Technologies

Apple Watch Series 11 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch 8: The Top Highlights of Each Smartwatch

Apple and Samsung are including a wealth of health and fitness features to pump up their flagship watches. Here is how they compare.

The Apple Watch has long positioned itself as a leader in the smartwatch space, and the new Series 11 watch includes several key updates that provide improvements over previous models. These include 5G connectivity for the cellular model and new health features like hypertension notifications and Sleep Score analysis.

Yet, Apple does face plenty of competition from other companies, with Samsung’s latest Galaxy Watch 8 providing a compelling alternative for people looking for a watch that pairs with an Android phone. The Galaxy Watch 8 has a lightweight design, access to the Gemini assistant and Samsung’s own suite of health features like its new Running Coach.

If you’re not tied to either the Apple or Android ecosystem, it’s worth taking a look at both to see which one you prefer. We’ve compiled several comparison points below to help make your decision easier.

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Design and display

Even before we delve into their features, the most obvious difference between the two watches is in how they look. The Watch Series 11 retains the same square frame that prior Apple Watch have always had, along with a thin profile and edge-to-edge display.

The Galaxy Watch 8, on the other hand, has a circular display that is more reminiscent of traditional watches and might appeal more to those who want a rounder shape. The Galaxy Watch 8 is not completely round, however. It has a square base, which makes the overall effect more of a squircle than a normal circle.

Size-wise, the Apple Watch Series 11 is available in 42mm and 46mm sizes while the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is available in 40mm and 44mm. The difference might be minimal, but if you have a smaller wrist, you might prefer the smaller Galaxy Watch 8. In terms of their displays, the Apple Watch Series 11 has an OLED Retina display while the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 has a Super AMOLED. The Galaxy Watch 8’s display gets brighter, with a peak of 3,000 nits while the Apple Watch Series 11’s brightness can range from 1 to 2,000 nits.

While the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is only available in aluminum (black or grey), the Apple Watch Series 11 is available in both aluminum and titanium in a variety of different finishes (jet black, rose gold or silver in the aluminium, and slate, gold or natural in the titanium).

Health and safety features

Both of these watches offer basic health sensors like ECG, advanced heart rate, blood oxygen and temperature tracking, with a few differences. The Galaxy Watch 8 offers a skin analysis feature that tracks carotenoids and advanced heart metrics, while the Apple Watch Series 11 offers a new hypertension warning if you’re showing signs of high blood pressure. It doesn’t replace a blood pressure monitor, but Apple says it could still be an important screening tool so you can look into the issue further.

They also have slightly different sleep features. The Galaxy Watch 8 has a Bedtime Guidance tool to help you figure out the best bedtime window depending on your circadian rhythm, which could improve your overall sleep quality. The Apple Watch Series 11, on the other hand, now offers a Sleep Score that’ll grade your sleep quality from 1 to 100 along with other sleep data like number of interruptions and sleep duration.

The Galaxy Watch 8 offers the Gemini voice assistant, which at this point is able to handle more advanced queries than Siri on the Apple Watch Series 11. As for the coaching apps, the Galaxy Watch 8 offers the Samsung Running Coach, which supposedly helps you with improving your runs, while the Apple Watch Series 11 has Workout Buddy, which offers motivation during workouts.

Both watches offer fall detection and SOS alerts, but the Apple Watch Series 11 has additional safety checks like vehicle-crash detection.

Battery life

When it comes to battery life, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 and the Apple Watch Series 11 are about the same. Both easily last more than 24 hours, which is especially great for sleep tracking. In our testing, we found that the Galaxy Watch 8 lasts around 30 hours with a single charge, while we managed to get around 27 to 32 hours per charge on the Apple Watch Series 11.

Price

The Galaxy Watch 8 starts at $350 while the Apple Watch Series 11 is priced slightly higher at a starting cost of $399.

Check the below chart to see more comparisons between the Apple Watch Series 11 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8.

Apple Watch Series 11 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch 8

	Apple Watch Series 11	Samsung Galaxy Watch 8
Design & sizes	Rectangular, 42mm, 46mm	Squircle (round screen), 40mm, 44mm
Display	42mm: 446 x 374 pixels, LTPO3 OLED Retina display, Wide-angle OLED 46mm: 416 x 496 pixels, LTPO3 OLED Retina display, Wide-angle OLED	Super AMOLED, up to 480 ppi
Brightness	Between 1 and 2,000 nits	3,000 nits
Thickness & weight	46mm size: 9.7mm; 37.8 g (aluminum), 36.9 g (alum GPS+Cellular), 43.1 g (titanium)42mm size: 9.7mm; 30.3 g (aluminum), 29.7 g (alum GPS+Cellular), 34.6 g (titanium)	8.6mm; 30–34g
Material & finish	Aluminum: jet black, rose gold or silver finish; Titanium: slate, gold or natural finish	Aluminum case
Durability	5ATM Water + IP6X (dust)	5ATM water + IP68 dust
Battery life	Up to 24 hours, up to 38 hours Low Power (always-on) + Fast charge: 80% in 30 min, 100% in 60 min	~26 hrs with always-on
Sensors	ECG, 3rd-gen optical heart sensor, skin temp, depth gauge, SpO2, Noise monitoring, water temperature, compass	ECG, SpO₂, bioelectrical impedance, infrared temp sensor
Emergency features	Satellite SOS, Emergency SOS, Fall detection, Crash detection, Check in and Backtrack	Fall detection, SOS, siren
AI & coaching	Siri (voice assistant); Workout Buddy	Gemini voice assistant; Samsung Running Coach
Processor	S10 SiP with 64-bit dual-core processor, W3 Apple wireless chip	Exynos W1000 processor
RAM/Storage	64GB (storage)	2GB, 32GB (storage)
Payments	Apple Pay	Samsung Wallet, Google Wallet
Price (US)	$399-$750 (titanium)	$350–$430

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, Nov. 16

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Nov. 16.

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

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? For me, 7-Across was a bit of a stumper, but I eventually solved it. Read on for the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Cars that stop at Supercharger stations
Answer: TESLAS

7A clue: What «e-» can mean
Answer: ONLINE

8A clue: Words that might begin the name of a quaint English inn
Answer: YEOLDE

9A clue: What «E» can mean
Answer: EMPTY

10A clue: Easter egg colorings
Answer: DYES

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Messed (with)
Answer: TOYED

2D clue: Ally’s opposite
Answer: ENEMY

3D clue: What «m» stands for in the equation «y = mx + b»
Answer: SLOPE

4D clue: Musical cadences of speech
Answer: LILTS

5D clue: Samberg of «Brooklyn Nine-Nine»
Answer: ANDY

6D clue: «___ what I did there?»
Answer: SEE

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 16, #889

Here are some hints — and the answers — for the NYT Connections puzzle for Nov. 16, #889.

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

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is a fun one. As a pop-culture junkie and game lover, I enjoyed the purple category. If you need help sorting the answers into groups, you’re in the right place. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Different strokes for different folks.

Green group hint: Ho-hum.

Blue group hint: Flags often qualify.

Purple group hint: Do not pass Go.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Technique.

Green group: Run-of-the-mill.

Blue group: Stripy things.

Purple group: Words on Monopoly squares.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is technique. The four answers are approach, method, philosophy and school.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is run-of-the-mill. The four answers are banal, everday, humdrum and pedestrian.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is stripy things.The four answers are barcode, IBM logo, rugby shirt and zebra.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is words on Monopoly squares. The four answers are avenue, parking, railroad and tax.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 16 #623

Here are hints — and answers — for the NYT Strands puzzle for Nov. 16, No. 623.

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.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is tough. It’s a weird theme, and 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: Around it goes.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: They’re often on a roll.

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:

CARE, SCARE, CRASS, SWAT, PELL, HELL, SCAR, HALT, STENT, HALTS, TENT, POLL, LOTS

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:

FOIL, SCARF, SHAWL, STOLE, FLATBREAD, CELLOPHANE

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is THATSAWRAP. To find it, start with the T that’s three letters up from the bottom of the far-left row, and wind down, over and then up.