I compared Apple and Samsung’s best smartwatches – here’s who wins for now

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Apple unveiled its Watch Series 11 during this week’s iPhone event, alongside two other smartwatch models. The Series 11 gets Sleep Scores (crowd roars), a longer battery life, and all of Apple’s WatchOS 26 software, which is expected to be released to the public soon.

Also: I tried the Apple Watch Series 11, Watch Ultra 3, and SE – what the keynote didn’t tell you

But how does it compare to its closest Android rival, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8? I’m comparing two smartwatch icons and their specs. So, who wins? Keep reading to find out. 

Specifications

You should buy the Apple Watch Series 11 if…

1. You want to monitor your blood pressure

Are you buying a smartwatch for its health features? Apple announced at its September iPhone event that the Apple Watch Series 11 offers hypertension detection and will receive FDA clearance by the end of the month. It can’t perform blood pressure readings, but it does monitor your blood vessels’ reaction to heartbeats during sleep. It monitors your blood pressure for 30 days using the watch’s optical heart sensor to deliver an average rating that is either within range or above the threshold. 

If the 30-day rating is above the threshold, Apple advises users to take the data collected to a doctor for medical review. Neither Samsung nor Google has developed this feature into their recent lineup of smartwatches, and it addresses a major health condition that is often underdiagnosed. 

2. You want a lower profile AI approach

Apple infuses AI into several aspects of its smartwatch — but you wouldn’t really notice if you weren’t paying attention. Thanks to an advanced prediction algorithm, you’ll get more relevant Smart Stack suggestions that take your historical location and watch activity into account. If Apple Watch registers users recording a pilates workout every time they visit a studio, the Smart Stack will more regularly suggest initiating a Pilates workout on the Workout app. 

Thanks to AI, the smartwatch’s notification pings become self-aware: The device registers the noise volume of your environment to deliver pings that aren’t blaring in quiet spaces or too quiet in noisy ones. Smart Replies get smarter with its on-device language model, which provides “precise” and “relevant” responses to conversations.

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

AI powers those features — and many more — but Apple isn’t interested in calling attention to it. That’s a significantly different approach from Samsung and its Galaxy Watch 8, which drips with AI. More on that later.

This low-key AI approach could be a success or Apple’s Achilles heel in the long run. If and when AI’s hype cycle dies down, Apple will continue making relevant features powered by advanced technology, as per usual. It will be respected for not taking the hype bait and centering its product around a feature that came and went. But if high-power AI features are the way of the future, Apple could be falling behind in the AI rat race. 

3. You’re an iPhone user, obviously

If you have an iPhone, Android smartwatches like the Galaxy Watch 8 aren’t compatible with your smartphone. So, obviously, you’ll want to grab the Apple Watch to keep everything within the same ecosystem. 

You should buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 if…

1. You want longer battery life

Samsung takes the battery capacity cake with its Watch 8, which offers 30 hours of battery life with Always-On Display enabled and 40 hours with it disabled. Apple’s Series 11 gets a battery upgrade, to be certain. But it upgrades to 24 hours with AOD enabled and 36 hours in battery-saving mode. 

2. AI workout assistants

Both Apple and Samsung rolled out AI workout assistants during their summer product launches. Apple unveiled Workout Buddy, an in-ear assistant that provides stats, encouragement, and historical data during your workout, and is available on eight 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 more specific to, you guessed it, running, but provides more actionable feedback for people training for their first or next race.

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

Users take a running test, and Samsung grades them out of 10. Then it provides a detailed training plan to help them advance to the next training level. Using recovery and exercise data, Samsung tailors its activity recommendations to the user. This feels more personalized than Workout Buddy, and I hope Apple takes notes from Samsung when developing its next health-oriented smartwatch features. 

3. You can benefit more from Gemini

The benefit of being an Android watch is that it’s powered by Google’s Gemini. That means you can call upon the AI assistant to look up restaurants in your area, call and make a reservation for two, and inquire about dietary restrictions — all with the lift of a wrist. The Galaxy Watch can handle multiple commands with shorter compute times. Apple’s AI is more simplistic and a little less advanced. 

Alternatives to consider