Samsung announced the Galaxy Watch 4 series at its August Galaxy Unpacked event in 2021, and they were the first devices to come pre-loaded with the latest Wear OS 3.0 software update. The smartwatches brought a lot of improvements to the software with new features, improvements and enhancements. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 series turned out to be quite popular, and the company reportedly managed to ship many devices.

The latest Galaxy Watch 5 series of smartwatches will reportedly come with improved battery life, new features, and slightly tweaked designs. Before we go any further, keep in mind that none of the shown information has been confirmed, and things could change in the coming weeks leading up to the announcement.

Price & Availability

The Galaxy Watch 5 series are expected to launch sometime in mid-August, alongside the new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4 foldable flagships. The Galaxy Watch 5 series will reportedly consist of the standard Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, and the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro.

Model

Size

Variant

Rumored Prices

Galaxy Watch 5

40mm

Bluetooth

€300

Galaxy Watch 5

40mm

LTE

€350

Galaxy Watch 5

44mm

Bluetooth

€350

Galaxy Watch 5

44mm

LTE

€400

Galaxy Watch 5 Pro

45mm

Bluetooth

€490

Galaxy Watch 5 Pro

45mm

LTE

€540

We have previously reported on the new smartwatches' price, which appears to be higher than the Galaxy Watch 4 series. The standard 40mm Bluetooth version of the Galaxy Watch 5 will reportedly set you back €300 (~$315), while the 45mm Bluetooth version of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro could start at €490 (~$515).

Colors

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is rumored to arrive in three colors for the smaller 40mm version: Pink Gold, Gray, and Silver. The larger 44mm model will reportedly be available in Blue, Gray, and Silver colors.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is rumored to be available in just two colors: Black and Titanium. The new colors for the Galaxy Watch 5 series align with our expectations, although we could see exclusive editions and new colors launch exclusively on Samsung’s website. Samsung also launched a unique Thom Browne Edition Galaxy Watch 4 smartwatches, and we could see a similar partnership this year.

Design

There will be three models of the Galaxy Watch 5 series, a standard Galaxy Watch 5, a larger model of the same device, and a Galaxy Watch 5 Pro device (SM-R90x, SMR91x, and SM-R92x, respectively). The smaller watch will be 40, while the larger sibling will be 44mm. The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro will be sold in a single size, 45mm.

The Galaxy Watch 5 series will retain the circular watch face, and we’re unlikely to see any drastic design changes. Samsung is rumored to abandon the Classic series in favor of a new model, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. The render images from 91Mobiles reveal that the new Galaxy Watch 5 series will look very similar to the standard Galaxy Watch 4, and they will have the same button layout on the right side. Unfortunately, the fan favoruite rotating bezel doesn’t appear to be coming back this year, and it will be replaced by a plain old bezel. It’s hard to tell how large the bezels are on the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, and we’ll have to wait until more information pops up.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 series are expected to carry over features from the Galaxy Watch 4 series, such as 5ATM water resistance, MIL-STD-810G military protection, Samsung Pay, NFC, GPS, and unique Samsung features. These features could enhance the experience when paired with the Galaxy Z Flip 4, Z Fold 4, and Galaxy S series smartphones.

Regarding specifications, no information leaked previously, and we don’t know anything regarding the screen size, technology, RAM, storage, and even the chipset that’ll power the watches.

Health features

the screen of Galaxy Watch 4 showing fitness metrics

Source: Aryan Suren for Pocketnow

The Galaxy Watch 5 series will retain most of the same sensors as last year’s Galaxy Watch 4 series. The watches will come with the same, or improved 3-in-1 BioActive sensor that supports heart rate, ECG, Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis, and Blood oxygen monitoring. The new smartwatches will also retain the features of its predecessor. While we don’t have information on any of the latest and upcoming features, we expect improvements to sports modes, automatic tracking, and enhancements to sleep tracking.

We previously heard the Galaxy Watch 5 series could be equipped with a new infrared thermometer sensor to check your body's temperature, but this was later confirmed to be false. Samsung reportedly worked on it, but wasn’t ready to launch it in this year’s new smartwatches.

Performance and Software

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic

Source: Pocketnow

Samsung co-developed Wear OS 3.0 with Google, and it was the first manufacturer to release new smartwatches with the new operating system. The new Galaxy Smartwatches rely on Wear OS 3.0, and they’re heavily customized to fit the style of the Tizen user interface.

We don’t have any information about any of the new software features and performance improvements, but we’re expecting a lot of enhancements to make the animations smoother and the battery last longer. We also expect the Galaxy Watch 5 series to fully support Google Assistant, which was recently released to the Galaxy Watch 4 devices. We have also compared Bixby with Google Assistant on the Galaxy Watch 4, in case you’re interested in how it works.

Battery

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 on a blue background

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4

Source: Pocketnow

All signs indicate that we might see larger batteries in the upcoming watches. The smaller Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is rumored to come with a 276mAh battery capacity, while the larger will reportedly pack a 398mAh battery. The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro will allegedly have a large 572mAh battery capacity.

The new smartwatches are also rumored to offer 10W fast charging for all new smartwatches, which would nearly double the charging speeds. Even Apple offers fast charging for its Apple smartwatches, and we would love to be able to top up the device in just 30 minutes to a reasonable level where it could last about an entire day without any issues.

What we want to see

  • Better battery life: The Galaxy Watch 4 series are some of the best alternative smartwatches to the Apple Watches, but they’re unimpressive when it comes to battery endurance. We’re expecting larger batteries in the new Galaxy Watch 5 series, and we hope that Samsung manages to make significant improvements to make the new watches last longer on a single charge.
  • Fast charging: The new smartwatches are rumored to come with fast charging, nearly doubling the charging speed of the Galaxy Watch 4 series. We’re hoping to see a 0-80% charge in a reasonable time, which could help eliminate some of the problems of the smartwatches not lasting as much as other competing smartwatches in the similar price segment.
  • Cross-platform health measurements: ECG and blood pressure monitoring is limited to Samsung devices. As a true alternative to the Apple Watch, we wish Samsung would allow these features to work on other Android smartphones. Smartwatches are meant to be the best companion for measuring health and fitness activities, and we want Samsung to open up to other vendors.
  • More customization: The Galaxy Watch 4 series are pretty customizable, and the Play Store contains thousands of great-looking watch faces, and watch face builder services. However, we want to see a new software tool that would allow users to customize further and easily create their own watch faces. We don’t expect this to please casual users, but it would be great to see for enthusiasts like us, and power users.