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The one big problem with the Apple Watch Ultra

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Johnnyseeth

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Aug 18, 2022
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Battery life.

I mentioned it before. A couple of days isn’t enough. I rough it in the bush regularly up North in Canada and a couple of days isn’t enough. If I were going on an expedition I would be looking for weeks of battery life not a few days.

Now I see some reviews coming out and saying this exact same thing.

I likely am going to end up with a non-Apple Watch like a Garmin Fenix or something else, which is fine.

Curious to hear from anyone else what their thoughts are.

Good review that gets into this topic at around the 8 min mark:

 
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Johnnyseeth said:
Battery life.

I mentioned it before. A couple of days isn’t enough. I rough it in the bush regularly up North in Canada and a couple of days isn’t enough. If I were going on an expedition I would be looking for weeks of battery life not a few days.

Now I see some reviews coming out and saying this exact same thing.

I likely am going to end up with a non-Apple Watch like a Garmin Fenix or something else, which is fine.

Curious to hear from anyone else what their thoughts are.

Good review that gets into this topic at around the 8 min mark:

Click to expand...
Why not take a battery pack with you?
 
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Johnnyseeth said:
Battery life.

I mentioned it before. A couple of days isn’t enough. I rough it in the bush regularly up North in Canada and a couple of days isn’t enough. If I were going on an expedition I would be looking for weeks of battery life not a few days.

Now I see some reviews coming out and saying this exact same thing.

I likely am going to end up with a non-Apple Watch like a Garmin Fenix or something else, which is fine.

Curious to hear from anyone else what their thoughts are.
Click to expand...
I agree to an extent.

I think its a good opening move by Apple to start to get in to that market of people who would traditionally buy something like a Fenix, but if you're one of those people who need some of those features which are missing (battery life & customisable gps intervals to maximise battery life), its probably not going to work.

For me, the Ultra could now be a watch I can use to record long days of hill running or typical distance ultra marathons while still getting some extra functionality - notifications for example.

But on a multi-day event or a long ultra race, I'd still have to have some way of charging it at night or possibly on the go. That said, given the battery life is so much longer than the current watch, that now becomes something that I might have to do just the once on a 100 mile race or overnight on a multi-day thing which is a big improvement over the normal watch. In the case of a multi-day thing, I'd always have a battery pack/solar charger and top up my watch anyway.

But that's just my use case - for multi-day hikes and events, I can see why some will stick with their current watch.
 
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I doubt if you are on an expedition to the South pole you are going to be wearing an AW Ultra.
I also doubt that the majority of wearers will do anything like extreme sports or pu t it to the lengths for which it is designed.

It is just clever marketing by Apple, that said, I would imagine 99% of buyers will be happy because of
a) a different form factor
b) longer battery life.

Good thing is, it is another player in this field, competition drives innovation and maybe the other manfacturers will knuckle down harder because the big boy has entered the chat, we the consumer will benefit.
 
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Johnnyseeth said:
Battery life.

I mentioned it before. A couple of days isn’t enough. I rough it in the bush regularly up North in Canada and a couple of days isn’t enough. If I were going on an expedition I would be looking for weeks of battery life not a few days.

Now I see some reviews coming out and saying this exact same thing.

I likely am going to end up with a non-Apple Watch like a Garmin Fenix or something else, which is fine.

Curious to hear from anyone else what their thoughts are.

Good review that gets into this topic at around the 8 min mark:

Click to expand...
You’re not wrong - my Garmin Fenix 6s lasts a couple of weeks with having used activity tracking, before needing to be recharged
 
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The better question is...
How did you do it in the past, and why off a sudden you need a smartwatch for your weeks on end in the bush?

IF and this a big IF you actually are serious, you would already long time ago purchased a handheld GPS device that has full GPS functionality for increased reach/range capabilities for navigation and SOS.

I smell a big steamy ********* from OP.
 
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alongdingdong said:
The better question is...
How did you do it in the past, and why off a sudden you need a smartwatch for your weeks on end in the bush?

IF and this a big IF you actually are serious, you would already long time ago purchased a handheld GPS device that has full GPS functionality for increased reach/range capabilities for navigation and SOS.

I smell a big steamy ********* from OP.
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Comments like this are ridiculous

Maybe OP really wanted an Apple Watch because he likes the apple ecosystem and loves the watch, has been waiting for one to come out with a longer battery to suit his needs.

Maybe he’s disappointed and has to go a different route because the battery life is the only thing holding him back.

I received my first Apple Watch today after being a Garmin girl for years and years, and the only reason I have held off buying one all these years is the battery life or lack thereof… (I’ve wanted an Apple Watch for a while, and gone back and forth about it for years).

I’ll still use my Garmin for all of my training metrics, and my Apple Watch with cellular periodically during the day
 
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Monkswhiskers said:
I doubt if you are on an expedition to the South pole you are going to be wearing an AW Ultra.
I also doubt that the majority of wearers will do anything like extreme sports or pu t it to the lengths for which it is designed.

It is just clever marketing by Apple, that said, I would imagine 99% of buyers will be happy because of
a) a different form factor
b) longer battery life.

Good thing is, it is another player in this field, competition drives innovation and maybe the other manfacturers will knuckle down harder because the big boy has entered the chat, we the consumer will benefit.
Click to expand...
this is the smartest comment in this whole thread👏👏
 
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Johnnyseeth said:
Battery life.

I mentioned it before. A couple of days isn’t enough. I rough it in the bush regularly up North in Canada and a couple of days isn’t enough. If I were going on an expedition I would be looking for weeks of battery life not a few days.

Now I see some reviews coming out and saying this exact same thing.

I likely am going to end up with a non-Apple Watch like a Garmin Fenix or something else, which is fine.

Curious to hear from anyone else what their thoughts are.

Good review that gets into this topic at around the 8 min mark:

Click to expand...
If you're doing something that requires weeks of battery life, surely you are going to be carrying some way of charging things.
 
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Johnnyseeth said:
Battery life.

I mentioned it before. A couple of days isn’t enough. I rough it in the bush regularly up North in Canada and a couple of days isn’t enough. If I were going on an expedition I would be looking for weeks of battery life not a few days.

Now I see some reviews coming out and saying this exact same thing.

I likely am going to end up with a non-Apple Watch like a Garmin Fenix or something else, which is fine.

Curious to hear from anyone else what their thoughts are.

Good review that gets into this topic at around the 8 min mark:
Click to expand...
You're talking about an edge case. Your phone isn't going to last "weeks" when on an expedition. If you're prepared to bring a portable battery, a generator or another way to charge your phone on your expedition then you can bring something to charge your watch too.

Don't get me wrong, I would love a watch (and phone) that lasts weeks but the technology to do that in an Apple Watch or iPhone isn't here today. The Garmin watches that last a long time are not Apple Watches. They don't call 911 if you've fallen, had a heart attack or have been in a car accident. They won't allow you to send / receive texts, emails or do half of what you can do with an Apple Watch. No product is going to be everything for every body. You're either going to have to sacrifice battery life or functionality.
 
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Johnnyseeth said:
Battery life.

I mentioned it before. A couple of days isn’t enough. I rough it in the bush regularly up North in Canada and a couple of days isn’t enough. If I were going on an expedition I would be looking for weeks of battery life not a few days.

Now I see some reviews coming out and saying this exact same thing.

I likely am going to end up with a non-Apple Watch like a Garmin Fenix or something else, which is fine.

Curious to hear from anyone else what their thoughts are.

Good review that gets into this topic at around the 8 min mark:

Click to expand...

LOL! Most people do not do long expeditions, we doubt you do too. We can tell you do not like the Ultra, why keep dogging it out. Just move on and be happy.

I will be happy when mine arrives on next Friday.
 
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throAU said:
A 10,000 mA/h battery pack is about $50, fits in a pocket, and will charge it (542 mA/h capacity) about 15-20 times while you sleep.

First world problems have first world solutions.
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Those are hit or miss in my experience in low freezing temperatures.
 
iBug2 said:
As long as the watch battery lasts for a really long event like an ultramarathon, it's good enough.

Please for the love of god someone write down the occasions where you need a smart watch but cannot carry a powerbank which weighs 100grams.
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Powerbanks are hit or miss in low freezing temperatures. And it’s not very practical when in extreme conditions to keep having to charge a watch which will likely suffer a major hit to battery life in those same conditions. And if/when an external battery pack fails, you’re left with a watch that may have 20 hours of battery life in extreme conditions.
 
alongdingdong said:
The better question is...
How did you do it in the past, and why off a sudden you need a smartwatch for your weeks on end in the bush?

IF and this a big IF you actually are serious, you would already long time ago purchased a handheld GPS device that has full GPS functionality for increased reach/range capabilities for navigation and SOS.

I smell a big steamy ********* from OP.
Click to expand...
As I have stated before, I have just recently started roughing it so I am looking for a watch solution. Would you like me to send you pictures of where I am?
 
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