Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro review

At a glance

Expert’s Rating

Pros

• Incredibly durable build
• Multi-day battery life
• Impressively in-depth tracking
• Features for hiking and cycling

Cons

• Track back and navigation aren’t compatible with running and walking
• Big, bulky design
• No rotating bezel

Our Verdict

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is a durable smartwatch that can take on the great outdoors, with a 90% stronger display, long battery life and unique outdoor-focused features. However, it’s bulky, certain fitness features are locked to those with a Samsung phone and it’s much more expensive than the standard Watch 5, so be sure you’ll make the most of the additional features on offer.

Announced alongside the Galaxy Watch 5 and Samsung’s latest foldables, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro represents the most advanced Samsung smartwatch to date. Sporting a premium design similar to that of traditional wristwatches, the Pro smartwatch offers impressive durability with a titanium case and a display 90% stronger than the previous-gen wearable and unique features tailored to outdoor exercise.

While it’s Pro in name, this is essentially a rugged Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 that delivers a largely no-compromise smartwatch experience for the great outdoors.

Design & build

• Premium design with impressive durability
• 45mm casing means it can be quite bulky on the wrist
• Samsung D-band is great after initial setup

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro may be the spiritual successor to last year’s Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, but there are plenty of differences between the two – including one big change that current fans of the series may mourn.

The Watch 5 Pro does away with the rotating bezel, a staple of the Galaxy Watch collection since its early days. In its place, you’re left with a software-based touchscreen bezel activated by running your finger around the raised inner edges of the watch.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

While the functionality is the same as ever, the experience isn’t quite as fluid, especially as my finger now partially covers the display when swiping around the edge. I much prefer the rotating bezel that I could adjust from the outside of the display area, always giving me a full view of what’s on the screen.

One saving grace is that Samsung is planning to keep the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic on sale for a little longer for those that simply can’t do without the rotating bezel.

It’s not all bad news though; an unexpected upside of the raised bezel is a better-protected display, defending the screen from knocks and scrapes as I go about my daily life.

Moving beyond the bezel controversy, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro has a markedly more toned-down, premium look than its fashion-focused sibling. That starts with an upgraded casing, utilising titanium in place of Samsung’s Armor Aluminium, along with a larger 1.4in AMOLED display and a raised metallic edge that gives it a notable thickness.

In fact, it measures in at slightly over 15mm thick – thicker than the claimed 10.5mm from Samsung – when combining the casing and the suite of sensors on the bottom, and I’ve found it to be quite noticeable on the wrist.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

That’s compounded by the fact it’s only available in a single 45mm case, which even for my fairly large wrists felt a bit bulky at times, and a gap between the strap and my wrist due to the angle that the lugs connect makes it all the more noticeable. Simply put, if you’ve got skinny wrists, you’ll probably find the Watch 5 Pro too hefty for daily use.

Durability has been a particular focus for Samsung with the Watch 5 range and the Pro model in particular. The AMOLED display of the Pro model is protected by a sapphire crystal glass lens that Samsung claims is 90% more durable than the Galaxy Watch 4, an upgrade even compared to the 60% improvement from the standard Galaxy Watch 5.

While I didn’t go out of my way to damage the display of my review sample, Samsung did provide a hands-on demo that let me test the scratch resistance of the display, and it was impressive to say the least.

That’s backed up by the upgraded titanium casing on the Pro model, which should be able to take a knock or two, and an official MIL-STD-810G durability rating. With water-focused exercise tracking on offer, it should come as no surprise that it offers both IP68 water resistance and 5ATM pressure resistance too.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

In place of the standard silicone strap you’ll find on the Galaxy Watch 5, the Pro model sports Samsung’s new D-buckle band. It aids the premium look of the watch overall while providing a more snug, secure fit. It’s also much easier to put on than most competitors, utilising magnets and a clasp system.   

The initial setup can be fiddly and time-consuming as you have to thread the strap in, lock it into place and then put it on the wrist to see how comfortable it is, but it’s only something you’ll need to do once.

Once properly snug on your wrist, it’s as easy as snapping the magnetic clasp into place – a much more refined and elegant experience than counting buttons on a strap, and more closely matching its traditional, analogue brethren.

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is also compatible with standard 20mm watch straps for those that want more variety, but I suspect most will be happy with Samsung’s new premium strap system.

Like most ‘Pro’ wearables, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is rather limited when it comes to colour options, available in Black Titanium or Gray Titanium with a matching D-buckle. Looks like you’ll have to rely on that bright, vivid 455ppi AMOLED display to inject some much-needed colour onto your wrist.

Health & fitness tracking

• BioActive sensor provides in-depth fitness tracking
• Some features exclusive to Samsung phone users
• Turn-by-turn navigation and track back are great for hiking

Design isn’t the only differentiator between the Galaxy Watch 5 and its Pro sibling; the Watch 5 Pro also has a particular focus on outdoor exercise, including running, cycling and hiking. That durable design makes more sense now, right?

As with the Galaxy Watch 4 range, the Pro wearable sports Samsung’s BioActive sensor – a bevvy of sensors that can measure fairly standard metrics like heart rate, blood oxygen, stress and sleep monitoring alongside more advanced metrics like body composition, electrical heart signal and blood pressure.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

It really does provide unique insight, particularly when it comes to body composition measurements which can provide accurate metrics on water weight, skeletal muscle and body fat levels. It’s not medical-grade like most consumer-focused electronics, but it provides a handy way to track fitness progress over time.

Lewis Painter / Foundry

The sensor is bigger this time around, which Samsung claims provides a greater area of contact for the sensor and thus more accurate results, and that does line up with my experience with the watch. There aren’t any data oddities in either my general fitness tracking or workout-specific exercises, matching the likes of the Apple Watch Series 7 in most aspects.

Before I get any further, it’s worth pointing out that not all health and fitness tracking capabilities are available to everyone. Both the ECG and blood pressure functionality are tied to Samsung phones as you need the Samsung-only Healthy Monitor app to use them.

The latter isn’t a particular issue for most as blood pressure monitoring isn’t currently available in the US, and it still requires calibration from a blood pressure cuff every 28 days in regions where it is active, so it’s far from a stress-free way of monitoring blood pressure.

Still, the fact two key features remain unavailable to those without a Samsung smartphone will sting.

As with previous Samsung wearables, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro will monitor your day-to-day fitness with active calorie burn, steps taken and hours of movement, along with handy prompts to keep you active.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Sleep tracking is particularly impressive too, with custom sleep coaching programs available after wearing the watch to bed for 7 consecutive nights that aim to improve the length and quality of your sleep. It seems accurate when it comes to tracking the various stages of sleep, though this is particularly hard to confirm without the use of head-mounted sensors.

Lewis Painter / Foundry

That’s all standard stuff for Samsung wearables, but one new feature exclusive to the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is the ability to import GPX files, allowing you to create and import custom routes for exercise. It’ll then use turn-by-turn navigation to direct you during your exercise – it’ll come through your headphones if you’re listening to music on a paired phone – and an on-screen map to show your current progress.

It’s no doubt a great addition for those that like to explore when exercising, but at launch, it’s exclusive to hiking and cycling, not running, walking or any other outdoor sport – and as a jogger, that’s a little disappointing.

There’s also Track Back, another handy feature that’ll record your walk or hike using GPS and guide you back to your starting location if required. It’s not of much use to me taking a stroll in my local area, but for those that like to hike in the great outdoors, it can be a valuable addition.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

While on the subject of GPS, the exercise tracking is impressively accurate. Even on built-up city streets lined with trees, the Watch 5 Pro established a GPS signal within a few seconds and accurately tracked my entire jog.

Looking back on the breakdown of the workout on the Samsung Health app provided not only in-depth metrics on the run that athletes will no doubt make use of, but a GPS heatmap that seemed to follow my path exactly, giving me peace of mind that my total distance and pace measurements were accurate.

Features & software

• Runs Wear OS 3 with Samsung OneUI tweaks
• One of the best wearable experiences around
• No real difference to Galaxy Watch 4 offering

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro joins its predecessors in the exclusive Wear OS 3 club, with only a select few non-Samsung wearables upgrading to Google’s latest wearable OS.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Utilising the best of Wear OS 3 and Samsung’s intuitive UI tweaks, the software experience is impressive; apps load instantly, the various menus and gestures are responsive to the touch, and the extensive Google Play Store library at your fingertips offers the best selection of apps not made by Apple.

The selection of apps provides a greater overall experience, with wearable counterparts for popular apps like Spotify and Google Wallet that can genuinely be helpful in day-to-day life.

It also enables you to swap out Samsung-designed apps for Google counterparts if you so choose – a particular perk considering Samsung doesn’t officially support data synchronisation with Google Fit services, and Samsung Pay still doesn’t offer the same wide support for banks as Google Wallet.

Though Galaxy Watch 4 owners had to put up with Samsung’s Bixby virtual assistant at launch, the company integrated Google Assistant support back in May, and the Watch 5 Pro comes with the choice of Bixby or Google Assistant out of the box – but the Samsung Pay button shortcut still can’t be replaced by its Google Wallet counterpart.

As with fitness tracking, only Samsung Galaxy smartphone users will get the full benefit of the Watch 5 Pro, with features like the ability to control Samsung SmartThings devices, remotely activate the camera shutter and use Samsung’s fun AR emoji watch faces not available to non-Samsung users.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

However, key functions like downloading standalone apps, actionable notifications, making calls on the wrist, digital payment support and onboard music storage are available with any connected Android smartphone – you’ll just need to download additional apps like Samsung Accessory Service to get things moving.

Essentially, Wear OS 3 with Samsung’s various UI tweaks offers one of the most capable Android wearable experiences on the market. However, that was all just as true with the Galaxy Watch 4.

In fact, with both models sporting the same Exynos W920 chipset, there isn’t any difference in day-to-day performance either. There are new watchfaces and complications to showcase, but overall, there isn’t a lot of change here compared to the Galaxy Watch 4 range.

Battery life

• Biggest battery in a Samsung wearable yet
• Can comfortably last two days on a charge, 3 at a push
• Faster charging provides 45% in 30 minutes

With the biggest battery of any Galaxy Watch to date at 590mAh, I had big hopes for the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro’s longevity – especially with claims from Samsung that it can reportedly last up to 80 hours, or just over three days, on a single charge, and up to 20 hours using GPS.

Samsung’s prediction is largely on the money, but not if you want to enable optional features like all-day heart rate and Sp02 monitoring, the always-on display and stress tracking. The more you decide to run in the background, the more of a hit there is to battery life.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

So, while the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro can last days on end with a single charge, you’ll have to sacrifice data to do so. That seems like an odd move when one of its strongest points is collecting and collating all your health data.

After a bit of experimentation, I found a configuration that allowed for all-day heart rate and Sp02 monitoring, but it came at the expense of an always-on display and stress tracking, features I felt I could live without.

With those power-hungry features disabled, I could comfortably squeeze around two and a half days out of the Watch 5 Pro before it’d need a top-up, and that’s much better than the 276mAh battery of the 40mm Galaxy Watch 5. It is worth noting that extended use of the GPS during workouts will have a knock-on effect on overall battery life though.

When it does need a top-up, the magnetic contact charger can deliver up to 8 hours of use from just 8 minutes of charging and 45% in 30 minutes, though I found a full charge will still take close to 90 minutes. That’s an improvement on the two-hour mark of its predecessor, but it’s still fairly standard in 2022.

Price & availability

With a Pro moniker, it should come as no surprise that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is a pricy wearable, with a price tag of $449/£429 For the Bluetooth version and $499/£479 for an LTE-connected variant putting it comfortably in Apple Watch territory – though compared to some outdoor-focused wearables from companies like Garmin, it’s still attractively priced.

It is $170/£210 more than the standard 40mm Galaxy Watch 5 though, so if you aren’t too focused on the improved durability and outdoor exercise-specific features, you could save yourself a tidy sum.

If you’re tempted, you can buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro now via Samsung and retailers like Best Buy in the US and Amazon in the UK.

We cover where to buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 range in more detail separately for those interested, and to see how it compares to the competition, take a look at our selection of the best smartwatches.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is the most advanced wearable in Samsung’s collection, offering the same combination of in-depth health and fitness tracking metrics including body composition as its standard sibling along with outdoor exercise-focused features like track back and turn-by-turn navigation, a larger display and much improved multi-day battery life.

There’s also the impressive durability to consider, with a display 90% stronger than the Galaxy Watch 4 series, the ability to survive a dunk in the sea and a titanium case that can take a knock or two. It’s certainly more robust than the stylish Galaxy Watch 5, though this does also mean that it’s larger and bulkier, with a single 45mm casing option that looked big even on my fairly large wrists.

The catch is that it’s a lot more expensive than the standard Galaxy Watch 5, and a big increase on even the premium last-gen Watch 4 Classic, which makes it hard to recommend for everyone. But, if you’re an avid cyclist or hiker that’ll get the most out of the extra functionality on offer, the Galaxy Watch 5 could be the perfect premium wearable.  

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