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As someone who is already very comfortable with a 44mm Apple Watch, the 45mm dial size of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro never posed much of a footprint concern. Interestingly enough, it isn’t exactly the leviathan smartwatch you’d probably expected. No doubt, it has a reassuring chunky footprint around the wrist, but nothing that traditionally fitness focused watches tend to wear.

There’s something very likeable about the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, which had us reach for it more than the Galaxy Watch 5, most times. Two variants to choose from. There’s the Bluetooth only option priced at ₹ 44,999 while there’s a hint of premium you must pay for the Bluetooth + 4G variant, which costs ₹ 49,999. That differential is around the ballpark already presented by the Galaxy Watch 5’s connectivity choices.

For starters, you’ll need to be mindful of the fact that while the watch itself is about 15mm thick (that’s the vertical height, from your wrist), there’s an additional mm which the touch sensor layer adds on. More so if you’d be wearing this with full sleeve apparel, blazers, or jackets. Mind you, this 45mm dial dimension is still lesser than typical activity-oriented watches tend to bring – that’s usually around the 47mm mark and retain similar thickness levels.

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There is parity between the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and the Galaxy Watch 5, for the health features that are included. As we had mentioned in the latter’s review, the streamlining of the health functionality is very much noticeable, and appreciable.

The Samsung BioActive sensor is an umbrella for the Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis sensor, Electrical Heart sensor (ECG), and Optical Heart Rate sensor. The data handshake means detailed metrics for you to look at, including body fat percentage and skeletal muscle weight. This sort of intricate detailing is still quite rare in smartwatches. Sleep tracking data is extensive, if you are comfortable sleeping while wearing a watch – awake, deep sleep, light sleep and REM data is logged.

If you’re used to the rotating bezel from a previous generation Galaxy Watch, that’s no longer there now. Instead, it’s the wider implementation of the touch bezel, which also reduces moving parts on a watch while allowing for some mm to be shaved off. So, how is the touch bezel? It’s a bit of a mixed bag. Sometimes it works well, but at other times, it tends to alternate between being unresponsive at first or perplexingly finicky. There’s definite hope for this though, at least in terms of whatever improvements Samsung can do with the software.

We’d mentioned this in detail in our review of the sibling, but Samsung (and Google) have improved Wear OS 3 significantly. There’s still some way to go, but the unshackling of Samsung’s own app ecosystem for starters will make adoption easier for newer smartwatch users. You can choose Google’s apps, or various third-party apps, for default tasks.

There’s one limitation though, and that’s; certain health tracking features will only work if your Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is paired with a Samsung Galaxy smartphone. The EKG, or electrocardiogram, logging is one example. Not exactly a deal-breaker if you use another company’s Android phone, but this sort of limitation is perplexing to say the least.

It is a significant step forward that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro bakes in support for the GPX navigation method. However, the challenge you’d face is GPX format route files need to be imported for cycling and hiking tracking. Secondly, the route needs to be set, and for that, you must only use the Samsung Health app (this is available across Android phones, thankfully). If you do take the pains for this, you’d get access to additional options, including Track Back.

If memory serves us well, the Apple Watch implementation of something very similar to Track Back doesn’t require any manual file transfer effort beforehand – everything is just there in watchOS.

It is good to note that Samsung’s push towards making the newer smartwatches more rugged (and robust) is a widespread mission. Not just the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, but the more affordable Galaxy Watch 5 have both received the Sapphire Crystal protection for the display. The one change though is the Galaxy Watch 5 uses Armor Aluminum while the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is made of Titanium.

We’d said it before and we’ll say it again, the app ecosystem that presently supports Wear OS 3 is surprisingly bare. Anything that’s so closely linked with Android, shouldn’t be like this. Google must take corrective measures, quickly, or another generation of smartwatches will not be able to fully deliver on their potential.

Battery life has been improved in this generation. While the Galaxy Watch 5 ticked off about 30hours of use on a single charge, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro goes just a bit more than double of that. If you’re considering this as an alternative to smartwatches made by Garmin, for instance, the difference in battery life is less stark now. Doesn’t match the Garmin watches step for step, but is getting there. One trick would be to disable the “Hey, Google” feature in Assistant.

Before we draw our conclusions on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, it is imperative to point out that you’d be better off with the 4G LTE variant – that would really draw the full functionality and potential that this watch is capable of delivering. While not having to rely on your smartphone, all the time.

The Pro monicker is worth its place in the name too. Everything about this watch is a notch better, geared towards the more active users. Those who wouldn’t be against the idea of going on a hike, at the drop of a hat (or not, but you get the idea). That’s where the better GPS, mobile connectivity and significantly improved battery life really make their presence felt.

And so would the larger display (now you know why it’s larger than the Galaxy Watch 5). It is much easier to quickly glance at the metrics, navigation and pretty much any relevant data on a larger screen, while not taking your eyes off the chosen path for too long.

This watch may not exactly be a direct competitor to Garmin’s flagship activity watches, for instance. But for the active yet comparatively intermediate activity enthusiasts, this seems to be the right step forward from a basic smartwatch. It isn’t often the case, but here, the “Pro” is worthy of its place.

Vishal Mathur is Technology Editor for Hindustan Times. When not making sense of technology, he often searches for an elusive analog space in a digital world. ...view detail

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