Galaxy Watch 5: Does Samsung’s temperature sensor actually do anything?

The Galaxy Watch 5 was poised to be a superior fitness tracking wearable, equipped with a temperature sensor for better health measurements. Unfortunately, the temperature sensor doesn’t seem to serve a larger purpose – yet.

In comparison to the Galaxy Watch 4 series, the Watch 5 is a couple of steps ahead. It features an improved BioActive sensor that can take more precise ECG (electrocardiogram) measurements as well as your blood pressure, so long as you live in the approved regions.

For those who don’t live in areas where these features are available, the Galaxy Watch 5 really doesn’t offer much more than its predecessor in terms of health tracking. There is, however, a chance that could change in the near future.

The true use for the temperature sensor in the Galaxy Watch 5

Among the health features, one that isn’t often noted is the built-in temperature sensor. When the new wearable was announced, Samsung touted the temperature sensor among other new features, though there was a small catch – it wouldn’t actually be working upon release.

The sensor itself is meant to be used for sleep tracking to help monitor patterns during rest. Other than that, there is no other use for the sensor inside the Galaxy Watch 5. You can’t activate it like you can heart tracking, nor can you head into the Samsung Health app and see your temperature patterns throughout the day.

It seems odd to include a sensor and not feature it beyond a promised-use case. Comparatively, Apple’s new Apple Watch Series 8 is set to make use of a temperature sensor for menstrual cycle tracking, which is an excellent use case. Beyond that, the sensor could expand into more situations and provide a greater understanding of health patterns day in and day out.

Could we see more uses in the future?

In their current state, the Galaxy Watch 5 and 5 Pro don’t really employ the temperature sensor in a meaningful way. There’s a chance we could see more uses appear over time, with the possibility of third-party developers being able to incorporate that data into apps.

Of course, the huge wall Samsung has to scale is health regulation and guidelines among various regions. For instance, the United States has yet to see blood pressure monitoring from the Galaxy Watch 5 due to health restrictions. Being able to take temperature data at any given point is a sensitive feature that may require a hard fight to gain approval.

We hope to see the temperature sensor in the Galaxy Watch 5 and 5 Pro do more in the future. Unfortunately, this sensor isn’t something that can necessarily be put to good use just yet. For now, it seems the sensor will have to live inactive inside an activity-tracking wearable.