Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro review: buy with your heart, not your head

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is the biggest and most expensive Samsung smartwatch you can buy, and despite being more than a year old, it’s still a current model in the company’s range alongside the newer Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic.

The cost is justified (by Samsung, at least) by its luxurious materials and overall toughness, along with a big battery and a seriously comprehensive sensor array to track your activity and health. The thing is, the Watch 6 models do most of what the Pro version does, just for less money. Is it worth splashing out for it?

About our Galaxy Watch 5 Pro review

Our review was originally published in August 2022 and then updated in December 2023. The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is still current and can be purchased brand new, hence our decision to revisit it after a relatively long time. The software on the smartwatch has been updated since its release, but our overall opinion and review score have not changed. The review has been updated throughout, plus there is a new section commenting on our experience revisiting it in 2023 right below.

Revisiting the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro in 2023

I was surprised to find my opinion of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro barely changed when I revisited it 16 months after I first reviewed it, and I still like it a great deal. But it has a serious problem: the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. Samsung didn’t replace the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro in 2023, and instead launched the Watch 6 Classic alongside it. It has now become the top Samsung smartwatch you should buy.

The Watch 6 Classic has less challenging looks, the wonderfully tactile physical rotating bezel, better performance, and almost all the features found on the Watch 5 Pro anyway. Outside of a performance deficit, there’s nothing wrong with the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, but when the Watch 6 Classic exists, there are only a few reasons to consider it. Samsung may want you to think it’s like choosing an Apple Watch Ultra 2 over an Apple Watch Series 9, but it’s definitely not.

Should you ignore it entirely? No, and this is where my opinion about it hasn’t really changed. I like the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro’s design, shape, and materials. The strap and D-Buckle are among the best and most comfortable in the business, and the battery lasts for a couple of days without a problem. But these are not compelling reasons to buy it over the newer Watch 6 Classic and are instead points you’ll use to justify buying it because, like me, you have a soft spot for its quirky, oddball nature.

I hope Samsung doesn’t abandon the Pro line when the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro reaches the end of its life, as with some care and attention, it could be a fine alternative to the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic or its sequel in the range. But as it stands, you’ll be deliberately not choosing the best Samsung smartwatch if you decide to buy it. It’s not an overtly bad decision, just a contrary one.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro: design

If you believe what Samsung tells you, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is a smartwatch for outdoorsy people, made for those with rough-and-tumble lifestyles who are always bashing their wristwear against a rock. It’s certainly going to be hardwearing as it’s made from titanium, has thick sapphire crystal over the screen, 50 meters’ water resistance, a raised bezel to protect the sapphire and screen, and it comes with a thick rubber strap.

However, it’s not suitable for diving, the case buttons aren’t there to make navigation easier when wearing gloves, there’s no super extended battery mode for a long weekend in the wilderness, and — apart from one small feature — the activity tracking is exactly the same on the cheaper Galaxy Watch 5. It connects to Samsung Health, which is an adequate piece of fitness software, but it’s aimed squarely at regular people — not athletes, mountaineers, or adventurers. This isn’t a competitor to a Garmin, Polar, or Suunto sports smartwatch. It’s a posh version of the old Galaxy Watch 5.

What makes it posh? It’s made from titanium, but unlike titanium on a luxury mechanical watch, it’s not especially recognizable as such, with a smooth, satin finish rather than a brushed or textured finish. The case back doesn’t seem to be made from titanium either, and it feels like plastic around the sensor array, meaning you don’t get the benefit of titanium’s skin-friendly properties. During the summer I found the Watch 5 Pro gets quite sweaty on my wrist.

Does the 45mm case make it too big? It’s all relative, but I don’t think you should get worked up over the diameter. It’s near-as-makes-no-difference the same as the 44mm Galaxy Watch for a start, and the small, integrated lugs minimize the impact of the large case. I think it looks normal on my 6.5-inch wrist. It’s obviously not a minimalist dress watch, but it’s no larger than a Casio G-Shock MTG-B2000 and isn’t that much different from my 43mm Tag Heuer Formula 1 either.

Instead, it’s the thickness and weight that’s more of an issue, as the slab-sided shape does nothing to hide the smartwatch’s 10.5mm tallness on your wrist. In total, the Watch 5 Pro weighs 75 grams, and some may find it too noticeable on the wrist to be comfortable. Initially, this was what I found when I wore it in the summer, but returning to it during the winter, it was more manageable. I even found it comfortable enough to wear during the night to track sleep.

I’m wearing the Watch 5 Pro with Samsung’s D-Buckle Sport Band, which is excellent. It can be adjusted for size without tools and is secured with a magnet. It’s comfortable, convenient, hasn’t come loose, and looks really great. However, the size of the magnetic clasp means it may get caught on things, another downside for the adventurous. If it’s not a good fit for you, there are ample options to choose from for other Galaxy Watch 5 watch bands.

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is a bit of a design oddity. It’s clearly not really an adventure smartwatch, but it’s not especially luxurious either. It looks great when viewed face-on and the strap’s all-in-one design is a real winner, giving the watch a modern, cohesive, individual look. Viewed from the side, it looks a little awkward next to the curvier and stylish Galaxy Watch 5. And while it shares materials with a luxury smartwatch, it can’t compete with the wonderful Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E4 for looks and sheer enjoyment when wearing it.

Galaxy Watch 5 Pro: Route Workout and Track Back

There are two feature advantages to the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro over the Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 6 series: Route Workout and Track Back. Route Workout is a way to follow pre-determined routes when hiking or cycling, and requires you to import special .GPX files via your phone. Select the feature on the watch, import the GPX, and the watch will show the route. However, it’s a “fixed” view, so you have to be ready at the right spot to start your hike or cycle as you can’t scroll around the map to establish where you are, but I like the turn-by-turn navigation and simple vibration alerts to keep you on track.

It’s a really niche feature. If you’re part of a group where GPX files are regularly created and shared, the feature works very well and could be fun. But if you’re not, you will have to go looking for files online. Not only are GPX files not very common, but they require specialist software to create them in the first place. The Route Workout feature also only supports hiking and cycling. This also applies to the Track Back feature, which will automatically lead you back to your starting point.

Neither are features someone who sticks to established paths will ever use, and those who want to explore more but aren’t part of a group that already uses GPX files would be better to try an app like ViewRanger, MapMyWalk, or OS Maps. Samsung promotes the GPX Route Workout and Track Back as features that make the Watch 5 Pro pro, yet they’re more niche and restrictive than we’d expected.

Galaxy Watch 5 Pro: health and activity tracking

On the back of the smartwatch is the same 3-in-1 BioActive Sensor found on the Galaxy Watch 5, which measures heart rate and blood oxygen levels, takes an electrocardiogram, and will record body composition too. The Watch 5 Pro will also measure blood pressure, but to do that you need to live somewhere the feature is available (it’s not available in the U.S.), calibrate it with a cuff-based blood pressure monitor, and repeat that calibration every month. It’s not something for casual users and is likely best explored by those who have been recommended to monitor blood pressure. Skin temperature monitoring is also available following a software update.

Recording body composition — muscle, fat mass, body fat, body water, BMR, and BMI — from your wrist is very cool, as before it was something more usually found on an upmarket set of smart scales, or complicated machinery in a doctor’s office. However, while you get the results and are shown if they’re good or bad, there’s nothing to explain how to change them. That’s acceptable for things like BMI as it’s a widely understood metric, but not so for body water or skeletal muscle.

Tracking a walk showed the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro accurately and quickly acquires a GPS signal and the map is clearly plotted afterward in the Samsung Health app. Heart rate and speed matched the data collected by the Apple Watch Series 7, but there was a slight discrepancy between total calories burned. There’s a lot of data to examine in the app, including VO2 Max, cadence, heart rate zones, elevation, and plenty more. While I’ve been using it to track casual exercise, there’s more than enough here for more committed sportspeople.

Auto-workouts, where the watch recognizes you’re out exercising is very accurate, as is the auto-pause feature. So accurate in fact, it pauses while you wait to cross a busy road and restarts once you’re halfway across. Under the Fitness tab in Samsung Health, you’ll find a mixture of subscription-based and free workout plans. They’re all broken down into sections (balance, weight loss, endurance, mindfulness, and so on) and are clearly marked for difficulty level. I tried a few out and while they’re a bit repetitive, they look great on the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s big screen, and the display shows heart rate and calorie burn data from your watch, which starts tracking the activity immediately without any prompting.

Unfortunately, I don’t think the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is suitable for sleep tracking. It’s just too heavy and bulky. The lighter Galaxy Watch 5 is better, and you can see how it performs in our review of that model. If I ever make it through an entire night without taking the Watch 5 Pro off because it’s annoying me, I’ll update here on its performance. If sleep tracking is really important to you, consider the Oura Ring instead.

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is a fantastic workout partner. It’s accurate, easy to use, pulls in masses of data, and the multiple sensors help give you a comprehensive overview of your general health. Samsung Health is simple to navigate and use too. It’s highly recommended, but unless you already use .GPX files for hikes or cycling, it won’t provide any more functionality or insight than the regular Galaxy Watch 6.

Galaxy Watch 5 Pro: software and performance

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro has Google’s WearOS 4 with Samsung’s One UI Watch 5 software onboard, all powered by the Exynos W920 processor, 1.5GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage space. There’s no physical rotating bezel like the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, but you can run your finger around the outer edge of the screen to somewhat replicate the experience. Otherwise, you swipe and tap the screen to move through the menus and titles. Everything you see can be customized, including which Tiles are shown and in what order.

Bixby is the default voice assistant and the microphone picks up my voice without a problem, even outside with traffic noise around me. It can be switched to Google Assistant, but to do so requires installation of the Assistant app and jumping through some hoops in Settings. While you’re in the Google Play Store, there are various other apps available for the Watch 5 Pro including Spotify, Nike Run Club, Komoot, Hole19, MyFitnessPal, Outlook, Strava, and many more.

Samsung Pay is called up with a long press of the lower button on the case, and while Google Wallet can be installed, I can’t find a way to remap the same button to use it instead. You’re forced to add it to the top button, where a short press works as a back button, and a long press by default calls up Bixby. Special mention should go to the new keyboard that’s part of OneUI Watch, as even when I optimistically stab away at the small screen it gets what I’m trying to type.

Once the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is going the performance is speedy, but it takes a while to wake up. Swipe the screen to see Quick Settings or to access the app menu and it rarely recognizes the first input, and it takes several tries before it actually does anything. It’s frustrating and is possibly to do with power management. I also find it very annoying when a notification arrives and the watch vibrates, but the information doesn’t show on the screen when I raise my wrist. It happens probably three out of five times.

The smartwatch is fast enough, but the software needs polishing and you’ll have to spend some time getting it to work the way you want. It’s definitely not as powerful and smooth as the Galaxy Watch 6 series, or as slick or effortlessly simple as WatchOS and the Apple Watch. The Google Pixel Watch 2 is also faster and doesn’t suffer from slowdown in the same way.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro: screen and other features

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro’s screen is the smaller and lower resolution than the one on the 47mm Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. It’s still very sharp and text looks fantastic, plus the more colorful watch faces pop off the screen due to their high contrast, bright colors, and deep blacks. It’s also easy to view in sunlight, and the auto-brightness feature has proven very effective.

There are two settings for haptics, light and strong. Light is pleasing and noticeable, while the strong setting really makes itself known on your wrist. Dig into the settings on the watch and Samsung has included a wealth of accessibility options covering hearing and visibility enhancements, plus granular control over the screen’s sensitivity and responsiveness.

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro has Bluetooth onboard ready to connect to wireless headphones, plus music can be transferred over from your phone through the Galaxy Wearable app and played directly if you don’t want to carry your phone on a run. It’s a fast transfer too, taking only a few seconds per track to sync. I used the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro with the Watch 5 Pro, and it didn’t require additional setup because it pulled the information directly from my phone, which really simplified the process. It uses Bluetooth to connect to your phone and the range is average, around the expected 10 meters but not more, and there’s a vibration alert if it suddenly disconnects. I haven’t had any problems with connectivity.

Finally, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro does not work with an iPhone, it requires an Android phone and the Galaxy Wearable and Samsung Health apps, plus if you’re using a non-Samsung phone, a special plugin too. It also seems the Route Back feature only works with a Samsung phone.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro: battery life and charging

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro’s battery life is its standout feature and sets it apart from most other Android smartwatches. It will last you three working days without a recharge, with a 30-minute activity tracked on each one, provided you don’t wear it overnight. Wear it to track sleep and without any workout tracking, and it will last two full days without a problem.

As already discussed, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is not always the best smartwatch to track sleep due to its size and weight, and while that’s a pain, it does help battery life. Track one 30-minute activity with GPS and expect the battery to drop by only about 5%, which gives you a good idea of how much energy the Watch 5 Pro’s 590mAh cell stores. Samsung estimates 80 hours of battery use, but you won’t get close to that if, like me, you activate continuous heart rate and stress monitoring, and the always-on screen.

Three days of battery may not quite match smartwatches like the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 or the Casio G-Shock GSW-H1000, but it’s longer than the Galaxy Watch 6 and the Pixel Watch 2. Charging is more standard and it takes 20 minutes to get to about 40% from almost flat, reaches 65% after 40 minutes, and on to full in 90 minutes.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro: Price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro costs $450 for the Wi-Fi version or $499 for the 4G LTE model or 429 British pounds for the Wi-Fi version in the U.K. and 469 pounds for the LTE model. It’s available now, and if you’re thinking about buying, do take a look at the trade-in discounts available as they can significantly reduce the initial cost. Spending more to get the 4G LTE model means you’ll be able to leave your phone at home more often and still get messages and calls, but it will cost extra on your monthly carrier bill.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro: verdict

I really like the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. It looks great, I appreciate the higher-quality materials (although I don’t think they make it an adventure smartwatch), and the sensor array and associated health tracking features are excellent.

However, there isn’t a strong reason to buy it over the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, which comes in two sizes, is more stylish, and has a physically rotating bezel. It has almost identical features, is better suited to sleep tracking, and costs less. The only slightly compelling reason to choose the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is its longer battery life, but we’re only talking a day or so extra, not something more meaningful like a week.

If you’re tempted due to the GPX file support and Track Back feature, just remember you need a Samsung phone for it to work. If you are thinking about this, also take a look to see if a sports smartwatch like the Polar Pacer Pro or Garmin Forerunner 955 has more functionality that suits your lifestyle — especially if you run, hike, or cycle long distances regularly.

All of this is why I see the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro as a luxury version of the Galaxy Watch 5. You won’t be gaining much by buying it in terms of features and functionality, and those with sensible heads will just buy the cheaper one and be very happy with it. However, the titanium case, thicker sapphire, and minimalist design will tempt those who want something just a bit more special, and I have no hesitation in recommending it — provided you understand the cheaper Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is even better and more versatile. It’s a heart-not-a-head decision to choose the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro.

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