For better or worse, Apple and Samsung have relied on touchscreen navigation in their smartwatches. This is good for casual exercise or the average person who doesn’t cross all kinds of terrain with extreme temperatures. It’s not going to cut it for the outdoor enthusiasts that both companies are targeting with these “Pro” watches. I’m testing the regular 40mm Galaxy Watch 5, and while it’s not exactly the same, the Pro is essentially a larger, sturdier version of the Watch 5. In terms of user interface, they share the same design DNA. This concerns me. In the few runs I’ve done with the Watch 5 so far, it’s been difficult to get through the screens in the middle. That’s because it’s August and as the famous Santana song says, man, it’s hot. I have sweaty fingers and sometimes I need to pause so I can hydrate. To do this, I have to stop and wipe my hands just so I can swipe right and hit the pause button. It sounds simple enough, but it’s not easy when the humidity is thick enough to feel like you’re swimming in soup. New performance metrics suggest a rugged Apple Watch is coming… but it’s unclear if Apple will dramatically change the design. Photo by Victoria Song/The Verge I had the same problem when testing watchOS 9 on my Series 7. You have to swipe up or scroll through the digital crown to see all the new measurements being performed. Many times, I had to pause to successfully cycle through multiple menus just to see one of the new stats. I was hoping scrolling through the digital crown would be easier, but it isn’t. This is not just a summer problem. If you’re a triathlete, it’s also a swimming problem. If you work out all year round, it’s even bigger in the winter when you have to wear gloves. I’ve had plenty of “touchscreen compatible” gloves in the past, but they’ve never been reliable on my phone let alone the smaller screen of my smartwatch. This is not a problem when using a Polar or Garmin sports watch. This is because the physical buttons are not hindered by moisture or gloves. Once you get used to them, you can flip through the menus without having to look down until you absolutely need to. Some even use a combination of touch controls and buttons — which is ideal because you can always use the most convenient method for a given situation. The screen may not be as nice on the Garmin Forerunner 255S, but the buttons ensure I don’t have to worry about sweaty fingers. Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge It’s clear that Apple and Samsung both know that athletes value battery life, in-depth measurements, and durability. However, it’s less clear whether either company has really thought through why so many outdoor enthusiasts and triathletes would rather forgo a fancy touchscreen than physical controls. We still don’t know a ton about Apple’s durable watch. Details surrounding them have been kept under pretty tight wraps. But the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is no longer a secret. He’s out in the world, and no matter what he has, he lacks the physical controls that so many triathletes are used to. Given this, it’s somewhat surprising that Samsung eschewed the rotating bezel for the Pro. (This may have been a trade-off to ensure more durability.) I need to run more tests and, of course, there are several reasons why you might choose a more advanced flagship smartwatch instead of a dedicated multisport GPS watch. But these days, whenever I try to lug around the Watch 5 or Series 7 with my sweaty digits, I often wish I was wearing my Garmin.
