Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Ultra 1 vs Ultra 2 battery life?

M

MG999

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 9, 2016
304
262
Hey everyone,

I know there may not be many who have upgraded from the Ultra 1 to the 2 but I was hoping to ask those who have if they have noticed any battery life difference between the two generations?

I know there is a minor (4%) battery bump and the new s9 SIP. I would have thought this would have resulted in a slightly better battery life.

Any thoughts from those who have upgraded would be appreciated.

Thank you
 
too early really but on my first full charge

16% left after being off charger for 46 hours.

typically my Apple Watch ultra 1 lasted me about 4 hours before it died.
 
So far, and granted it’s one full cycle from 100%, I was able to get the AW Ultra to last well over 50 hours. Took it off charger Friday night at 10pm before bed and did not place it back on the charger until Monday afternoon where it was at 36%. I’m personally wondering if the decrease to 1% brightness both in the Ultra Modular and Wayfinder watche faces as well as at night in sleep mode has anything to do with it. Playing around with settings to see if there is any increase or decrease.
 
The Game 161 said:
too early really but on my first full charge

16% left after being off charger for 46 hours.

typically my Apple Watch ultra 1 lasted me about 4 hours before it died.
Click to expand...
40 hours? Not sure if that was a typo for the Ultra 1.

Thanks
 
rdavis41 said:
So far, and granted it’s one full cycle from 100%, I was able to get the AW Ultra to last well over 50 hours. Took it off charger Friday night at 10pm before bed and did not place it back on the charger until Monday afternoon where it was at 36%. I’m personally wondering if the decrease to 1% brightness both in the Ultra Modular and Wayfinder watche faces as well as at night in sleep mode has anything to do with it. Playing around with settings to see if there is any increase or decrease.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I forgot about the decrease to 1% brightness as well.

The series 9 has the same battery as series 8 - in terms of size and so has the same battery life. I was hopeful that the larger battery in the U2 would be mean more battery life. But I guess the max brightness has increased also.

Def appreciate any updates as I am toying w the idea of upgrading..
 
as I just posted in the other thread:
put the U2 on charger last night at 41% after 38hrs of continuous use, U1 would typically be 25-30%
 
  • Like
Reactions: MG999

Not sure the entire accuracy of this but gives some information that perhaps U2 is better than U1 in terms of battery life keeping in mind normal wear of battery of U1 after 1 year.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot 2023-09-27 at 6.54.43 AM.png
    Screenshot 2023-09-27 at 6.54.43 AM.png
    917.5 KB · Views: 554
  • Like
Reactions: xDKP
MG999 said:

Not sure the entire accuracy of this but gives some information that perhaps U2 is better than U1 in terms of battery life keeping in mind normal wear of battery of U1 after 1 year.
Click to expand...
I've been wearing my Hermes S9 more than my Ultra 2 but coming from an S8, I definitely had noticed the S9 has significantly better battery life, at least 25% more, than my S8, and given the same processor and stable battery capacities, I'd bet 20-25% improvement on the Ultra 2 as well. Likely boils down to the S9 SiP
 
  • Like
Reactions: MG999
New U2 here. Last on charger (100%) was Wednesday morning @8:13a; currently has 3% left and going on 73+ hours of battery power. Nothing too crazy regarding use, daily driver at office and running around. Not on low power feature. Pretty impressive!
 
The chip inside the Ultra 2 is derived from the A15 (which M2 is also based on), so the chip is way more energy efficient than the super old one in the Ultra 1.

I don’t have the Ultra 1 to compare, but it should have a better battery life.
 
Prior to OS 10 I would put my Ultra 1 on the charger every other day (so roughly 48 hours) with around 25% left. I managed 72 hours out of it a few times with a couple of percent left. I don’t do anything to save battery.

OS10 eats battery though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jjohnstonjr
Ended making the change. Battery life is definitely better on the Ultra 2 keeping in mind normal wear on the U1.

I had 100% battery health on the U1 and at 58 hours of use was around 8-10%.

on the U2 at 62 hours of use, I am at 26%.

AOD on, 1hr daily workouts, brightness lowest settings, haptics on default.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jz0309
MG999 said:
Ended making the change. Battery life is definitely better on the Ultra 2 keeping in mind normal wear on the U1.

I had 100% battery health on the U1 and at 58 hours of use was around 8-10%.

on the U2 at 62 hours of use, I am at 26%.

AOD on, 1hr daily workouts, brightness lowest settings, haptics on default.
Click to expand...
Sounds about right. I also have the Battery grapher app installed and it’s routinely estimating with AOD and notifications on, etc about 74 hours of battery on UW2. UW1 was averaging me between 39-46 hours. So a massive improvement.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MG999
Prior to os10, my ultra 1 was using around 1-1.5 % per hour. Now it’s 2-4%. Battery health is at 100%
 
I just got 50 hours on Ultra 2. I played with it, used gps, did speakerphone calls on it, workouts, music player, siri texts. I didn't restrict myself. I think I can push it to 3 days if I dont play with it so much.
 
Ultra 1 used to be great in terms of battery life before Watch OS10, now I barely get 48 hours with AOD off, Cellular off and with just 1 hour of pool swim activity. I used to get 3 days before the update and with more activity and GPS on. Unbelievable how Apple has ruined the whole experience.
 
Coming from the Ultra, I find my Ultra 2 to get maybe slightly better battery performance.
 
rdavis41 said:
Sounds about right. I also have the Battery grapher app installed and it’s routinely estimating with AOD and notifications on, etc about 74 hours of battery on UW2. UW1 was averaging me between 39-46 hours. So a massive improvement.
Click to expand...
I’m pretty sure Battery Grapher can no longer work very well because you can’t pin it as favorite in the dock anymore (dock is gone). You can use it as a complication but that doesn’t work for me. It isn’t important enough to take up a complication. The developer needs to update it to work pinned in the Smart Stack.
 
Is everyone still happy with the battery life on the ultra 2? I’m still rocking the ultra 1 and was holding out for the ultra 3 but that obviously didn’t happen. I really want the faster Siri along with battery and general UI speed improvements so I’m thinking about getting an ultra 2. Is it worth it? Or should I wait another year for the ultra 3?
 
Jaisah said:
Is everyone still happy with the battery life on the ultra 2? I’m still rocking the ultra 1 and was holding out for the ultra 3 but that obviously didn’t happen. I really want the faster Siri along with battery and general UI speed improvements so I’m thinking about getting an ultra 2. Is it worth it? Or should I wait another year for the ultra 3?
Click to expand...
I like mine but it depends if you actually use the features. If there is some delay in your current watch when dictating commands or texts and you do that often than yea it's a nice update. If you dont use these features than you can live with your current one another year
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back