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Alongside the regular Galaxy Watch 5, Samsung has also unveiled its first Pro-level smartwatch and it’s clear it’s aiming for Garmin’s crown.

The Watch 5 Pro is a rugged smartwatch, packing a far larger – and arguably nicher – spec sheet than the lower-end, more affordable Galaxy Watch 5. 

With Apple rumoured to be launching an Apple Watch Pro later this year, with perhaps a very similar feature-set to what’s on offer here, this sector of the smartwatch market has a big few months ahead.

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is a big smartwatch and certainly won’t appeal to someone who wants a subtle wearable. If you’re used to wearing a Garmin watch though, you’ll feel right at home and I’d say the Watch 5 Pro is a little more refined than any of Garmin’s offerings.

It comes in a single 45mm size in two rather dull black and grey colours. But that’s beside the point, if you want a purple or blue watch you’re going to for the regular Watch 5.

The Pro 5’s design is all about durability. The rim of the display, for instance, is slightly raised from the screen to protect it and you can also buy an additional plastic housing that clips over the screen to add even more protection. Considering the wearable starts at £479, it seems slightly odd Samsung hasn’t decided to just pop this shell in the box instead of selling it separately.

Covering the screen is sapphire glass and the body of the watch is constructed from titanium. It remains light to wear though, and I really liked the sturdy, durable feel during my time with it ahead of launch.

The screen itself remains, like all of Samsung’s watches and much of the competition, a circular OLED panel. It felt responsive during my short time with it, but for a watch like this designed for the outdoors, I’ll be interested in properly testing it and seeing how bright the display gets. If it can’t be comfortably read in direct sunlight, it’s not much use.

While various strap options are available, a new addition to the line for the Watch 5 Pro is a D-Buckle sport band, which is supposedly easier to take on and off than Samsung’s previous sporty bands. 

A lot of what separates the Watch 5 Pro from the Watch 5 makes itself known in the additions Samsung has added to the WearOS software. 

You can, for example, import a GPX file directly to the watch and navigate along the route. There’s also turn-by-turn navigation, with vibration aids and an updated voice guide to make sure you don’t get lost on a trail.

If you were to get lost, a new Track Back feature will allow you to navigate back to the starting point of the route.

Alongside these software additions, there are the same body composition sensors (including GPS, ECG and HRM) as you’ll find in the Watch 5 plus the improved sleep tracking and sleep tips.

Considering the Watch 5 Pro has been designed for heavy GPS use in longer hikes, trail runs and cycles, it’s good to see Samsung has really upped the battery capacity here. There’s a 590mAh cell inside, which is not far off double the 284mAh cell in the Watch 5. Samsung says this should have enough endurance to last full day of GPS use.

With its huge battery, rugged build and focus on outdoor activities, the Watch 5 Pro is gunning for Garmin’s crown. First impressions are strong, but a watch like this really needs to be put to the test to see if it can actually handle the elements.

You can see a breakdown of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro’s specs and how they compare to its predecessor in the table below.

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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.

We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.

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