Most people buy a Samsung Galaxy Watch for the basics – fitness tracking, notifications, and the convenience of having a small slice of their phone on their wrist at all times.

But Samsung’s wearables have steadily gained more advanced, genuinely helpful features that often sit buried in menus or require an extra toggle during setup, meaning many owners never try them.

If you’re using a Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 or newer, several tools can help to support you in tracking your health, daily habits, and overall ease of use.

In this guide, we’re highlighting three features that deserve far more attention, with each one working across the most recent Galaxy Watch line-up, provided you’re running recent Wear OS updates. Each feature can be switched on in a couple of minutes, to boot.

1. Body Composition Analysis

Samsung’s Body Composition Analysis is one of the most powerful features on the Galaxy Watch, yet many people try it once during setup and rarely return for more.

Using a built-in sensor – introduced with the Galaxy Watch 4 and now standard across newer models – the watch estimates key metrics such as body fat percentage, skeletal muscle mass, body water, and BMI.

It’s designed for personal insight rather than medical use, but when used consistently, it can help you understand how your training, diet, and sleep habits are affecting your body over time.

To start using it, the process is straightforward. Open Samsung Health on your watch, scroll to Body composition, and follow the on-screen positioning guide.

You’ll need to keep the watch snug on your wrist, lightly touch two fingers to the side buttons, and remain still while the reading completes – it usually takes around fifteen seconds.

Where this feature really shines is in trend-tracking: Single readings are less important than how your metrics shift across weeks or months, and Samsung Health presents this long-term view clearly.

It’s worth noting that there are a few caveats.

Anyone with implanted medical devices should avoid BIA measurements (Samsung includes clear warnings in the app), and results should also be understood as estimates rather than absolutes, with an emphasis on patterns, not precision.

2. Gestures for calls and apps

Gesture controls might be one of the most overlooked conveniences on the Galaxy Watch, largely because they’re not all enabled by default.

Once switched on, though, they make the watch far easier to use when your hands are full, when you’re mid-workout, or when you simply want quicker access to actions.

The standout gesture is the double-pinch: A quick pinch of your thumb and index finger twice lets you answer a call, dismiss an alarm, pause media, or trigger supported apps.

It’s subtle, fast, and works even when the screen is wet or your other hand is occupied. The companion gesture – shake to dismiss – lets you decline calls or silence alerts with a brief flick of the wrist.

Samsung has also added the more flexible “knock-knock” gesture, which uses a light knocking motion of the wrist to launch a pre-selected shortcut.

You can assign it to almost anything: the Torch, Stopwatch, recent apps, a favourite workout, or even a specific tool inside Samsung Health.

All of these options live under Settings > Advanced features (or Gestures, depending on your model), and each one can be toggled independently.

If you find gestures too sensitive, or they trigger by mistake, you can retrain or disable them individually, but most users find that a few minutes of practice makes them dependable.

Combined with “Hey Google” or Samsung’s own assistant, gesture shortcuts can turn the watch into a genuinely hands-free tool, and might even make your Apple Watch-owning friends jealous.

3. Sleep Apnoea detection

Samsung’s Sleep Apnoea detection tool is one of the most meaningful health additions to the Galaxy Watch line-up, yet it’s easy to miss unless you explore Samsung Health Monitor in detail.

After receiving FDA authorisation in the US and regulatory clearance across much of Europe, the feature is now available on Galaxy Watch 4 and newer models when paired with a compatible Galaxy phone.

The watch assesses potential signs of moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnoea by analyzing overnight blood oxygen patterns and estimating an Apnoea–Hypopnoea Index.

To activate it, open Samsung Health Monitor on your paired phone, head to the Sleep apnoea section, and follow the setup instructions.

It’s worth saying that Samsung requires at least two nights of sleep within a ten-day window, with the watch worn securely for a minimum of four hours per night.

A Galaxy Watch cannot confirm the condition on its own, but it can flag concerning patterns and encourage a conversation with a doctor, who can then arrange proper testing if needed.

As with all health features, there are limitations. The tool is intended for adults aged 22 and over, and it should not be used by anyone with a confirmed diagnosis, nor should it replace clinical evaluation.

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Max Slater-Robins has been writing about technology for nearly a decade at various outlets, covering the rise of the technology giants, trends in enterprise and SaaS companies, and much more besides. Originally from Suffolk, he currently lives in London and likes a good night out and walks in the countryside.