{"id":110223,"date":"2025-08-01T12:20:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T12:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/110223\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T12:20:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T12:20:10","slug":"the-apple-watch-series-11-needs-to-catch-up-to-the-galaxy-watch-in-one-key-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/110223\/","title":{"rendered":"The Apple Watch Series 11 Needs to Catch Up to the Galaxy Watch in One Key Area"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m nearing the end of my first month with the Galaxy Watch 8<\/a> and Galaxy Watch 8 Classic<\/a>, and for the first time in nearly a decade of reviewing wearables, I’m reluctant to switch back to the Apple Watch<\/a>. That hesitation comes down to one surprising new addition: Gemini<\/a> on the watch.<\/p>\n

Samsung’s latest watches were the first to debut with Google’s Gemini AI assistant, and the experience has left a lasting impression. Gemini isn’t just more conversational than previous voice assistants, it’s smarter, faster and, most importantly, actually useful on a smartwatch<\/a>. With Apple Watch season fast approaching, it’s hard to ignore how far behind Siri now feels in comparison.<\/p>\n

If I could ask for just one thing this year (OK, maybe two, battery life still matters), it’s this: Give the Apple Watch an assistant that finally lives up to the rest of the Apple ecosystem. After seeing what Gemini can do, anything less feels like a missed opportunity.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Watch this:<\/strong> Gemini on the Galaxy Watch 8 Made Me a Believer\n <\/p>\n

02:58 Gemini on the wrist: surprisingly life changing<\/p>\n

I had to consciously retrain myself to talk like a normal human when using Gemini, and remind myself to use my wrist instead of breaking out my phone for random inquiries that would’ve otherwise fallen on deaf ears. But once I did, it felt like unlocking a new layer of productivity I didn’t know was possible on a tiny screen.<\/p>\n

I’d all but given up on wrist-based voice assistants. Siri, Bixby (Samsung’s version) and even Google Assistant on older watches often felt like clunky middlemen. I had to repeat commands, speak in robotic syntax and deal with web links I’d never open on a watch UI. Asking an assistant to set a timer for something as specific as a soft-boiled egg took multiple steps. Using an assistant to change a setting? Forget it. But Gemini turned that around for me.<\/p>\n

\"gemini-demo-cnet-cms.png\" <\/p>\n

Google’s Gemini AI voice assistant on the Galaxy Watch 8.<\/p>\n

Joe Maldonado\/CNET<\/p>\n

Now, I can say, “Set a timer for a soft-boiled egg with a runny yolk,” and get an instant 7-minute timer — no follow-ups necessary. I can ask it to blast the volume on my watch during a run<\/a> without so much as touching the screen. Or I can inquire about a landmark with a vague prompt like, “What’s that famous church on a hill in San Francisco?” The result gave me accurate, audible directions to Grace Cathedral.<\/p>\n

Gemini even handles multitasking with ease. I asked it to find a trendy Latin Fusion restaurant in San Francisco and message a friend (in Spanish) to see if they were free to join. The watch did all of that in one go.<\/p>\n

It’s time for Apple to catch up<\/p>\n

Apple has made strides with WatchOS 26<\/a>. The new Workout Buddy feature<\/a> shows a glimpse of what AI could look like on the wrist, using real-time fitness data to encourage you mid-workout. And the new translation feature gives live text translation on the watch, as long as it’s paired to an Apple Intelligence enabled phone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"workout <\/p>\n

WatchOS 26 brings an Apple Intelligence powered Workout Buddy to the Apple Watch, but it needs the iPhone to work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vanessa Hand Orellana\/CNET<\/p>\n

But nothing yet addresses Siri’s longstanding weaknesses: slow responses, minimal context and virtually no follow-through. And it’s not like Apple isn’t aware; the company has acknowledged it’s working on a smarter Siri, but that update is now reportedly delayed until 2026. Meanwhile Apple’s current AI efforts like image editing, Genmoji and tapping ChatGPT show promise. But they’re all iPhone-first, and so far, nothing about Apple Intelligence seems designed to transform the Watch the way Gemini already has for Android.<\/p>\n

I’m not expecting miracles from the Apple Watch Series 11, but there’s an opportunity here. If Apple upgrades the watch’s processor to better handle on-device tasks, it could pave the way for a more responsive, Gemini-like assistant that actually belongs on your wrist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I’m nearing the end of my first month with the Galaxy Watch 8 and Galaxy Watch 8 Classic,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":110224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[705,158,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-110223","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gadgets","8":"tag-gadgets","9":"tag-technology","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114953481650620685","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}