Galaxy Watch 5 Pro review: Mammoth multi-day wearable [Video]

Launching as the rugged alternative to the sleek and somewhat safe Watch 5, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is a perfect multi-day companion, but a tough smartwatch to review.

All-action smartwatches are few and far between, especially those powered by Wear OS. There’s more to the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro than just a rugged chassis. That said, the changes are important and might be of interest to those wanting what could be the best Wear OS wearable on the market right now.

Video — Galaxy Watch 5 Pro review

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Design and hardware

Samsung has ditched the Watch Classic lineup for 2022 and instead supersized the “regular” Galaxy Watch design; that’s about all you really need to know when comparing the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro. Because this is designed to be more rugged, there is a lip around the edges of the brand new Sapphire glass screen while the side buttons protrude a little further outwards. Each button includes excellent clicky feedback to boot.

The titanium case in gray looks almost muddy and has a certain industrial appeal; it seems odd that Samsung would omit the rotating bezel but that it was removed to ensure shared design lineage. Whatever the reason, the Watch 5 Pro is sleek albeit much bigger than the Watch 4 and base Watch 5 models.

To be frank, this is a chunky wearable. Adding extra bezels and buttons would make it even more oversized, and I’m very happy that Samsung didn’t do so this time around. The “digital bezel” is still really useful and because there is a curved screen edge up to the lip, you can slide your finger along with ease. It’s a nice touch that just aides the transition away from a popular physical hardware tool.

At 450 x 450 pixels the display is a hair sharper this time around, and it gets exceptionally bright. Even in direct sunlight, I found it fully legible and the adaptive settings are great if a little slow to react in mixed-lighting conditions. I did find that fingerprints could be an issue as grease and detritus will build up easily on the screen. I’m not sure if this is a coating-related issue, but I regularly found I needed to wipe my watch screen quite often.

Comfort and fit

I need to be frank with regard to the Watch 5 Pro fit as out of the box it is the most frustrating and painful experience that this smartwatch provides. The new “premium” D-buckle band is the most uncomfortable and cumbersome watch strap I have ever had the displeasure of using. I lost count of the number of times that it pinched the skin on the underside of my wrist, while loosening the clasp is an arduous and outright painful experience.

This became so much of a bugbear that I opted to detach it and use a third-party fabric band. It achieves a similar fit as Samsung’s $80 — yes, $80 — band, but costs under $10. Luckily, this is a godsend as it almost put a stop to my Galaxy Watch 5 Pro review efforts almost instantly. Removing the Watch 5 Pro to charge or just generally taking it off was more than a little annoyance. It became an uncomfortable process.

Most 20mm watch bands will fit perfectly and I implore you to find a fit that suits you best; plus, you have more color options than the staid gray and black rubberized D-buckle straps out there to purchase. Although the new strap has an experience-breaking flaw, it’s a snug fit that ensures you get full coverage of the all-important sensors on your wrist.

Much has been made of the thickness of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and rightfully so. This is a big, bulky wearable that might not be for everyone. Even though only a few millimeters have been added to almost all dimensions, you’re going to notice that the watch face sits up or protrudes highly from your wrist.

The titanium chassis also adds bulk that you might not notice ordinarily on other smartwatches – it’s almost 50% heavier than the standard 44m Galaxy Watch 5. Of course there are reasons for this, but you will be aware of the Watch 5 Pro most of the time your wearing it.

Software

One UI 4.5 comes pre-installed atop Wear OS 3.5k, which brings little in the way of changes over last year’s Wear OS 3.0 introduction on the Watch 4. It’s a different approach to how Wear OS should look and feel but, in many ways, it’s all the better for it as things were becoming a little forgotten and stale until Google reaffirmed commitment to the platform.

This time, the Google Assistant comes pre-loaded but isn’t set by default; instead, Bixby is the preferred companion. You can change this quickly, but it’s an annoyance for those of us that prefer Google’s baked-in AI helper.

I cannot claim that the experience is vastly superior here from the Galaxy Watch 4 (or 5), but what is noticeable are the improvements and updates to many core applications. Many Google apps now have a Material You lick of paint, which is certainly something missing this time a year ago. The new Play Store is a better hub but it still feels a little barebones.

An anaemic app selection on the platform doesn’t help, but even this has improved a little since Samsung re-entered the Wear OS space. I’m hopeful that the Pixel Watch and upcoming cohort of Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 wearables will attract yet more developers to port apps to the platform. I’m sorely missing Tidal on my wrist.

Sticking with the Exynos W920 and the same core internals might seem like a shocking oversight by Samsung. In reality, it didn’t cross my mind all too often. Slowdowns are very few and far between. The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is slick, smooth, and it runs very well once warmed up. It’ll be interesting to see how the internals and performance stack up once new Qualcomm-powered wearables hit store shelves in the coming months though.

Fitness and tracking features

The full suite of fitness tracking is increased on the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro with more tailored additions for hiking, trail running, and more. Some 90+ modes are available, which is par for the course on a wearable device in 2022. For the adventurous, the “Track Back” function that remembers your route back to a start point will come in handy when hiking or walking on trails.

My experience has been good the couple of times I have tried it, but as someone who sticks firmly to the pavement, it is practically useless in my daily life. The same can be said of the GPX file upload function. It’ll likely come in handy for the select few that require it, but it is not something we “average” wearers will be able to truly take advantage of; I’ll leave those to someone more versed in all things off-roading, trail biking, and hiking, in general, to properly analyze. It wouldn’t be fair for me to comment on functions I cannot and would not use extensively enough to give accurate feedback upon.

I do love the auto-tracking feature for walks and runs. Although not new, it’s excellent to have your smartwatch buzz and pick up even a brief trip or journey and get it logged within the Samsung Health app. Getting heart-rate data and feedback on even a brief exercise is useful if you’re trying to shift that COVID lockdown weight.

Limiting the blood pressure and electrocardiogram readings to Samsung Galaxy phones is criminal given the price of the Watch 5 Pro. From a purely business perspective this makes sense, but it’s unfair to buyers to hold features and core functions to ransom just because you do not choose to use a Galaxy phone. Using a Pixel 6a, this is incredibly frustrating. I decided to pair my review unit to the Galaxy Z Fold 4 to test these functions out.

Sure they are great headline additions, but the limited nature and my lack of knowledge on the accuracy of such tools means it is something I’ll live without moving forward. I would be very surprised if someone picked up a Samsung Galaxy device just to access the ECG and blood pressure functions, the latter of which is still not available in the US as it’s region locked.

Samsung’s sleep tracking is still among the best for ease of access. Sadly, the sheer size of the Watch 5 Pro means that it’s tough to recommend that you should wear it to bed. The added discomfort might wreak havoc on your ordinary sleep patterns. There’s also the disappointment of the skin temperature function not yet being available, and an update will be needed before that is ready to be used.

Battery life and charging

Having worn the Galaxy Watch 4 for the better portion of a year, I actively looked forward to avoiding the charger for as long as possible with the Watch 5 Pro; the good news is that this is a multi-day wearable even when using it extensively. I can manage almost three full days before I need to plonk the Watch 5 Pro on the improved charging puck.

That even includes GPS and light workout tracking with sleep pattern analysis all thrown in. I did wear to bed throughout my review period, but I would not recommend simply from a comfort perspective. Not wearing in bed could net even more lifespan as sensors will not be active all night.

Even with the always-on display function active, I could reach the end of two-days without worrying too much that the Watch 5 Pro would need to be charged. It would be great to see a little further battery optimization within Wear OS and the Exynos W920 processor.

With some extra tuning, Samsung might even be able to break the four-day barrier with regular use. If you simply want a wearable for basic notification management and do not care for fitness tracking and associated health functions, you might be able to garner an even greater lifespan. For those of us wanting a little bit of everything, you’re well catered for.

Samsung’s decision to up the charging speed to 10W is also another important upgrade with the Galaxy Watch 5 series – this itself means you can charge the Watch 5 Pro’s 590mAh in well under two hours from 0%. The charging puck has evolved here, too. Not only is the connector upgraded to USB-C, but the magnetic puck is weighted and metallic. This means that it is more durable and can be placed on a surface more easily. It’s still light, but not as light as its 5W predecessor.

Final thoughts

There are a number of very valid reasons you might want to take a look at the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro — and almost all of those relate to the lifespan. We are still at a point in time whereby charging once per day or even once every couple of days is a necessity with a modern smartwatch. When using the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro throughout my review period, I’ve charged just three times. The prospect of hitting the charger so few times in one week is an excellent feeling. One that will likely be enough for many prospective buyers to bite.

The undoubted compromise is the increased size and to a greater extent, the pricing. However, you get enough of the kind of features more regularly associated with Garmin, Coros, and Polar GPS sports and fitness watches with the benefits of Wear OS integration and more cohesion with your Android smartphone. It’s a tough balancing act, but one that at $449.99 becomes hard to recommend when the upgrades are overall quite minimal.

Make no mistake, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is the best Wear OS watch we’ve ever reviewed – at least for now. If you simply must have a smartwatch powered by Google’s OS and are happy to pay a hefty premium, then this is the only place to look.

Where can I get the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro?

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro starts at $449.99 for the Bluetooth model while the LTE variant starts at $499.99. Both options include 45mm screens and come in Titanium Gray and Titanium Black colors.

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