Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro review: why the tech giant is trying to kill your fitness watch

This is not your typical smartwatch: Samsung's first Pro timepiece is designed to take on Garmin and beat them on the fitness track.

Remember when Samsung added a camera to its smartwatch? Or when it bent the screen around the wearer’s wrist like a bracelet?

The tech giant’s timepieces have come a long way since 2013 and this year’s model — its first Pro smartwatch — tries something new again.

While it boasts the features you’d expect in a top smartwatch, it also adds others you’d see in a top fitness watch. To Garmin, Suunto, and Fitbit, this is a shots-fired moment.

Firstly, the $799 Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro boosts the battery of this model by 60 per cent. Samsung promises this will deliver up to 80 hours of use, making it suitable for endurance events.

Samsung's Galaxy Watch5 Pro features a much larger battery and a temperature sensor for the first time.

In our tests, we got away with charging this watch every three days, which is a significant improvement on past models.

Secondly, this watch is much tougher. Its larger, 1.36-inch screen is protected by sapphire crystal glass and a titanium border in a move that will please rough-and-tumble users but dismay those who preferred its famous rotating dial.

And thirdly, this watch adds support for hiking routes and can help you find your way back to where you started.

Using a new app called Route, users can import GPX files with maps for hikes or cycle routes the watch can show on the way. The installation process is fiddly but worth it for those serious about outdoor fitness.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro is designed to take on fitness watches.

For others, it’s worth noting this watch may be bigger than the other models in the range, with a 45mm body and 13 extra grams, but its redesigned form sits comfortably against your arm.

This not only makes it easier to wear to bed, for sleep tracking, but helps its three-in-one biosensor take accurate measurements of everything from your pulse to your blood oxygen level and a basic ECG.

The Watch5 Pro also adds a temperature sensor to its back plate but, sadly, there are no uses for it yet.

Users are also limited to choosing just two colours — grey or black — and the 4G model will set you back an extra $50.

That said, the Samsung Watch5 Pro is obviously the company’s most accomplished smartwatch to date.

The Pro model is finally comparable to a fitness watch without the compromises common to their screens and connections, and even those who don’t hike often should appreciate the boost to its display and battery.

Originally published as Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro review: why the tech giant is trying to kill your fitness watch