While the Apple Watch is the undisputed bestseller in the smartwatch market, the best alternatives always come straight from Samsung’s factories. Indeed, last year Apple held 30% of the market, while Samsung had a 10% share, a figure that was certainly heavily influenced by the Wear OS-powered Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic.
This article will be continuously updated with any new Galaxy Watch 5 leaks and rumors that come to light.
Latest Galaxy Watch 5 news
Galaxy Watch 5 release date
Judging by multiple rumors, and based on Samsung’s release windows from last year, we’d expect the Galaxy Watch 5 to be announced sometime in early August and released not long after, presumably towards the end of the month.
Device family | Announcement | Market release |
---|---|---|
Samsung Galaxy Watch | August 9, 2018 | 24 August 2018 |
Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 | August 5, 2020 | August 5, 2020 |
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 | August 11, 2021 | August 27, 2021 |
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 | August 10, 2022* | August 26, 2022* |
* – suspected dates
Galaxy Watch 5 price
The Galaxy Watch 4 started at $249, which is the margin we expect for the Galaxy Watch 5. Mind you, the more premium Galaxy Watch 4 Classic started at $349.
So when it comes to the Galaxy Watch 5 and its version, we can expect the most affordable wearable to start at $249, while the easiest premium model is likely to cost $349 at launch.
Galaxy Watch 5 name
So far, we’re expecting three versions of the Galaxy Watch 5: a Galaxy Watch 5 in two different sizes, possibly 40mm and 42mm, and then an oversized 46mm version, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro.
Design and display of Galaxy Watch 5
The Galaxy Watch 5 retains the rounded shape of its predecessors and is largely the same in terms of overall design. At least the regular versions.
It is believed to contain a 572mAh battery, which is 60% larger than that of the larger Galaxy Watch 4. Such a large battery unit will inevitably greatly increase the overall size of the wearable, but it would not have a rotating bezel like previous ones. generations who will be sorely missed by many. Hopefully those rather large bezels would have capacitive touch for interface navigation.
Currently we expect three versions of the Galaxy Watch 5.
- 40mm Galaxy Watch 5 SM-R900 with rotating bezel
- 42mm Galaxy Watch 5 SM-R910 with rotating bezel
- 46mm Galaxy Watch 5 Pro SM-R920 without rotating bezel
Popular leaker IceUniverse has stated that the Galaxy Watch 5 could be the ugliest smartwatch range in 2022.
Why? It seems that in its quest to improve battery life, Samsung has gone for the jugular vein of design aesthetics and removed the slim profile of the Galaxy Watch 4. It looks like the Galaxy Watch 5 will have some pretty thick bezels that wouldn’t be very seamless, making for a dated and not-so-attractive look.
As for the colours, we could see phantom black and silver paint colors with the compact Galaxy Watch 5 also expected to be available in rose gold and the large non-Pro device coming in a third color choice branded “Sapphire” and featured as sort of “bluish”.
Here’s the full scoop:
- Galaxy Watch 5 40mm: Phantom Black, Phantom Silver, Pink Golf
- Galaxy Watch 5 42mm: Phantom Black, Phantom Silver, Sapphire
- Galaxy Watch 5 Pro: Phantom Black, Phantom Silver
Galaxy Watch 5 battery
Battery life seems to be getting a huge boost for the Galaxy Watch 5 family. According to multiple sources and leaks, we’ll be getting bigger batteries across the board, with the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro exceeding just about any expectation we had initially.
Here are the leaked battery sizes of the Galaxy Watch 5 family:
- Galaxy Watch 5 SM-R900 – 276mAh (vs 247mAh on Galaxy Watch 4 40mm)
- Galaxy Watch 5 SM-R910 – 400mAh (vs 361mAh Galaxy Watch 4 44mm)
- Galaxy Watch 5 Pro SM-R920 – 572mAh
As you can see, the difference in battery capacity is astonishing, especially considering the difference with the previous generation. Why use such large batteries? Simple – Wear OS is not very light on resources so having a bigger battery is essential to ensure good battery life.
As far as charging goes, all Galaxy Watch 5 models are expected to be charged at 10W, potentially giving them a full charge in less than an hour.
Galaxy Watch 5 features and software
When it comes to hardware, we don’t have any concrete information about the chipset or RAM of the Galaxy Watch 5.
Aside from having an EKG, an always-on heart rate monitor, and possibly a BMI sensor to analyze your body structure, the Galaxy Watch 5 will score a body temperature thermometer. Several other watches have had such a feature, namely the Huawei Watch GT3 and many Garmin wearables.
Should I wait for the Galaxy Watch 5?
- You have to wait for the Galaxy Watch 5 if you’re willing to give Wear OS a try. You’ll probably also have to wait patiently for it if you’ve used an older Galaxy Watch and want to stay in the ecosystem but get the latest and greatest smartwatch that Samsung will have in tow.
- You should not wait for Phone Name if: you have used the Galaxy Watch 4 and are satisfied with its performance and battery life. You probably shouldn’t consider the Galaxy Watch 5 if you have an iPhone, as the chances of it working with Apple’s phones are minimal.