Samsung and other OEMs caught lying about smartwatch dimensions

Editor's note: Samsung isn't an outlier in this scenario, as this appears to be an industry-wide practice, regardless of the manufacturer. It's pertinent to note that Samsung normally doesn't compare the thickness of new smartwatch models with previous iterations, ensuring that customers aren't misled by its marketing materials.

Samsung has also clearly mentioned in the footnotes (number 26) of its launch press release for the Galaxy Watch 5 that the dimensions mentioned have been measured without health sensors.

Original story

Samsung's new Galaxy Watch 5 series has gained a lot of positivity so far, but of course, something had to come up to take the shine off the new wrist wearables. It turns out that Samsung isn't entirely truthful in its official spec sheet for the Galaxy Watch 5 series, as the company makes a couple of unfounded claims about the thickness of the two new smartwatch models.

The official Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 spec sheet posted on the company's website states that the Galaxy Watch 5 has a 9.8mm profile, while the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is 10.5mm-thin. But as discovered by DC Rainmaker on YouTube, these measurements are far from accurate.

In reality, the standard Galaxy Watch 5 has a thickness of around 13.11 mm, while the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is about 50% thicker than what Samsung claims to be, clocking in at a whopping 15.07mm.

So, what gives? How is it possible for Samsung to claim that its new smartwatches are thinner than they actually are?

OEMs follow arbitrary rulesets to determine smartwatch dimensions

Here's where the story gets a bit wilder. DC Rainmaker discovered that most smartwatch manufacturers, including Apple, ignore the dimensions of the sensor array in their measurements.

The protruding sensor usually buries into the wearer's skin, so, presumably, smartwatch manufacturers believe it's fair to leave the sensor's profile out of their official measurements. However, they also fail to explain their methodology, and the official spec sheets end up misleading customers nonetheless.

Unfortunately, Samsung seems to be an even bigger offender. The company went one step further with its arbitrary measurements and ignored the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro's entire back panel. In essence, Samsung only measures the side wall of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, which comes in at 10.5mm rather than the actual size of 15.07mm when including the thickness of the back plate.

It's also worth noting that the weight of the Galaxy Watch 5 series listed in the official spec sheet excludes the wrist strap, which means that, in any practical scenario, the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro weigh more than what Samsung says they do.

Oh, and, fun fact: the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro dimensions are almost identical to Oreos and double-stuffed Oreos. Check out the video below for more details.

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