After weeks of leaks and rumors, Samsung finally announced the $279.99 Galaxy Watch 5 and $449.99 Galaxy Watch 5 Pro at its Unpacked event today. while there weren’t many surprises, the company seemed to take criticism of the Galaxy Watch 4’s poor battery life to heart, with both new models boast larger batteries, faster charging speeds, and higher durability.
With the launch of the Galaxy Watch 5 series, Samsung has once again tweaked its smartwatch lineup. While the Galaxy Watch 4 series reinvents the Tizen-era Galaxy Watch and Watch Active mainline, this year’s lineup introduces a new model: the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. The regular Galaxy Watch 5 is the entry-level flagship, while the Pro version is a more advanced version aimed at outdoor enthusiasts.
The change in form factor is immediately apparent: neither has Samsung’s signature physical rotating bezel, although they both have touch bezels for more detailed operation. For physical bezel enthusiasts, the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic will continue to serve as a respectful choice between the Watch 5 and Pro.
The Galaxy Watch 5 is available in 40mm and 44mm sizes, while the Pro only comes in one 45mm. All watches are powered by the same 1.18GHz Exynos W920 processor with 1.5GB of RAM and 16GB of flash memory. the Galaxy Watch 5 series also has an improved version of the 3-in-1 BioActive sensor first introduced on the Watch 4, which performs electrocardiogram, heart rate and body composition analysis.
Samsung says the improved sensor adds more advanced sleep tracking features to the Watch 5, including personalized sleep coaching. You’ll also get built-in GPS, contactless payments, optional LTE, Bluetooth 5.2 and Wi-Fi. both watches also feature 5ATM and IP68 dust and water resistance.
The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, on the other hand, is aimed at outdoor enthusiasts, this time with a new feature of a body temperature sensor. Doug Wegener, head of wearables and accessories at Samsung Electronics America, said the temperature sensor will add a new data point for sleep tracking, and the addition of the sensor is also intended to give developers more options when designing new health and wellness features.
This time the hardware advancement is related to battery life. the Watch 5 has a 13% increase in battery capacity, with 284mAh for the 40mm Watch 5 and 410mAh for the 44mm, which will last about 40 hours on a single charge. the Pro version has a larger 590mAh battery with up to 80 hours of standby time or continuous use on a single charge 20 hours of GPS.
In addition to adding a larger battery, Samsung has also improved the charging speed, going from zero to 45% in just 30 minutes and getting 8 hours of battery power in 8 minutes.
The 40mm Galaxy Watch 5 comes in graphite, pink-gold and silver with a purple band. 44mm version comes in graphite, sapphire and silver
The Galaxy Watch 5 is more of an incremental update. The main design changes are a more durable sapphire crystal display and a curvier back for better skin-to-skin contact of the 3-in-1 sensor with the wrist. More meaningful updates will come to the software. the Watch 5 series will come with One UI Watch 4.5, which adds a host of new accessibility features, a better typing interface, and support for dual SIM cards. Apps like SoundCloud and Deezer will also be available on Wear OS 3, along with the ability to use Google Maps voice navigation directly from your wrist. After months of waiting, Samsung Galaxy Watch owners will finally be able to use Google Assistant on their watch (Bixby is still available on Watch 5 and Pro).
Given that the Pro model is new and aimed at a completely different audience (i.e. the Garmin and Polar crowd), the flashier updates are reserved for the Pro version. It’s more durable, with a titanium case and a harder 29GPa sapphire crystal display, compared to the Watch 5’s 24GPa display.
Outdoor enthusiasts may be tempted by the Pro version’s map feature, which now allows you to download GPX routes for hiking and biking, complete with turn-by-turn navigation. It also has a backtracking feature, so users can return the way they came without fear of getting lost. While this is a key feature of several sports GPS watches, it’s also not typically seen on premium flagship smartwatches. Even so, Samsung’s ability to appeal to Garmin enthusiasts will really come down to whether or not the Pro version can actually provide multi-day battery life.
The Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro are available for pre-order starting today and will ship on August 26. the Watch 5 starts at $279.99, while the Pro starts at $449.99. the LTE version will cost an additional $50. Both watches will also be available in a Golf version with Bluetooth communication only, starting at $329.99.
