Apple Watch Pro needs to fix the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro's biggest mistake

NOTICE: This is shaping up to be a busy week in the tech world with Apple's "Far Out" launch event scheduled for tomorrow.

During the event, we'll be bombarded with all kinds of new items if the pre-event gossip is to be believed. But aside from the new iPhone 14, there's one key version that stands out for me: the legendary Apple Watch Pro.

To catch up with readers, the Pro is a popular new entry in Apple's smartwatch lineup. It's expected to be a "sports"-focused variant of the base Apple Watch 8, which is also expected to appear at the company's Far Out event.

Rumored upgrades include a bigger battery, more sports-focused watch faces, and a tough titanium case. If this all sounds familiar, it should be. Samsung followed this release strategy earlier this year with the launch of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro.

Although the two are really rivals in name only, with Apple Watches only working with iPhones and the Watch 5 Pro requiring a Samsung handset to fully unlock all of its features, for me there is one key thing that the handset Apple could learn from rival Android.

Specifically, it has to offer better battery life than any of its predecessors.

In case you missed my Galaxy Watch 5 Pro review, I found that while there's a lot to like about Samsung's new flagship, with a wonderfully bright OLED display, local turn-by-turn navigation and all the smartwatch benefits of Google's Wear OS 3, battery life was a major annoyance.

Coming off of a Garmin Fenix ​​7, which remains the best fitness tracker I've used this year, the Watch 5 Pro's battery life was a constant point of contention. Doing a workout every morning and running 5K runs with GPS on, the device simply couldn't match the endurance of competing fitness trackers and running watches. Throughout testing, I struggled to get more than 2 days of regular use out of it. Using GPS tracking also significantly drains the battery, which typically loses 5-8% of its charge after 25-30 minutes of 5km.

That might not seem like a big deal to people used to using smartwatches rather than fitness trackers, and 2-3 days is fine for most casual gym goers, but if you're entering the more extreme segment of the market, it pales in comparison. .

Even though the Watch Pro has all the bells and whistles expected of a hardcore tracker, like local mapping and turn-by-turn navigation, if you're a hiker, biker, or runner who likes to run errands or road trips several days, then 2-3 days of battery (without GPS) is simply not enough.

If Apple is serious about taking over the fitness market, it needs a wearable device that can compete with dedicated trackers like Garmin, Polar, and Cortex when it comes to battery life.