Samsung’s Galaxy Watch5 Pro competes with Garmin

Samsung’s smartwatch series experienced the biggest change a year ago. Then its Tizen operating system was replaced by Google’s Wear OS with a recognizable Samsung interface on it. This merger of Samsung and Google was expressed a year ago with the Galaxy Watch4 series.

The newly announced Samsung Galaxy Watch5 series consists of two models: Galaxy Watch5 and Watch5 Pro. But what stands out most is what is missing.

Since the first generation of the Galaxy Watch, except for sports versions, for example, the smartwatch has a ring that revolves around its display. You can scroll through the menus, touchscreen and function buttons for a useful extra navigation option.

This ring is missing on the Galaxy Watch5 and Pro version. What’s added is that it has a sapphire glass watch in both series. This type of glass is less breakable and susceptible to scratches. It is not an unnecessary luxury, especially for athletes.

The sapphire glass already gives away a bit of Samsung’s intentions. A smartwatch can take shock, so you might want to consider taking it with you when you go hiking, mountain biking, running in mud, or other activities that cause bumps or splashes. The Pro version in particular keeps a fanatical audience in mind, thanks to features like ‘saving’ a route in the wilderness so you can find your way back, and long battery life with GPS enabled.

These are the functions you normally buy a Garmin smartwatch for. These watches can also outpace and lag behind brands like Apple and Samsung when it comes to (long-term) accurate measurements. But these brands have more to offer in terms of smart functions, collaboration with your smartphone, and available apps.

Although Wear OS offers a complete smartwatch operating system, it is mainly the health functions that Samsung praises the watch. For example, with advanced sleep metrics. It builds on other fitness and health features Samsung already offers. Like blood pressure measurement, this functionality was a bit of a disappointment on the Watch4 because the meter had to be constantly calibrated with a real blood pressure monitor. Whether this improves with the fifth generation is still unclear.

The Galaxy Watch5 comes in two sizes. One with a 40mm dial display, the other with a 44mm dial display. The Pro version is slightly larger, which means the Galaxy Watch5 Pro is not suitable for smaller wrist sizes.