The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 was released alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 in August 2022. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 has not gone through a major overhaul in each and every department from its previous generation; rather, Samsung has made upgrades in both software and hardware to enhance the performance of the watch. This has undoubtedly helped the company find its pace in the global market and also take the competition at par with its rivals like Apple, Fitbit, Garmin, and Google. Continue reading the blog to find out more about the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5.
Body Design
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 has an athletic appearance but is highly customizable thanks to the numerous watch face options available. The watch comes with an Armor aluminum chassis, not a Titanium case, and has a glass front made of sapphire crystal. The design of the watch is sleek and comes with a curvature on the bottom, weighing only 28.7 g (40 mm) and 33.5 g (44 mm), respectively, which not only makes it comfortable to wear but also increases the watch-to-skin contact area that enhances the data collection accuracy of the sensors. The hairy wrist-friendly silicon strap has a matte texture and will not get tugged onto your skin. The overall well-rounded build of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 makes it quite durable, with an IP68 certification, MIL-STD-810H certification, 60% more scratch resistance, and 50 m water resistance.
Display
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 comes with a circular super AMOLED display; the 40 mm watch has a screen size of 1.9 in, while the 44 mm has 1.39 in. The screen resolution for the 44 mm is 450 x 450 pixels, and for the 40 mm, it is 396 x 396 pixels. With a brightness of up to 1,000 nits, the watch’s screen can be easily seen outdoors, even on a sunny day. The display provides vibrant and punchy visuals, with colorful watch faces, but the rotating bezel of the smartwatch, which was loved by many, has been replaced by a digital one that offers some interactivity.
Software And Performance
Google’s Android Wear OS 3.5 is at the heart of the software and is layered with Samsung’s One UI Watch 4.5. The watch is powered by the high-performing Exynos W920 and has a dual-core CPU and Mali-G68 GPU. The interface is quite user-friendly, and you will not even face problems if you are using a Samsung smartwatch for the first time. With a left swipe, you can see the incoming notifications, and when you swipe up, you will get access to the apps, with both the touchscreen and haptics providing decent performance. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 employs the Galaxy Wearable app rather than the Wear OS app. If you are not a Samsung smartphone user, then you will need to download the app along with the Samsung Health and Watch 5 plugin. The device offers 16 GB of space, of which 9 GB can be used, which is more than enough.
Features
The addition of the temperature analysis sensor is one of the most exciting features of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5. Though it has not yet become functional, Samsung can follow the lead from Apple’s 8 Series, where the skin temperature sensor can be used for ovulation tracking. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5’s in-depth sleep tracking provides fruitful insights and can track stages of sleep, which include REM, deep, and light sleep. After every night, the sleep tracker will provide sleep scores and a sleep spirit animal. The watch even boasts a 5-week sleep coaching feature that promises to help your sleep. Exercise tracking is quite impressive, as is the automatic activity detection that appears after 10 minutes of doing any activity. Other fitness features work perfectly well, and at the core of this is the 3-in-1 Bioactive Sensor. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 has an in-built assistant by the name of Bixby, but you can also access Google Assistant if you want to. Calling someone from your watch by finding the contact on your watch works decently, as the volume is loud and people can hear your voice clearly. There are a few drawbacks for people who are not Samsung smartphone users. They will be unable to use the watch as a viewfinder or use the options for blood pressure measurement and ECG.
Battery And Connectivity
With a 15% bigger battery than the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, the 40 mm has a 284 mAh battery, and the 44 mm has a 410 mAh battery. Samsung has claimed that the base model can provide 50 hours of battery life, which is true if you use the watch by disabling a few features and enabling the power-saving mode. Samsung’s charging upgrade is really commendable, as you can get a full charge in about an hour. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 also supports 10 W wireless charging and is equipped with connectivity options like WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and NFC, among many others.
Final Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 comes with minor changes which are not revolutionary yet welcoming. The addition of a temperature sensor, an increase in battery life, and a health-tracking feature makes it a strong contender in the current smartwatch market. Though the inability to use some features for non-Samsung smartphone users is a bit of a drawback. With a base price of $279, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 can go toe-to-toe with the more costly Apple 8 series, priced at $399.
