Does the Galaxy Watch 5 have fall detection? How to enable the safety feature

Andrew Romero | Mar 21 2023 - 8:51 am PT

Recently, we saw fall detection finally come to Google’s Pixel Watch after five months on the market. Its competitor, the Galaxy Watch 5 series, has had fall detection since its launch, though it isn’t enabled by default. Here’s how to enable fall detection on the Galaxy Watch 5 and 5 Pro.

What is fall detection?

Smartwatches like the Pixel Watch and Galaxy Watch 5 and 5 Pro are both filled with serious safety features. One of those features is fall detection, which can be a literal lifesaver for those at a high risk of injury.

While most of the safety features found on a Galaxy Watch 5 are pretty self-explanatory, fall detection might be the most so. When enabled, the Galaxy Watch 5 looks out for sudden drops and hits.

The Galaxy Watch 5 makes use of algorithms and is tuned to differentiate a sudden fall to a quick stop in a car or drops and turns on a rollercoaster. While all of those patterns are somewhat similar, falling and hitting the ground has a distinct profile that the accelerometer in the watch can detect.

If a fall is detected, the Galaxy Watch 5 will send out an SOS. An SOS will contact your emergency contacts and let them know something has happened. From there, those contacts will decide whether to alert the authorities and call for help.

How to turn on fall detection

Head to the Galaxy Wearable app on your phone.
On your Galaxy Watch 5 page, hit Watch settings.
Tap Safety and emergency.
Hit SOS and toggle on Hard fall detection.
- Note: You’ll have to allow permissions.
Tap Hard fall detection and specify when you want it to be active.
Choose which emergency contacts will receive the SOS when a fall is detected by tapping Emergency contacts in the previous page.

When an SOS is sent, your watch will vibrate and alert you just in case it was a mistake. In that case, simply cancel the SOS and let your contacts know you’re ok. With fall detention turned on for the Galaxy Watch, whoever is wearing it is just a little bit safer.