Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro Smartwatch Review – It just lasts longer. Outdoor professional The Galaxy Watch5 Pro is the first Pro model in Samsung’s smartwatch universe. With a large battery and robust titanium housing, it is primarily aimed at sports and outdoor fans. Our test shows what makes the Watch5 Pro a Pro.
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The Galaxy Watch5 Pro is the first Pro model in Samsung’s lineup of wearables. The top model should be particularly robust, have a longer battery life and are therefore particularly suitable for athletes and outdoor enthusiasts. The 5 Pro is only available in one size with a diameter of 45 millimeters. The colors black and gray are available for the housing. The choice of straps is more colorful, at least with a classic clasp, where five variants are possible. It gets even more colorful with the Bespoke program, an online configurator with which parts of the watch can be customized. The D-Buckle Sport Band bracelet with a titanium quick-release buckle is only available in black and gray. Samsung also offers an LTE version of the watch. Our test sample has a gray case and a gray D-Buckle Sport band and does not come with a cellular connection.
- Processor: Samsung Exynos W920 2 x 1.2 GHz, ARM Cortex-A55
- Graphics card: ARM Mali-G68 MP2
- Main memory: 1536 MB
- Screen: 1.36 inch 1:1, 450 x 450 pixels 468 PPI, capacitive, AMOLED, glossy: yes, 60 Hz
- Mass Storage: 16GB eMMC Flash, 16GB
- , 7.5 GB available
- Connections: NFC, brightness sensor, sensors: gyroscope, barometer, bioelectrical impedance analysis sensor, accelerometer, electrical heart sensor, optical heart rate sensor
- Network: 802.11a/b/g/n (a/b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4), Bluetooth 5.2, GPS
- Battery: 590 mAh lithium polymer
- Charging: Wireless charging (Wireless Charging), Fast Charging / Quick Charge
- Operating system: Google Wear OS 3
- Miscellaneous: Speakers: Mono, charging cable, manual, One UI 4.5 / R920XXU1AVH6, 24 month guarantee, ATM 5, IP 68, MIL-STD-810H, GNSS networks: GPS, Glonass, Beidou, Galileo, fanless, waterproof
- Weight: 46.5g
Case and Features – The Watch5 Pro comes with a titanium case
The case of the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro is made of titanium and has a brushed finish. Material appearance and workmanship are excellent. This impression is reinforced by the firm fit of the two buttons on the right side and their rich noise when pressed. The 1.36 inch display is protected by sapphire glass. In addition, the bezel clearly towers over the display and thus also protects it. The bezel cannot be rotated, but sensors on the inside detect movements, which means that the bezel can be used digitally.
A microphone sits between the two buttons on the right-hand side, while another sits above the ribbon connector on the top. The speaker is mounted on the left side of the case. The underside of the smartwatch is determined by the multitude of sensors. It does not need charging contacts because the battery is charged wirelessly via a Qi charging pad.
The Galaxy Watch5 Pro is only available in one size with a case diameter of 45 millimeters. With the D-Buckle Sport strap, it weighs 76 grams on the test scales, the case alone weighs 47 grams. During the test period, the watch was not damaged, only the titanium clasp of the bracelet, which constantly broke when typing on a keyboard touched the table or the laptop, got some marks during use.
The case of the Galaxy Watch5 Pro is made of titanium, the display is protected by sapphire glass.
Setup and operation – Only with the Samsung Wear app
The Samsung Wear app, which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store, is required for setup. At least Android 8 should be installed on the smartphone. Linking with iOS devices is not possible. The Wear app is designed for all kinds of Samsung wearables. If the watch is recognized, the software must load a specific plug-in. All paired Samsung devices are listed in the Wear app.
The basic settings of the watch are made via this app. This affects the notifications of individual apps, tones and vibrations, the display settings or the customization of the keys. Watch faces can also be selected there, the arrangement of the app screen can be changed and the content such as the arrangement of the tiles can be adjusted. The connection to the Samsung Cloud, for backing up data, or the implementation of Samsung Pay – the manufacturer’s own payment service – is also done via this app. Samsung also creates a link to the Google Play Store at this point, which has its own apps for smartwatches with Wear OS. However, Samsung has its own program for collecting and evaluating fitness data, the Samsung Health App.
After setup, many settings are also possible on the smartwatch itself. It’s not just about settings that affect the display on the watch, such as the font size or activation of the display, but also settings in the individual apps or the installation of new apps is possible directly on the Watch5 Pro. At the end of each menu you will find the “Show on smartphone” button. If the is pressed, the corresponding menu opens automatically on the paired telephone.
The Galaxy Watch5 Pro is operated via the 1.36-inch touchscreen, as well as via two buttons on the right side of the housing and a digital bezel. However, the bezel does not rotate, rather it is a sensor that is installed in the area between the display and the edge of the case. Running a finger over this ring scrolls the watch through menus.
The function of the buttons can be customized in the Wear app. Not only is a single press possible, but the software also recognizes double presses or long presses. In the factory settings, a simple press on the top button always leads back to the home screen. Long press opens voice assistant Bixby and double press opens last used app. Pressing the bottom button takes you one step back in every menu and app.
From the home screen, a swipe from top to bottom leads to the short menu called QuickPanel. Similar to Android smartphones, there is quick access to the display brightness, the always-on display, Bluetooth and WLAN connections, the energy saving mode, the flashlight function and various modes such as airplane mode, cinema mode, do not disturb mode or bedtime mode. The arrangement of the keys can be customized.
A swipe from left to right leads to the notifications, a notification is displayed on each tile, clicking on the message opens more details. An orange dot on the home screen indicates that unread messages have arrived. The swipe from bottom to top opens the app menu with all installed applications. The arrangement of the programs can be adjusted on the watch and in the smartphone app. A swipe from the right leads to tiles that represent essential information. Arrangement and content can be changed both on the watch and in the app. In the factory settings, the Watch5 Pro gives an overview of the daily activities, the workout menu, body composition, sleep values, the weather, the calendar, blood pressure, ECG, heart rate and stress level. Pressing on the respective tile opens a submenu with more details.
There is no widget for the Samsung Wear app, but there is one for the Health app. However, it only shows the steps taken. Clicking on the widget opens the app.
Telephony and Notifications – The Watch5 Pro is exemplary
When it comes to telephony, the Galaxy Watch5 Pro is a model student among smartwatches. Incoming calls are reliably played back on the watch and can be accepted directly on the watch if the watch is connected to the smartphone. The voice quality is good. The speaker of the watch becomes loud enough and the wearer’s voice is transmitted without interference. Calls can also be made from the smartwatch. The Watch5 Pro displays both call lists and the entire phone book of the smartphone.
The smartwatch is similarly positive when it comes to notifications. In the Galaxy Wear app, you can select whether each program on the smartphone is allowed to send push messages to the watch. The notifications arrive reliably, long messages such as emails are not shortened. If there are several messages in a messenger – such as WhatsApp – the entire chat history is displayed on the smartwatch. The watch also displays emojis and pictures, only videos are not played. Answers are possible with ready-made short messages, but the Watch5 Pro also allows more complex answers. Input is possible via speech, recognition of drawn letters and a keyboard. The watch displays a full QWERTY keyboard on the small screen, and inputs are surprisingly good.
Voice Assistant – Samsung lets you choose between Bixby and Google Assistant
The Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro has speakers and microphones, so all the conditions for a voice assistant are there. And Samsung uses the hardware potential. The user can choose between the manufacturer’s Bixby assistant and the Google Assistant. For many inquiries, the Google software seems to be superior to the Samsung solution in terms of functionality. Bixby also often closed itself after opening via the speed dial before a search query could be spoken. The assistants can both be operated in parallel on the watch. While Bixby is installed on the watch from the start, the Assistant needs to be installed and set up first. Amazon’s Alexa cannot be loaded onto the watch from the Playstore.
Health and Fitness – Comprehensive analysis with Samsung’s BioActive Sensor
The central platform for the health functions of the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro is the Samsung Health app. The program compiles all the essential data on the home page and gives an overview of the daily activity with the known circles – at Samsung it’s hearts – the sprints run, an overview of the past training sessions, sleep data, heart rate, stress level, body composition and blood oxygen saturation. Clicking on the individual elements opens a submenu and provides an overview of the steps taken over the past few days, weeks or months.
The results can be compared via the Samsung community. In the Fitness tab, Samsung lists training plans from various providers such as Blesslife, Keep, 300Fit and Samsung’s own Health offerings in various categories. Running training is possible, but also strengthening or fat burning exercises. The training plans can be individualized in terms of time. The training sessions are visualized as videos on the smartphone, and the watch measures the training load.
In the Profile tab, the app displays personal best times and badges collected. A weekly summary of active time and sleep time is also provided. Data synchronization with Google Fit is not possible without a third-party app. However, Samsung Health can be connected to Strava and Technogym accounts.
Samsung uses a so-called BioActive sensor to collect the data. This means that optical heart rate, electrical heart signal and bioelectrical impedance analysis are processed on one chip. The Watch5 Pro can also measure blood oxygen with this chip and calculate a stress level from it. There is no measurement of skin temperature.
Activity Goals – Watch5 Pro shows body composition
Both the watch and the Health app show the status of activity goals in the form of dates and charts. The Samsung watch shows steps taken, time in motion and calories burned in pie charts. The goals can be customized in the app. In addition, the watch also provides information about the total distance covered during the day and the floors climbed. The data becomes even more specific, so the watch indicates the most active hour of the day, the app shows the area in which the wearer was traveling on a map. The stress level is also measured throughout the day and graphically classified on a bar every hour. The watch can also measure and break down body composition into body fat, skeletal muscle, fat mass and body water.
Heart rate, heart rhythm and blood oxygen saturation
A big plus of the Samsung watch is the ability to measure ECG and blood pressure. However, the measurements are only possible in connection with another app – Samsung Health Monitor. This is problematic because this program only works on Samsung smartphones. It is possible to install the APK file on smartphones from other manufacturers, but the program will not start. The measurement of these two parameters therefore only works on Samsung smartphones. The accuracy of the blood pressure measurement is convincing when compared with our reference device, the Braun ExacFit 5 Connect. In two out of three measurements, the values deviate from each other by only a few mmHG. On average from the three measurements, the systolic values are 2.64 percent apart, the diastolic 8.07 percent.
The Watch5 Pro also measures blood oxygen saturation. We also compared these values with a reference device, in this case with the Braun pulse oximeter 1. The values of the smartwatch are also convincing in this discipline, because the average deviation in three measurements is 2.39 percent, the values of the watch are there below those of the reference device.
We also examined the accuracy of the heart rate measurement of the Galaxy Watch5 Pro. In this case, the values are compared with those of the Polar H10 chest strap on a bike ride. The deviation for the resting pulse is 3.64 percent, while the values for the performance pulse are only 1.40 percent apart. With one exception, the values of the watch are higher than those of the chest strap. It is interesting that the measurements of the normal Watch5 without Pro match those of the chest strap much more precisely, even though the same sensors are installed. This suggests that the large Pro model did not fit as well on the tester’s arm.
Sleep Tracking – Good Samsung sleep tracking with snoring detection
The Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro masters sleep tracking. If desired, the watch keeps an eye on the pulse and the oxygen saturation at night. It also reliably recognizes waking phases. The smartwatch distinguishes between different sleep phases such as REM sleep, deep sleep and light sleep. The clock indicates both the total sleep time, as well as the times in the respective phases and the percentage of the phases in the total time.
In addition, the software shows the sleep and its individual parts in various diagrams. The quality of the sleep is also assessed with a sleep value. This value is then classified in relation to the age group and broken down into its components. In addition, the Samsung software offers snoring detection in connection with a smartphone. Samsung evaluates the collected data in a sleep coach. After a week, the sleep behavior is assigned to a specific scheme. If the watch is worn at night for four weeks, Samsung wants to give more tips for restful nights.
On the plus side, most sleep data can also be viewed on the watch. Many other devices, even in this price range, such as the Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro, only show the sleep time on the watch, and the smartphone has to be pulled out for details. Although the Galaxy Watch5 Pro extensively analyzes the wearer’s sleep, it does not offer a smart alarm clock that would take the respective sleep phase into account.
Performance and runtime – The Watch5 Pro performs convincingly
Samsung installed its own Exynos W920 in the Galaxy Watch5 Pro, which was already used in the predecessor Galaxy Watch4. In the benchmarks, the Exynos performs very well, especially in Sunspider and Mozila Kraken 1.1 and is only beaten by another watch. In contrast, the Galaxy Watch5 Pro falls behind in the Google Octane V2 benchmark.
The performance of the watch is convincing in everyday life. Inputs are possible smoothly, and there are no stutters when swiping between different maps or long waiting times when opening apps. Only the installation of apps from the Play Store takes some time, one reason could be the slow eMMC memory. After all, the watch offers 7.5 GB of free storage space in the factory setting. This leaves enough space for numerous apps from the Google Play Store or for pictures and music that can be saved locally on the watch. It is also possible to save albums and playlists for offline playback with streaming services such as Spotify.
This means that the watch can provide entertainment without a smartphone connection, for example during training. The connection with various Bluetooth headphones worked without any problems in the test. With Samsung devices, special functions such as noise cancellation can also be controlled from the clock. Thanks to the built-in NFC, the watch can also be used to pay if a paired smartphone is nearby. The Watch5 Pro supports Samsung Pay and Google Wallet. However, Samsung Pay would not work on a non-Samsung smartphone.
Battery life – Samsung’s Pro model lasts longer
At 590 mAh, the Galaxy Watch5 Pro has the largest battery that Samsung has installed in a wearable to date. The Pro model thus achieves significantly better runtimes than the normal Watch5, but is still far removed from those of other manufacturers. If all sensors and the always-on display are activated, the smartwatch lasts two days and the night in between – without sports units. With the always-on display deactivated, two days and two nights of uninterrupted wear were possible in the test with a 35-minute workout before the watch had to go to the charger with eight percent remaining charge. This is the minimum battery life, less frequent measurements, synchronizations and the deactivation of the automatic training recording offer a lot of potential for saving energy.
The smartwatch is charged wirelessly via the Qi standard. Reverse wireless charging with a corresponding smartphone is also possible, but the watch slips down quickly due to the rounded underside. Samsung advertises the new Watch5 generation with fast charging. Nevertheless, a charge from 10 to 100 percent takes 1 hour and 33 minutes in the test. The charging was completed twelve minutes faster than the information that appeared on the display during charging. The time was achieved using both an 18 watt Google PSU and a 65 watt Honor PSU. Samsung recommends a Samsung 25-watt charger for fast charging. It is not possible to check at this point whether the loading times will improve as a result.