Galaxy Watch 5 is thicker than Samsung says it is, but the size is not necessarily a bad thing

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is Samsung’s new flagship wearable, but it’s a chunky smartwatch compared to the standard model. However, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is physically bigger than Samsung claims that it is, but that’s not necessarily for the worst.

Smartwatches are often much thicker than their traditional counterparts. An older digital or even mechanical wristwatch is usually significantly thinner than a modern smartwatch – and for good reason! Unlike a traditional timepiece, smartwatches from the likes of Samsung, Apple, Fitbit, and other brands have to pack in larger touchscreens, the chips that power the operating system, a plethora of health sensors, and a battery big enough to keep it running all day.

With the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, Samsung isn’t really holding back in terms of thickness. The Watch 5 Pro, according to Samsung’s own website, is 10.5mm thick, not even a full millimeter thicker than the standard Galaxy Watch 5. It’s further claimed to be thinner than the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, which measured up to 11.2mm thick.

However, the thickness of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro on Samsung’s website doesn’t paint the full picture of the size of the device. DCRainmaker noticed that the Watch 5 Pro seemed considerably thicker than Samsung had claimed and, using a digital caliper, found that the watch actually measures 15.2mm, significantly thicker than Samsung’s claim of 10.5mm.

Samsung’s claim of 10.5mm seems to come from the thickness of the watch body on its own, ignoring the thickness of the BioActive sensor that protrudes from the underbelly of the watch.

The bad part of this situation is that, clearly, Samsung is stretching the truth quite dramatically. And the company obviously knows it is doing that, as past Galaxy Watch measurements did include the full thickness of the watch, not just the chassis. Even looking at the Galaxy Watch 4 versus the Galaxy Watch 5, Samsung claims the new model is the same thickness, but after making the upgrade myself, I can say with confidence that it doesn’t feel as thin as the prior model.

But on the other hand, the thickness of the watch technically isn’t a bad thing.

The BioActive sensor protrudes as far as it does from the bottom of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro (and the Galaxy Watch5, too) to ensure it can be more accurate. The further “bulge” allows for better skin contact, and in turn, better results – or so Samsung claims.

With an increased surface area and more direct contact with your wrist, Galaxy Watch5 tracks health metrics now with even greater accuracy than Galaxy Watch4.

While the stats on Samsung’s site are wildly misleading and should definitely be changed, the thickness itself seems like less of a big deal. In person (pictured above), the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro only look marginally different in size, despite the near 5mm difference.

And interestingly, Samsung isn’t alone in this practice!

Apple Watch Series 7 is listed by Apple at 10.7mm but is actually 13.1mm thick. The Garmin Forerunner 255 Music is listed at 12.9mm but is actually 14mm. The Galaxy Watch 5 was also found to be thicker than Samsung’s claim (though an exact number wasn’t shared). The Fitbit Sense, interestingly enough, was one of the only products that did match its claimed thickness of 12.35mm. As DCRainmaker pointed out, the big problem with this practice is that it makes it virtually impossible for customers to make a valid comparison when buying a smartwatch. Generally, the difference comes down to just a millimeter or two, which isn’t a huge deal, but the example of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is especially egregious.

So far, Samsung has not updated its claims for the thickness of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro on its official website.

More on Samsung:

• Where can I pre-order the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro?
• Galaxy Watch 5 & 5 Pro: Premium build w/ sapphire glass and Wear OS 3.5, starting at $279
• Should you upgrade to the Galaxy Watch 5?