Samsung today unveiled the new Galaxy Watch 5 series along with its latest foldables and the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. The new line of Wear OS smartwatches consists of two smartwatches: the Galaxy Watch 5 and the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. We’ve already taken an in-depth look at the high-end Galaxy Watch 5 Pro in a separate post, and in this post we’ll be reviewing the regular Galaxy Watch 5.
Unlike the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro comes in two sizes: 40mm and 44mm. Although both models offer the same set of features, they differ in terms of display, battery capacity, and colors. Check out the table below for a quick overview of Galaxy Watch 5 specs.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5: Specifications
Specification Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Material and dimensions
- 40mm and 44mm
- 20 mm sports band
- Armor aluminum case
Dimensions and weight
- 40mm:
- 40.4 x 39.3 x 9.8mm
- 28.7 g
- 44mm:
- 44.4 x 43.3 x 9.8 mm
- 33.5 g
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- 40mm:
- 1.2 inch AMOLED screen
- 396 x 396p resolution, 330PPI
- Sapphire glass (1.6 times stronger than Galaxy Watch 4 series)
- 44mm:
- 1.4 inch AMOLED screen
- 450 x 450p resolution, 330PPI
- Sapphire glass (1.6 times stronger than Galaxy Watch 4 series)
Exynos W920 processor Dual-core memory at 1.18 GHz
- 1.5 GB of RAM
- 16GB internal storage
Battery and charging
- 40mm:
- 44mm:
- Wireless charging based on WPC
Sensors
- accelerometer
- gyroscope
- barometer
- Ambient light sensor
- compass
- Optical heart rate sensor
- Electrical Heart Sensor (ECG)
- BIA (Body Composition Analysis)
- Continuous SpO2
- Skin temperature sensor
Connectivity
- Bluetooth 5.2
- Dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)
- GPS
- NFC
- LTE
durability
- IP68 rating for dust and water resistance
- Waterproof up to 5ATM
- MIL-STD-810H certification
OS One UI Watch 4.5 based on Wear OS 3.5 Colors
- 40mm:
- box
- silver
- graphite
- rose gold
- band
- Bora Lila
- graphite
- rose gold
- box
- 44mm:
While the new Galaxy Watch 5 may not look all that different, it comes with some key design and build quality improvements. For starters, Samsung has reshaped the curvature of the back glass and increased its surface area. This helps the watch’s BioActive sensor make better contact with the wrist, resulting in more accurate readings.
Samsung has also equipped the Galaxy Watch 5 with Sapphire Crystal Glass on the front, which the company claims is 1.6 times stronger than the glass on the Galaxy Watch 4 series. The new MIL-STD-810H certification is another improvement remarkable compared to the Galaxy Watch 4 series, which had a MIL-STD-810G certification. Thanks to these changes, the new smartwatch should be more durable than its predecessor. As with the Galaxy Watch 4 series, the new Galaxy Watch 5 comes with IP68 certification for dust and water resistance and is water resistant up to 5ATM.
Along with improved durability, the Galaxy Watch 5 also brings some notable hardware improvements and new features to the table. As seen in previous leaks, Samsung has packed larger batteries into both variants of the Galaxy Watch 5, and the company claims that it should last up to 50 hours on a single charge. Charging speeds have also been improved, and the Galaxy Watch 5 can get you up to 45% battery in just 30 minutes. In comparison, the Galaxy Watch 4 series took about the same time to charge up to 30%.
In terms of new features, the Galaxy Watch 5 offers advanced sleep coaching, body composition analysis, real-time recovery tracking after workouts, built-in Google Assistant, Google Maps with voice navigation support, and YouTube Music . It also features a slew of new watch faces, including two new watch types with 88 customizable complications.
Finally, the Galaxy Watch 5 includes a skin temperature sensor, which can help you monitor your temperature while you’re out and about. In terms of connectivity, the Galaxy Watch 5 offers Bluetooth 5.2, dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz), GPS, NFC and LTE (optional).
As mentioned earlier, the new Galaxy Watch 5 comes in two sizes: 40mm and 44mm. The smaller 40mm variant will be available in three case colours, Silver, Graphite and Rose Gold, with Bora Purple, Graphite and Pink Gold silicone bands. On the other hand, the larger 44mm variant will be available in Sapphire, Silver and Graphite case colors with Sapphire, White and Graphite silicone bands respectively.
In addition, Samsung will offer both sizes of the Galaxy Watch 5 in a special golf edition (pictured above) with a black case and a black and white band. If you don’t like any of the standard color options, you can customize your own Galaxy Watch 5 using Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 Bespoke Studio. It offers customization options for model, size, case color and strap, giving you a total of 1,032 unique combinations to choose from.
Price and availability
The Galaxy Watch 5 will go on sale in the United States starting August 26. It will be available in Bluetooth and LTE variants at a starting price of $279.99 and $329.99, respectively. We will update this post with the price of all variants as soon as it is available.
The new Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 comes with a bigger battery, faster charging and a new temperature sensor.
The Galaxy Watch 5 is available for pre-order on Samsung’s website starting today, and you can order yours by clicking the link provided above. Those who pre-order a Galaxy Watch 5 before August 26 will receive a free Duo wireless charger, $75 off an eligible smartwatch trade-in, and $50 in Samsung store credit.