Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro 45mm LTE

From hiking to rock climbing, Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro can stand the test of your toughest adventure. Its 2x stronger, sapphire crystal display is ready for intense activities in rough outdoor environments. And with its super-tough titanium case, you can train worry-free. Have the freedom to do the things you need. Galaxy Watch5 Pro pairs easily to your phone. Simply get within range, tap “Connect” and you’re ready to go. Now you can take that call, text a friend, email a coworker, jam to your playlist —even when you step away from your Galaxy smartphone. Your adventure just got so much more convenient. Make the most of every outdoor adventure with Auto Workout Tracking whether you’re running, swimming or rowing.

Big and “small” at the same time

To be clear, I don’t love the fact that the Pro has a 45mm case that measures roughly 15mm thick and weighs 1.6 ounces. Samsung lists a different width measurement in its spec sheet, but as DC Rainmaker discovered, it doesn’t include the new sensor bump. I don’t care that the bump “melts” into your skin when you wear it. Thickness is an important spec for smartwatches, and trying to make the Pro seem slimmer this way is icky. 

Better battery, but not what was promised 

A bigger watch also means a bigger battery. The Pro houses a 590mAh battery, which is the largest on any of the Galaxy Watch 5 series watches. Logically, the Pro should have superior battery life. After all, Samsung says it should get an estimated 80 hours on a single charge. 
Reader, I never got 80 hours on a single charge. But it did outperform the 40mm Watch 5 I tested by a mile.

Battery life is much better on the Pro than on the vanilla Watch 5.

The most I ever got was 65 hours. I got that by turning off the always-on display, disabling the “Hey Google” wake word, turning off notifications during the workday, disabling always-on health monitoring, and taking a two-day break from GPS activities. That… is not gonna cut it in my daily life. With the AOD and Google wake word enabled, notifications on, and my usual 30–60 minutes of GPS activity, I got around 48–50 hours. This is after waiting a few charging cycles for the watch to learn my usage patterns. 

The touch bezel is better

The raised lip makes using the Watch 5 Pro’s touch bezel way more enjoyable. I miss the physical rotating bezel, but I understand why Samsung might not want to include it on the Pro. Durability is a huge draw for fitness watches, and a rotating bezel invites breakage if sand or dust gets stuck in the bezel during one of your adventures. What is the point of beefing up durability with titanium and sapphire crystal if a teeny grain of sand can wreck a key feature? Instead, Samsung gave the Pro a raised lip around the rim to better mimic the feel of a physical bezel and offer the screen further protection. 

Health features are improved but need refining

I went more in-depth with Samsung Health’s sleep tracking issues in my Watch 5 review, but the gist is that it’s mostly fine. It can tell when you’re sleeping versus when you’re awake in bed. Sleep stages are occasionally wonky compared to dedicated sleep trackers. SpO2 tracking is… not presented well at all. The Pro was less egregious than the Watch 5 in this arena, but it still said my SpO2 dipped into the 80–89 percent territory (which is cause to go to a hospital) several times. At least it correctly determined I do not snore.
I did, however, get to spend time with Samsung’s new sleep coaching feature. This feature requires you to log five weeknights and two weekend nights of sleep before allowing you to embark on a six-week program to improve your sleeping habits. You get assigned a representative animal, and it’s a cute way to visualize your sleep patterns.