Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 series battery life: Here's what to expect

Samsung packed bigger cells than ever into its Galaxy Watch 5 series devices, promising users longer use between chargers. The company also upgraded the smartwatches with faster charging capabilities to decrease users’ time spent plugged in. But how do the batteries on Samsung’s watches actually compare to the company’s claims? Find out everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5’s battery life, as well as the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 series battery specs

All three models of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 series saw improvements in battery life. Check out the stats below for Samsung’s official specs.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 series battery life: What to expect?

Samsung certainly kept battery life in mind when designing the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 series. The 40mm Galaxy Watch 5 packs a 284mAh battery and the 44mm model boasts an even larger 410mAh one. Both represent a jump from the Series 4’s 247mAh and 361mAh batteries. Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro includes a massive 590mAh cell.

Samsung claims the base models should last up to 50 hours between charges. The Pro, it claims, should last up to 80 hours of regular use or 20 hours with continuous GPS usage. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to hit quite those numbers during our Galaxy Watch 5 review or Galaxy Watch 5 Pro review.

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro lasts about two full days between charges, including two nights of sleep tracking, two indoor workouts, and two GPS workouts. Likewise, the 44mm model will also stretch about two days on a single charge, though it may be low on gas for a second night of sleep tracking if used heavily on both days. Unfortunately, with its smaller cell, the 40mm does not offer the same experience. Users have found the device only lasts right around 1.5 days, offering a similar experience to its predecessor.

Of course, results will vary greatly depending on how you use your watch. GPS workouts, for example, use a considerable amount of battery. The quickest way to stretch battery life is to disable your always-on display. In a pinch, you can also enable your device’s save power mode. This mode displays colors as gray tones, disables key features, deactivates your Wi-Fi and network connections, and limits the performance of the watch’s CPU.

Does the Galaxy Watch 5 series charge any faster?

Yes! Though we wish the Galaxy Watch 5 could stay on our wrists longer between charges, when you do need to juice up, it’s now faster than ever. The devices support 10W wireless charging (up from a maximum of 5W on the Galaxy Watch 4 series). Each watch ships with an updated USB-C cable that will charge all three models from 0 to 45% in 30 minutes.

We tested this during our review period and our watch landed just shy at 44% after 30 minutes. A full charge took about 90 minutes. That’s a full half an hour less than the Galaxy Watch 4.

The wearable’s battery tech vs the competition

Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 series devices still have Apple beat when it comes to battery life. The iOS giant continues to supply about one full day of use between charges (which is at least longer than the device’s 18-hour claim). Apple did release an Apple Watch Ultra with better battery specs, but in our experience, Samsung has that device beat as well.

From the Wear OS stable, however, the Mobvoi upstages Samsung’s offerings with a 628mAh cell. During our TicWatch 5 Pro review, we consistently hit about 70 hours of use between charges. On the other end of the Wear OS spectrum, the Google Pixel Watch is a huge step backward. The watch only lasts one day between charges.

Meanwhile, neither Apple nor any Wear OS leaders can compare to Garmin. The company’s newest smartwatch available, the Venu 2 Plus, offers five days on a single charge. The previous model Venu 2 lasts even longer. If smart features aren’t a priority as much as fitness tracking, Garmin’s high-end devices offer multi-week battery life. Of course, for the best specs shoppers should look to hybrid smartwatches like the Withings ScanWatch or Fossil’s Gen 6 Hybrid.

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