Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro Review: The Best Android Smartwatch

Samsung launched its first smartwatch with the Pro moniker, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. One of the major changes is the removal of the physical rotating bezel.

Samsung Watch 5 Pro price in Nepal is Rs. 64,999 for the Wi-Fi-only variant.

I have been using the Watch 5 Pro for more than two weeks and this is my full review.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro Review

Design

• 45.4 mm × 45.4 mm × 10.5 mm
• IP68 Dust/Water Resistance
• Sapphire crystal front, titanium frame

The Watch 5 Pro comes in a single 45mm size this time. For improved build quality, Samsung Watch 5 Pro uses a titanium casing and it is as robust as it comes.

This watch has been dropped multiple times and I’ve accidentally brushed it up against metal fences and railings. And still, it looks brand new. It has a small dot scuff mark, except that it is still in mint condition.

The screen also gets improved protection as it swaps out the Gorilla Glass DX with Sapphire Crystal Glass which provides 60% better protection. Along with that, the raised rim around the screen also protects the screen from chip damage.

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It also comes with 5ATM and IP68 Dust/Water resistance. And, that’s why I have been wearing this out in the rain and even while taking shower without any worry.

Furthermore, the new magnetic clasp strap is very comfortable and easy to wear. You will need to adjust the strap according to your wrist size first. After that, it is easy to get it in and out. However, I have had some moments where the watch would come off my wrist itself. This usually happens when the clasp gets stuck on some objects like bags or table tops.

Display

• 1.4 inches Super AMOLED
• 450 x 450 pixels
• Sapphire crystal

For display, the Watch 5 Pro has a 1.4-inch AMOLED panel with a raised rim all around. Well, the bezel could have been thinner but it’s fine. Talking about the bezel, Watch 4 doesn’t get the physical rotation bezel. Instead, it uses the touch bezel which works pretty well.

The display panel is bright, the colors are punchy, and offers very good viewing angles. I mostly used the smartwatch at 50% brightness and it was more than enough. It also has always-on but I don’t think it’s necessary because of the raise to wake.

You can get plenty of watch faces via Samsung’s store or you can even install third-party apps like “Facer” from Play Store for premium watch faces.

Hardware

• Exynos W920 chipset
• 2 Cortex-A55 cores
• Mali-G68 GPU
• 1.5GB RAM
• 16GB Storage

The Watch 5 series is also using a new Exynos W920 processor designed for smartwatches and other wearables.

The Exynos W920 has 2 Cortex-A55 cores and a Mali-G68 GPU. And, it also includes a dedicated Cortex-M55 processor for always-on display. Samsung claims that this chipset provides 20% better CPU performance and 10 times better GPU performance than its previous wearable chip.

Moving on, these watches have 1.5GB RAM and 16GB internal storage.

During my usage, the watch 5 felt smoother and faster than the previous generation. The animations are faster and feel more fluid but it is not super smooth. I mean, I had to swipe more than once to get what I wanted sometimes.

Health Tracking Features

• Samsung bioactive sensor
• ECG, Blood pressure, SpO2
• Sleep monitoring, Body Composition

Samsung is using the same BioActive sensor used on the watch 4 series. The BioActive sensor is a 3-in-1 sensor that uses a single chip to precisely run 3 health sensors – Optical Heart Rate, Electrical Heart, and Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis. This helps users to monitor their blood pressure, detect irregular heartbeat, and measure blood oxygen levels. Sadly, we cannot use some of these features in Nepal.

The heart rate measurement and SpO2 measurement are quite accurate. I never had any trouble while measuring my heart rate or blood oxygen level.

The Body Composition feature measures things like skeletal muscle, basal metabolic rate, body water, and body fat percentage.

The two buttons on the side also act as an input to check your body composition. It’s very easy to use this feature but I’m not sure about its accuracy. According to its measurement, I dropped around 3% body fat in 3 days which makes me wonder about its accuracy.

Furthermore, Watch 5 Pro’s sleep tracking has been improved as it provides better analysis and measurement. You can also turn on continuous heart rate monitoring and SpO2 measurement while tracking sleep.

You can also turn on the fall detection which will notify your emergency contact in case it detects a fall when you’re wearing the watch. Likewise, Samsung has also included a new temperature sensor, but as of now, there’s no use for this sensor. We could see some useful features in the future with software updates.

Activity-Tracking

As for fitness tracking, it can track a lot of workouts. Some of the workouts are already provided via the Workout tile but you can add furthermore from the phone or the watch itself. And, GPS tracking also works like a charm.

During workout tracking, the Watch 5 Pro also provides audible and vibration updates. This is useful when you are not able to closely monitor your wrist. As for the automatic tracking, it is very accurate. The tracking screen pops up after 10 mins of walking, cycling, and running. And, the auto-pause function of the Watch 5 Pro is also seriously accurate.

Wear OS

• Wear OS 3.5
• One UI Watch 4.5

Samsung uses Google’s Wear OS 3.5 along with One UI Watch 4.5. It is similar to what we saw on the Samsung Watch 4 series.

The Watch 5 Pro uses Samsung One UI Watch overlay on top of the Wear OS with Samsung apps and services. But, the Google Map support is a welcome addition with updated navigation support. The watch automatically syncs itself and shows you the direction when you use google Maps on the phone.

Google Assistant is now available on the Watch 5 Pro but Bixby is still used as the default voice assistant.

Samsung has done a great job with the software integration. When you go through its settings menu, you will know that you are using One UI. With the new Wear OS, you can now access the Play Store, allowing users to use popular third-party apps. Well, Spotify support was already available on previous watches but Spotify still hasn’t added offline play support on the Wear OS.

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Moving on, the gesture keyboard is very easy to use, and it’s really useful when you want to send short messages like “Ok”. Overall, Samsung’s spin on Google’s Wear OS is almost perfect.

Battery

• 590mAh battery

As for the battery, the Watch 5 Pro features a 590mAh battery. Samsung claims that the Watch 5 Pro can last up to 80 hours but I was not able to achieve the claimed battery life.

I was able to get around 52 hours of usage from the Watch 5 Pro. During my usage, I had the watch at 50% brightness with notifications turned on and at least 1 hour of GPS usage. So, you might be able to get around 70 hours of usage if you use it moderately.

As for charging, it supports 25W WPS-based wireless fast charging which can take it from 0 to 45% in just 35 mins. However, it doesn’t come with an adapter. I charged the Watch 5 Pro using the laptop and it took me more than 3 hours.

Should You Buy Samsung Watch 5 Pro?

Samsung Watch 5 Pro strikes a good middle ground between a normal smartwatch and a sports watch.

It cannot go head to head against sports watches that are made especially for athletes. It is mostly because it does not have the required battery endurance and it misses out on recovery metrics along with in-depth navigation service.

With this said, the Watch 5 Pro is still a great option if you want the best of both worlds.

What do you think of the Samsung Watch 5 Pro? Let us know in the comments!

Also, watch our review of the Nothing Phone 1 in Nepali.