How to Use Your Smartwatch for Voice Dictation
Top Smartwatches With Voice Assistance
Have you ever been caught out without a pen or paper? Or have you needed to set a reminder, but just forgotten? If you have a smartwatch with voice assistance, you can simply speak to your wrist instead of scrambling for a paper and pen to jot notes down.
Voice assistance is a very helpful feature thats common on many smartwatches these days. Whether you want to set reminders, make notes, or simply Google a question, you can do it without even typing.
If youre curious about voice assistance, keep reading. Weve researched all you need to know about this tool and which devices have voice assistance. Whether you use Siri or Alexa, a smartwatch with voice assistance is a great investment.
Scroll down to see the top smartwatches with voice assistance.
What Is Voice Assistance?
Voice assistance, sometimes called voice control, allows users to speak to their devices. Instead of typing questions or pushing buttons, voice assistance allows for hands-free operations and that doesnt always require the internet to work. This technology uses a mix of language algorithms, vocal recognition, and voice synthesis to make sure your command is understood every time.
Of course, if youre trying to Google a question or phone a friend, Wi-Fi or LTE services are needed. But, if youre trying to set a reminder or access your notes, you can simply speak to your device and the voice control technology will answer your query.
This voice-activated technology has been around for years (Apples Siri, for example), but its slowly becoming commonplace in the smartwatch industry. This is great to see, as smartwatches are already optimized for easy usage and voice assistance makes them even better.
Popular Smartwatches With Voice Assistance
While most voice assistance tools function in the same way, different smartwatch brands use different versions. Here are some of the best smartwatches with voice assistance.
Siri
Potentially one of the most well-known voice assistants, Siri is featured on nearly all Apple products. You can find this helpful tool on iPadOS, iOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS, and audioOS too.
The Apple Watches that include voice assistance include:
This is a popular voice assistant feature that helps users send texts, make calls, and it can even connect to your Apple TV too. If youre a fan of Apple, Siri is the perfect voice assistant companion that branches across technology.
Compare prices and choose your favorite merchant to buy the Apple Watch
Alexa
Alexa (also known as Amazon Alexa), is another popular voice assistant tool. This service was inspired by Polish speech technology named Ivona, which was bought by Amazon back in 2013. Similar to Siri, Alexa helps users control their devices with a hands-free user system.
This voice assistant allows users to set reminders, play music, connect with smart devices, and Alexa even tells jokes, too. If you have other home devices that use Alexa, consider one of these smartwatches to complement your system.
Alexa can be found on the following smartwatches:
Google Assistant
Another key voice assistant to look out for is Google Assistant. This AI-powered assistant helps users get things done without using their hands. Unlike the companys previous assistant (Google Now), Google Assistant allows users to have two-way conversations.
Google Assistant is compatible with wearOS, so if youre keen on the idea of this voice assistant, look out for wearOS on any smartwatch descriptions.
Smartwatches that can run Google Assistant:
Other Examples
While Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant are three of the most popular voice assistant technologies, there are other ways to get voice assistance on your smartwatch.
Bixby
Bixby is another well-known virtual assistant. This voice control tech was developed by Samsung and it replaced the previous S Voice technology that the brand created in 2021. Bixby is compatible with the Samsung Galaxy Watch range and any Android 7.0 operating system.
Cortana
Another voice assistant technology is Cortana by Microsoft. This voice control system uses the Bing search engine, helping users ask questions, create reminders, and it can also perform tasks too. Unlike other popular voice assistant technologies, Cortana isnt optimized for smartwatches.
Does Garmin Offer Voice Assistance?
While Garmin offers voice commands, not all of their smartwatches allow for voice assistance. You can set up Bixby, Google Assistance, or Siri on the Garmin Venu 2 Plus watch to optimize it with your smartphone though. Hopefully, well see voice assistance integrated more seamlessly into the Garmin range soon.
Do I Need An LTE Connection?
A common question we see when it comes to voice assistance is Do I need an LTE connection on my smartwatch? While an LTE connection is essential for making voice-activated calls on the go, it isnt needed when youre connected to a Wi-Fi source. If you know you want to use your watch for searching on the internet or sending messages, an LTE version might be best for you. If you would rather use the voice assistant tech for setting reminders and alarms, you dont need to buy a specific LTE model.
Are You Ready to Talk to Your Watch?
Smartwatches are here to make your life easier, so purchasing a smartwatch with added voice control technology is important. If you already use a voice assistant on your smartphone, its highly advised that you pick a smartwatch that operates on the same system for inter-connection. Whether you use your smartwatch voice control for calls and reminders, or just to answer little questions, this tool is a great way to live a seamless life.
What do you think of hands-free voice assistants? Have you tried this feature before? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Follow us on social media to stay up to date with our latest articles
Last Updated on February 3, 2022
Isobel is a freelance copy and content writer who regularly contributes to Superwatches. Well-versed in all the ins and outs of the smartwatch industry. Isobel specializes in Fashion and design and is a First Class fashion design graduate.
Currently lives in Bournemouth, United Kingdom.
How-To Geek
Touch-screen keyboards can be slow, especially on phones with small screens. To enter text more naturally, you can use your phone or tablet's voice dictation feature. Just speak -- punctuation included -- and your device will convert what you say to text.
This works in other languages than English. In fact, it can even be more useful with non-English languages. For example, you can speak a language that requires accents or a larger alphabet of characters to save time over tapping them in.
Android
To use voice dictation on Android, open any app and bring up a keyboard by tapping in a text field you want to type in. Tap the microphone icon at the bottom-left corner of your keyboard.
Just start speaking to use voice dictation. Android will insert the words as you speak them.
Bear in mind that it won't automatically insert punctuation for you. You'll need to speak the punctuation mark you want to use. For example, if you'd like to type " width="50"I'm good. How are you doing?", you'd need to speak the words "I'm good period how are you doing question mark."
Here are the handful of voice dictation commands that work on Android:
- Punctuation: Period (.), comma (,), question mark (?), exclamation or exclamation point (!)
- Line spacing: Enter or new line, new paragraph
Unfortunately, Android's list of voice dictation commands is very limited compared to the comprehensive set available on iPhone and iPad.
Related: 5 Android Keyboard Replacements to Help You Type Faster
Android's voice dictation is good for conversational messages, such as text messages, searches, emails, tweets, and quick notes. Attempt to use it for documents with complex formatting or symbols and you'll have some problems. There's no voice command to go back and delete a word, so you'd have to tap the Delete button or go back and edit your text afterwards.
We used the Google Keyboard here, but you can install other keyboards on Android to get different voice dictation engines. For example, the Swype keyboard includes integrated Dragon Dictation features.
iPhone and iPad
On an iPhone or iPad, bring up the keyboard in any app and tap the microphone icon to the left of the space bar to start using voice dictation. Because it interprets your voice, Apple refers to this feature as part of Siri.
You'll see a Siri prompt and you can start speaking immediately. Words won't appear as you speak. Instead, you'll need to speak your message and then tap Done. After you do, the words you spoke will appear in the text field.
Just as with Android, Siri won't automatically insert punctuation marks. To enter "Hello, how are you? I'm doing well." you'd have to speak the words "Hello comma how are you question mark I'm doing well period."
Here are the voice dictation commands that work on an iPhone or iPad. We tried to arrange them in a quick list you can easily skim, but you can also find the list in longer formon Apple's website:
- Punctuation: Apostrophe (), open bracket ([) and close bracket (]), open parenthesis (() and close parenthesis ()) open brace ({) and close brace (}), open angle bracket (<) and close angle bracket (>), colon (:), comma (,), dash (-), ellipsis or dot dot dot (...), exclamation mark (!), hyphen (), period or point or dot or full stop (.), question mark (?), quote and end quote ("), begin single quote and end single quote ('), semicolon (;)
- Typography: Ampersand (&), asterisk (*), at sign (@), backslash (), forward slash (/), caret (^), center dot (), large center dot (), degree sign (), hashtag or pound sign (#), percent sign (%), underscore (_), vertical bar (|).
- Currency: Dollar sign ($), cent sign (), pound sterling sign (), euro sign (), yen sign ()
- Emoticons: Cross-eyed laughing face (XD), frowny face (:-(), smiley face (:-)), winky face (;-))
- Intellectual property: Copyright sign (), registered sign (), trademark sign ()
- Math: Equals sign (=), greater than sign (>), less than sign (<), minus sign (-), multiplication sign (x), plus sign (+)
- Line spacing: new line, new paragraph, tab key
iOS also gives you much more control over formatting:
- Say numeral or roman numeral and speak a number. For example, if you say "nine," it will appear as 9 or IX.
- Say no space on, say something, and then say no space off. For example, if you say "hello how are you," your words would appear as "hellohowareyou".
- Say caps on, say something, and say caps off. The words you spoke will appear in Title Case.
- Say all caps on, say something, and then say all caps off. The words you spoke will appear in ALL CAPS.
- Say all caps and say a word -- the next word you speak will appear in ALL CAPS.
Compared to Android, iOS offers much more fine-grained control over voice dictation. However, there's still no "backspace", "delete", or "undo" command that you can speak to undo any mistakes you make while speaking. You'll have to go and edit your message afterwards to perform any corrections.
Remember that speaking clearly is very important. Obviously, voice dictation will work best in a quiet room and very poorly on a noisy street.
Best 10 Smartwatches With Voice To Text And Voice Commands
Brands of the smartwatch are trying to upgrade their watches consistently. As a result, smartwatches are no less than mobile. In fact, you will get voice commands on this device!
There are some best watches in the market which are really good for voice-to-text and commands. You can make a call or receive a call without facing any hassle.
Modern Smartwatches comes with many advanced features such as Digital Assistants and Voice to text.
So, stay tuned to explore some smartwatches which are best for voice.
I have written on Best 5 Smartwatches That Are Able to Text And Call, However some of us loves the ability to send texts and use voice commands with their gadgets.
What Are The Best Smartwatches With Voice To Text And Voice Commands?
There are many great smartwatches that come with the Voice to Text and Voice Commands feature, and I have picked the best ones for you. Lets have a look.
The Apple smartwatch is perfect for using voice behavior. For this, you have to use a voiceover function. After that, each item you select will speak.
Moreover, the watch has special features for tracking your activities such as a heart rate monitor, sleep monitor, blood oxygen, and so on. Because of outdoor adventures, water sports and endurance athletes are called Apple Watch Ultra.
The watch has GPS features and a cellular. It has advanced health and safety features. Also, you can use the apps from your wrist by using the watch.
It is a LET smartwatch which is 45mm. The glass of the watch is sapphire crystal. In fact, it is the best watch for tracking your daily workout. Also, you will get your body-related information from your wrist.
It has improved its battery life. Furthermore, it has an auto workout tracking function. The watch also has voice text features and commands.
Besides, you will have GPS route tracking. In this feature, you will get a voice or vibration guide.
Google Pixel is an android watch that has included Fitbit activity tracking. The watch can track your heart rate, measure the findings of your sleep, burn calories, etc.
You can get ECG by using the watch. Unbelievably, you can pick up the calls and talk from your wrist. When you feel unsafe, you can make emergency calls throughout the watch.
The watch has GPS navigation. For this, it can track the location easily.
The watch has some amazing features such as Bluetooth calls, more than 150 sports modes, etc. Astoundingly, it has an AMOLED display which is 1.75. Moreover, it is a health fitness watch for both android and iphone devices.
You will get advanced fitness support from the watch. The GPS navigation of the watch is very strong.
Through the Bluetooth connection of the phone, you can enjoy offline voice functions. For this, you are able to receive and answer your phone calls.
Apple Watch Series 6 is the latest and greatest smartwatch by Apple that comes with top of the line features and a premium build. The watch is equipped with a state of the art Blood Oxygen sensor, which basically allows you to know the oxygen saturation level in your blood.
Apart from the oxygen sensor, it also comes with the ECG feature, which you can use to create the ECG of your heart. Also, Apple Watch Series 6 comes with Siri, which is arguably one of the finest digital assistants out there. Using Siri, you can easily use the voice commands, and Siri will do it for you.
On top of that, it also supports the Voice to text (Dictate Text) feature, in which the Apple watch will listen to your Voice and type it. If you are looking for the best Apple watch with Voice To Text and Voice commands, then Apple Watch Series 6 is surely a solid option for you.
If you want to explore smartwatches with the Oxygen sensor, you can check my guide, where I have shared the best smartwatches with the Oxygen sensor.
Galaxy Watch 3 is a premium smartwatch by Samsung that comes with tons of great features. For starters, you get a very iconic galaxy watch design that comes with the rotating bezels. Also, the watch is equipped with ECG, Heart-rate monitoring, and Blood oxygen monitoring.
When it comes to a digital assistant, Galaxy Watch 3 comes with the Bixby, which is not as good assistant as the Google Assistant or Siri, but its surely a decent one. Luckily, you can add the Google Assistant by installing the GAssist app from the Galaxy store.
Once you have installed the app, you will be able to use the Google Assistant on your Galaxy Watch 3. Also, the Galaxy Watch 3 has Voice to Text feature, which you can use for typing texts on your watch. Overall, Galaxy Watch has great Voice to text and voice commands, making it a very capable smartwatch.
Fitbit Sense is one of the best smartwatches out there. The watch is equipped with many advanced sensors that help the watch track skin temperature, monitor stress, ECG, Activity tracking, and Blood Oxygen Saturation.
Also, when it comes to digital Assistant, Fitbit sense comes with two of them. In previous Fitbit smartwatches, there was support for Amazon Alexa, but Fitbit sense comes with support for Google Assistant as well.
Google Assistant is the main digital assistant, but you can also enable Amazon Alexa as well. Both Assistants are very capable, but Google Assistant is better in terms of response.
Fitbit Sense also comes with Voice to chat options, which you can use to respond to texts. Just tap the small microphone on display, and Fitbit sense will start listening to Your Voice. Overall, Fitbit Sense is a really good smartwatch, and if you want the best Fitbit smartwatch, you should get this one.
Apple Watch SE is the budget smartwatch by Apple that comes with some pretty amazing features with an affordable price tag.
The smartwatch doesnt come with advanced features such as ECG or Blood Oxygen saturation monitoring, but it comes with other basic features that make it an ideal option for anyone who wants an Apple watch at an affordable price.
Other than that, it comes with activity monitoring, heart-rate monitoring, SOS Alerts, fall detection, and many other useful features. Like the Apple Watch Series 6, SE also comes with Siri and Voice to text, and theres no difference, and its equally awesome as its more expensive sibling.
So, if you are willing to sacrifice advanced features for an affordable price tag, then Apple SE is surely a solid option for you.
Fossil Gen 5 is one of the best Wear OS smartwatches in the market. The watch is equipped with top of the line features and very elegant design. In the watch, you get the activity monitoring, heart-rate monitoring, workout monitoring, Google Pay, and tons of other features.
As Gen 5 uses the Wear OS, it comes with the Google Assistant as a default digital assistant, and it works really well.
The watch also comes with Voice to Text support, and you can easily use it to reply to the text messages or type new ones. Overall, Fossil gen 5 is a very capable smartwatch, and if you want a WearOS smartwatch, then gen 5 is a great option for you.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 is another very promising smartwatch with tons of great features and very modern design. Unlike Galaxy watch 3, Active 2 has a very minimalistic design that matches the popular smartwatches such as the Apple Watch or Fitbit Sense in terms of looks.
Also, when it comes to features, Active 2 is equipped with ECG monitoring, Blood Oxygen Saturation, Activity tracking, and fall detection.
Like Galaxy Watch 3, Active 2 also comes with Bixby as the default digital assistant, but you can always add the Google Assistant to the watch.
Also, it comes with a very accurate Voice to text feature, which works pretty well. Overall, the Galaxy watch Active 2 is a solid smartwatch, and you should consider it if you want a Samsung smartwatch with a minimalistic design.
Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs]
For your further inquiry, you may check out this section of the article. Here, we will answer the most common questions regarding Best Smartwatches With Voice To Text And Voice Commands.
What Smartwatches Can You Reply To Texts On?
Most modern smartwatches come with support for text messages, but you will need to connect your smartwatch with your smartphone via Bluetooth. If you have a cellular smartwatch, you can receive the texts directly on your smartwatch. The following are some of the popular smartwatches that allow you to reply text directly from the watch.
- Apple Watch Series 6
- Samsung Galaxy Watch 3
- Fitbit Sense
- Apple Watch SE
- Fossil gen 5
- Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2
- Fitbit Versa 3
- Apple Watch Series 4
Can You Use The Digital Assistant Without The Internet?
If you want to use the Digital Assistant on your smartwatch, you will have to connect your smartwatch to your smartphone or connect your smartwatch directly with the Wifi. If the watch doesnt have internet access, you cannot use the Digital Assistant.
Do Fossil Smartwatches Have Voice To Text Support?
Fossil Smartwatches are some of the best smartwatches, and they come with support for Voice to Text support. Popular Fossil smartwatches such as Fossil Gen 5 and Fossil Gen 5E comes with Voice to Text Support.
Here is another related question that I have recently answered Can you Text and Get Calls on Fossil Smartwatch?
What Are The Best Voice Commands For Google Assistant?
Google Assistant is a very capable digital assistant, and it can provide answers to almost every question. Whether its a simple alarm or making a call, you can do with it. You can also ask the Google Assistant for funny jokes by saying, Hey Google! Tell me a joke.
Similarly, you can ask the assistant for a call by saying, Hey Google! Please call [name of the person]. You can also ask for directions to your near Wendy or any restaurant by saying, Hey Google! Show me directions to Wendy.
What Are The Best Voice Commands For Siri?
Siri is another very capable Digital Assistant that you get in Apple smartwatches. When it comes to voice command, Siri is as capable as Google Assistant, and its even better in some cases.
You can use Siri for almost everything. You can ask Siri to tell you jokes, make calls, show you weather updates, set reminders, or anything. Just say, Hey Siri! Please set up a reminder for 4 a.m, and Siri will set the reminder.
What Can A Digital Assistant Help Me With?
The basic purpose of a digital assistant is to help you with your daily tasks. Whether its a simple alarm or making calls, you can easily do it with a simple voice command. Digital Assistants are still relatively new, and they have a long way to go, but still, they are very capable, and you can use them for many things.
Google recently demonstrated the Google Assistant making a call to reserve an appointment, which was pretty cool. Digital assistants will do a lot of things in the near future, but for now, they can handle the basic stuff.
Conclusion
Thats all, folks. These are the best Smartwatches with Voice to Text and Voice Commands. All of these smartwatches come with great features, and you cant go wrong with any of them.
If you have any questions, please let me know in the comment section below. Also, visit WearToTrack for more useful guides.
As a professional trainer and a gadget lover, Ive spent a lot of money and time buying wearable activity trackers, smartwatches, and gadgets, and checking them out. My site is focused on helping you with your activity tracking and smart technology journey. I try to provide the most helpful updated content on this subject. Hopefully, you will love my blogs and be a regular around here.