The Galaxy Watch 5 series comes in three sizes: 40mm, 44mm, and 45mm (Pro). Samsung claims the former two to be 9.8mm thick. But they both measure over 13mm in thickness, about 33 percent more than the numbers supplied by the company. This deviation grows if you switch to the 45mm Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, which is a beast of a smartwatch with an 80-hour battery life. This model is officially claimed to be 10.5mm thick. However, in reality, it is a bulky watch clocking 15.07mm in thickness. That makes it 44 percent thicker than Samsung’s official measurements. Of course, this is far from ideal. Such a high discrepancy in thickness is worrying and may deceive customers. But what is Samsung reporting in the spec sheet? DC Rainmaker did some further research and it turns out the Korean brand isn’t the only watchmaker that’s lying about its product’s thickness. Pretty much every other OEM does the same, including Apple and Garmin. All of these companies are ignoring the sensor bump at the back of the watches. They may be doing so because the sensor area buries into the wrist when you strap the watch tight. So the firms are essentially reporting the thickness of the device on top of your wrist. The offense they commit here is that they don’t explain this methodology clearly in the spec sheet, thus misleading consumers.
Samsung is still the biggest offender
While all smartwatch makers are following the unexplained, and rather unfounded rules while measuring the thickness of their devices, Samsung is the biggest offender of the lot. It is simply measuring the side wall of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro to claim a 10.5mm thickness. The Korean firm is entirely ignoring the back side of the watch, let alone the sensor bump. As part of this research, DC Rainmaker also discovered that the weight of the watches mentioned in the spec sheet doesn’t account for the straps. While that is reasonable, as straps come in varying weights, they still fail to properly note that in the spec sheet. So next time you look to buy a smartwatch, be mindful that the official thickness and weight don’t tell the full story. If you’re planning to buy Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5, here’s a fun fact. The 44mm Galaxy Watch 5 is pretty much of the same size and thickness as an Oreo. The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, meanwhile, is identical to the double-stuffed Oreos. You can watch the full video below.
