Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 vs Galaxy Watch 5: Should you upgrade?

Samsung introduced a Wear OS revolution in 2021 when it launched the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic. The duo shelved Tizen OS to strengthen Samsung’s partnership with Google on a unified software experience. Now, the South Korean giant is back for its sophomore (or super senior, depending on how you look at it) effort. The Galaxy Watch 5 brings plenty of internal upgrades from its predecessor, yet the two share many similarities. If you’re unsure whether you need to upgrade, let’s dig into our Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 vs Galaxy Watch 5 comparison.

The Galaxy Watch 4 brought a slew of design changes to the Galaxy Watch formula. It simplified the button options and did away with the rotating bezel on the flagship option. If you wanted to keep the mainstay feature for another year, you had to pick up the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic instead.

The Galaxy Watch 4 offered smaller dials than its retro-inspired sibling, with 40mm and 44mm options. Those choices haven’t changed for the Galaxy Watch 5, which should make sizing an easier prospect. However, the displays themselves are slightly bigger, with the 40mm version growing from 1.19 to 1.2 inches and the 44mm moving from 1.36 to 1.4 inches. As for the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic — which will continue production for those who need a physical bezel — it’s available in 42mm and 46mm configurations. It’s the slightly chunkier of the pair, however, given its extra material. Samsung’s standard Galaxy Watch 4 comes in colorful aluminum constructions, while the Classic sports either stainless steel or titanium, depending on your choices.

Now, Samsung is rocking the boat in a slightly different direction. The Galaxy Watch 5 still offers two models to choose from, though both have left the physical bezel behind in favor of a digital one. You can choose from the standard Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, with 40mm and 44mm dial sizes, or step up to the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, which comes exclusively in a 45mm design and a 1.4-inch display. The designs are very similar at a glance, with rounded displays, sizable bezels, and a pair of buttons on the right side.

However, the Galaxy Watch 5 picks up a durable Sapphire Crystal glass display, which Samsung claims is 60% stronger than the previous generation. It’s encased in Armor Aluminum, which matches its predecessor in toughness. The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro goes even further, matching the Sapphire Crystal display with a premium titanium casing. Both watches have new color options, but we’ll get back to those below.

Whether you upgrade or stick with the previous Galaxy Watch 4 series, you can expect durability in spades. All four models offer IP68 ratings and are good for 5ATM — 50 meters — of pressure. You’ll get MIL-STD-810G ratings, too, in case you drop your watch or take a tumble.

Samsung’s external differences may be minimal, but the internals are a different ballgame. We’ll return to the shared software in a moment, but let’s focus on the hardware first. Both series share Samsung’s in-house Exynos W920 processor, as well as 1.5GB of RAM and 16GB of storage.

The Galaxy Watch 5 series gets a major boost in the battery department, with improvements across the board. The smallest 40mm model jumps to a 276mAh cell, while the 44mm version grows to 397mAh — both 13% larger than their fourth-generation counterparts. Samsung boasts that the upgrade is good for 50 hours of juice on a single charge, which is 10 more hours than the previous version. If you need even longer battery life, the 45mm Galaxy Watch 5 Pro promises up to 80 hours with its 590mAh cell.

On top of improved battery sizes, the Galaxy Watch 5 series offers faster charging. It boasts up to 45% charge in 30 minutes, and you can regain enough for eight hours of sleep tracking on an eight-minute charge. Now there’s not much excuse to go to bed with a dead watch.

The Galaxy Watch 5 and 5 Pro also pick up new features thanks to additional and upgraded sensors. For starters, the Bioactive sensor is tapped to make better contact with the wrist for more accurate readings and scan your skin temperature. Other health tracking features include measuring your breathing, blood oxygen levels, snoring, sleep stages, and heart rate. Samsung can then blend these advanced metrics to develop a personalized sleep coaching plan. It should improve on the abilities of the Galaxy Watch 4 series, which itself was no slouch.

Samsung’s older model introduced improvements in measuring body composition, blood pressure, VO2 Max monitoring, and an ECG. It’s still too early to measure the progress on the latest watches, but we’ll also be keeping an eye on the GPS and long-term heart rate accuracy.

While the Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 4 share the same Wear OS platform, Samsung’s newer watch introduces several features and watch faces to the mix. You can choose from eight brand-new options with 10 favorites, and the new Smart Switch support makes it easier to transition to a new watch.

The Galaxy Watch 5 and 5 Pro also support voice navigation via Google Maps — sorry, Bixby. Samsung’s assistant is still around, but the Galaxy Watch 4 series picked up Google Assistant support in May 2022, so you can take your pick. Wear OS offers an extensive app library and better compatibility with non-Samsung Android devices. However, the Galaxy Watch 4 didn’t provide iOS support, and there’s no change when it comes to the Galaxy Watch 5. Samsung’s wearables still lock certain features to Galaxy devices, including ECG and blood pressure monitoring, and defaulting to Samsung Pay and Samsung Health out of the box.

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 Pro adds even more features to the mix with route-specific workouts and the ability to import workouts and track routes — a few fitness wrinkles seemingly borrowed from Garmin.

For watches that share a lot of design elements and the same software platform, your final decision might come down to how much an upgrade will cost you. The Galaxy Watch 5 series does come at a premium over its predecessor, though it’s important to remember that it balances upgraded sensors and much-improved battery life. All the watches — save for the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro — are also cheaper than the original price of the Galaxy Watch 3.

The Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic will still offer the best value, starting at $249 and $299 for the smaller Bluetooth-only models. If you’re looking to upgrade to an LTE-connected version, it’ll set you back an additional $50 across the board, while a larger case size will run you $30.

As for the Galaxy Watch 5 series, it kicks off at $279 for the 40mm Bluetooth version or $329 for the LTE model. We expect the larger versions to come at the same $30 price premium, but we’re waiting for confirmation. The cream of the crop Galaxy Watch 5 Pro comes in far above its siblings at $449 or $499, depending if you need LTE or not.

As for color options, the Samsung Galaxy Watch family runs throughout the rainbow. You can grab the 40mm Galaxy Watch 4 in Black, Silver, or Pink Gold, while the 44mm version is available in green. The Galaxy Watch 4 Classic sports Black or Silver as color choices, regardless of size. Both models can pair up with watch bands from any of five families with around four colors per design, or you can bring any 20mm watch band of your choice.

As for the Galaxy Watch 5 series, your options again depend on your watch size. The 40mm option comes in Pink Gold, Graphite, and Silver, while the 44mm adopts Sapphire in place of Pink Gold. Finally, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro comes in black or gray titanium. There will be new strap options — and certainly more announced down the road — but we don’t have a complete list yet. Samsung will also let you customize your wearable through the Bespoke Studio program.

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The leap from the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 series to the Galaxy Watch 5 and 5 Pro might not be as great as from the Galaxy Watch 3, but it’s still enough to tempt a switch. If you’re deep into fitness tracking and use your watch as a running companion, the improved sensors and larger batteries are worth the cost. The Galaxy Watch 5 series will also get slightly longer software support, though the Galaxy Watch 4 still has plenty of updates in the queue.

If you picked up the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic for its rotating bezel, there’s less motivation for you to upgrade. You won’t find the feature on any of the Galaxy Watch 5 models, but the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic will remain in production for its die-hard fans. The Galaxy Watch 4 series will also receive extra sales and discounts as Samsung tries to clear stock, so maybe it’s the perfect time for a previous-generation purchase. Unfortunately, the lack of iOS support on either series means the Galaxy Watch remains off the table for iPhone users — unless you want to step back to the Galaxy Watch 3.

Of course, while Samsung’s latest will easily challenge the best smartwatches out there, maybe neither Galaxy Watch is right for you. There are plenty of third-party options from Garmin and Fitbit to consider, and they work equally with Android and iOS. Few wearables will pair better with a Samsung Galaxy device, but the final say comes down to your set of needs.

Will you be upgrading to the Galaxy Watch 5 or Galaxy Watch 5 Pro? Let us know in the poll below.