Technologies

Galaxy Watch 6 vs. Apple Watch Series 8: Battle of the Smart Wearables

See how Samsung’s new watch measures up to Apple’s current flagship watch on specs and price.

Last week’s Galaxy Unpacked event brought the official release of the Galaxy Watch 6, Samsung’s latest smartwatch. How does the new wearable stack up with industry-leading Apple Watch Series 8? Let’s take a look at the specs, features and price.

The big physical difference is that Samsung uses a round face for its watches, while Apple keeps its square look. But both are available in two sizes that are only a millimeter in difference, so there’s little to go on here. Both are waterproof to around 50 meters (roughly 165 feet), use aluminum in their construction and have interchangeable bands.

The features are closely matched too, with both models offering GPS tracking, heart-rate sensing, fall detection, sleep tracking, automatic workout detection and more. Both also offer contactless payments using either Samsung Pay or Apple Pay. The Galaxy Watch offers 16GB of onboard storage for saving songs locally to work out with, while the Apple Watch doubles that to 32GB. Samsung reckons its watch will last up to 40 hours between charges however, while Apple only promises 18. How that stacks up in real-world testing remains to be seen.

One of the biggest differences, though, is the price: the Apple Watch Series 8 costs nearly $100 more than Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6, in both sizes. We’ll be putting these through their paces in the full review soon to see whether it’s worth savingthat money, but you can check out the full specs comparison below.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 vs. Apple Watch Series 8

	Samsung Galaxy Watch 6	Apple Watch Series 8
Shape	Round	Square
Watch size	40mm, 44mm	41mm, 45mm
Materials/Finishes	Aluminum	Aluminum, Stainless steel, Ceramic, Sapphire glass
Display size, resolution	40mm: 1.3-inch, 432×432 Super AMOLED; 44mm: 1.5-inch, 480×480 Super AMOLED	41mm: 1.7-inch, 352×430 45mm: 1.9-inch, 396×484
Dimensions	40mm: 38.8 x 40.4 x 9.0 mm; 44mm: 42.8 x 44.4 x 9.0 mm	41mm: 41 x 35 x 10.7mm 45mm: 45 x 38 x 10.7mm
Weight	40mm: 28.7g; 44mm: 33.3g	41mm: 31.9g (aluminum, GPS) 45mm: 38.8g (aluminum, GPS)
Colors	40mm: Graphite, Gold; 44mm: Graphite, Silver	Midnight, Starlight, Silver, Red
Always On	Yes	Yes
Interchangable bands	Yes	Yes
GPS	Yes	Yes
Automatic workout detection	Yes (running, walking, rowing)	Yes
Compass	Yes	Yes
Altimeter	Yes	Yes
Water resistance	5ATM, IP68	50 meters
Calls	Yes	Yes
Microphone	Yes	Yes
Speaker	Yes	Yes
Voice assistant	Yes (Google Assistant, Bixby)	Siri
Mobile Payments	Yes (Samsung Wallet)	Yes (Apple Pay)
Sleep tracking	Yes	Yes
Period tracking	Yes	Yes
Sensors	Optical Heart Rate + Electrical Heart Signal + Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis, Temperature Sensor, Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyro Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Light Sensor	Electrical heart sensor, Blood oxygen sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, light sensor,
Emergency features	Emergency SOS, fall detection	Emergency SOS, fall and crash detection
Compatibility	Android 10 and above	iOS
Software	WearOS 4	Watch OS 9
Processor	Exynos W930 Dual-Core 1.4GHz	Apple S8
Connectivity	LTE6, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 2.4+5GHz, NFC, GPS/Glonass/Beidou/Galileo	LTE, UMTS, Wi-Fi 2.4+5GHz, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, GPS/Glonass, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou
Memory and storage	2GB memory + 16GB storage	1GB memory + 32GB storage
Power	Faster wireless charging over USB-C	Faster wireless charging over USB-C
Battery life	Up to 40 hours (Always On Display off) / Up to 30 hours (Always On Display on)	Up to 18 hours
Battery capacity	40mm: 300 mAh; 44mm: 425 mAh	308 mAh
US price	40mm: $300 (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth); 44mm: $330 (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth)	41mm: $399 (GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth) 45mm: $429 (GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth)
UK price	From £289	From £419
Australian price	From AU$549	From AU$629

Technologies

This 3-in-1 Charger Is a Must-Have for Travelers, and It Just Hit a Record-Low of $95

Snag it for $45 off and charge your iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch at the same time.

If you’re a frequent traveler, then you know that outlets are a precious commodity in places like airports and coffee shops. So why waste one on a single device when you can charge up to three at once? Right now, you can grab this seriously sleek Ugreen Magflow three-in-one foldable charger for just $95 at Amazon. That’s a $45 discount and the all-time lowest price we’ve seen. Just don’t wait too long, as this deal could expire at any time.

At just 7.4 ounces, this compact charging station is designed to be taken on the go. But despite its size, it still supports 25-watt MagSafe charging for iPhones, as well as 5-watt wireless charging for AirPods and Apple Watches. The charging stand also tilts up to double as a stand, and it’s equipped with 16 magnets to keep your phone aligned and securely in place. Plus, it’s got built-in protections against overheating, overcharging, short-circuiting and more to prevent damage to your devices.

Why this deal matters

This folding Ugreen charger is great for juicing up your devices on the go, and it’s never been more affordable. Plus, Ugreen makes some of the best MagSafe chargers on the market right now, so don’t miss your chance to grab one at a record-low price.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Jan. 13, #1669

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Jan. 13, No. 1,669.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a little tricky, and it might make you hungry. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has two vowels.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with G.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with O.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a spicy Cajun stew popular in New Orleans.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is GUMBO.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Jan. 12, No. 1,668 was TRIAL.

Recent Wordle answers

Jan. 8, No. 1,664: BLAST

Jan. 9, No. 1,665: EIGHT

Jan. 10, No. 1,666: MANIC

Jan. 11, No. 1,667: QUARK

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

What’s the best Wordle starting word?

Don’t be afraid to use our tip sheet ranking all the letters in the alphabet by frequency of uses. In short, you want starter words that lean heavy on E, A and R, and don’t contain Z, J and Q.

Some solid starter words to try:

ADIEU

TRAIN

STARE

NOISE

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 13 #681

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Jan. 13, No. 681.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

It took me a while to figure out the theme for today’s NYT Strands puzzle, but once I did, I thought it was a fun one. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: You need to chill

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Brrrr!

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

GONE, ABLE, TABLE, FOOD, TEEN, LEAF, GOOF, GOOD, SAFE

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: