…and it wasn’t enough time for us to explore and have a better time to properly analyse the features that they added from the health perspective. But what we are going to do is review on other aspects of the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro, to tell you how much it has improved (or otherwise), to show how miles head the new Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro is in this review.
Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro Review
The New Buckle with Magnet and the Strap is Amazing
Samsung’s initiative to make their wearables premium has definitely taken a leap forward. This time around the strap alone makes up for it. Unlike its previous generation, where the silicon-based straps were very “sport” oriented. This time around, while it does have that silicon material, it feels different. Now it has a nice heft on the wrist with a solid feeling that’s nice to touch and feels great on skin. They have also ditched the classic buckle-based mechanism for a Deployant Clasp Buckle which is something we are also seeing for the first time.
The clasp is made from titanium, and there isn’t any significant weight felt on the wrist – since the watch piece and the strap itself has a nice weight to it. If you are thinking about changing the straps for something a little more professional – you can, but I don’t think you need to immediately as this strap will keep most users satisfied right out of the box. But there is a bit of a hiccup with the strap.
Comes Only in One Size, and No Smaller Straps in the Box
For a man’s wrist the 45mm Dial with a 20mm strap works all right, but that’s not going to be great for a woman’s wrist as the watch is obnoxiously big and bulky. Last time, Samsung includes a smaller size strap for smaller wrist. But in the packaging, it seems like Samsung has not only stopped including one, but this also means that the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro is an extremely niche wearable targeted more towards men rather being unisex.
Still the Reigning Champion of the Wearables
A Week with the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro, sure, it wasn’t enough to give the real deal of a review. But it was a good week we had with the watch, thanks to the pleasant experience. Since the last wearable from Samsung, they have teamed up with Google to make the best wearable possible – and we can see that. Wear OS is great and the wider support for more applications natively from Play Store, makes it a great wearable. I was able to immediately install all the applications I needed on my watch and get things going.
There are times where the watch sure does show some Wear OS Syndrome which we have experienced with every wearable where it stutters a bit and then goes back to being absolutely normal. The Wear OS and Android aspect of thing is applicable universally but there are some health centric features where non-Samsung Android Users will get locked out of which is a big bummer.
ECG Ability is still not approved by Malaysian Medical Board
For those who wants to purchase the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro because of the ECG feature and all that, read this first. At the time of writing this review here at The Adventures of Vesper, we must tell you that, the feature is disabled by default. We tried overriding the feature but unfortunately, we couldn’t.
There’s a reason why you can’t and that’s because it has not been approved in Malaysia as a Medical Device. Till that happens, Apple has the upper edge as their wearables are approved.
Phantom Steps Recording
Being a veteran in reviewing wearables, one of our focuses has always been in the health aspect of things. The basic thing every wearable does is pedometer, which tracks your steps and the distance approximately you have done, if the wearable doesn’t have a GPS built into it. But the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro has a GPS baked right into it, which is great.
But the pedometer on the other hand, has some significant variability as compared to their Tizen based wearable.
Now, previously with their older Galaxy Watch running Tizen had a good algorithm to track steps and had a variability of 2-5 steps while walking. The Watch5 Pro keeps it in a range of 5-9, which is still acceptable.
But it also records, what we like to call, the Phantom steps. What this means is that, while you are not walking and performing other tasks – the wearable tracks as a workout or as steps. One of the instances was when I left home with 200 steps and after driving a few kilometres, I had gained 30 more steps which is pretty bizarre.
An update can fix this issue and knowing Samsung has good track record in this department, I am not too worried but hey, something to take note of.
I Miss the Physical Rotating Bezel/Dial
Coming from their older generation of Galaxy Watch with a rotatable dial, an amazing physical control for you to work around the wearable – was less distracting, more intuitive and had better control. Samsung did eliminate the dial entirely, for something else – a touch-based dial which is hidden around the black bezel that seems to be thick but also can be a wee bit distracting, especially if you happen to use your watch while you drive to control music or even tap the “voice Dictation” mode.
To control the plethora of quick screens, you will have to get a better grasp of the bezel because it is not easy to use and comes with a huge learning curve.
Battery Life is like how a Wear OS Device has been
WearOS is an intense OS for smartwatch and the battery life is one of the biggest caveats if you happen to use it heavily. For me personally, it has never instilled confidence in the previous generation of wearables. The Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro gives a good 2-3 days of battery life, but it does drain on some days in just about 2 days or less.
And just like any device with a battery, keep an eye on the battery deterioration in a span of 6-8 months, as it can most definitely take a hit by bringing the battery life from 2-3 days to 1-2 days.
Get a USB-C Adapter if you are only getting the Watch
The Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro comes with a magnetic charger that snaps nicely onto the back of the watch. But hey, you don’t have to charge via the included charger as it supports Qi Standard – so, throw it on any Qi Wireless Charging pad and voila – it charges seamlessly. But if you happen to use the USB-C cable it comes with, make sure to get a USB-C adapter. In our case, we used our Dyson Lightcycle Morph’s USB-C port as we didn’t mind the wearable to take its sweet time to charge over the night.
Conclusion
During our week with the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro, it’s safe to say that it did give an elevated experience in more ways that I can overlook the one thing I miss the most, the dial. While our Malaysian market is filled with truly little to no better option for that full-fledged wearable experience, I am glad that we do have a good wearable in the midst to buy – if you happen to be an Android user. With that said, get the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro, if you want that big wearable and don’t mind stretching your purse strings – it’s RM 1899 by the way.
As for our women readers, the Watch5 is a better option as there’s a smaller 40mm that looks pretty chic.
