Today's a big day for Samsung smartwatch fans, not only because the Galaxy Watch 5 series is finally official but also due to the new lineup being an agent of change within Samsung's wearable device portfolio. The Classic model has retired, and in its place, a “Pro” variant got added to the smartwatch lineup for the first time.
Samsung took the veil off two smartwatch models at Unpacked: the Galaxy Watch 5 and the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. The regular Galaxy Watch 5 comes in two sizes — 40mm and 44mm — while the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is available in one size — 45mm. They're all offered with Bluetooth-only connectivity or Bluetooth + LTE.
The smaller Galaxy Watch 5 can be pre-order in Graphite, Pink Gold, and Silver, whereas the 44mm model is available in Graphite, Sapphire, and Silver. The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is offered in Black and Titanium.
In addition, Samsung offers a Galaxy Watch 5 Golf Edition and a Galaxy Watch 5 Bespoke Edition in select markets. The latter gives customers more than 1,000 color and design choices.
Galaxy Watch 5 series specifications
Although the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro differ in terms of design and color options, they also happen to share many internal hardware and software characteristics.
The Galaxy Watch 5 series is IP68-rated for dust and water resistance, and both models run Wear OS 3.5 and One UI 4.5 Watch at launch. They're also powered by the Samsung Exynos W920 chipset, 1.5GB of RAM, and 16GB of built-in storage.
Other shared specs include NFC connectivity, GPS, and the same BioActive sensor used in the Galaxy Watch 4 series, featuring ECG and heart-rate sensors, a blood pressure sensor, and a BIA sensor. There's also a new temperature sensor, improved sleep tracking with coaching, and three new Health features that are exclusive to the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro: Route Workout, Turn-by-Turn Directions, and Track Back.
The Pro model is equipped with a 1.36-inch AMOLED circular display featuring a resolution of 450 x 450 pixels. The smartwatch conceals a large 590mAh battery that should offer up to 80 hours of use time on a single charge. We suspect that, for many prospective buyers, this massive battery life improvement over the previous generation could make up for the lack of a Classic model in the 2022 lineup.
The standard Galaxy Watch 5 is available with a 40mm or 44mm dial. The smaller model has a 284mAh battery and the 44mm variant is powered by a 410mAh unit. Also worth noting is that, although both wearables benefit from sapphire display protection, only the Pro model has a titanium case.
The bigger battery employed by the Pro model comes at a cost, though. The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is almost twice as heavy as the standard Watch 5, tipping the scales at 46.5 grams. It's also 10.5mm-thick, and given these characteristics, it's not quite fit for everyone or every occasion. Nevertheless, it does seem to excel in its niche.
Last year, Samsung's smartwatches transitioned from Tizen OS to Wear OS. It seems to have worked out well, although Samsung was able to relax in its Wear OS exclusivity for almost an entire year. Now, as more brands adopt Google's Wear OS, the Korean company's wearable portfolio appears to have entered a new evolutionary phase for 2022, with Samsung paying more attention to improving the hardware, design, and Health features.
The Galaxy Watch 5 series is available for pre-order and will ship to customers within the next couple of weeks. Prices start at $279 for the Watch 5 and $449 for the Pro model. Bespoke and Golf Editions are available in select markets.
SamsungGalaxy Watch 5
SamsungGalaxy Watch 5 Pro
