Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, review: a light renewal that has the enemy at home

We put the most “Pro” model of the family to the test, the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro, and now it’s time to analyze the version that, most likely, will end up landing on the wrists of a greater number of people.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is the renewal of one of the most important smartwatches that Samsung has launched in recent years, the Galaxy Watch 4. The second generation of the family of watches based on Wear OS and aimed at becoming the standard within the wearables segment with the Google operating system, since the latter does not seem to have the intention of expanding the availability of its Pixel Watch to a greater number of regions.

This version is a clearly iterative renovation, not a revolutionary one. There are very few aspects that have changed compared to the last edition, and the improvements can be counted on the fingers of one hand, despite the notorious price difference between the two models, and that, after all, can mark the difference between buying one model and another.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, opinion and score

Design

It is not easy to differentiate the Galaxy Watch 5 from the Galaxy Watch 4 with the naked eye. Although that’s not all bad.

The previous generation introduced a much more refined design than previous editions, with a straight metal frame with a matte finish and a completely flat screen, giving the body of the watch a sober and minimalist aesthetic.

In this case, the principles of that visual language are maintained, although we find novelties such as the use of a sapphire crystal that covers the screen to protect it from scratches and breakage. During these weeks of use, I have to say that the screen glass is completely spotless, without any kind of use marks.

We once again have two physical buttons on the right side of the aluminum case of the watch. Both are configurable, and the one at the top has a red border, which identifies the version with 4G LTE support. The “normal” model lacks this feature.

Samsung continues to use a 20-millimeter-wide silicone strap with a standard clasp for its most basic watches. It is a comfortable and soft strap, easy to fit and easily replaceable thanks to the pins located on the back.

A more or less important change carried out when designing this new generation is found on the back of the watch. And it is that the glass that covers the back of the watch now has a more pronounced curve, according to Samsung, to better adapt to the wrist and improve the precision of the sensors.

As usual, Samsung offers its basic watch in two case sizes: 40 and 44 millimeters. Unfortunately, I’ve only had the opportunity to test the 40mm model, which in my opinion is more suitable for those with narrow wrists.

In general, it is a comfortable and pleasant watch to wear, with a sober aesthetic, but with a wide variety of colors that allows you to play with the different combinations of case and bracelet. In addition, the use of sapphire crystal adds points to the resistance section, and it must be remembered that the watch maintains protection against water and dust under an IP68 certification. On the other hand, since it lacks the legendary rotating bezel that the company used until the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, it is possible to control it through the touch bezel that surrounds the screen.

Screen

The panels of the Galaxy Watch series have never been a problem, and the Galaxy Watch 5 reiterates it once again. The 1.2-inch diagonal Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 396 x 396 pixels offers an excellent result. There’s basically no difference from last year’s model panel, and that’s certainly good news.

One improvement we would like to see in future generations of this series would be a reduction in the size of the border around the panel. Apple has managed to do this in the latest editions of the se Watch, and Samsung should take some notes on this when designing its future smartwatches.

Although Samsung has not shared data related to the maximum brightness level that the screen can reach, I have to say that the results have been very positive in any situation, and it is possible to view the content of the screen without problems, even under direct incidence. from sunlight.

Behind the screen is an excellent haptic system that is used to generate different vibration effects when interacting with the watch, for example when scrolling through the menus, using the touch bezel or performing other actions. It is one of those details that demonstrate the high quality of this product, and that position it above other companies’ smart watches.

performance and experience

Another section where there are hardly any differences with respect to the previous generation. The same Exynos W920 processor that we already saw last year, associated with the same 1.5 GB of RAM, is repeated in this Galaxy Watch 5. Although, again, this is not a problem.

The results are identical. This chip makes its software move very smoothly, and running applications, moving between menus or performing any type of action with the smartwatch is pleasant.

Wear OS 3.5 is the version of the operating system that runs inside the Galaxy Watch 5. It is a new edition of the software developed in collaboration by Google and Samsung, which inherits some of the features of TizenOS.

Samsung has customized the software through the layer called One UI Watch in its version 4.5, with a large number of brand-specific additions, which extend from the interface of the different menus and settings, to the different applications pre-installed on the phone. clock.

The experience is positive in (almost) every way: the software moves fast and smoothly, there are apps of all kinds and many more can be installed thanks to access to the Google Play Store, and access to SmartThings makes it possible use the watch as a home control hub connected through the Samsung ecosystem.

However, there are some drawbacks, such as the fact that the Google Assistant is not yet available in Spanish or that it is necessary to download a minimum of three different applications on the mobile to be able to associate and use the watch.

On top of that, keep in mind that, as with all Samsung wearables, only Galaxy smartphone owners will get a full experience with the watch, including features like more advanced notification management.

In other words: the Galaxy Watch 5 cannot offer the “clean” experience with Wear OS that the new Google Pixel Watch does. But, since Google’s watch will not be sold in the vast majority of markets around the world, Samsung’s option is the best that can be found today within the segment of Android-based watches.

The great advantage of having Wear OS as the “base” operating system is that there is the possibility of “cleaning up” the experience manually, and somehow forgetting about Samsung services. In my case, a few days after starting the tests, I decided to replace SmartThings, Samsung Health and Samsung Pay with Google Home (thanks to its new watch app), Google Fit and Google Wallet, and my experience improved substantially since I don’t normally use a Samsung smartphone nor am I immersed in the ecosystem of services of the Korean firm.

On the other hand, in favor of the Galaxy Watch 5, it must be said that Samsung has one of the best support policies in the entire wearables industry, as it promises to keep its watches updated to the latest version of the system for a minimum of four years, the same way you do with your smartphones. Google, meanwhile, only secures three big updates for its Pixel Watch.

battery and charging

The battery of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 has grown slightly compared to that of the Galaxy Watch 4, going from 247 to 284 mAh capacity.

The reality is that the performance is basically identical. In general, it is very difficult to overcome the day of use with the remaining battery, and in most cases the watch will have to be charged at least once a day, or left charging overnight to be able to use it during the following day.

Fortunately, this new installment includes support for fast charging, which allows you to fully recharge the battery in an hour and a half using a suitable charger. With 30 minutes of charging, the battery level will have reached 45%.

Thanks to this, the lack of greater autonomy is no longer so serious, although those who are looking for a watch capable of offering more than a day of battery life or do not want to worry about whether they can take it to bed to monitor their sleep cycles without having to to go through the charger first, maybe they should look for an alternative.

Health and sport functions

In the health and sports monitoring section, the Galaxy Watch 5 stands out for the variety of options, but not so much for its precision.

Basic aspects such as the heart rate reading or the step count work well enough and offer data comparable to those of models that have proven to offer great precision, such as the Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro with which I have been able to make comparisons. In that sense, I also like the way Samsung’s walk detection system works, pausing or stopping the count automatically to generate an accurate report at the end of the walk.

Other data, on the other hand, are not so reliable. Sleep detection is far from perfect, sometimes generating false positives when detecting sleep sessions when the watch is not used to sleep. Apart from that, in addition, Samsung Health requires up to seven nights of sleep data in order to generate detailed reports.

The detection of oxygen in the blood also works correctly, although on some occasions it returns values ​​​​well below normal, probably due to poor measurement. The “BioActive 3 in 1” sensor has also been slightly improved, although it still offers the same functions as the previous generation.

Interestingly, this model incorporates a temperature sensor on the back, supposedly aimed at improving accuracy when detecting sleep cycles. However, today the sensor is not very useful, and rather it is a commitment to the future by Samsung, since the company wants developers to take advantage of this function and add features that take advantage of it in their applications. .

In general, the experience is positive and it is undoubtedly a suitable watch for those who want to have some control over their health and physical activity, but it is far from being the most advanced watch on the market in this regard.

This device has been analyzed independently thanks to a transfer by the brand. The article contains purchase links for which Andro4all may receive a commission. Join the Andro4all bargain channel to find out about the best deals before anyone else.