Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 test: our full review – Connected Watches/Bracelet

For 2022, Samsung has simplified its range of connected watches with a Pro model dedicated to sports and a simpler, but also less expensive model, the Galaxy Watch 5 present here. We have already tested the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. We will focus here on the main differences to note: autonomy and design. As a small bonus, we were also able to test the watch with a Galaxy smartphone to see what the Seoul firm brings to its ecosystem. Let’s go.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5Technical sheet

This test was carried out with a watch ready by Samsung.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5Design

Design-wise, the watch we’re testing is the smaller 40mm version. There is also a 44 mm diameter model. First observation: the Galaxy Watch 5 looks exactly like its predecessor, the Galaxy Watch 4. We keep the double horn system that runs along the circle of the case and attaches to the bracelet.

The latter has been slightly improved for the occasion. Still in silicone, it has a pin buckle clasp. Concretely, once past the clasp, you can wedge the end of the bracelet by passing it through a hole provided for this purpose. A very efficient system.

On the rest, the Galaxy Watch 5 is still as pleasant to wear. It is a light watch that is easily forgotten on the wrist. There is no design fault to report, the heart sensor is well hidden at night and therefore does not interfere with sleeping. Let’s add that the Galaxy Watch 5 has an IP68 certification which prevents it from being removed each time you shower or swim (in a swimming pool).

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5Autonomy

The biggest difference with the Pro model will obviously be played out in autonomy, since the Galaxy Watch 5 only has 284 mAh. An accumulator that seems a bit meager next to the Galaxy Watch 5 44 mm with its 410 mAh and the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro which displays 590 mAh.

To briefly summarize, on the model we tested, it will take a little more than a day of autonomy, no more. As soon as you ask it for a little more robust uses, such as running with the integrated GPS or by activating the screen always onwe quickly fall to a full day.

For example, on a day off, I unplugged the watch at noon when it was at 100%. In order to push it a little further, I decided to use it a bit like a mini-smartphone, which is all the same the idea behind these smart watches. So I downloaded a hundred songs from Spotify, then activated the permanent monitoring of heart activity and the screen always on. I also did 15 minutes of physical activity with the GPS on and the music on the watch. I also listened to music for 45 minutes outside of class. Verdict: at 9:53 p.m., I had 6% autonomy left. Clearly, in less than 10 hours of intense use, the watch did not have many minutes left before it shut down completely.

Fortunately, an energy saving mode is offered. This one is much more successful, even if it cuts most of the interesting features. We lose the screen always on, stress tracking, heart rate and brightness drops similarly. In exchange for all this, the watch will drop about 25 to 30 points of autonomy per day without using it.

Reload

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is sold with a proprietary cable that charges the watch by induction. It is also compatible with Qi and it is also possible to charge the watch using a recent Galaxy smartphone. via induction charging. Connected to a 25W Samsung charger, I got a charge in just under an hour. We are thus far from a fast charge, which is all the more unfortunate when you have to refuel once a day.

In detail, here are the percentages obtained on the Galaxy Watch 5 starting from 0%:

• 18% after 10 minutes;
• 36% after 20 minutes;
• 58% after 30 minutes;
• 74% after 40 minutes;
• 90% after 50 minutes.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5Health Features

As for the health and sports activity component, the Galaxy Watch 5 fully incorporates the technical sheet of the Pro by including an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a barometer, a geomagnetic sensor for the compass, an impedance analysis sensor bioelectric, for the fat mass rate, an electrocardiogram, a blood pressure monitor and a heart rate monitor. All this allows you to measure your number of steps and your heart rate, but also to orient you, to display your fat mass rate, an electrocardiogram, to realize your blood pressure or to measure your oxygen saturation in the blood.

Heart rate tracking

Samsung’s watch is more effective on the general public than on its Pro colleague. Nevertheless, who says connected watch says big focus on health. Here is what gives heart activity tracking on a sequence of running uphill then walking (in red) by comparing with a benchmark heart rate monitor, the Garmin HRM-Pro (in blue).

It can be seen that the watch has a relatively long “warm-up” time of approximately 5 minutes before settling on a value closer to the belt. The bracelet also displays a certain latency before adapting to changes in heart rate, nothing outrageous for a non-optimized sports watch, however. However, the values ​​remain close to what the belt shows, with ease on average two beats lower and struggling to reach the actual maximum level.

	heart belt	Galaxy Watch 5	Delta
medium	165	163	-2
Max	191	188	-3

GPS Tracking

The GPS tracking of the watch is of high quality: it does not take shortcuts and seems to refresh the GPS point very regularly. On the other hand, it clearly lacks precision when it comes to determining the exact place where one is located. Judge for yourself on this map which compares in orange a smartphone GPS (far from perfect, but better) and that of the watch.

Features reserved for Samsung smartphones

Unfortunately, Samsung reserves some more advanced health features for its recent Galaxy smartphone users (under One UI 4.1.1).

These came through the Samsung Health Monitor app, available on the Galaxy Store. The easiest to use is an electrocardiogram. Its objective is to finely analyze your heart rate and determine whether or not you have atrial fibrillation. The application is rather clear and straightforward and explains the results obtained well, while advising in case of doubt to consult a doctor. You can also share the results in pdf very easily.

For blood pressure, it’s a little more complicated, since you’ll first need to calibrate the watch using a blood pressure monitor.

Be careful if you live in the DOM-TOM, many users from Martinique, Reunion or Guadeloupe complain about the Health Monitor application indicating that it does not want to launch in their geographical area. Also note that the app requires you to use a mobile connection and refuses to launch when connected to Wi-Fi.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5For the rest…

For the rest of this test, I will refer you to the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro test carried out by my colleague Geoffroy, because everything that will be proposed has been developed there in more detail. Indeed, the watches are completely separate on the following points: they both run on Wear OS 3 with the advantage of being able to install many applications, they can both make calls, connect via Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 4 and separate a very similar screen (apart from its size).

In a few words, Wear OS 3 is a real pleasure to handle. It is not rare that one wonders about the possibility of carrying out an action and that one finds a few seconds later, surprised, that this functionality is well and truly understood.

Browsing in the Play Store inside the watch itself allows you to move away a little further from the smartphone medium to really dive into your watch. I even tested the experience of going for a run with just my watch, some music imported from YouTube Music and Buds. You can answer text messages by typing your text, you can answer calls, in short, the Galaxy Watch 5 is a resolutely versatile watch. Many dials, oscillating from very graphic to stuffed with health information come to crown this very good impression.

On the other hand, we can frankly regret two elements: the autonomy which ruins certain basic functionalities, such as sleep monitoring, or downloading music, as it draws on the battery. And as the main competitor to the Apple Watch, we would still expect greater fluidity. Or the watch often accumulates too long loading times and significant lags. Nothing that makes it unusable, but the user experience loses a few points.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5Price and release date

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is available at a price of 299 euros for the 40 mm version and 329 euros for the 44 mm version. The same versions with LTE cost 349 and 379 euros respectively.