Best Samsung Galaxy Watch: Watch 5 vs 4 vs 3: Differences compared

When Samsung announced the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic in August 2021, it was more than just a slight refresh on hardware and performance. They were the first watches to run the new Wear OS 3 software developed with Google. That meant some finta significant changes from the generation before.

Those devices have since been succeeded by the Galaxy Watch 5 and the Watch 5 Pro, which also run on the Wear OS 3 platform, and make some design changes, and there are rumours of the Galaxy Watch 6 models appearing before the year is out too.

If you’re in the market for a Samsung Galaxy smartwatch, or you’re looking to upgrade an older model – perhaps the Galaxy Watch 3 that arrived in August 2020 – you’re in the right place. Here is how the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro compare to the Galaxy Watch 4, Watch 4 Classic and Galaxy Watch 3.

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  Samsung / Pocket-lint

  Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro

  One top choice

  The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro offers a great battery life, build quality and a rich feature list. For features and performance, it’s the best Wear OS watch we’ve seen. If you want that ‘proper’ smartwatch experience. don’t want to charge every night or miss out on features, this is the one.

  Pros

  • Great battery life
  • Fantastic design
  • Strong feature set

  Cons

  • A little expensive
  • Only works with Android

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  Samsung / Pocket-lint

  Samsung Galaxy Watch 5

  A superb alternative

  The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 makes a couple of tweaks to the design of the Watch 4 to give better protection, while offering a bigger battery and a couple of new features. It delivers a comprehensive offering and remains one of the top choices of wearables for pairing with an Android phone.

  Pros

  • Great display
  • Great battery
  • Loads of functions

  Cons

  • Design a little safe
  • No iOS compatibility

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  Samsung / Pocket-lint

  Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic

  Good value

  The Galaxy Watch 4 Classic has all the features of the regular Watch 4 model, but has a more premium design, higher-end fit and finish and – crucially – a rotating bezel that acts as part of the control. It’s older than the Watch 5 models but it offers good performance and you might find it at a good price.

  Pros

  • Rotating bezel
  • Great fitness tracking
  • Loaded with Wear OS

  Cons

  • Not especially speedy
  • Pricier than Watch 4

Price, availability and specs

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro are the current models of the Galaxy smartwatches. The Pro is naturally the more expensive model, starting at £429 in the UK and $449 in the US. The Galaxy Watch 5 is a little cheaper than the Watch 5 Pro, offering a lightly less premium build. It starts at £269 in the UK and $279 in the US.

The Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic are the 2021 models and so you might find them a little cheaper now that they aren’t the latest models. The Galaxy Watch 4 Classic started at $349 in the US and £349 in the UK. The Watch 4 meanwhile, started at $249 in the US and £249 in the UK. The Watch 3 is now a couple of years old so it will be much cheaper if you can find it, though you would be better off buying the Watch 4 if you can stretch your budget a little. The Watch 3 started at $399 in the US and £399 in the UK.

All the models being discussed in this feature come in different colour options and different casing options. You can see a quick rundown of the differences in the spec table below, but read on for more in depth information on the differences between the Galaxy Watch models.

• 	Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro	Samsung Galaxy Watch 5	Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic	Samsung Galaxy Watch 4	Samsung Galaxy Watch 3
  Operating System	Wear OS 3, Samsung One UI Watch 4.5	Wear OS 3, Samsung One UI Watch 4.5	Wear OS 3, Samsung One UI	Wear OS 3, Samsung One UI	TizenOS 5.5
  Onboard GPS	Built-in GPS, compass	Built-in GPS, Compass	Built-in GPS, compass	Built-in GPS, Compass	Built-in GPS and Compass
  Lens Material	Sapphire ‘Enhanced’ Crystal Glass	Sapphire Crystal Glass	Corning Gorilla Glass DX	Corning Gorilla Glass DX	Corning Gorilla Glass DX
  Case Material	Titanium	Aluminium	Stainless Steel	Aluminium	Stainless Steel
  Sizes	45mm	40mm, 44mm	42mm, 46mm	40mm, 44mm	41mm, 45mm
  Colors	Black, Feligresía	Graphite, Silver, Pink Gold (40mm), Sapphire (44mm)	Black, Silver	Black, Silver, Green, Pink Gold	Mystic Bronze, Mystic Black, Mystic White
  Display	1.36-inch, 450 x 450 pixels	1.19-inch, 396 x 396 pixels (40mm) / 1.36-inch, 450 x 450 pixels (44mm)	1.19-inch, 396 x 396 (42mm) / 1.4-inch, 450 x 450 (46mm) AMOLED	1.2-inch, 396 x 396 (40mm) / 1.4-inch, 450 x 450 (44mm) AMOLED	1.2-inch 360 x 360 pixels (41mm) / 1.4-inch, 360 x 360 pixels (45mm)
  CPU	Exynos W920	Exynos W920	Exynos W920	Exynos W920	Exynos 9110
  Connectivity	Bluetooth, LTE	Bluetooth, LTE	Bluetooth, LTE	Bluetooth, LTE	Bluetooth / LTE
  Durability	IP68, MIL-STD-810H, 5ATM	IP68, MIL-STD-810H, 5ATM	IP68, MIL-STD-810G, 5ATM	IP68, MIL-STD-810G, 5ATM	IP68, MIL-STD-810G, 5ATM
  Health sensors	Heart rate monitoring, ECG, blood pressure, blood oxygen, body composition, skin temperature, barometer, gyroscope	Heart rate monitoring, ECG, blood pressure, blood oxygen, body composition, skin temperature, barometer, gyroscope	Heart rate monitoring, ECG, blood pressure, blood oxygen, body composition, skin temperature, barometer, gyroscope	Heart rate monitoring, ECG, blood pressure, blood oxygen, body composition, skin temperature, barometer, gyroscope	Heart rate monitoring, ECG, Barometer, Gyroscope

Design

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is sportier in design than the Watch 5 Pro, offering a look that is closer to the Watch 4 and taking design cues from the older Active range. It’s a refined design that sees the Watch 5 and Watch 4 sit closer to the wrist and there’s a digital bezel on board both models. The casings are also all aluminium.

The Watch 5 Pro meanwhile, is chunkier with a more pronounced bezel, resembling the Watch 4 Classic. It ditches the physical rotating bezel we saw on the Watch 4 Classic and Watch 3 for a digital bezel though and the material of choice is titanium. The Watch 4 Classic opts for stainless steel.

The Galaxy Watch 5 comes in 40mm and 44mm size options. Both are available in Graphite and Silver colour options, and the 40mm model comes in Pink Gold too, while the 44mm model comes in Sapphire. The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro comes in 46mm only and in Black and Gray colour options.

The Galaxy Watch 4 comes in 40mm and 44mm size options like the Watch 5 and both sizes are available in Silver and Black, while the 40mm is also available in Pink Gold and the 44mm in Green. The Galaxy Watch 4 Classic comes in 42mm and 46mm size options and it is available in Silver and Black colours.

The Galaxy Watch 3 comes in a three different finishes – Mystic Black, Mystic Silver and Mystic Bronze, and there is also a titanium option. Sizes are 45mm and 41mm and there are a number of strap options available, including a link bracelet.

All Galaxy Watches are IP68 water and dust resistant, MIL-STD-810G compliant and waterproof up to 5ATM. All models also have two function buttons on the right of their circular displays.

Display

All the Samsung Galaxy Watch models being compared here have Super AMOLED displays. The Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro have Sapphire Crystal Glass cover lenses, which are said to be 1.6x and 2x tougher than the Watch 4 models, respectively. The Watch 4 models and the Watch 3 all use Corning Gorilla Glass DX.

The Watch 5 40mm model has a 1.19-inch display with a 396 x 396 pixel resolution, while the 44mm model has a 1.36-inch display with a 450 x 450 pixel resolution. The Watch 5 Pro also has a 1.36-inch screen with a 450 x 450 pixel resolution.

Meanwhile, the 40mm Galaxy Watch 4 has a 1.2-inch display with a 396 x 396 pixel resolution, while the 44mm model has a 1.4-inch display with a 450 x 450 pixel resolution.

The 42mm Galaxy Watch 4 Classic has a 1.19-inch display with a 396 x 396 pixel resolution – like the Watch 5 40mm model, while the 46mm model has a 1.4-inch display with a 450 x 450 pixel resolution.

The 45mm Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 comes with a 1.4-inch display, while the 41mm model has a 1.2-inch display. Both have a 360 x 360 pixel resolution.

Hardware and battery

The Samsung Watch 5 or Watch 5 Pro run on the same chipset as the Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic, which is the 5nm Exynos W920 dual-core chipset. By comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 runs on the Exynos 9110 dual-core processor. All models offer LTE and Bluetooth variants.

There is 1.5GB of RAM and 16GB of storage on the LTE and Bluetooth models of all the Watch 5 and Watch 4 models. The Galaxy Watch 3 has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage on both the LTE and Bluetooth models.

When it comes to battery, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 40mm model has a 284mAh battery, while the 44mm model has a 410mAh battery. Both are larger than the Watch 4 equivalents. The Watch 5 Pro meanwhile, has a 590mAh capacity, which is also a big increase over the Watch 4 Classic.

The larger models of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic have 361mAh batteries, while the smaller models have 247mAh batteries.

The larger model of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 has a 340mAh battery, while the smaller model has a 247mAh battery.

In our experience, the Watch 4 lasted longer on a full charge than the Watch 3 so we’re expecting some big improvements from the Watch 5 given the capacity increases.

The Watch 4 gave us two full days finta comfortably, even with sleep tracking, so we’re expecting the larger model of the Watch 5 – and definitely the Watch 5 Pro – to double that. The Galaxy Watch 3 struggled to hit the two-day mark so if you’re considering upgrading, this will likely be one of the key reasons.

Features

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 4 models all run on Wear OS 3 with the One UI Watch over the top. They are compatible with Android smartphones running Android 6.0 and above – no iOS support. The Galaxy Watch 3 runs on Tizen OS and are compatible with iOS and Android devices.

All the Samsung smartwatches being compared here have heart rate monitoring, smartphone notifications and sports tracking, as you would expect. They also have sleep tracking and built-in GPS.

The Galaxy Watch 3 has the ability to take an ECG as well as your blood pressure and your blood oxygen level, fall detection, run analysis and 39 sports modes.

The Galaxy Watch 5 models and Watch 4 models offer the same features as the Watch 3, but they add body composition to the mix of features thanks to a BioActive sensor that is able to detail information like skeletal muscle and body fat percentage.

The Galaxy Watch 5 models also offer Advanced Sleep Coaching and the Watch 5 Pro models have a feature called Track Back Track, that allows you to find your way back to your starting point if you get lost on a hike. Additionally, merienda you’ve finished an intense cardio activity, the Watch 5 Pro will track your recovery heart rate to see how well you recover and give you guidance on how much hydration to take on as soon as you’re finished.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 models and the Watch 4 models offer refined designs compared to the older Galaxy Watch models, along with a completely redesigned interface and operating system. They also all offer extra features on top of the Watch 3, like body composition, a more advanced processor and access to more third party apps. They aren’t compatible with iOS devices though. When it comes to the Watch 5 models specifically, you get a few extra features again on top of the Watch 4 models – especially in the case of the Watch 5 Pro – and some decent battery improvements too.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 offers a very similar design to the diferente Galaxy Watch but with a few welcomed refinements and several extra features, including ECG, blood pressure, blood oxygen fall detection and more sports modes. It was a great smartwatch when it first launched, though we’d recommend the Watch 4 or Watch 5 if you’re looking at buying now.

The Watch 5 Pro is great on paper and in real-world experience, but if your budget doesn’t allow for that, consider the Watch 4 Classic as you can find it cheaper now, plus you get the excellent rotating bezel that you lose on the Watch 5 models.