Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Review: A Great Smartwatch, a Decent Running Watch

Introduction

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is a curious product for runners: as a smartwatch it is genuinely excellent, but as a run tracking tool it lands firmly in the “good enough” category. Pricing starts at 269 pounds, or 299 with LTE, and both Bluetooth and LTE editions are available in 40mm and 44mm aluminium case sizes. If you are coming from a Galaxy Watch 4, there is very little here that will tempt you to upgrade. If you are an Android user looking for a capable everyday smartwatch that can also log your runs, though, this remains one of the strongest options on the platform.

Design and Everyday Wear

Very little has changed visually. The straps, case materials, and overall design language carry over from the Galaxy Watch 4, and the two watches are close to spot-the-difference territory. The meaningful change is under the glass: Samsung has swapped the Gorilla Glass panel for a sapphire crystal display, which should hold up better against scratches over time. You still get the same AMOLED screen, digital rotating bezel, and two physical buttons, and the watch is waterproof to 50 metres.

In daily use it is a comfortable, well-built watch with a good weight and a screen size that makes data easy to read. The always-on display works well for checking stats mid-run, since the raise-to-wake gesture is only okay. One caveat: the new lug connector design makes it harder to find unofficial third-party bands, and official Samsung straps are not cheap. The digital bezel also feels like a leftover from the Tizen era; under Wear OS it is easy to forget it is there.

Run Tracking Experience

The run tracking experience is largely the same as on the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro: similar features, similar presentation, and similar accuracy. Distance tracking against a Garmin watch running in multiband mode showed the Galaxy Watch 5 was consistently a little off. Heart rate monitoring was generally fine on steady outdoor pace runs, but on treadmill runs the readings strayed far from a chest strap, and indoor distance tracking never really calibrated well either.

On the feature side, there are genuine additions. You can now create interval workouts, there are running, treadmill, and running coaching modes, and advanced running metrics such as ground contact time are color-coded for easy reading. New sweat loss estimates and a promised real-time recovery mode after cardio workouts round out the package. However, the coaching plans and post-run analysis feel less useful than what Garmin and Huawei offer, and the metrics need more context to actually help you improve your form.

One notable limitation: you cannot pair an external heart rate monitor natively. Third-party apps, including rebuilt options for Strava and Komoot, can get you a better overall run tracking experience than the native apps. The mapping and navigation features of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro are absent here, though for runners that is not a big loss, and apps like Komoot can add route following if you are willing to pay for it.

Battery Life and Charging

Samsung quotes 40 hours of battery life, compared with 80 hours for the Watch 5 Pro. In practice that translated to around a day and a half, stretching to two days with power-saving features enabled. For GPS runs, about 10 hours of GPS battery life was observed, with roughly a 10 percent drop over an hour of running, and less if the always-on display is on. That is similar to the Watch 4 and well behind cheaper watches with much longer GPS endurance.

Charging has improved, at least. Samsung has moved to a USB-C cable with fast charging support, so getting the battery back up and running again is quicker than before. Still, if battery life is your priority, this is not the watch to buy.

Who Should Buy It

As a smartwatch, this is where the Galaxy Watch 5 shines. Google’s Wear OS brings Google apps and a rich third-party ecosystem, layered under Samsung’s polished One UI. Notifications, music controls, weather, messaging, and calls all work well, and LTE models add true standalone functionality for a little more money. Health and fitness tracking beyond running is also strong. For Android users, it comes about as close to the Apple Watch experience as anything currently available.

Should You Buy the Galaxy Watch 5?

If you already own a Galaxy Watch 4, the answer is no: the software is the same, the design is nearly identical, and the run tracking is not meaningfully improved. If you are a runner first, watches like the Huawei Watch GT 3 or GT Runner, the Garmin Venu 2, or the Amazfit T-Rex 2 offer better core tracking, richer analysis, and, on some models, external heart rate monitor support and route navigation.

If you are an Android user who wants a genuinely great smartwatch that can also track runs adequately, the Galaxy Watch 5 is still one of the best choices available. Just go in knowing that running is its supporting act, not its headline.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is a strong Android smartwatch with a tougher sapphire display, useful new training features, and fast charging, but only okay run tracking accuracy and unremarkable battery life. Buy it for the smartwatch experience, not for the running.