Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is the latest smartwatch that Samsung has released.

Smartwatch technology has come a long way since the first wristwatch-style computers hit the market in the early 2000s. Nowadays, smartwatches are more powerful than ever, rapidly gaining popularity among UAE consumers.

One of the leading manufacturers of smartwatches is Samsung, a well-known Korean electronics company that has been around technology for over a decade. Their responsive touchscreens provide crystal-clear visuals and make navigating through apps and menus easy.

Most Samsung smartwatches also come equipped with Bixby, Samsung’s voice assistant, allowing you to control your watch hands-free with simple voice commands.

Fitness enthusiasts will appreciate the many health and fitness features offered by Samsung smartwatches, including GPS tracking, heart rate monitoring, and automatic workout detection. Samsung’s proprietary health app provides detailed insights into your activity levels, sleep patterns, and overall wellness.

Suppose you need to stay connected while on the move. These smartwatches can integrate smoothly with your smartphone. You can receive notifications, make calls, send texts, and stream music directly from your wrist.

If you’re looking to buy a Samsung smartwatch in UAE, Check out the latest Samsung smartwatch price in UAE on Buytronics.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro has made great advancements in terms of battery life, durability, and features compared to its predecessor, making it more suitable for outdoor use. Join us as we review the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro.

Last year, Samsung launched two Galaxy Watch smartwatch series models at the 2022 Unpacked event.

This year, a new member has joined the series, which serves as an advanced version of the standard model and takes the place of the more expensive Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. However, this new member is not following the path of the classic version, as there are no reports of a rotating bezel or classic suffix.

Koreans have set aside the classic version, which has many fans, and this year, by adding the “Pro” label to their leading Galaxy smartwatches, they have presented it cleaner than the standard version in terms of features such as better battery life, build quality, and durability.

Tech giants like Apple and Samsung are trying to edge out professional smartwatch brands such as Garmin, Suunto, and Coros from the market by focusing on durability and resistance to outdoor conditions. Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and Apple’s Ultra Watch are examples of this trend.

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro has some important changes compared to the standard and previous premium versions, including a titanium body, a blue sapphire coating for screen protection, and a larger battery.

 However, it remains to be seen if these changes are enough to justify the “Pro” label. We will review the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and answer that question.

Design and Build Quality of Galaxy Watch 5 Pro

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic look very similar in terms of design. However, the new Galaxy Watch 5 Pro doesn’t have a rotating bezel like its predecessor. To compensate for this, Samsung has raised the watch body slightly at the edges to better protect the display.

The raised edge slopes towards the surface of the display, but it’s not high enough to completely shield the display from sharp objects. Nevertheless, it can still help cushion the device if it falls on a smooth surface and prevents damage.

Besides the front display panel, we see little difference in appearance between Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and Watch 4 Classic. Of course, when you put the two watches side by side, the Galaxy Watch 5 looks slightly thicker than the Watch 4 Classic due to its one-piece and consistent body design. The use of a larger battery has led to a greater prominence on the back of the device, which, surprisingly, the manufacturer overlooked when calculating the product dimensions!

The device has a customizable home and back buttons on the right with BioActive sensors and a microphone between them. The left side has only a speaker hole, and the back includes BIA, ECG, and Optical Heart Rate sensors in the same arrangement as before. An infrared sensor for measuring skin temperature is added to this section, visible as a hole on the left side.

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro has upgraded to a titanium body, increasing durability and reducing weight compared to the steel Galaxy Watch 4. This feature allows for a larger battery, making the watch lighter than the 46mm Galaxy Watch 4 Classic despite having more power.

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is a lightweight device, weighing only 46.5 grams, despite its slim appearance. It’s comfortable to wear on the wrist unless you have small wrists. If it doesn’t feel heavy when you first put it on, you won’t notice it throughout the day. However, the watch’s thickness may be slightly annoying when sleeping or hiding under clothing sleeves.

Samsung has used a blue sapphire coating on this year’s Galaxy watches to protect the display instead of Gorilla Glass. This coating is 60% harder than the previous generation Gorilla Glass + DX and more resistant to scratches. The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro comes in only one size, 45mm, and has two colors: titanium silver and titanium black. This is different from the classic model from last year, so the choices are limited, especially for people with small wrists and hands!

Our reviewed model features a high-quality D Buckle Sport silicone strap that is comfortable for long periods without causing sweating or irritation on the wrist. The D Buckle Sport strap uses strong magnetism instead of common pin buckles, which may take some time. Additionally, there are two curved loops that keep the strap securely in place on the wrist.

To adjust the tightness of the strap, there is a buckle on the backside of the magnetic lock that allows you to change its position. However, unlike pin buckles that can be adjusted while wearing the watch by using holes on the strap, with the D Buckle Sport strap, you have to remove the watch from your wrist to adjust the tightness.

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is compatible with 20mm straps, and you can easily replace the current strap with your preferred one using small lugs at the end of the strap.

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is waterproof and dustproof with an IP68 certification. It also has a 5ATM standard, meaning it can handle pressure up to 5 atmospheres (50m depth) for 10 minutes. Additionally, it meets the MIL-STD-810H certification, a US military standard indicating its durability in harsh environments or falls from heights.

The Amazing Display of Galaxy Watch 5 Pro

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro has a 1.36-inch OLED display with a resolution of 450×450 pixels and a refresh rate of 60Hz, the same as the 44mm Galaxy Watch 5 base model.

This display is one of the best on smartwatches and produces accurate and vibrant colors, high contrast, transparency, and readability. Although the technology used is the same as the previous generation, there has yet to be much progress made in it.

Even with the font size set to the lowest level, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro display resolution is sufficient, and texts remain easily readable. The display also performs well under sunlight and adjusts brightness intelligently according to the sunlight intensity, allowing for effortless viewing outside. Tests have shown that this display can produce up to 1000 nits of brightness.

The Always-On Display feature is available on the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro for displaying watch faces and time, but it’s turned off by default to save battery.

If you take the watch off your wrist, it will automatically turn off to conserve battery life. The display is highly responsive to touch and has a high response rate, resulting in an excellent user experience. Furthermore, you can increase touch sensitivity to use the watch while wearing gloves.

The Technical Specifications and Hardware

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro has the same processor as the Galaxy Watch 4 series, so it’s not faster or better. However, it still works well for everyday tasks like the previous generation. 

Samsung could have improved it by using a new chip that would have given users more power and stability.

Samsung’s 5-nanometer chip is good, but there might be some lag or performance issues if you use the watch too fast or install many apps at once. Thankfully, there haven’t been any reports of it overheating! It’s hard to imagine feeling direct heat from a smartwatch like with older Android phones that used to get really hot.

The Watch 5 Pro still has 16 GB of storage and 1.5 GB of RAM, just like before. But don’t worry; you won’t run out of space!

When you first turn on the watch, you’ll have 7.5 GB of storage available out of the 16 GB total. Unless you transfer a lot of pictures or music, there should be plenty of space for most people. Installing apps and watch faces will only take up about two gigabytes of space, so you’re good to go!

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro has a BioActive sensor with three sensors that analyze BIA, ECG, and optical heart rate. It also has other sensors like SpO2, accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer, geomagnetic, and light sensors to track activities and vital signs.

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro has all the sensors found in previous Galaxy Watches, but it also has a new one for measuring skin temperature.

Currently, this sensor has no specific function, but it may be used to monitor sleep status more accurately. Some sources say the temperature sensor is inactive, but Samsung plans to use it for measuring body temperature and tracking menstrual cycles by examining temperature trends (like the Apple Watch Ultra).

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro uses a single-channel speaker that provides good-quality sound. While it may be less than expected during calls or music playback, the volume is sufficient for notification sounds and ringtones. The microphone performs very well in phone calls and can transmit clear sound from a not-too-close distance. Haptic feedback also conveys a sense of rotation when moving between tiles, and you can adjust the pattern and intensity of vibration from the settings.

Other specifications of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro include dual-band Wi-Fi (5 and 2.4 GHz), support for Bluetooth 5.2, GPS, and NFC. Additionally, the LTE version of this watch is available for an extra $50.

User Interface and Software 

Google and Samsung collaborated to create the new Wear OS 3.0, which replaced Samsung’s Tizen operating system in their smartwatches.

The Galaxy Watch 4 became the first product with the new OS. This collaboration allowed Google to improve Wear OS using Samsung’s wearable technology, while Samsung gained credibility by accessing a common app store. 

The launch of the Galaxy Watch 5, running on Wear OS 3.5, showed that the collaboration was successful. The 4.5 version comes with improvements and changes.

One UI Watch 4.5 has made typing on Samsung’s keyboard easier by adding a QWERTY layout, handwriting recognition, and voice typing capabilities. 

The phone app now supports the second SIM card, and there are new options in the Accessibility section, such as changing color and contrast, adding a color filter, removing visual effects and animations, and new watch faces. 

You can customize all watch settings from your phone using the Galaxy Wearable app, and Wi-Fi profiles sync automatically. The hardware buttons can also be customized to change their function.

Installing apps on the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is easy. You can filter search results or select your device from the mobile or desktop version of Google Play. The watch connects to the internet via both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and you can turn off Wi-Fi and only use Bluetooth for internet access.

The watch has gesture controls for different tasks and call-up custom functions. Safety features include emergency mode announcement and fall detection with location information and medical data sent to emergency contacts.

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro cannot be paired with iPhones since it doesn’t support iOS. However, the watch works best with Galaxy phones, providing the highest level of user experience. 

Despite using Wear OS, the user interface has been developed to integrate well with Galaxy phones. Features are directly linked between the watch and phone, including alarm control and Bedtime Mode. Also, syncing features such as Wi-Fi profiles are only available using Galaxy phones.

Health and Fitness Features of Galaxy Watch 5 Pro

Regarding smartwatches’ health and fitness features, Samsung smartwatches have a lot to say and show their difference from competitors like Garmin in providing a wide range of health information. The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro uses an optical heart rate sensor to measure heart rate variability (HRV) for daily stress tracking and display the heart rate. 

The watch checks the heart rate automatically every 10 minutes and measures your stress level; if a high level of stress is detected, you will be prompted to perform a deep breathing exercise to reduce it. You can change the measurement to manual mode to increase battery life.

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro sleep tracking feature has seen some minor improvements. Apart from the fundamental UI revision, more data is collected, and users are alerted if recurring symptoms of sleep disorders such as apnea are detected. Sleep tracking and monitoring begin when the body is motionless at night.

 If the watch detects that you have entered the sleep phase, optical heart rate and SpO2 sensors will activate, and based on the recorded data, various sleep cycles, including light, deep, and REM sleep, are examined, as well as the times when the person wakes up or falls asleep for a moment.

Samsung’s sleep tracking displays each cycle’s duration and starts/end times; rates sleep quality based on sufficiency, number of awakenings, and movements. 

Samsung’s sleep monitoring feature checks blood oxygen levels, but tests showed high error rates, up to a 76% decrease in blood oxygen level for a few minutes, equivalent to critical conditions.

These watches have a body composition analysis feature that estimates weight, muscle-to-fat ratio, body water, and BMR using Samsung BIA sensors. Users need to enter their height and

weight for BMI calculation, then hold their two middle fingers over the side buttons on the watch tightly strapped to their wrist while raising their arms without touching the body.

This smartwatch has blood pressure measurement and ECG recording, but some regions may not have access. The Samsung Health Monitor app can record data independently of the Samsung Health app, removing this limitation. You only need to install it on your phone and smartwatch to measure blood pressure and ECG data.

One thing to remember when using the health sensors on the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and smartwatches, in general, is that you should follow the manufacturer’s instructions and conditions before taking measurements to ensure accurate results. Wearing the watch snugly on your wrist is a key requirement for many measurements, so you should either fasten the watch tightly on your wrist or move it towards your forearm if there is too much breathing space between your hand and the watch. If these guidelines are followed, the measurements, especially in the body composition section, will be very accurate and even comparable to expensive medical devices.

In the fitness and wellness section, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro supports more than 90 sports and exercise modes, and activities such as walking, running, and swimming are automatically tracked and recorded through motion sensors that detect the type of activity. The type of movement detection also includes vertical oscillations (whether you are jumping up instead of moving forward).

For me, at first, the variety of exciting exercise modes seemed impressive; however, in many cases, due to the stable position of the body and hands and the inability to count movements, only the number of calories burned from heart rate is detected, so many exercise modes, in addition to not detecting movements during training, count the rest time between each set of exercises as part of your exercise time unless you manually pause the activity in progress; but stopping and resuming the activity can become tedious over time. Therefore, it might be better to consider a general exercise mode for a specific activity instead of many activities.

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro benefits from a very useful feature. If you remain stationary in one place for 50 minutes without moving, the watch will notify you and ask you to stand up and walk around or do stretching exercises for a few moments. Of course, you can disable this feature by turning off the Inactive Time option or adjusting the alert times.

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro exclusively hosts two new features. One of them is a new widget called Route. When you tap on this tile, you will be asked to enter a GPX file. But what is a GPX file? GPX (or GPS Exchange Format) files contain geospatial information such as location, movement routes, stopping points, and so on.

GPX files are pre-defined and customized routing and navigation that can be downloaded from various sources. In the Route section, you can use it for sports such as cycling and mountaineering by entering a file for routing. Currently, routing using GPX files is limited to only two sports, but more sports modes may be supported. 

The second feature, called Track Back, automatically tracks the Route you have taken during an activity so that you can return to the starting point (the position where you started your activity) along the same Route.

The Battery Capacity

One of the prominent differences between the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro compared to the standard model is the use of a much larger battery. With a capacity of 590 milliampere-hours, this battery is the largest used in all Samsung smartwatches. For comparison, the 46-millimeter version of

the Galaxy Watch 4 uses a 361-milliamp-hour battery, indicating a 63% increase in battery capacity for the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro.

The difference in battery capacity between the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and the standard version is significant enough that Samsung considers it a justifiable difference in price between the Pro and standard models. Koreans claim this battery can last up to 80 hours; however, the announced number may vary significantly depending on how people use the watch, according to what Samsung has claimed.

In our tests, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro had a maximum battery life of up to 58 hours, equivalent to 2 days and 10 hours. This test was performed with the watch worn on the wrist around the clock, with motion and health sensors active, and continuous tracking and monitoring of sleep. Additionally, we used the watch’s features and applications for two hours during the day. The watch was connected to the phone via Bluetooth throughout this time, and communication components were turned on.

Galaxy Watch 5 Pro Price in Dubai, UAE

If you reside in Dubai, UAE, and want to purchase this model of Samsung smartwatch. You can buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro in Dubai for 999 AED here!

Conclusion

Samsung’s new Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is taking a different direction, and it remains to be seen how committed the company is to compete with advanced fitness wearables designed for specific activities in varied weather conditions. The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is more durable and of higher quality compared to previous generations. Still, changes in its software do not make it stand out from the regular or classic models significantly.

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is not meant to replace professional fitness watches; instead, it covers the weaknesses of regular versions for people who participate in long-term outdoor sports and want their watch to last all day without worrying about the battery.

With body composition analysis and an upgrade to the Wear OS platform, purchasing Galaxy Watches has become more valuable. The Galaxy Watch 4 and Classic models are still worth considering if cost is a concern. The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro offers heavy usage and efficient features with at least two days of battery life.