A Really Nice Watch At A Decent Price!

Last week, we saw Google release a watch for the very first time and as a Pixel 6 Pro user, you may have expected me to purchase it. Well, I didn’t!

To me, a new smartwatch is a big investment, particularly as I don’t do this full-time, and I have other expenses. Maybe one day, I’ll be rich, but I’ll continue dreaming for now.

Since rumours about the Pixel Watch started emerging, I’ve had a long time to consider the purchase and it’s something that I have been doing for a long time. I’ve even asked you what your thoughts were on Twitter and Reddit. But in the end, I decided to play safe and buy from a brand that has experience in that department. That’s not to say that I won’t be looking to purchase a Pixel Watch in the future.

For those of you who are new here, for the past 6 or so months, I’ve been daily driving the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra, which by the way is an excellent smartwatch that I can’t recommend enough. But I decided that it was time to move on. Initially, I had my heart set on buying the Pixel Watch, but I decided against it due to the price, this left me with a decision to either continue using the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra or buy another smartwatch. So, I decided to treat myself and buy a new one, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, the 44 mm to be precise.

I honestly struggled there to come up with a reason I decided to move on from the TicWatch as it honestly is a good watch.

I’ve now been using the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 for around a week, which I know isn’t that long, but I’m confident to say that I’ve built an opinion of it.

How Did My Week Go?

I received the package containing the watch last Wednesday which has provided me with a nice period to put the watch through its passes both at work and during the weekend.

Setting Up and First Impressions

I started the week by setting up the watch, something that I found extremely easy to do. I mean it was just a case of powering on the watch and following the onscreen instructions. As someone who’s moved on from the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra, I expected to be using Google’s Wear OS companion app, but that’s where Samsung surprised me.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 doesn’t seem to work with the Wear OS app, instead, you need to use the Galaxy Wearable app. Now, considering the fact that, Samsung has moved away from Tizen, this decision really surprised me, particularly as all of the other Android-based smartwatches I owned over the years used Google’s app. However, I’m not sure if it’s just me but I do get that premium feel from the Galaxy Wearable app and I’m not sure why.

As the watch arrived quite late in the day, I didn’t really get a chance to put it through its passes, but what I have done is downloaded the apps I use and ran any updates. I then set up my bedtime routine and used it for tracking my sleep.

My first impressions of the watch were positive, although, I’m not sure how I feel about the charging cable being USB-C only, I think it would be good to see Samsung include a USB-C to USB-A adapter inside of the box. I know that this is a small thing and I know it’s 2022 but from the point of view of somebody that works in IT support, I genuinely know that people will have USB-A chargers of some form lying around that they may want to use.

Battery Life

I don’t know about you but when it comes to watches, reasonable battery life is important to me and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 offers just that. According to Samsung’s specification, the device should provide up to 40 hours of typical usage time, which isn’t actually that bad.

On a typical day, I wake up, put my watch on charge and then go about doing the rest of my morning routine. I leave the house with the watch fully charged. It is now the evening and the battery is at 64% and that’s after a really busy day of doing several fitness activities, downloading apps, replying to messages and other smartwatch activities.

Considering the fact that it was a really busy day, I am honestly frilled that the battery is at 64% because I know that the watch suits my lifestyle and that the battery is very reasonable.

At this stage, I feel that it’s important to mention that I used the watch with the Always-On display disabled, I haven’t really had a chance to test it with it enabled, it’s actually something I’m testing now and will discuss in my upcoming YouTube video. One this I will say is that it surprised me because unlike on the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra and a handful of other smartwatches, the screen brightness is just turned down when in always-on mode is enabled.

Fitness Tracking

Fitness tracking is something that is important to me, particularly on the cycling side of things. During my first week, I had the chance to test the watch in a number of scenarios and I think it performed quite well.

To begin with, one of the very first activities I tracked with the watch was a cycling trip. Unfortunately, due to the weather being rather bad, it wasn’t a long trip which I hoped for so that I could test how the battery performed. But I got a good 8 miles out of it. I’m hoping the weather would be better this weekend so that I can do more testing.

From time to time, I also like to go for walks and on a few occasions this week, I decided to walk to the train station, instead of hiring an e-scooter or taking the bus. The walk usually takes me around 25 minutes, which is a pretty good thing to track as an activity.

The photo above shows a feature which I find extremely useful, especially because I do take breaks during long cycle rides and even walks so that I could get some coffee. I always forget to pause my workout, but now I have a watch that automatically does it for me and I find it to be relatively accurate. 

Overall, I’m very satisfied with the results the watch has provided me with, they are practically identical to the results I got on my TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra and Garmin Instinct. Although, one thing I will point out is that I seriously think that the app’s built-in to the Ticwatch shows the information in a much better way, particularly with that mini-map on GPS activities.

Staying on with Fitness, I was extremely disappointed that the ECG and blood pressure feature is only available on Samsung devices, I honestly think that it was a poor decision as it leaves a large group of users without a really useful feature, that they effectively paid for when purchasing the device.

Sleep Tracking

One of the other things I use the watch for is sleep tracking. The sleep tracking tends to be very accurate on this watch. The watch tracks REM, which is the deepest part of your sleep cycle as well as the level of oxygen in your blood, which is pretty interesting.

With the help of your smartphone, the watch will even track your snoring by recording your sleep. Recordings are kept for around 30 days. Before you ask, no I don’t snore, well at least that’s what the watch tells me!

I find sleep tracking to be an essential part of my busy lifestyle as it helps me understand my sleep pattern for better concentration and reduced tiredness.

Design and Style

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is a very modern-looking smartwatch, particularly due to its sleek and minimal design. If we compare it to other watches such as the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra or the Future Go Pro I tested a few weeks ago, you don’t get that feeling of wearing a traditional-looking watch. Instead, it looks and feels like a smartwatch, which isn’t a bad thing.

In case you’ve missed it, I own the 44 mm version, which I will admit feels a bit big on my skinny arm and there is a small gap. But that doesn’t change the fact that the watch is extremely comfortable to wear. 

As a matter of fact, the band that this watch comes bundled with is made out of some form of soft rubber which honestly makes the watch comfortable to wear.

The overall look of the watch doesn’t disappoint either because it honestly looks good, particularly with that bright Super AMOLED display. One thing I like about the bezel is the fact that it still features that rotating crown found in earlier models, but in digital form which admittedly isn’t as good as the real thing, but still helps with navigating the watch.

Overall, I think that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 looks premium and is incredibly stylish. On top of that, it’s also very comfortable to wear which if this is to be your everyday watch, is important.

Performance

Coming from the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 has big shoes to fill in the performance aspect. Not only was the Pro 3 Ultra a performer, it never let me down in areas where others have. One of these areas happens to be long cycle rides, yes I’m one of those people who enjoys tracking long rides so that I can show off on Strava. I mean who can blame me for wanting to keep fit in a way I get to enjoy the countryside.

The point I’m trying to make is that I’ve had smartwatches including the Apple Watch that have failed me in the fitness tracking aspect as well as battery. One example was with the Apple Watch 3, where I’ve had a few small occasions where it lost a GPS signal corrupting my map. The other example was with a FitBit Blaze fitness tracker where the battery died on a few occasions during cycle rides after leaving with a full charge.

It’s important to remember that these events don’t mean that the mentioned products are bad, it’s likely that the Apple Watch had issues caused by an update and the Fitbit Blaze was just really old at the time.

During my one week with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, I haven’t experienced any issues at all and actually found that it locks onto the GPS much faster compared to the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra.

The user interface is well-optimised and just performs really well. Although coming from the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra and other Android-based smartwatches, there is a small learning kerb as the interface is slightly different compared to traditional WearOS Smartwatches. It could have something to do with the “WearOS – Powered By Samsung” you see on the website.

One thing that I have noticed, is that I was unable to uninstall Samsung Apps that came pre-installed but I don’t need. Coming from the Pixel 6 Pro, I like the Google Ecosystem, so I use a lot of their apps and services including Google Fit, which is an app I can download onto the watch with the help of the Google Play store, but I can’t uninstall the Samsung health apps. The same can be said for Samsung Pay.

Conclusion

Let’s face it, with the release of the Google Pixel Watch, Samsung has found itself a tough competitor, particularly if the watch turns out to be a success.

Overall, during my one week of testing the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 performed really well in my tests and I have a good feeling about this watch. It may not be the Pro, but then again I don’t think I need to go Pro with the watch because the standard version is already good and more than enough for my needs.

Who is this watch for?

This is a very good question that I like to include in my articles. Based on my opinion, I think that this is an ideal watch for someone who is in the Samsung ecosystem. Samsung specifically due to the fact that the watch does have exclusive features that only work on Samsung phones.

I have tried this watch with the Pixel 6 Pro and I felt let down that the ESG is a Samsung-only feature. I also felt let down that I couldn’t uninstall some of the Samsung apps in exchange for the Google alternatives.

Would I Recommend This Watch?

After 1 week of using this watch, I feel confident that buying this watch was a good decision, but at the same time, I think it’s too early to say. I mean the watch has big shoes to fill, particularly as I found the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra to be such a good watch.

Before You Go!

I will be posting a review of this watch on my YouTube channel soon, so if you haven’t subscribed to my YouTube Channel you can subscribe here.

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