Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro: the pinnacle of Android smartwatches
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. Picture: Noel Campion.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is a shift by the Korean company which usually releases a classic version for everyday use and an active version that’s smaller and lighter. The Watch 5 Pro ditches the rotating dial of the Watch Classic while going beyond the active with tougher materials, a durable design and much better battery life over the standard Watch 5.
I’ve always loved the rotating dial on Samsung smartwatches, so I was a little disappointed not to see it on Watch 5 Pro. However, you have to appreciate the reasoning behind the design choice which uses an ultra-strong and lightweight metal like titanium for the case with sapphire glass protecting the display.
This watch is only available in 45mm and it’s pretty chunky but I like the way it looks on my medium-sized wrist. I can understand why this may turn some people off, but I feel it’s a necessity to house the large battery, plethora of sensors and additional bulk to ensure robustness. Clearly, this isn’t the smartwatch for the masses but rather for those who need a fitness watch that can handle extreme temperatures and weather conditions for their great outdoor adventures.
The raised bezel around the glass isn’t as nice as a stylish watch like the Watch 4 Classic but it does add significant protection. The titanium case is tough yet light at the same time and I never felt like the Watch 5 Pro was too heavy regardless of what I was doing.
I really love the strap design that can be adjusted to fit your wrist perfectly and makes taking it on and off easily. It uses strong magnets to ensure it doesn’t unbuckle itself but the adjustment clasp is really hard to open for adjustments.
On the right side is the microphone which is located between the two long buttons — the top one has a distinctive red colour surrounding it. If you're doing something like an ECG or body composition measurement, the buttons double up as contact points.
On the left side is the speaker that combined with the mic allows you to take calls from your phone over Bluetooth.
The 1.4-inch AMOLED display is circular with a large featureless black ring around it. The tall case has a minimalistic look with a matte finish.
In place of the physical dial, there’s a virtual one where you move your finger around the black ring to navigate the interface. This works fine but isn’t as nice or as tactile as a rotating dial.
The screen is perfect for viewing outside or indoors with sharp text that’s easy to read and vibrant colours that pop.
The Watch 5 Pro is jam-packed with sensors that can track everything from your temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, body composition, and SpO2. It has a large surface area for the sensors and in theory, should have more accurate measurements. I had to activate certain features such as the blood pressure and ECG over a cellular network because it wouldn’t do it with just a WiFi connection. Also, the blood pressure feature required three calibration readings using a dedicated blood pressure device to work. I used a Braun upper arm blood pressure monitor to do the calibrating and then the watch was able to achieve similar readings. Samsung recommends you do the calibration regularly for the most accurate results. Those who need to take regular blood pressure readings will be glad of the convenience of being able to use this feature at any time and anywhere.
It's vital to remember that the information you obtain from the watch cannot diagnose heart diseases like hypertension and shouldn't be utilised for diagnostic purposes. If you suspect something is odd, see a doctor.
One drawback or peculiarity of Samsung's Wear OS platform is that it only functions with Android devices, making it impossible to pair this watch with an iPhone. Not a big deal I guess since you can’t use an Apple Watch with an Android phone.
The Watch 5 Pro can be used with any Android handset, but some of its best capabilities, such as blood pressure and ECG monitoring, are only available on Samsung Galaxy phones because the required companion app is only available on the Galaxy Store. Also, although the watch has a skin temperature sensor, there is currently no way to use it.
Samsung has a lot of its own software integration on top of Google Wear OS. You get features like route tracking where you can import a GPX file from your phone and put it on the watch. A GPX file, commonly referred to as a GPS Exchange Format file, is merely a text file that contains geographic data including waypoints, tracks and routes.
If you are lost there’s the tracked back feature that will use the GPS to guide you back to where you started.
There’s a good selection of tiles too including media playback controls, sleep tracking, weather, calendar, blood oxygen and ECG.
You also get quick notifications and messages — respond with quick replies, reply using a QWERTY keyboard or the mic for speak-to-text dictation.
Samsung Pass is here too which allows you to use Watch 5 Pro for contactless payments, loyalty cards, vouchers, boarding passes, event tickets and digital keys for locks that are compatible with Samsung SmartThings.
The Watch 5 Pro has a mic and speaker and it works great for calls when you can’t use your phone or if it’s in another room and you can get to it quickly enough. The speaker is loud and clear and callers never complained they couldn’t hear me clearly.
I wore the Watch 5 Pro for several weeks during which time I was able to manage enough activities to get an impression of features like sleep tracking, heart rate monitoring and GPS tracking. While I’m not in a position to perform scientific tests, I found things like GPS tracking to be accurate based on the track on the map and the actual distance covered. My heart rate matched what I was reading on other devices and sleep tracking seemed about right too.
There’s a great selection of workouts and you can add and customise which ones you see on the watch. During a workout, including things like walks, you will see the duration, distance, steps, heart rate, calories burned, speed and average speed as well as average and maximum heart.
On average I was able to achieve three days of battery which included sleep tracking but no GPS tracking. My benchmark is being able to take a wearable on a long weekend without having to worry about bringing a charger and this is just about possible on the Watch 5 Pro. However, if you use the GPS and go for long hikes, walks or runs, a day or possibly two is more likely.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is the pinnacle of Android smartwatches, but its chunky design may turn some users off. However, its function over form styling will appeal to those who prefer performance, features and battery life above all else.
Galaxy Watch 5 Pro available in black or grey — €479 Harvey Norman
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