4 Apple Watch features that still beat the Galaxy Watch and Pixel Watch

Published Nov 6, 2026, 3:00 PM EST Tyler is an journalist and content contributor at How-To Geek with over three years of experience covering the automotive and tech industries. His work focuses on delivering clear, well-researched, and engaging content that helps readers better understand the vehicles they drive and the technology that they use everyday. Before entering automotive media, he spent five years as an academic editor, developing a strong foundation in research methodology, factual accuracy, and structured analysis. This background informs his journalistic approach today, ensuring that every article balances technical insight with accessibility for a broad audience. Apple may have some serious competition in the smartwatch market, but when it comes to innovative features, the Apple Watch still has a few tricks up its sleeve. While Samsung and Google have made significant strides with their Galaxy Watch and Pixel Watch lineups, several clever features still give Apple an edge. From practical tools that make traveling easier to clever ways of keeping track of conversations and staying connected with loved ones, Apple's wearable has plenty to offer. Some of these features are genuinely useful additions that could make everyday smartwatch use more convenient, while others are simply fun extras that add a little personality to the experience. Built-in live translation A traveler's boon Anyone who frequently travels to countries where English isn't the most common language will tell you how useful live translation is. Most smartphones come with some form of built-in live translation, allowing you to have pretty naturally flowing conversations with people who speak other languages, making things like getting directions so much easier. However, with Samsung and Google, you need to have your phone on hand. Starting with watchOS 11 or newer, you should have access to a live translation tool directly on your wrist. Opening the Translate app lets you choose a target language, speak a phrase into your watch, and get a direct translation. You can also have your watch play this translation out loud via the built-in speaker. There is also a mode for two-way conversations where it will automatically detect the language being spoken and read the translations out loud. When you're on the move and desperately need to communicate with someone who doesn't speak your language, having a translation tool built into your watch can be lifesaving. It would be great to see Samsung and Google copy this feature, especially considering how strong Google Translate is as a tool. Live Rewind For the forgetful bunch Credit: Apple This is a brand-new feature that has been introduced on the Apple Watch 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 as part of Apple's Audio Intelligence feature package. When active, Live Rewind will record short audio clips, stored locally. If you double-press the crown on your Apple Watch, it will send the last 15 seconds of recorded audio to your iPhone, utilizing your on-device speech recognition. Your phone will then send you a text snippet of what was said. Do nothing and the snippet will be deleted 30 seconds after your screen dims. As someone who constantly forgets the specials right after the waiter tells them to me, I can definitely see a couple of solid use cases for this feature. It is also very privacy-focused, with everything being stored locally, and the data isn't shared with Apple unless you choose to do so. A very audible chime also plays when you double-press the crown, alerting people nearby. It is off by default and can be opted into. This would be a great feature to have on future iterations of Galaxy or Pixel watches. I trust Google a little less than Apple when it comes to privacy, though, so it would have to come with a lot of built-in control and the same on-board storage method for me to use it. Apple can make such broad claims about the privacy of recorded content because the new S11 chips on the new Apple Watches have a completely sectioned-off area for audio processing. Siri Recap Taking audio processing a step further Credit: Apple Much like Live Rewind, this is a new feature that has debuted on the Apple Watch 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 along with the Audio Intelligence toolset. While Live Rewind records and processes audio on demand, Siri Recap listens much more broadly. When activated, it records ambient conversations throughout the day, processes the audio, and then provides you with a summary. You can set up this feature to run in the background during the day, or you can confine it to specific hours. To me, it makes a lot of sense as a tool to summarize your workday. The condensed text from the audio recordings is sent to Apple's Private Cloud Compute, but, importantly, it is never stored or accessed by Apple and is automatically deleted after seven days. Again, if Google or Samsung integrated this feature, they would have to do a lot to ensure privacy. That being said, it is a really useful function. Digital Touch Just wholesome Credit: Apple Those a little more privacy-oriented may not be the biggest fans of the audio recording features listed above, which is a completely fair stance. Digital Touch is something a little more lighthearted and fun, though, and it's been around since the launch of the original Apple Watch. Essentially, it lets you communicate haptically with other Apple Watch users. You can send gentle pulses or the actual rhythm of your heartbeat. You can also send little sketches and animations as well. This is all done through the Messages app on your Apple Watch. Select a conversation or look for the Digital Touch icon in an iMessage thread, which is a heart and two fingers. If you travel a lot, this can be a cute little way to stay connected with your partner. My wife and I would love to send little messages like this to one another throughout the day. It's a fun feature that would be really great to see in future Galaxy and Pixel watch models. Apple is still on top of the wearable game While smartwatches from Samsung and Google have definitely come a long way over the last couple of years, Apple still wears the proverbial crown. Apple Watches lead the charge with innovative features that you just can't get on other smartwatches. While I'm not generally a fan of companies like Samsung copying Apple, it would be neat if some of these features found their way onto other modern options.