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Short Summary
Main recommendation: The Apple Watch Ultra is worth buying mainly for extreme users such as serious hikers, divers, ultra-endurance athletes, and adventurers, while most people are better served by the standard Apple Watch or Apple Watch SE. The reviewer, who uses it for Ultimate Frisbee and tech review, finds it strong overall but overkill for typical needs. Its biggest real-world gain is battery life, lasting about two days and two nights.
Key Points
- The Ultra is aimed at the outer group of users who need more than the standard Apple Watch, which the reviewer says already covers most people's needs.
- Ruggedness upgrades include a 49mm titanium case with a ceramic back, larger buttons that are easier to press with gloves, a bigger crown with guard, and a flat sapphire display with a raised lip for corner protection.
- Feature upgrades include dual-frequency GPS, a louder speaker and extra microphone, water resistance to 100 meters, and a maximum display brightness of 2000 nits.
- Battery life is the most noticeable improvement: the reviewer went from 100% to about 20% over roughly two days and two nights (into a third day) of practices and sleep tracking, about double the Series 7.
- The new orange action button is customizable and works well for workouts, though the reviewer sometimes pressed it accidentally.
- The watch is large and silver-only, which looks big on a slim wrist, but the reviewer notes it is lighter than it looks and is still less bulky than some dedicated sports watches.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions: To use the action button for quick workout starts, the reviewer maps it to open the new Workout Selector, picks the workout type, then presses the action button again to start. Inside an activity, the button can be set to mark laps or segments on a track workout, or to mark a switch from bike to run in a triathlon.
- Concrete instructions: For navigation, the Compass app allows unlimited waypoints and a backtrack feature to retrace your path when visibility is poor. The 86-decibel siren plays from the speaker if you are lost.
- Concrete instructions: A future battery optimization setting in Workouts will reduce how often GPS and heart rate are pinged. Apple says it can extend battery life to up to 60 hours, but the reviewer could not test this yet.
- Dive features include a basic dive app for depth and safety stop times, plus a third-party Oceanic+ app coming later this year that supports air integration. It lacks tank pressure monitoring and depth monitoring past 40 meters.
- Three new $99 bands are offered for specific activities: the Trail Band, the Alpine Loop, and the Ocean Band.
- The reviewer compares the Ultra to the ROG Phone: overkill for most people, but its extra features also improve everyday use. Wearing it daily is possible, though it is harder to dress down than a standard Apple Watch.
Bottom Line
The Apple Watch Ultra is the best Apple Watch yet for people who truly need its ruggedness, navigation, and battery life, but for most buyers the standard model is a more sensible choice.
