Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2022 gave us a reprise of the only Android smartwatch worth wearing: the Galaxy Watch. This year, we’re lucky enough to be getting the Galaxy Watch 5 AND the Watch 5 Pro from Samsung, and some pretty neat additions to the bulky circular thing we’ve come to love that also tells the time.
Last year, we called the Galaxy Watch4 the “first good Android smartwatch” and the 5 is looking to rip the crown right off its sibling’s head. The 5 Pro, however, that’s a whole new level.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro
Samsung is billing the Watch5 as “the watch that really knows you”. The Watch 5 can be looked at as more of an upgrade to the 4, the Pro, however, is packing high-level fitness features. Both the 5 and 5 Pro are packing a tonne of great features, but first, the specs.
Watch 5 specs
- Size: 40mm and 44mm. The 40mm is available in Graphite, Pink Gold and Silver colours, while the 44mm swaps out Pink Gold for Sapphire.
- Battery: 410mAh – about a 13 per cent increase over the Watch4. Samsung says you’ll get 45 per cent charge in 30 minutes.
- Storage: 1.5GB of memory and 16GB of internal storage for music and photos.
- Durability: Samsung claims the Galaxy Watch 5 is 40 per cent more durable than the Watch4 and that it boasts “enhanced scratch resistance with Sapphire Crystal”. They’re also rated IP68 for water resistance and up to 5ATM, meaning they can withstand water pressure up to 50 metres.
Watch 5 Pro specs
- Size: only available in a 45mm option, the colours are pretty simple: Black Titanium and Silver Titanium.
- Battery: 590mAh – even with GPS on, Samsung claims ‘all-day’ battery life.
- Storage: 1.5GB of memory and 16GB of internal storage for music and photos.
- Durability: as with the Watch 5, the Watch 5 Pro is more durable than the Watch4, 2x ‘stronger’ in fact. It’s also made out of titanium, as you can tell by the colour names. The Pro is also rated IP68.
Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro features
There’s a tonne of new and improved features across both watches.
- Sleep Dashboard: The pitch from Samsung is that you can better understand and improve your sleep with Watch 5’s advanced sleep monitoring. The Dashboard will provide all of your sleep stats, such as your calories burned in bed. Interesting… It also has the things you’d expect, such as snore detection.
- Sleep Coaching: Building on the sleep dash is a feature to actually help you be better at sleeping. If you enable Sleep Coaching and you wear your Watch 5 during sleep for seven days (and finish two sleep surveys) you’ll be allocated a ‘sleep animal’. You’ll then get a month of sleep coaching, customised according to your unique animal sleep type. It’s bulk cute. It also integrates with smart home kit, such as lights, to help with your sleep.
- Health Monitoring: A little bit more accuracy, but still access to heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen, ECG stats. With the Galaxy Watch 5 and 5 Pro, Samsung is also boosting its ‘end-to-end health experience’, with ‘Body Composition’ mapping and monitoring, including ‘sweat tracking’.
- Google Assistant: She’s coming along for the ride, with Google Pay, YouTube Music, Google Maps and Play Store all available on the Galaxy Watch 5 and Pro.
Galaxy Watch 5 Pro only
- Route Workout: Plan, import and share your favourite routes (exercise ones, ofc). This can include routes for walking, cycling, running, whatever.
- Turn-by-Turn Directions: The best example is if you’re cycling – Turn-by-Turn Directions will notify you when a turn on your route/course is coming up. It’s basically like your car’s GPS but on your wrist and for exercise and it will give you directions through voice and vibrations.
- Track Back: This one is for those who wander. It’s quite simple – with the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, Samsung has built-in a tracker to allow it to reverse the path you took to get somewhere and trace it back to where you began. You’ll get Turn-by-Turn Directions to send you back to your starting point.
Both the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and the Pro can also tell the time and offer watch face customisation. Fabulous.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro: Australian pricing and release date
Preorder for the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro will begin Thursday, August 11, with general availability starting September 2 in Australia.
- Galaxy Watch 5 40mm (BT) RRP $499
- Galaxy Watch 5 40mm (LTE) RRP $599
- Galaxy Watch 5 44mm (BT) RRP $549
- Galaxy Watch 5 44mm (LTE) RRP $649
- Galaxy Watch 5 Pro 45mm (BT) RRP $799
- Galaxy Watch 5 Pro 45mm (LTE) RRP $849
Samsung also used Galaxy Unpacked to unleash its new Galaxy Z Flip 4, Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Samsung Buds 2 Pro.