Samsung Galaxy Watch4: It tracks more stats, teams with Google but can it beat the Apple Watch?

It can track every step and tell you if you need to lose weight. But Samsung’s newest wearable gadget will struggle to beat its main rival.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch4, released on September 10, will be one of the first smartwatches to measure the wearer's blood pressure as well as tracking their fitness, sleep, and heart health. Picture: Supplied

Smartwatches can measure so many parts of your life: every step you take, every minute you’re active, your heart rate, your respiratory rate, and whether you're sleeping enough or well enough.

But Samsung’s newest wearable gadget takes these measurements more seriously than ever.

The Galaxy Watch4 can, for example, tell you if you snored last night and play back the evidence.

It can tell you if you’ve gained or lost muscle (or fat) over the past week using new skin sensors.

And it’s medically approved to help monitor for signs of an irregular heart beat and, with an accessory, record your blood pressure.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch4 will be released on September 10.

In short, this new $399 smartwatch will be a fitness-tracking, health-monitoring overachiever to the point of being a digital busybody when it’s released on September 10.

But, strangely, these health additions are probably its second-best improvement.

The best enhancement to this watch is its software. Samsung finally teamed up with Google and its WearOS software for this device, and the results benefit both companies.

While its menus and gestures are familiar, this watch delivers more apps, quicker access to them, and bigger and bolder icons.

If you use Google Maps on your phone, directions will automatically appear on your Watch too.

It’s part of a bigger plan to breathe new life into Google’s slick but near-abandoned smartwatch software, and to encourage more developers to create apps for it.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch4 will feature more health-tracking sensors.

Samsung’s refreshed Watch does have a few shortcomings, however.

Despite its Google software, you can’t add the Google Assistant to talk to this watch and Bixby still lags behind its rivals in usefulness.

The Watch4 is also very conservative when it comes to counting your steps around the house, aggressive at pausing workouts when you stop (though you can switch this off), and will be most useful when paired with a Samsung phone (it will not work with an iPhone).

Despite these niggles, the Galaxy Watch4 is seriously compelling.

With its new health credentials, four sizes from 40 to 46mm, a bright and clear screen, optional mobile connection and bezel, and the ability to tap-and-pay with this watch, this is as close to an Apple Watch killer as Samsung has made to date. If only it could talk.

Originally published as Samsung Galaxy Watch4: It tracks more stats, teams with Google but can it beat the Apple Watch?