to touch the unit to move to the next tee. This makes ease-of-use the primary goal.
New to the Swami and made manifest in the 5000 models, the unit now has Shot Distance Measurement. Being able to measure your drives brings the Swami up to date with the newest GPS units in the market. It’s a good thing too since now you can settle the debate on who made the long drive among your buddies.
Also new is the digital scorecard that can keep record of 10 rounds. Enter your strokes after each hole, and you’ll have comparable data to strategize for your next round.
The 5000 is exactly what an avid golfer needs without the bells and whistles that complicate game play. However, it seems the accessories don’t rate as high as the Swami itself. The major complaint is with the belt clip. The magnetic charging cable is another sore point with buyers, but we’ll discuss these downsides in the Q&A.
- Price
- Extremely accurate
- Color screen
- Easy to read
- New features
- Proprietary magnetic charging cable
IZZO Golf Swami 5000 GPS Q&A
Testing reports with other GPS devices on the course revealed that the Swami 5000 is accurate to exact yardage or within 1 yard, even checking against course markers.
Yes. The belt clip screws into the threaded bushing on the back on the Swami. As its designed to do, the Swami will swivel freely without loosening the screw connection. Perhaps it was designed as a convenient feature to enable display use in any position, but many buyers don’t like the fact that it moves in place.
The magnetic charging cable has magnetic pins that align with the charging port on the back side of the Swami 5000. The USB connection end of the cable allows for plugging into a USB port or AC adapter. A USB port and/or AC adapter are not included with the purchase.
Complaints reveal a couple concerns: magnetic connection is easily disconnected, and because the charging cable is a proprietary one, you’ll have to repurchase another one from the manufacturer if it gets damaged or lost. Conventional USB ports would be more convenient and easier to use, but the connection may be made more secure if you place the Swami down with the charging port and connections directly on the flat surface.
The 5000 GPS unit takes an approximate average of 7 hours to recharge. Charging time will depend on how much battery life has already been used.
This depends on when the Swami 5000 was last used. If it’s your first time powering up after purchase or you haven’t used it in a long time, satellite location time will be less than three minutes. If your last round was a few hours ago, it will take less than one minute. If you used it within the last hour, it will take less than 30 seconds.
The display size is larger than previous models at 2 inches. The full dimensions for the Swami are 3.7″ (L) x 2″ (W) x 0.8″ (D). It doesn’t weigh more than 2.75 ounces.
The distance to the front, center, and back of the green are displayed. On the very top bar of the display, you will see the battery life indicator, current time of day, and the satellite connection. Still at the top, the hole number and par will be displayed. At the bottom left corner of the screen, your score will be displayed.
Of course. While in Play Like Mode, you can access the Hazards display where you will be provided distances to any layups and carry yardages, forest, water, sand traps, and any other applicable hazards.
The 5000 GPS unit comes with the built-in option of selecting between English, French, German, and Spanish. This can be found in the Settings menu under Languages.
Unfortunately, data can’t be uploaded online for sharing with friends or for further post-analysis. It can only be connected to your computer for updates and course uploading.
Noteworthy Features:
- Excellent low price for latest features available
- Extremely accurate GPS Swami unit with 30,000+ courses worldwide
- New Shot Distance Measurement and Scorecard Tracking
- Water resistant with IPX6 rating
- No annual fees or subscriptions
Our Verdict on the Izzo Swami GPS
To ping up the strokes, the IZZO Golf Swami 5000 GPS unit will enhance your round without complicating it. When all you need is accurate distances, what more could you want? You can’t use luxury features in tournament anyway, and why pay more for features you can’t use? But, if you can’t wrap your head around the charging flaws, you might want to spend more.
Spending more doesn’t have to put you out of pocket too much. The Garmin Approach S20 Golf Watch has a USB charging cable, Bluetooth for smartphone connectivity, and the ability to upload to Garmin Connect for post analysis and showing off to friends. There’s a few more perks in there too that might swing you their way.
However, if it was the simplicity of the Swami 5000 that attracted you, the GolfBuddy Voice 2 might just do it for you as well. We think the audio readouts are brilliant, and it won’t be disruptive to your golfing buddies. It’s cheaper than the Swami, lacks the digital score card, but it retains the Shot Distance Measurement feature.
The Swami 5000 makes par with its buyers and Golf Tamers. While it still sports the latest advancements in GPS golf units, it’s maintained its integrity in being easy to use while providing a smooth, accurate user experience across its entire platform. Long story short – it’s a tee-time winner!
