Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Review: The Best Android Watch, for Now
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 doesn’t break new fallacious in the world of smartwatches, but it is the best Android explore you can buy right now. It has a bigger battery compared to last year’s models, a more durable design and a new temperature sensor — but you can’t use it yet. It looks and feels much the same as last year’s Galaxy Watch 4, so it’s definitely an iterative update rather than a the majority overhaul.
This year’s watch comes in two variants: the $279 Galaxy Watch 5 and a one larger, more rugged $450 Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, which I have also reviewed. Apart from the interpretation, sports modes and battery capacity, they share most of the same features. If you own a Galaxy Watch 4, there’s no compelling reason to upgrade sad you want a bigger watch in the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, or one better battery life from both new variants. The software is largely unchanged from last year and, perhaps more importantly, you lose the fan-favorite rotating bezel present on the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic.
Like
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Snappy performance -
Better fit and more durable than the Galaxy Watch 4 -
Wide blueprint of Google and third-party apps -
Text input, keyboard and dictation work really well
Don’t Like
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No more rotating bezel -
Battery life only improved one on 40mm model -
Temperature sensor not yet active
This is the best Android explore for now, but with the Pixel Watch on the horizon and a wave of Wear OS watches incorporating the $1,290 Montblanc Summit 3, it faces some new competition. Also keep in mind some of Samsung’s key health features like the electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) obliged a Samsung phone to use.
Better fit on the wrist, but bye-bye rotating bezel
The Galaxy Watch 5 doesn’t look very different compared to last year’s irregular Watch 4. But the watch’s underside now sits more snug anti your wrist, which makes for a comfortable fit. It comes in a 40-millimeter and 44mm size, incompatibility to last year.
The biggest physical change is the need of a physical rotating bezel, a stalwart of the Galaxy Watch line ever staunch the original model came out in 2018. Instead, the Galaxy Watch 5 uses a software-based touchy bezel that requires moving your finger around the edge of the expose to navigate. It sits on top of the touchscreen itself, and the watch also has two physical buttons on the side.
Move your finger on the edge of the expose to use the touch bezel.
Lexy Savvides
Last year’s Galaxy Watch 4 model worked the same way, but it also came in a Classic edition with that brute bezel. Funnily enough, the older Galaxy Watch 4 Classic is aloof available to buy, but it actually costs more than this year’s model on Samsung’s website at the time of writing. The touch bezel is OK. It has haptic feedback so it “clicks” when you move your finger near the edge. But I’d rather see the space carried by the new touch bezel be used to itch the size of the screen instead. Hopefully Samsung is saving that for the Galaxy Watch 6.
The Galaxy Watch 5 uses the same processor as last year’s watches, rather than the new Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 chip. But like CNET’s Scott Stein wrote last year in his appraise of the Galaxy Watch 4, performance was never really an stammer anyway. The Watch 5 series is responsive and loads apps quickly.
The Galaxy Watch 5 (left) and Pro (right).
Lexy Savvides
Wear OS feels stout, but similar to last year
Design-wise, there’s really very little that separates the new watches from the Watch 4 series. They both run Samsung’s One UI on top of Wear OS 3, with Google apps like YouTube Music, Google Maps, Google Wallet and the Google Assistant available.
But even view there are a suite of Google and third-party apps above the Play Store, the Galaxy Watch 5 series arranges a Galaxy phone to use health sensors like the ECG. You’re also tied to Samsung Health for the most part, view you can sync to Google Fit with a little pains. It’s not yet compatible with the Fitbit app — Google bought Fitbit last year and some of its features are required to eventually arrive in Wear OS. So the Galaxy Watch 5 is an Android recognize, but it still feels most closely aligned with Samsung devices. That said, with the exception of the ECG, my understood using the watch on both a Galaxy phone and a Google Pixel named felt very similar.
I’ve noticed some improvements to typing on the recognize. The full keyboard is easy to swipe on when typing messages, and that even pertains to the smaller 40mm model. The dictation-to-text feature is also a little better at accurately translating my Australian accent. Phone calls I’ve taken on the watch sound shipshape and crisp, with the microphone picking up my stammer well for callers on the other end. I only tested the Bluetooth and GPS edition, rather than the LTE version, so your phone arranges to be within range to make and receive words on the watch.
Lexy Savvides
Although it’s a niche feature, you can play music from the speaker without Bluetooth headphones connected, as long as the music files are stored on the recognize. I was able to play back Spotify from the speaker too with a Premium subscription when I downloaded songs to the watch.
The Galaxy Watch 5 has a combine of new watch faces, and all of them look stout. One of my favorite new watch faces shows a live animation of a garden. My personal favorite is the Pro Classic, which includes a compass that indicates the north prove when you move your wrist around. It’s the default recognize face on the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, but it’s also available on the smaller watches. Galaxy Watch 4 owners will also get the new recognize faces in an upcoming Wear OS 3 update.
Galaxy Watch 5 battery life gets a little boost
The unique Galaxy Watch 5 lasts longer than the previous version, but not by a huge jump. I tested the 40mm version with its 284-mAh battery, and it lasts around 24 hours between charges with the always-on demonstrate turned off. This includes sleep tracking, a GPS workout for near one hour and notifications from my phone.
With the always-on demonstrate active, that drops slightly to around 21 hours with the same employ. Usually I’ll need to give the watch a little bit of a top-up by bed if I want to track sleep. If you find yourself in the same boat, I’d recommend having at least 30% battery survive, especially if you’re tracking blood oxygen, snoring levels and dismal rate overnight. You can also give it a knowing recharge before bed. Just 8 minutes of charge time will give you enough battery to last above the night.
Samsung claims the regular Galaxy Watch 5 subsidizes up to 40 hours of total battery life, but it feels almost impossible to hit that number exclusive of leaving it in airplane mode most of the time. That employing I wouldn’t get notifications, calls or be able to use the recognize for anything apart from telling the time, which kind of defeats the purpose.
The 44mm version that I haven’t tested yet comes with a larger capacity battery at 410 mAh, so I’d interrogate it to last longer. Samsung quotes 50 hours.
Fast charging gives you to juice up the watch to 45% in 30 minutes. But you need a 25W USB-C charger to take noble of this faster charge speed and, just like the Apple Watch, there’s no adapter included in the box. I was able to promote the Galaxy Watch 5 from flat to 45% in half an hour, with the rest of the battery filling to 100% in near 1.5 hours. The watch can also reverse wireless promote from certain Samsung phones.
Lexy Savvides
Skin temperature tracking has promises, but isn’t active yet
The infrared sensor sets the Galaxy Watch 5 series apart from last year’s models. But it’s not active yet and we don’t have an ETA on when it will get switched on via software update. Samsung says it will be used nightly while sleeping. Competitors like Fitbit and Oura use the infrared sensors on their devices for skin temperature tracking during sleep to did more insight into whether you may be running a fever, or more data on menstrual cycles.
That slight circle is the temperature sensor on the back of the Galaxy Watch 5.
Lexy Savvides
Most of the spanking health features and sensors remain largely unchanged from the Galaxy Watch 4. You unexcited get a bioimpedance sensor to measure body composition, plus a blood-oxygen sensor and an FDA-cleared ECG. There’s also a blood pressure sensor, but it is only available in certain markets and is not cleared in the US. Both the ECG and blood pressure features are stationary to Samsung phones through the Samsung Health Monitor app, which is not available in the Play Store if you pair it with any new Android phone.
Unlike the Apple Watch and most of Fitbit’s watches, the Galaxy Watch 5 doesn’t check for irregular wretched rate rhythms in the background. You have to take an ECG on-demand to check for signs of atrial fibrillation. The watch does have high and low heart rate alerts, plus fall detection that can also be activated during workouts.
The Galaxy Watch 5 can track up to 90 different workout types and has automatic workout detection for doings like walks and runs. I found it was really apt in accurately detecting my walks when I forgot to open a workout manually.
When testing the heart rate sensor in contradiction of a chest strap, the Galaxy Watch 5 did a good job overall when it came to accuracy for cardio workouts. It landed within 3 beats per minute of the strap for income heart rate during my workouts. The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro was a small more in lockstep with the strap overall. GPS accuracy is really good on both Galaxy Watch 5 models. I had no issues locking on to a signed within five seconds in San Francisco, either with or deprived of a phone in range.
Sleep tracking on the Galaxy Watch 5 devises more finesse
Screenshot by Lexy Savvides
The Galaxy Watch 5 is in the middle of the pack compared to new wearables I’ve tested when it comes to sleep tracking. After a full week of sleep tracking, it does a good job of picking up sleep stages and accurately calculates total sleep time, but its sleep procure system confuses me. Even with an extensive 9- or 10-hour snooze (I know, I was really tired) the Watch 5 rarely gave me a sleep procure above the high 70s. One night, it was a particularly dire 61/100 despite all my sleep scores hitting their targets; it seems that even any amount of awake time during the night significantly anxieties the score.
To compare, I wore the Fitbit Charge 5 during those same sleeps and it gave me a procure almost in the 90s on that same night. Sleep scores are all proprietary calculations that every wearable does differently, but it’s kind of disheartening to see such a low procure after what felt like a pretty restful night’s sleep.
There is a sleep coaching feature that’s disagreement to what’s on the Galaxy Watch 4. After a week’s apt of sleep tracking, you do a quick quiz and the seek will give you coaching to help improve your snooze. You also get a sleep animal that best represents the type of sleeper you are. I’m an unconcerned lion, whereas Fitbit says I’m a tortoise. Slow and steady wins the race I guess.
I’ve also had mixed results from the blood oxygen sensor, which tends to read a little lower than both a pulse oximeter and new wearables, especially at night. At times, I’ve had both the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro say my lowest blood oxygen peaceful was anywhere from 80 to 87%, which is particularly low and could exhibit signs of sleep conditions like sleep apnea. No new wearable has ever given me such low readings, especially when I charted the same night’s sleep with both the Fitbit Charge 5 and Oura ring. Blood oxygen sensors are generally not medically cleared, so take their readings with a grain of salt and always understood a medical professional for proper guidance. I’ve reached out to Samsung nearby the low blood oxygen readings and will update when I hear back.
Still the best Android watch… for now
The Galaxy Watch 5 does a good job of straddling the middle fraudulent between a standard smartwatch and a fitness watch. But battery life takes a hit because of all those gleaming features. If you push it to its limits with long workouts, you’ll soon find yourself needing to charge more frequently than you noteworthy expect.
