Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro review: Bigger, durable and reliable smart wearable
In late August, Samsung released the company's premium Galaxy Watch5 series in India. It comes in two variants- a standard Galaxy Watch5 and a top-end Galaxy Watch 5 Pro-- with prices ranging between Rs 27,999 and Rs 49,999.
The regular model is an iterative upgrade over its predecessor, but the Pro model is a new range of Samsung premium smart wearable with the better build quality, bigger display, and promises a longer battery life. I have been using it for a little over a week and here are my thoughts on the Galaxy Watch5 Pro.
Design and build quality
The new Galaxy Watch5 Pro features a classic circular dial. Though it has no physical rotating bezel, there is a touch-enabled feature with haptic feedback. The display is very sensitive to the touch and responds fast to swipe gestures. Also, there are two physical buttons- home and back-- at the sides. They offer a really good tactile touch feel.
On the front, it features a 1.5-inch super AMOLED (450 x 450p) display, the biggest screen for Samsung Watches to date. Also, it comes with Sapphire glass protection to resist scratches and has a sturdy titanium case.
It comes with an IP68 rating, meaning it will be able to sustain for up 1.5 metres (approx. five feet) under water for close to 30 minutes. Also, it also comes with the 5 ATM rating and has undergone rigorous military-grade MIL-STD-810G durability tests.
I am happy to note that the Watch5 Pro has lived up to the hype and remains scratch-free for more than a week and hope to keep it that way till I return back the device to Samsung.
And, the big display has a pixel density of 321 ppi (pixels per inch). I did not face any pressing issues while reading notifications be it indoors. However, whenever I was outdoors, I used to keep the display to the max and it is really good. I had turned off the Always-On-display option, as the sensors of the Watch5 Pro are very sensitive to hand movement.
It is very responsive and instantly lights the display, whenever I held my hand up to see the time or any notification.
Also, Samsung has done a fine job with the innovative magnetic D-buckle strap. I found this to be very easy to adjust the band around the wrist compared to any other smartwatches. And, the magnets are strong too and keep the watch tightly wrapped around the wrist and this way, it helps record heart rate without any errors.
Performance
Setting up the Galaxy Watch5 series is really easy on Android and even better on Samsung, as the device is better optimised to work with Galaxy series phones. Owners have to install the Galaxy Wearable app, and Galaxy Health apps to pair the Watch with the phone and also sync recorded health data. It will barely take 10-15 minutes to complete the pairing procedure.
And once done, you can check all the recorded data such as sleep, steps walked, calories burned, average heart rate, SpO2 (blood-oxygen saturation), and other physical activities.
Though the Galaxy Watch5 Pro has a big display and I had no issues viewing the same biometrics details on its screen, the apps on the bigger screen of the phone offer more detailed notes, but are simple enough for even regular people to get the gist of the health data recorded by the Watch.
Also, with Galaxy Wearable, users can customise the widgets, add/remove functions on the quick panel and even move around the apps and tiles to change the order of apps and widgets we see on the Watch5 Pro. Also, there are hundreds of watch faces and users can personalise them to match their attire.
Inside, the Galaxy Watch5 Pro is powered by Samsung's proprietary 5nm class 1.18Ghz Exynos W920 (Cortex-A55) dual-core silicon with Mali-G68 GPU, 1.5GB RAM, and 16GB storage. It runs Android Wear OS 3.5-based One UI Watch 4.5. The interface is really clean and most importantly, Google apps such as Maps are beautifully integrated to offer easy-to-understand navigation on the compact screen of the Watch5 Pro.
Also, it supports TrackBack feature in select countries, which would help users to go back to the starting point of a trek in a previously unexplored region.
The best aspect and the most unique to the Galaxy Watch5 Pro is the BioActive Sensor. It can measure the skeleton-muscle ratio and fat mass of the body. It should be noted that this Watch reading is not as accurate as the medical device at the hospital but offers some insights to track our body health. With proper consultation with the family doctor and nearby nutritionist, owners can develop a healthy diet. Stick to the prescribed diet. Over time, we will be able to see the change in skeleton muscle and fat mass in the body. Based on Doctor's suggestion take the full body check-up quarterly or whatever timeframe to see the changes the doctor suggests. In the meantime, you can rely on Galaxy Watch5 Pro.
Also, there is a food intake log feature on the Samsung Health app that allows users to record breakfast, morning snacks, beverages, lunch, evening snacks, and dinner. Another interesting aspect is that it has several Indian food items with average meal portions (in grams) and calories. This way, users can control their diet for the day and ensure they exercise to burn them accordingly. Over a long period, it helps in keeping the body fit and maintain a healthy diet.
The Galaxy Watch5 Pro also boasts a new-generation Optical Heart Rate sensor with an Electrical Heart sensor. The readings are close to Apple Watch Series 7, which I have been using for close to a year.
With the Sleep app, users can get insights on light and deep sleep patterns such as light REM (Rapid Eye Movement), Light, Deep and Awake). It is said that adults go through four to five cycles per night and if is zero-to-three or more than seven cycles, then, it is bad. And, based on those aspects and Samsung's algorithm, it comes with a sleep score. There are colour codes too, blue is good and orange is bad. It is said that deep sleep is essential for tissue growth and repair. Whereas REM is important for mental stress recovery.
It also comes with a temperature sensor, even ECG (Electrocardiogram), and Blood Pressure(BP) reader apps and components. Unfortunately, these features are disabled in India over delays in approval from government regulatory agencies. I wish Samsung gets the nod soon enough and people make good use of the critical health tracking features.
It supports accelerometer, gyro and barometer sensors, dual-band Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 5.2, A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, and BDS.
With the LTE option, users can directly answer or read notifications right from the wrist if had left behind the phone at home and taken a long routine walk in the morning or evening. You subscribe to an e-SIM plan from Airtel or Reliance Iio or Vodafone Idea in India.
Users can enable notifications of several third-party apps including WhatsApp, Google, YouTube, and others. There is an option to enable reading the notifications aloud and also, reply back with dictations, or even there are smart reply options too, which is a big time saver for the user. It also supports NFC-based Samsung Pay too.
The Watch5 Pro used to consistently offer three full days of battery life. This actually helps in tracking our sleep patterns. However, if you have turned on LTE at all times on the Watch, the latter would be able to deliver for 20 hours.
It supports 10W wireless charging and the Watch usually takes 90 minutes to fully charge from zero to hit 100 per cent mark. Also, for 30 minutes, it can charge up to 45 per cent of its capacity.
Final thoughts (4/5)
Galaxy Watch5 Pro is an iterative upgrade over its predecessor. The new model has a bigger brighter display, which makes reading the notification, and time under direct sunlight with fewer issues.
Also, it is one of the most durable smart wearables in the market. It has remained scratch-free for more than two weeks and hopes to keep it that way until it is returned back to Samsung.
The most interesting thing about the Galaxy Watch5 Pro series is the innovative Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) feature that is capable of offering details such as muscle, bone, and fat density. This is very useful for fitness enthusiasts to get deeper insights into their body health. Long-term usage, will definitely help in improving the BMI of the user and develop a healthier lifestyle.
However, like the previous generation, the Galaxy Watch5 Pro is optimised for Android phones and even better on Samsung handsets. And, since the Watch4 series, Samsung no longer offers support for iPhones. This should be a deal breaker, as Apple, since the beginning has not made its Watches compatible with Android handsets. So, Samsung has no obligation to iPhone users.
Another qualm I have is that the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 series, though supports the ECG app, isn't activated in India yet.
The Galaxy Watch5 Pro comes in just 45mm size. It is available in Bluetooth only and LTE variants for-- Rs 44,999 and Rs 49,999, respectively.
Pros
Excellent premium build quality
Long battery life
Very optimised for Android phones
Cons
ECG, temperature sensors not activated yet in India
Doesn't support iPhones (As said above, not a deal breaker)
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