The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is Samsung’s biggest and most powerful watch yet. The specs are more impressive than any Galaxy Watch so far, with enhanced durability, a better sensor array, GPS features such as route workouts, and improved sleep and activity tracking.
Announced during Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event on 10 August, we imagine you understandably have lots of questions about this fitness-focused Samsung watch that you need answering before you hit “pre-order”. That’s where we come in: we’ve spent time with the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, and we’re here to answer all your questions. For more of our first impressions of the watch, you can check out our Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro hands-on review.
To check out more of all the goodies revealed at Samsung Unpacked, you can find our thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, the new folding phones Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, and the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro: Price and release date
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro was announced at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked on 10 August and will be officially released on 26 August. Until that time, the Watch 5 Pro will be available to pre-order.
In the US, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro will retail at $449 for the Bluetooth version and $499 for the LTE 4G version. In the UK, the Watch 5 Pro is set to cost £429 (Bluetooth) and £479 (LTE), while in Australia, the watch will cost $799 (Bluetooth) and $849 (4G).
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro: Full specs
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro measures 45.4 x 45.4 x 10.5 mm, and weighs 46g, which is nice and light considering the premium construction. The titanium case (which comes in black and gray colorways) and sapphire glass ensures the watch is extremely durable: Samsung claims it’s twice as hardy as its predecessor, the Galaxy Watch 4. The 20mm band has a hinged d-buckle, unlike the traditional watch clasp of the Watch 5.
The 450 x 450 pixel Super AMOLED display has an always-on functionality, so you check your wrist at any time without doing the ‘smartwatch flick’. A 590mAh battery is said to be rated to power the watch for 80 hours, while WPC-based wireless charging can ensure the watch is up to 45% in 30 minutes.
An Exynos W920 Dual-Core 1.18GHz chipset powers the smarts of the watch, which runs Wear OS 3.5 and Samsung’s OneUI Watch4.5. GPS connection is impressive, with multi-band Glonass, Beidou and Galileo. The watch carries 1.5GB of RAM and 16GB of memory, plenty for your favorite tunes.
Sensor-wise, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro can collect a smorgasbord of data with Samsung’s single BioActive Sensor, which measures optical heart rate, electrical signals and bioelectrical impedance analysis to measure body composition. It also has a temperature sensor, accelerometer, barometer, gyro sensor, geomagnetic sensor and light sensor.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro: Smart Features
All this smart technology makes the Watch 5 Pro a true Wear OS watch as much as a fitness watch. You’re able to use Spotify, Soundcloud or Deezer independently from your phone, all with just your voice using Google Assistant.
As well as standard notification functionality from a variety of apps, whether you want to answer your emails, WhatsApps or other messages on the go, third-party app access is as present as ever thanks to the Wear OS 3.5 Play Store. Accept and reject calls as normal, or with the Google Assistant voice commands.
One UI Watch4.5 is said to provide a fuller typing experience, an easier way to make calls, and new accessibility features that make the Galaxy Watch more intuitive.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro: Fitness Features
The watch allows you to gather plenty of health insights. The Biometric Impedence Analysis function to measure body composition was present on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, but it’s since been improved with added targets. You can set body composition goals, such as a reduction of fat mass or an increase in muscle mass, and the Watch 5 Pro will send you reminders to regularly measure your body composition with BIA to help you increase your goals.
Likewise, sleep functionality monitors your snoring, time spent awake, in REM, light or deep sleep, and is more accurate than ever thanks to the BioActive Sensor. Once the watch has collected enough data, it provides you a sleep profile through which it can assign helpful “sleep missions” to improve your overall sleep score.
The Watch's BioActive sensor is instrumental in collecting data to monitor your workouts, sleep and stress levels, offering breathing exercise suggestions as well as suggested workouts and training plans for specific fitness goals. The Watch 5 Pro has the capacity to measure blood pressure and skin temperature, although these features are not yet available in some regions. Samsung states: "the blood pressure app has not yet been cleared by the US FDA and will not be available in the United States unless and until such clearance is received."
The Watch 5 Pro can access all Samsung Health activity profiles available including running, walking, hiking, cycling, treadmill running, swimming, strength training, yoga and lots more. You can save your favorites on the watch for quick access.
New to the Watch 5 Pro is Route Workouts, which allows you to download routes into your watch and get turn-by-turn navigation assistance with haptic feedback - vibrations on your wrist tell you when to turn right or left. The new TrackBack feature also leads you back to the start of your route.
