Running on Google’s Wear OS wrapped in Samsung’s One UI, Samsung’s new Galaxy Watch5 is yet another incremental upgrade in its Wearable line, launched early last month alongside the new Galaxy Z series and the Galaxy Buds2 Pro.
With minor hardware improvements and incremental software upgrades, the Watch5 is a great device in its own right, just not quite enough to warrant an upgrade if you already have last year’s Galaxy Watch4. Here’s our full review of the smartwatch.
Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Specifications
- Processor: Exynos W920 5nm
- Display: 1.4” Super AMOLED
- Memory: 16GB, 1.5GB RAM
- Operating System: Android Wear OS 3.5, One UI Watch 4.5
- Battery: 410 mAh
- Features: Accelerometer, gyro, heart rate sensor, Samsung Pay
Design & Display
The Galaxy Watch5 is available in four breathtaking colours: Graphite, Pink Gold (for 40mm only), Sapphire (for 44mm only), and SIlver – the last of which comes with this season’s most popular Bora Purple strap. The review unit we received was the 40mm Graphite, which is basically just black.
For someone who struggles with finding a nice smartwatch that doesn’t look too bulky, the 40mm Watch5 fits perfectly on my wrist. The sleek and minimalistic design really ticks all the boxes of a timeless design. The matte silicon screen does not tug on the skin and feels comfortable to wear, even while sleeping, which is important since sleep tracking is also one of the main features of the Watch5.
The 1.19” Super AMOLED display on the Watch5 is nice and bright, visible even under direct sunlight. According to Samsung, the screen is crafted with premium Sapphire crystal that’s 1.6 times harder and water resistant – we didn’t exactly beat up the Watch5, but it came out unscathed after one month of daily knocks and dings (including pushing it off a table by accident), so we’d say it’s hardy enough.
Software
The Galaxy Watch5 runs the One UI Watch 4.5 powered by Wear OS. The layout is intuitive enough, providing you know Samsung well enough to recognise the apps just by the icons alone.
Screen navigation is simple and familiar: swipe left for notifications, right for widgets, down for quick access, and up for the apps tray – just like on a smartphone, just on a much, much smaller screen.
If you’re already using a Galaxy phone, then pairing the Watch5 with your smartphone is just a matter of checking your phone for the pairing notification, since you already have all the apps you need pre-installed. On a non-Galaxy phone, you’ll need to download the Galaxy Wearable app, and then pair the Watch from there.
Fitness Features
The Galaxy Watch5 offers a lot more health tracking than just counting steps and measuring heart rate. You can track up to 90 types of workouts on the smartwatch. In these modes, the Watch5 will track your heart rate and burned calories as you workout.
For walking and running in particular, one thing that worked really well was auto-tracking. The Watch5 was able to detect when I started or stopped walking/running within minutes of starting the exercise, which is perfect as I always forget to start my workouts manually.
Powered by Samsung’s own BioActive sensor, the Watch5 is able to provide an accurate overview of your health statistics through the body composition measurement feature, which analyses your body mass index, muscle mass, body fat percentage, and water composition so that you can plan more effective workouts.
Samsung’s new sleep tracking system is also quite an improvement. Coupled with Samsung Sleep, the Watch5 can provide in-depth information about your sleep quality and offer sleep coaching and sleep plans to help you get the rest you need.
On to the negatives: the built-in blood oxygen monitor isn’t as effective. For me, the Watch5 gave wildly varying results ranging from 75% - 90% SpO2, while a regular pulse oximeter produced a reading of 98% - 100% every time. For reference, according to the Malaysian Ministry of Health, a normal oxygen level for an adult is between 95% - 99%. This just goes to show that medical readings on the Watch5 – or any smartwatch, really – should be taken with a grain of salt. Consult a medical professional for proper guidance.
Besides that, the temperature sensor that was shown on paper was nonexistent. There were no temperature readings in the health indicators at all. ECG and blood pressure monitoring is also not available in Malaysia – which is quite sad, since these would be what really sets the Watch5 apart from all the other smartwatches out there.
Battery
The Galaxy Watch5 is supposed to have a 13% bigger battery than the Galaxy Watch4, but while it did hold up a smidge longer than its predecessor, the Watch5 is still quite a power drainer, lasting barely a day when wearing it to sleep for the sleep tracking feature.
Even without using it for sleep tracking, blood oxygen monitoring and turning off the Always-On Display, the battery lasted just a little over 30 hours, which is just one and a half days.
The short battery life may be a little annoying, but Samsung makes up for it by improving the charging speed. The smartwatch can fully recharge (2% - 100% in our tests) in just an hour, which isn’t too bad. You can also charge your watch with your phone, since the charger dock connects through USB Type-C. Still, it’s a little disappointing that the watch has to be charged daily instead of weekly, like some of its other competitors.
Conclusion
- Our rating: 8/10
- Pros: Sleek design, effective fitness and sleep tracking, intuitive interface
- Cons: Disappointing battery life
- Who is it for? As it stands, the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 is still the best Samsung smartwatch out there, despite the incremental upgrades over the Watch4. If you’re already using a Galaxy device, then we strongly recommend the Watch5 to complete your integration into the ecosystem. However, there’s probably no way around the mediocre battery life – be prepared to charge the watch every day. If this is a make-or-break point for you, then you might want to reconsider.
Buy: Samsung Galaxy Watch5 in Malaysia
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