Samsung Galaxy Watch 5/Watch 5 Pro preview: Everything you need to know
Samsung’s latest wearables offer greater durability and faster charging than their predecessors
Samsung has unveiled two new smartwatches at its Autumn 2022 Galaxy Unpacked event: the Galaxy Watch 5 and the Watch 5 Pro. These new wearables were introduced alongside two new foldable smartphones – the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the Z Fold 4 – and the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro earbuds.
The Watch 5 launches as the successor to 2021’s Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic, which we found to be a great accompaniment to a Samsung smartphone – it provided solid performance and a great selection of fitness apps at a respectable price.
While the Watch 4’s battery life left a lot to be desired, an increase in battery size suggests that the new watches will be able to hold their own for longer. The Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro will have 284mAh (40mm), 410mAh (44mm) and 590mAh (Pro) batteries, compared to the 247mAh and 361mAh batteries of the Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic. Samsung also promises 30% faster charging, hitting eight hours of battery life in just 30 minutes. What’s more, just eight minutes of charging is claimed to provide eight hours of sleep tracking.
The size of the new watches themselves are a little more compact than their predecessors, too. The Watch 5 is available in 40mm and 44mm versions, while the Watch 5 Pro comes in at 45mm. The new wearables are supposedly 60% more durable than the previous generation, while the Watch 5 Pro is built with an enhanced ‘Sapphire Crystal’ face, with a titanium body and D-buckle sports band.
Also available is a Bluetooth Golf Edition, which comes in a choice of sizes (40mm, 44mm, Pro size) and offers directions and recommendations for golfers alongside exclusive watch faces and an unlimited Smart Caddie app membership. Taking into account the different editions and sizes, as well as case colour choices and straps, Samsung says there are 1,032 unique combinations of the Watch 5.
In terms of performance, the Watch 5 will offer all the usual fitness and health tracking features, including sleep monitoring, body composition measurements, and sweat loss data. The BioActive sensor that was introduced with the Galaxy Watch 4 reappears here, alongside the introduction of a new infrared temperature sensor. And exclusive to the Pro version of the watch is GPS guidance for route-based workouts and turn-by-turn navigation. We can expect the same great selection of apps with the new watch too, alongside new additions such as Soundcloud and Deezer.
The Galaxy Watch 5 is available to preorder today and launches on 26 August – it also appears to be just as competitively priced as its predecessors:
Galaxy Watch 5
- 40mm: £269 (Bluetooth), £319 (LTE)
- 44mm: £289 (Bluetooth), £339 (LTE)
Galaxy Watch 5 Pro
- 45mm: £429 (Bluetooth), £479 (LTE)
Unfortunately, we don’t have the UK pricing for the Golf Edition, or even any indication that it will launch in the UK, but we do know that it costs $330 in the US.