In an extremely abrupt tweet, Ice Universe stated that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro will feature both a titanium frame and sapphire glass. Both of these point to a watch that’s resistant to bumps, knocks and scratches with a premium look, but the real question is what this will do to pricing. As 9to5Google (opens in new tab) points out, there are a few premium smartwatches with sapphire screens from the likes of Tag Heuer, but there hasn’t been a more mainstream Wear OS device with it since 2015’s Huawei Watch. That cost $350 in 2015, which isn’t a million miles away from the $300 of the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, but that’s before you take into account seven years of inflation, a chip shortage and the fact that Samsung tends to price its products higher than Huawei. In other words, this could get extremely pricey. It’s also worth returning to that 572 mAh battery rumor, because that suggests we’re looking at a large watch — which, again, will add more to the price. Perhaps that large size is why we’re apparently looking at a titanium build: it’s a lighter metal that could make the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro comfortable for extended wear — the kind of extended wear that hopefully such a large battery will facilitate. On the subject of sizing, Ice Universe added (opens in new tab) that the “Pro does not have narrow bezels," adding they’re “even a bit wide." Perhaps that suggests, as I previously speculated, that the rotating bezel may not be dead, but relocated to the Pro model. We’ll likely find out for sure this fall when the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 family is expected to be unveiled alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4.
title: “Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro Could Be Super Tough And Super Pricey” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-22” author: “Betty Tillman”
In an extremely abrupt tweet, Ice Universe stated that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro will feature both a titanium frame and sapphire glass. Both of these point to a watch that’s resistant to bumps, knocks and scratches with a premium look, but the real question is what this will do to pricing. As 9to5Google (opens in new tab) points out, there are a few premium smartwatches with sapphire screens from the likes of Tag Heuer, but there hasn’t been a more mainstream Wear OS device with it since 2015’s Huawei Watch. That cost $350 in 2015, which isn’t a million miles away from the $300 of the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, but that’s before you take into account seven years of inflation, a chip shortage and the fact that Samsung tends to price its products higher than Huawei. In other words, this could get extremely pricey. It’s also worth returning to that 572 mAh battery rumor, because that suggests we’re looking at a large watch — which, again, will add more to the price. Perhaps that large size is why we’re apparently looking at a titanium build: it’s a lighter metal that could make the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro comfortable for extended wear — the kind of extended wear that hopefully such a large battery will facilitate. On the subject of sizing, Ice Universe added (opens in new tab) that the “Pro does not have narrow bezels," adding they’re “even a bit wide." Perhaps that suggests, as I previously speculated, that the rotating bezel may not be dead, but relocated to the Pro model. We’ll likely find out for sure this fall when the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 family is expected to be unveiled alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4.
