Apple Watch Series 11 Vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch 8: I've Tested Both, And Here's The Winner

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Apple unveiled its Watch Series 11 during this week's iPhone event, alongside 2 different smartwatch models. The Series 11 gets Sleep Scores (crowd roars), a longer artillery life, and each of Apple's WatchOS 26 software, which is expected to beryllium released to nan nationalist soon.

Also: I tried nan Apple Watch Series 11, Watch Ultra 3, and SE - what nan keynote didn't show you

But really does it comparison to its closest Android rival, nan Samsung Galaxy Watch 8? I'm comparing 2 smartwatch icons and their specs. So, who wins? Keep reference to find out. 

Specifications

You should bargain nan Apple Watch Series 11 if...

Nina Raemont/ZDNET

1. You want to show your humor pressure

Are you buying a smartwatch for its wellness features? Apple announced astatine its September iPhone arena that nan Apple Watch Series 11 offers hypertension discovery and will person FDA clearance by nan extremity of nan month. It can't execute humor unit readings, but it does show your humor vessels' guidance to heartbeats during sleep. It monitors your humor unit for 30 days utilizing nan watch's optical bosom sensor to present an mean standing that is either wrong scope aliases supra nan threshold. 

If nan 30-day standing is supra nan threshold, Apple advises users to return nan information collected to a expert for aesculapian review. Neither Samsung nor Google has developed this characteristic into their caller lineup of smartwatches, and it addresses a awesome wellness information that is often underdiagnosed. 

2. You want a little floor plan AI approach

Apple infuses AI into respective aspects of its smartwatch -- but you wouldn't really announcement if you weren't paying attention. Thanks to an precocious prediction algorithm, you'll get much applicable Smart Stack suggestions that return your humanities location and watch activity into account. If Apple Watch registers users signaling a pilates workout each clip they sojourn a studio, nan Smart Stack will much regularly propose initiating a Pilates workout connected nan Workout app. 

Thanks to AI, nan smartwatch's notification pings go self-aware: The instrumentality registers nan sound measurement of your situation to present pings that aren't blaring successful quiet spaces aliases excessively quiet successful noisy ones. Smart Replies get smarter pinch its on-device connection model, which provides "precise" and "relevant" responses to conversations.

Also: Should you upgrade to Apple Watch Series 11? Here's really it compares to older models

AI powers those features -- and galore much -- but Apple isn't willing successful calling attraction to it. That's a importantly different attack from Samsung and its Galaxy Watch 8, which drips pinch AI. More connected that later.

This low-key AI attack could beryllium a occurrence aliases Apple's Achilles bottommost successful nan agelong run. If and erstwhile AI's hype rhythm dies down, Apple will proceed making applicable features powered by precocious technology, arsenic per usual. It will beryllium respected for not taking nan hype bait and centering its merchandise astir a characteristic that came and went. But if high-power AI features are nan measurement of nan future, Apple could beryllium falling down successful nan AI rat race. 

3. You're an iPhone user, obviously

If you person an iPhone, Android smartwatches for illustration nan Galaxy Watch 8 aren't compatible pinch your smartphone. So, obviously, you'll want to drawback nan Apple Watch to support everything wrong nan aforesaid ecosystem. 

You should bargain nan Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 if...

Nina Raemont/ZDNET

1. You want longer artillery life

Samsung takes nan artillery capacity barroom pinch its Watch 8, which offers 30 hours of artillery life pinch Always-On Display enabled and 40 hours pinch it disabled. Apple's Series 11 gets a artillery upgrade, to beryllium certain. But it upgrades to 24 hours pinch AOD enabled and 36 hours successful battery-saving mode. 

2. AI workout assistants

Both Apple and Samsung rolled retired AI workout assistants during their summertime merchandise launches. Apple unveiled Workout Buddy, an in-ear adjunct that provides stats, encouragement, and humanities information during your workout, and is disposable connected 8 different workout modes, including Outdoor and Indoor Run, Outdoor and Indoor Walk, Outdoor Cycle, HIIT, and Functional and Traditional Strength Training. Samsung's Running Coach is much circumstantial to, you guessed it, running, but provides much actionable feedback for group training for their first aliases adjacent race.

Also: Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: I compared both, and here's nan winner

Users return a moving test, and Samsung grades them retired of 10. Then it provides a elaborate training scheme to thief them beforehand to nan adjacent training level. Using betterment and workout data, Samsung tailors its activity recommendations to nan user. This feels much personalized than Workout Buddy, and I dream Apple takes notes from Samsung erstwhile processing its adjacent health-oriented smartwatch features. 

3. You tin use much from Gemini

The use of being an Android watch is that it's powered by Google's Gemini. That intends you tin telephone upon nan AI adjunct to look up restaurants successful your area, telephone and make a preservation for two, and inquire astir dietary restrictions -- each pinch nan assistance of a wrist. The Galaxy Watch tin grip aggregate commands pinch shorter compute times. Apple's AI is much simplistic and a small little advanced. 

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