Galaxy Watch 5 Pro : Battery Life Is Very Good
I’ve been using the new Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 for going on a month now, and I’ve taken the time to assemble all of the data about its battery life and charging times to get a full picture before giving a proper review.
My experience was one of struggle with the lack of consistency in my results. As battery life decreased, I noticed that I was obtaining more dependable results. Even more thrilling was the fact that when the charge fell below 60%, I saw a notable boost in battery life.
Here is a summary of the results from the tests I conducted
- First 30% burns really quickly.
- You can save 2% battery life if you you use bedtime mode when sleeping
- GPS battery consumption rate is absolutely insane
- Battery capacity is great but its battery economy rate isn’t.
The results I got from the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro did not meet my expectations, and I was a bit let down in comparison to other smart watches like the Huawei Watch GT3 and Garmin’s Forerunner 55, since they offer more battery life and a more attractive price tag. I will go through each bullet point and briefly explain each.
First 30% burns Really Quickly
On my initial test day, I was surprised to find that 30% of the battery power was depleted, even though GPS tracking was not used at this stage. It was not what I was expecting, as this is similar to the Galaxy Watch 5 and 4. In fact, the rate of battery consumption was exceedingly high.
All I did was tracked a workout that went for 1 hour, and answer a few text messages, all day heart tracking and sleep tracking. And it’s consistently done this each time I recharge the Galaxy Watch Pro 5 to 100%, which is why I could not get a consistent reading for battery life on day one.
After the first 30% of battery was depleted, the battery consumption rate slowed down. I have been getting about 4 days of battery life from the Galaxy Watch Pro 5, and please note that its based on my typical usage which is
- 120 – 130 activity minutes per day
- All day heart rate tracking
- 20 screen activations (Always on Display) per day
- Sleep tracking for 7 – 8 hours per night
You Can Save 2% Battery Life if You Use Bedtime Mode When Sleeping
I always try and conserve as much battery life as possible when ever I am tracking my sleep. Especially when I am using the Galaxy Watch’s because it’s economy rate when sleeping isnt the greatest. I typically get around 7-8 hours of sleep per night, and battery consumption rates are as follows
- Without bedtime mode: 7-8% battery consumption rate
- Bedtime mode turned on: 4-5% battery consumption rate
3% may not seem like a lot, but it does make a difference when you want to make the smart watch last a lot longer.
GPS Battery Consumption Rate is Absolutely Insane
When I began using this watch for the first time, I was completely amazed. For those of you who don’t know, GPS battery consumption is a massive battery drain. So if you’re like me, and use GPS frequently when cycling, running, or hiking, then you’ll be very impressed with the stats I’m about to share
- GPS battery consumption rate with 100%-50% battery remaining: 5% per hour
- GPS battery consumption rate under 50% battery remaining: 3% per hour.
I spent some time looking into the precise numbers, as they seem to change depending on the situation. To keep track of my battery rate, I created a system based on the current battery life, and I eventually saw some consistency.
When it comes to the Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 4, these figures are certainly far better. With regard to the GPS battery consumption rate, it is set at 15% per hour – and this is an impressive improvement on the battery life of its predecessors, remaining consistent even as the battery life begins to drop.
The Huawei Watch GT 3 is a watch that I have recently tested and in comparison to the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch it’s as follows
- GPS battery consumption rate in performance mode: 13% per hour.
- GPS battery consumption rate in power saver mode: 7% per hour.
One thing I like about these numbers is that I can go out and do a workout without worrying about my battery. Especially on days that I am going to be using GPS. It’s quite easy to do a quick calculation in your head before I do my workout. The other day I had 15% battery left and I went for a quick hike that went for about 30 minutes and it only burned 1% battery life.
Battery capacity is great But…
The battery life of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is nothing to be scoffed at. It is quite decent for what it is and it’s fairly expensive. In comparison to other smart watches on the market like the Huawei WATCH GT 3 and the Garmin Forerunner 55, you can get a very similar battery life but for significantly less money. This is why I was expecting more out of the battery life of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. I will do a comparison against these watches at a later date.
I have conducted a battery life comparison between the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, and the Galaxy Watch 5. You will be surprised on the major differences between the two. As a quick summary it goes as follows
- Capacity is 23% bigger than the Galaxy Watch 5
- Consumption rate with no GPS is 33% more efficient than the Galaxy Watch 5
- GPS consumption rate is 3 times more efficient than the Galaxy Watch 5
- To recharge the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro takes the same amount of time to charge, (including the 23% battery capacity increase)
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you found this article useful.
| Spec | Galaxy Watch 5 | Galaxy Watch 5 Pro |
| Battery Capacity | 455 MAH (-23%) | 590 MAH |
| Consumption rate no GPS* | 30% per day (0%) | 18% per day |
| No of days without GPS tracking | 2.5 days | 5 days |
| GPS consumption rate | 15% per hour (+300%) | 5% per hour |
| No of days with GPS tracking** | 2 days (-50%) | 4 days |
| recharge battery 0-100% | 150 minutes | 150 minutes |
*consumption rate ends when 10% battery remaining is reached.
**Number of days ends once battery life reaches 10% remaining. How I calculated this number per day is Consumption rate no GPS + GPS consumption rate
