The Apple Watch Ultra Is The Ultimate Smartwatch For Those Willing To Splurge

The Apple Watch Ultra Is The Ultimate Smartwatch For Those Willing To Splurge

I'll get straight to the point: the Apple Watch Ultra is the best Apple Watch you can buy right now. In fact, it's the ultimate smartwatch for those who want to take care of themselves, despite being larger, bulkier and more expensive ($ 799) than all other Apple watches except the luxurious Hermès edition.

Even for $ 399, the Apple Watch Series 7 and Series 8 not only get a significant increase in battery life, they also come with more accurate GPS and external features like waypoints and an improved compass app. It even promises to replace your dive computer this fall.

While the lack of post-workout recovery data challenges Garmin in the market for serious exercise enthusiasts, it should grab the attention of competitors. If you are out of step with the trends and decide it's time to get in shape or you finally want to do something like kayaking or snorkeling, Ultra is for you.

That's why I think this Apple Watch is for people on a higher budget, even if they're not ready for Everest skydiving yet.

Whether you're a serious athlete or adventurer, or willing to pay for Apple Watch's advanced features, the Apple Watch Ultra is worth the price. For everyone else, the Apple Watch Series 8 is a solid choice.

Very wide. But despite its size - 49mm and 61.3g, it's bigger than the rest of the Apple Watch - it doesn't look like a big, chunky watch. (The Apple Watch Series 8 measures 45mm and weighs 51.5g.) A silver-colored titanium case reduces weight, while elegant curves and a flat surface produce a height of 14.4mm.

The Apple Watch Ultra may be aimed at avid adventurers and athletes, but the real secret and what I love is that this "Ultra" watch doesn't look extreme. It is very large but does not put a lot of pressure on the wrist. Its bright, always-on screen is easy to look at and then ignore. This is a professional and quiet Apple Watch.

It's gorgeous, with a shiny silver finish so you don't look like an idiot with an expensive sports watch on your wrist. And Apple is making sure you can use the Apple Watch's existing 44mm and 45mm straps, rather than offering high visibility straps designed for watches. Combine a simple strap with the Apple Watch Ultra's ability to change the face from an information-packed USS Enterprise-like look to a simple and elegant California watch look, and you've got a quality watch that looks like an athlete, brother. .

Highlighting by Christopher Albritton / CNN

If we talk about the face, it is bright. On a bright day, I had no trouble reading the 2,000 nit display and my aged eyes appreciate the large print. Blacks are deep and colorful, and even if I can't read a novel on the watch, the big and bold notes are fun to watch.

In addition to the usual digital crown and side buttons (raised and reinforced for better grip), there is a universal orange function button on the opposite side that can be configured to start and stop a workout or timer. Waypoints on a hike, retrace your steps when you are lost, dive (more on that below), turn on the watch's torch or start a pre-programmed shortcut. I find this very useful for starting and stopping my amazing excursions. You can use it to spot gaps or curves while running.

And, as expected, it is difficult. It is waterproof to 330 feet (deeper than any recreational diver), IP6X dustproof, and tested to MIL-STD 810H specifications. The dial is flat sapphire crystal, with no dents or scratches visible after a month of hiking in Cappadocia, Istanbul and Eastern Europe.

The Apple Watch Ultra has the usual Apple Watch features introduced with the Apple Watch Series 8, including a new body temperature sensor. All good and good. Best of all, it has extremely accurate GPS: L1 and L5 dual-frequency GPS (other Apple watches only use the L1 band). Dual band GPS means it can maintain a strong signal even between valleys, skyscrapers or tall trees, essential for marathon runners and hikers to transmit their precise coordinates. In my tests, it managed to navigate the winding streets of Turkey's largest city perfectly, while the previous Apple Watch struggled to pick up a signal.

It features a unique Wayfinder face for Apple Watch Ultra. This is a very complex face which includes compass navigation, current weather, sunrise and sunset times, activity ring, altitude, longitude and latitude and direction. A lot, but I got used to it quickly. And being able to find waypoints quickly and directly from the home screen was something I really appreciated in Cappadocia. You can even slide the digital crown up to make the whole face turn red for better night vision.

On my journey of several kilometers in October, I dropped a few waypoints - cool bars in Budapest, cool streams here in Turkey, stuff like that - and you can program action buttons to execute them on the fly. Then the new compass app on the watch shows you the direction and distance of all your routes so you can find them again. While I mostly use this feature for testing, it can also be used to mark campgrounds, hiking trails, or any other landmarks you want to remember when out in the wild.

The backtrack function is based on the waypoint function, which uses GPS to create a visual path of your route and allows you to retrace your steps if you get lost. If Apple detects that this remote settings feature has little or no Wi-Fi or cellular coverage and you are outside a busy area, it will automatically run in the background. Closed wifi zone. f

In addition, there is a unique emergency siren for the Ultra. If you hold down the function button, you can sound an 86dB siren that draws attention to your surroundings if you need help. I tested it in my apartment, and while I haven't heard much about it, I found it relatively quiet for a reaction in nature.

I haven't been able to test the depth gauge, but this new app lets you automatically turn on your Apple Watch Ultra when you put it more than 3 feet tall. The display shows the current time, depth, maximum depth, time underwater and water temperature.

What interests me most is the future functionality of the dive computer. Later this year, Huish Outdoors says it will release the Oceanic + app, which will allow the Apple Watch Ultra to act as a real dive computer. This watch is certified to operate at depths of 130 feet and is certified to EN13319, the internationally recognized standard for recreational diving accessories. We'll need to see how the software handles this new feature.

Finally, to complement the unique hardware features, Ultra has three built-in microphones that use an adaptive beam algorithm to improve sound quality and reduce background noise. During my tests, the people I called usually didn't realize I was talking to them on a Dick Tracy portable radio. One said he thought I was using headphones. The sound quality is very good.

Battery life is great for me. I have never lowered the battery life below 20%, even while navigating up and down the streets for hours to monitor and repeat my sleep. By the end of the month, I'll get past the 36 hours Apple says the battery will last. There is also a new power saving mode that Apple claims will offer up to 60 hours of battery life, but suffice it to say that the battery is much better than that of the Apple Watch 8 and earlier.

It's very different from Fitbit or Garmin's offerings, however, which measure battery life in days or weeks rather than hours. While the Apple Watch Ultra will serve you well for full-day hikes, you need a way to charge it for multi-day hikes in remote areas.

This is an emotional review because Apple has given this watch a lot of thought and it shows. But nothing is perfect and the Apple Watch Ultra still has room for improvement.

The biggest. While this doesn't bother me personally, it can be a problem for those with smaller wrists. Smaller wrists have less room for the watch's sensors, so they may get less accurate readings. Since it is the smallest wrist designed for Apple's Ultra Band, the lower limit looks like a 130mm wrist.

Secondly, no matter how good this watch is, it will not replace a standalone fitness watch like the Garmin Fenix ​​7 or Epix 2. They also offer recreational activities for those who use these fitness watches to measure more activity so more detailed. . Ultra metrics cannot match. In fact, the Ultra's built-in training app doesn't measure recovery. The people of Cupertino never seem to take a break from their training, but real athletes do.

dimensions and weight

49mm x 44mm x 14.4mm, 61.3g

47mm x 47mm x 14.5mm, 56g

47mm x 47mm x 14.5mm, 53g

substance

titanium
Flat sapphire disc
The caseback is in ceramic and sapphire crystal

Corning Gorilla Glass
stainless steel
Fiber-reinforced polymer with metal support

Corning Gorilla Glass
Passive stainless steel
Fiber-reinforced polymer with metal support

relation

LTE and UMTS8
Wi-Fi: 802.11b / g / n 2.4GHz and 5GHz
Bluetooth 5.3
IPhone only

Bluetooth
ANT +
Wireless Internet access
iPhone / Android

Bluetooth
ANT +
Wireless Internet access
iPhone / Android

certificate

IP6X dust resistant
Water resistant up to 330 feet
Tested according to MIL-STD 810H.

Waterproof up to 10 environments
Tested according to MIL-STD-810.

Waterproof up to 10 environments
Tested according to MIL-STD-810.

Direction indicator

GPS L1 and L5, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou

GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Satik. technology

GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Satik. technology

To specify

410 x 502 pixels - 1185 square display area. mm
Always on OLED
Brightness 2000 nits

260 x 260 pixels - 33.02 mm in diameter
Solar Visible Transmissive Memory Pixels (MIP)

416 x 416 pixels - 33 mm in diameter
AMOLED (always on)

Force

Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
Up to 36 hours
Up to 60 hours in power saving mode

Up to 18 days in smartwatch mode
Up to 57 days in sleep mode

Up to 15 days in smartwatch mode
Up to 21 days in sleep mode

Price $ 799 700 dollars $ 900

If you can afford the high price, this is the best Apple Watch you can buy. It looks good, lasts a long time and the extra battery life and "extreme" features are great value for money.

Whether you're an average athlete or looking to excel, Apple Watch Ultra gives you everything you need with handy smartwatch features like your cellphone. It will take forever and it may inspire you to finally get your diving license or go hiking.

However, if you're a top-tier athlete, the built-in training app doesn't offer all the detailed information that more specialized fitness watches offer. Third-party fitness apps can largely fill that gap, but deep down the Apple Watch Ultra is still an Apple Watch. It's more of a rugged and sporty smartwatch than a fitness watch with some "smart" features. And on the other hand, if you want a good smartwatch to get notifications and monitor important fitness metrics, the Apple Watch Series 8 is the best choice for most people.

Since the Ultra is the first Apple Watch design from the S 4 series, Apple sticks to the current model for this product line. A lot of effort has been devoted to this device and for a first try it is a winner. What happens next can be even more interesting.

Apple Watch Ultra is the real deal! One review for one month.

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