Zac Hall, 9to5Mac:

‘Raise To Speak’ Siri is a new Apple Watch feature included in the watchOS 5 update that allows you to activate the voice assistant without saying ‘Hey Siri’ or pressing any buttons.

And:

Once the feature is present, using Raise to Speak with Siri is super simple — at least when it works. Simply raise your wrist toward your face as if to check the time, then speak when the display turns on and Siri will activate and listen to what you say.

The devil is in the details here. Key is to keep Siri from firing off, unintentionally, if all I do is raise my wrist to check the time and there’s background noise. Is a timer involved? Or will Siri be poised to respond as long as my wrist is raised?

Obviously, this feature would not have risen to the beta if it didn’t already work well in testing. So I am both optimistic and excited.

You can simply raise your wrist and say “Tell Benjamin I’m running a few minutes late” then Siri will send the message for you — super fast and natural.

This is a perfect example. Enables a more natural interaction and reduces friction. Details.