The Apple Watch 7 is the best smartwatch money can buy. But whether you are a longtime Apple Watch user or the Series 7 is your first smartwatch, there are some great features you should try if you haven't already.

There are no major differences between the Apple Watch 7 and the Apple 6, other than a larger display, but the Apple Watch 7 includes a slightly tweaked version of watchOS 8. There are dedicated watch faces, animated apps, and, most notably, a full QWERTY keyboard.

Now, the Apple Watch 7 is not the first smartwatch with a keyboard for text input. Before the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 offered a full alphabet, some of the best Samsung watches had F9 keyboards. Older Wear OS watches also have keyboards.

Unless you avoid messages from your wrist, you may not have noticed that the best Apple Watch models do not all have keyboards. I have long relied on the Apple Watch for sending messages and have accepted the occasional frustration that comes with texting. (Because, as any Apple Watch user knows, relying on Scribble to send messages is not an option)

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But having a true keyboard is better than any text input option ever offered on the Apple Watch; since swapping from the Apple Watch 6 to the Apple Watch 7, I have been texting away from my wrist. My mother, who struggles to type a typo-free text on her iPhone, can type a coherent message with the Apple Watch 7 keyboard. She can even type coherent messages with the Apple Watch 7 keyboard. This is true for both sizes of the new Apple Watch 7, 41mm and 45mm.

I was hoping watchOS 8 would have a native keyboard so older Apple Watch models could benefit from Scribble-free typing without the need for one of the best third-party Apple Watch apps . On the other hand, it makes the Apple Watch 7 more exciting to unbox. No more lost in translation with Scribble-assigned talk-to-text and shortcut phrases.

In my review of the Apple Watch 7, I called it the easiest-to-use smartwatch ever. The keyboard is a big reason why the veil between smartphone and smartwatch has thinned and the possibility of a smartwatch-only mobile experience is more conceivable.

If you want a taste of the inevitable iPhone-Apple Watch fusion, get used to the wearable keyboard. I'm sure someday a physical keyboard will fold out of the watch, but for now, the digital QWERTY keypad will have to suffice.

See our Apple Watch 7 tips and our guide to using the Apple Watch to get the most out of your smartwatch, and if you're still on the fence about whether to buy the Apple Watch 7, now is a great time to get one.