Galaxy Watch 5 is thicker and heavier than Samsung led us to believe
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Samsung's Galaxy Watch 5 models have finally been revealed and Google's Pixel Watch and Apple's Watch Series 8 are on the horizon. Things that get the most attention when it comes to the best smartwatches are screen size, health and fitness features and sensors, battery life, software, and dimensions, and it seems like a good many smartwatch manufacturers have not been entirely honest about the last bit.
The Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro aren't massive upgrades over their predecessors but they take care of one of the biggest problems that Samsung users had with the prior generation: battery capacity and charging speed.
The new wearables have been equipped with a sapphire crystal display to help with durability, have gained a new body temperature sensor, and also feature a curvier rear so that the sensors make better contact with the wrist. Other than that, One UI Watch 4.5 adds a bevy of new accessibility features and the Pro has a titanium case.
Somewhere along the line, Samsung changed how it measures thickness
So far, so good, right? Well, Samsung appears to have kept us in the dark about the watches' thickness and weight, which is a biggie because the Pro is a monster of a watch, and the last thing you would want is Samsung underestimating its size. YouTuber DC Rainmaker saw comments on the internet that the 10.5mm thickness claim didn't add up, considering the much sleeker Galaxy Watch Active 2 was listed at 10.9mm.
So he took out his calibration tool and weighing scale and discovered that Samsung is not alone in misleading consumers about smartwatch thickness, it's an industry-wide trend, and only two well-known companies are avoiding it.
If you go to Samsung's website, the spec sheet says that the 40mm Watch 5 weighs 28.7 grams and has dimensions of 39.3 x 40.4 x 9.8 mm, whereas the 45mm Pro weighs 46.5 grams, and measures 45.4 x 45.4 x 10.5 mm.
In reality, that isn't the case, and the 40mm Watch 5 is actually nearly 13mm thick, so some 30 percent thicker than Samsung said it is. That's not all though, as the watch is heavier on the scale.
Always weigh your watch without the strap because it's discretionary /S
Similarly, even though the 44mm Watch 5 model is supposed to be 9.8mm thick and weighs a claimed 33.5 grams, it is actually more than 13mm thick and is 55 grams heavy. Samsung is not outright lying here, as it says that the weight doesn't include the straps, and if the straps are taken off, "we get down to the spec weigh," says DC Rainmaker. But who uses a watch without straps...?!
Moving on to the Pro, Samsung claims it's 10.5mm thick and says it weighs in at 46.5 grams, but in actuality, its 50 percent thicker at 15mm.
Samsung is not the only one misleading consumers though as the Youtuber discovered that Apple, Garmin, and Polar all understate the thickness of their watches, and Fitbit and Wahoo are the only companies that are being honest about the specs.
So, that brings us to the question, what actually are these companies measuring? Well, Apple and Garmin apparently leave out the sensor bump, but Samsung goes a step further, and doesn't bother with the back of the watches at all, and only includes the sidewall in its calculation.
The sensor portion of smartwatches does sort of disappears in the skin, but it is still dishonest to not even have a disclaimer to explain that the sensor part is not included.
Ultimately, the bump only adds around one or two millimeters to the depth, so the real fraudster here is Samsung because the Pro is 5mm thicker than the claimed thickness and the company thinks it okay to not measure the back portion at all.
Weight and thickness controversy aside, the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro sound like pretty solid watches and are currently on pre-order, which means now is a great time to get them as pre-orders get you access to some exclusive offers.
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