AW Ultra Months later experience sharing.

[alongdingdong]

I got my AW Ultra for a while now.
Mostly running it of LTE standalone, because that is what i like.

Now i have the watch for a few months and use it 23 hours a day.
I will say this, the AW Ultra feels just like any other regular Apple Watch with a few extra perks.

The increased battery definitely helps running of LTE and listening sometimes some watch tube for podcasts on the go via the build-in speaker. (i don't believe any podcast app has this ability to cast via the speaker directly)

Regarding the sporty stuff, i miss quite a few metrics that a Garmin would have and benefit me. I use Strava but i still miss more use of personal gathered information to coach me into recovery, pushing limits etc as a native build in software solution from Apple.

First party and third-party apps for the Apple Watch are in my opinion as lacklustre as with any apple watch. The stock Calendar app for example is super barebones.

I find it fiddly to use it as my daily life organiser, barebones build-in calendar, note taking apps from Apple. Just not intuitive or quick to do.

Siri let me down quite often, she is a sleep or need hearing aids, don't know for sure.
But all i say is for a 8th/9th generation Apple Watch, Siri is not that great for me at least.

In hindsight a Garmin watch would be better suited for me at this point, and probably will be my next watch after the next two years of using this Ultra, just hoping for some basic LTE support then by that time from Garmin.

The action button get pressed occasionally by accident and result in my Torch to be lit up.
Some third-party apps work terrible standalone (Spotify) not the watch problem but a 3th party software thing/ my personal issue...

The combination of weight and tightness of my loops of the watch hurts on my left wrist tendons, so i don't wear it anymore on this arm. In fact it still lingers in pain two weeks later... I know i am weak lol.

People will argue that you should not use a AW standalone, which is true it is not designed for that by Apple, although not sure why it has LTE and SOS functionality on the watch itself in that case.

But i think a Ultra should be the perfect case for standalone usage.

I will continue to wear the watch and maximise it`s usage cases, i don't hate my AW Ultra, i am happy with it but just not 800 dollar happy I am far from hating it, it just still does not scratch my itch which i hoped it would do with the increased battery life etc.

I think at this point it`s not the hardware that bothers me but the lack of native application support form apple and to a extend third-party support. The latter is something nice to have, but Apple is just slacking in my opinion.

What are your perspectives on the Ultra after having it used for a few months.

 

[bloomfeld]

What are your perspectives on the Ultra after having it used for a few months.

Came from AW4 and was in the market for a shiny new toy. Initial worries that it could be too big turned out to be no issue at all. Love the battery life, now wearing it during the night too for sleep tracking. With the trail band it even feels lighter than the AW4, perhaps due to weight distribution. Love the Ultra so far.

 

[msackey]

I love using the Ultra. I was also a Garmin user about 4 years ago for over a decade, using watches from their Forerunner line. I don't really care or make much use of Garmin's metrics back then except for the basics like heart rate, resting rate, recovering rate in x minutes, etc. Many of the other metrics, to me, are gobbledygook; better to learn to read and understand your body rather than rely on someone else's interpretation which is quantified to be a number (thus making it look like it's objective) for things like whether I'm recovering, empty of battery or what not.

I like the Ultra for it's battery life, bright display, and other things. I did use it for a while for sleep tracking, but since I also have a Withings sleep mat which also tracks my sleep, I rely more on the latter even though the Ultra provides better record and more information.

People expecting the Ultra (or any Apple Watch) to natively support a full range of features for activity are going to be disappointed. I'd say that for many sports, you could achieve most if not all that you need from third-party apps. For instance, for a long time I've been using Intervals app to do intervals and occasionally use Workoutdoors. WatchOS prior to version 9 didn't easily support interval training from their native app. I haven't yet tested the native app to create workouts since I still find it easier to setup workout on the iPhone using Intervals and pushing them to the Watch. Even though you'll need to use third party apps to get a full range of features, all that data is centrally stored (or can be) in the Health app.

That's to say, I'd encourage people to not expect the Apple Watch (or Ultra) to natively support fully everything they want. The beauty of the App store is you CAN find applications that do things you'd like. It's just like how I don't expect my Apple Mac to natively support everything I want it to do; I have to go look for 3rd party apps if I want more.

 

[jz0309]

I’ve been using AW for 7+ years since the S0, switched to SS and then Ti with the S7.
Ultra is by far the best AW ever, price-wise compared to my S7 Ti it’s a bargain, worth every penny, for me, YMMV.

 

[Vader2]

I have had my Ultra since launch and I am all about it. I am primarily a distance runner and have run several marathons. I enjoy the bigger screen and increased brightness outdoors.

The only thing I don't totally love about my experience is many of my old bands don't fit right anymore. As a longtime Apple Watch user, going all the way back to series 0, many of my bands were designed for 42mm. My wrists are on the smaller size so using a S/M band designed for 42mm now being used with a 49mm make for a lot of excess tucked inside. Its to be expected with a bigger case, so not a knock on the design. I still wear them, but not when being active.

 

[msackey]

I have had my Ultra since launch and I am all about it. I am primarily a distance runner and have run several marathons. I enjoy the bigger screen and increased brightness outdoors.

The only thing I don't totally love about my experience is many of my old bands don't fit right anymore. As a longtime Apple Watch user, going all the way back to series 0, many of my bands were designed for 42mm. My wrists are on the smaller size so using a S/M band designed for 42mm now being used with a 49mm make for a lot of excess tucked inside. Its to be expected with a bigger case, so not a knock on the design. I still wear them, but not when being active.

Yeah, I upgraded from an AW4 to the Ultra and my sports loop for the AW4 did not fit me when I used it on the Ultra. Like you, I have small wrists and when I tried that sports loop in the Ultra, that was quite a tail hanging Ah well. I like the sports loop for its comfort and utility, but will readily admit it is one fugly band ;-)

 

[msackey]

I’ve been using AW for 7+ years since the S0, switched to SS and then Ti with the S7.
Ultra is by far the best AW ever, price-wise compared to my S7 Ti it’s a bargain, worth every penny, for me, YMMV.

I'm not sure I can say the Ultra is a bargain since it's a lot of $$ to pay for some of those features. But, I justified it to myself because I've worked so hard these past many years and I really don't spend a lot of money so an expensive item now and then is a-okay

 

[jz0309]

I'm not sure I can say the Ultra is a bargain since it's a lot of $$ to pay for some of those features. But, I justified it to myself because I've worked so hard these past many years and I really don't spend a lot of money so an expensive item now and then is a-okay

No, by itself not a bargain, but my S7 Ti was 849 and for what you get with the Ultra at 799 it is far better value for the money… still, compared to my S7 Ti I’ll call it a bargain…

 

[perezr10]

I’ve had the Ultra since day 1 and initially thought it was horrifyingly ugly. But it’s grown on me since and I don’t mind the look any more. I almost even like it now that it has a mirror like finish and the orange button is gone.

However, I’ve soured on the rest of the watch. I really can’t stand wearing it and use a stainless steel Series 8 most of the time now due to the following.

1. The crown guard is in the way. Turning a crown on the other watches is much nicer.
2. The crown is so large it often is hard to turn if I press down to hard and it catches on my skin.
3. The lip makes swiping faces unpleasant to me.
4. The action button is getting accidentally pressed all the time.
5. The watch is too “tall”. It feels awkward in bed under my pillow at night.

I think if you wear the Ultra full time, you can get used to these items. But if you switch back and forth with the earlier design, it makes these flaws glaringly worse.

 

[Dguitarnut]

I guess after disfiguring your Ultra the resale value will plummet…..so might as well keep it now.
I love mine in its original configuration. And I love switching between my SBTi 6 and my natural Ti S7.
I specially love the action button configured to flashlight!