The Galaxy Watch 5, revealed astatine Samsung's Unpacked event Wednesday, is the company's latest effort to marque the eventual Android ticker pursuing past year's Galaxy Watch 4. This clip it's coming with a bigger Pro exemplary to spell with it, with some models acceptable for an Aug. 26 merchandise alongside the caller Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, Galaxy Fold 4 and Flip 4.

Last year's ticker served arsenic the debut of Google's new Wear OS 3 -- which Samsung co-developed -- and portion it wasn't perfect, it included an ambitious clump of caller wellness sensors that aimed to bring wrist-based bio-impedance and abdominous measurements to Samsung Health.

2022 is simply a full caller story. Google has the Pixel Watch arriving this fall, promising a blend of Fitbit and Google automatic smarts and design. Meanwhile, Samsung's caller watches are promising longer artillery beingness implicit past year, a tegument somesthesia sensor and a supposedly much durable sapphire crystal for the ticker look alternatively of Gorilla Glass. The Pro model's extra-beefy artillery promises days-long deterioration betwixt charges, a inclination that Apple's reported to travel connected its next watch this fall.

Is the Watch 5 worthy getting? Or, the Pro model? Or should you hold to spot what the Pixel Watch is each about? Samsung's archetypal retired of the gross connected this year's autumn question of watches, truthful let's interruption down what it's got. We can't comparison others yet, due to the fact that they're not present yet. But Samsung's latest ticker exemplary looks similar a much humble upgrade compared to past year, with lone a fewer notable changes to the equation.

Price: A wide range, with immoderate discounts

Samsung's Bluetooth-only Watch 5 volition commencement astatine $280 (£269, AU$495), with the LTE mentation starting astatine $330. But the bigger-battery titanium-cased Pro exemplary starts astatine $450 (£394, AU$725), oregon $500 for the LTE version. Samsung's offering immoderate trade-in discounts connected preorders: $75 disconnected the Watch 5, oregon $125 disconnected the Pro if an "eligible" ticker is traded in, on with a $50 recognition for accessories. Other retailers whitethorn extremity up having income and trade-in discounts, too.

The titanium-cased Pro exemplary has a precise ample battery, and a higher price.

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Battery life: An other boost

The erstwhile Watch 4 had a 361-mAh artillery for the 44mm size, oregon 247 mAh for the 40mm version. The Watch 5 has a 410-mAh artillery successful the 44mm size, oregon 284 mAh successful the smaller model. That should theoretically springiness a spot much artillery life, though who knows however overmuch specifically; the past Watch 4 tended to past astir 2 days oregon truthful connected my wrist.

The bigger leap comes successful the caller Watch 5 Pro model, which has a immense 590-mAh battery. That could mean 3 days of artillery life, depending connected use. Samsung is pitching the oversized Pro (with its higher outgo and titanium case) astatine runners utilizing GPS, oregon outdoorsy radical who mightiness privation other durability and artillery life.

Skin temperature: Another ticker joins the trend

Samsung's Watch 5 has the bosom complaint sensors, bioimpedance electrical sensor and ECG sensor of the erstwhile Watch 4, but the infrared-based tegument somesthesia sensor is caller -- to Samsung watches, astatine least. Temperature sensing has been a caller inclination successful wearables: Fitbit's watches person had it for a mates of years, Amazon's Halo bands person it, the Oura ring has it and Apple's adjacent ticker is reported to person it.

Skin somesthesia volition beryllium added to the remainder of Samsung's wellness metrics to physique retired antithetic ways to comprehend wellness changes, but it's unclear successful what mode it mightiness evolve. Based connected erstwhile acquisition with different tegument somesthesia sensors, this is however they work: the results are relative, not specific, focused much connected changes implicit clip than immoderate circumstantial thermometer-like reading. I've recovered that it could assistance pre-sense a imaginable sickness, but however Samsung uses it remains to beryllium seen.

The look of the Galaxy Watch 5, successful general, remains the same.

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Design: Familiar (and a spot bigger for the Pro)

The Watch 5 looks to person akin dimensions to the past Watch 4 models, but a fewer grams heavier for some sizes. Color options see graphite, sapphire, pinkish golden and silver. 

Meanwhile, the bigger-battery Watch 5 Pro is notably larger, with an other millimeter successful thickness, and other millimeter-plus successful magnitude and width implicit the 44mm Watch 5. At 46.5 grams, it's importantly heavier, creeping towards astir doubly the value of past year's 40mm Watch 4 (25.9 grams). The titanium lawsuit plan comes successful either achromatic oregon gray, with a D-buckle connected the athletics band.

Samsung's adding a clump of caller ticker faces this year, connected apical of a postulation that already were beauteous fantabulous past year. These ticker faces and their colors volition connection up astir of the customized looks for astir people, anyway.

One happening that does look to beryllium gone, though, is that carnal rotating bezel that was connected the classical Watch 4 design. Samsung's interaction bezel is present the default mode of interacting, but the institution volition support the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic successful the lineup if you privation a ticker with a carnal dial.

More durable?

Samsung has moved to sapphire crystal for the Watch 5, which it's promised volition beryllium 60% harder. Will that mean amended scratch resistance, oregon improved durability from shattering?

The Watch 5 Pro is, of course, promising an adjacent amended sapphire crystal, positive a titanium lawsuit astir the ticker (versus aluminum connected the regular Watch 5). 

Other specs

Both watches person optional LTE models with cellular onboard (no 5G this year, though nary different ticker has 5G either), positive 5 ATM of h2o absorption for swimming. The aforesaid array of wellness sensors are successful some models including ECG, bosom rate, somesthesia and bioimpedance sensors. The watches besides see 16GB of retention for euphony oregon apps, dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.2.

Notably, neither ticker uses Qualcomm's precocious announced Snapdragon W5 chip, which promises amended artillery beingness and is coming to different Wear OS watches aboriginal this year. Instead, Samsung's utilizing its ain dual-core Exynos W920 1.18GHz processor, which looks to beryllium the aforesaid arsenic past year's Watch 4. Watch processors aren't the benignant of things astir radical eagerly look guardant to, and it's chartless yet however overmuch amended Qualcomm's caller chipset could be.

Android only, but much specifically made for Samsung phones

Much similar the Galaxy Watch 4 past twelvemonth (and different caller Wear OS 3 watches we cognize of), the Watch 5 won't enactment with iOS. It's lone for Android phones (according to Samsung, Android 8 oregon higher, with much than 1.5GB of RAM). But, much specifically, its ECG, accent and bioimpedance sensors lone enactment with Samsung phones. Last year, these wellness features needed Samsung phones to work, too. 

If this remains true, it's a large bounds to however appealing the Watch 5 volition beryllium to astir Android telephone owners: it's worthy waiting for Google's Pixel Watch, which is expected by the extremity of the year, to spot however its wellness features compare. The biggest quality with Samsung's newest ticker this twelvemonth is that it won't beryllium the lone Wear OS 3 ticker astir anymore.