Video Review: Apple Watch Ultra After a Year

I wonder if they'll make a version without cellular and then lower the price. I still can't justify the extra monthly cost of having cellular.
 
gaximus said:
The one thing I absolutely hate about the Apple watch ultra, is the action button. (And how you unlock from ”water mode” since iOS 8 I think)

When I’m in a workout with the screen locked in water mode, if I do pushups or lift weight my wrist presses the and the other button at the same time, causing my workout to pause, I’m usually wearing boxing wraps, so I can’t see that I’ve paused my workout and I end up losing half of my workout, because the the lock/water mode, doesn’t lock all the buttons.

I also unlock the water mode all the time by holding the crown down ever since they switched from holding to unlock instead of twisting, I wish Apple would make that an option. I thought the Ultra’s extra meta around the crown would prevent that. I actually had to start wearing the with The crown on the other side, because I called 911 too many time while riding my motorcycle.
Click to expand...
I long ago started wearing my Watch with the crown on the arm side instead of the wrist side, just to avoid pressing the crown during lifting and other workouts.

I am curious, though, about what kind of workouts you are doing. I see mention of boxing, lifting, and water mode. Are you doing boxing with weights underwater by any chance? What a workout!? 😆
 
now i see it said:
Buy a Rolex and keep it for a lifetime.
Buy an Apple Watch and another a few years later and another and another and another.
It’s the  way.
Click to expand...
The average new Rolex watch will cost about $10-12k. For that you can buy 12-15 AWUs or 45 years of use assuming a new every 3 years, or more if you sell them every time you upgrade. And the Rolex doesn’t know who you are, where you are, what you want to listen to, where you’re going, or how fast and for how long and what your heart rate was, and it doesn’t allow you to make phone calls, pay for coffee, change watch face or open your front door. And it won’t change or update over time while my twelve AWUs constantly will improve. How will your Rolex meet your needs in year 2068?
 
Simply too big for my small hands. It's simply a no-go at that size. Not to mention aside from battery life, it's just pure overkill for 95% of the people who buy it.
 
Balooba said:
The average new Rolex watch will cost about $10-12k. For that you can buy 12-15 AWUs or 45 years of use assuming a new every 3 years, or more if you sell them every time you upgrade. And the Rolex doesn’t know who you are, where you are, what you want to listen to, where you’re going, or how fast and for how long and what your heart rate was, and it doesn’t allow you to make phone calls, pay for coffee, change watch face or open your front door. And it won’t change or update over time while my twelve AWUs constantly will improve. How will your Rolex meet your needs in year 2068?
Click to expand...

You will pass the Rolex on to your kids and it will still work 20 years from now, the smartwatch not so much.

Smartwatches (any) are disposable consumer electronics no matter how we dress them up and are obsolete in a couple of years. If what you want is a watch to just tell the time and look great the Rolex wins. You want your watch to make your breakfast and replace it every 3 years go the smartwatch route.
 
So Ultra is supposed to be the ultimate watch for outdoor enthusiasts and active users? Except it is utterly unreliable in doing one basic function, which is measuring the heart rate while performing activities like running. Search this site for many complaints on this very issue. I couldn’t get it to record reliably on my daily runs and had to resort to a Garmin chestband. Whereas my old Apple Watch 7 did this perfectly. In its common wisdom, Apple is denying any design issues.

My other qualm is that business of charging for the dive functionality.

Otherwise, it’s a nice but slightly heavy watch. I still default to my Garmin Mk2s for any serious outdoor activity.
 
Love how after there was some outcry going “ok it’s just too bulky”, you can now buy snap-on conversion kits to make your regular AW look like an AWU.
 
AppleMad98004 said:
The best thing about the Apple Watch Ultra if you are ok with the bulk is the battery life. I get well over 24+ hours. That alone makes it worth it. The brightness of the screen is another plus.
Click to expand...
My 41mm 7 lasts over 36 hours even with the always on display.
 
Satch111 said:
the irony is that it’s screen is almost identical to the 45mm Watch 😂. Apple sold you all a Bigger screen without a bigger screen.
Click to expand...
I guess we have very different definitions of "identical", the ultra has almost 27% larger display area than the 45mm series 8
 
Last edited:
I’ve got my Ultra arriving tomorrow-cant see the 2 having too many differences to where it would make a significant difference for me personally So jumped on while the price over here in the UK is good.
 
Tagbert said:
I long ago started wearing my Watch with the crown on the arm side instead of the wrist side, just to avoid pressing the crown during lifting and other workouts.

I am curious, though, about what kind of workouts you are doing. I see mention of boxing, lifting, and water mode. Are you doing boxing with weights underwater by any chance? What a workout!? 😆
Click to expand...
Kickboxing, HIIT workouts, have to set it to the underwater mode because its the only way to lock the buttons so I don't accidentally push the buttons, the warmup require lots of pushups and weight lifting before the gloves come on. And I'm wearing wraps during that part so I can't see my watch to see if I've accidentally paused or ended my workout.
 
I alternate between an Apple Watch Ultra and a Series 6 SS Gold. The AW Ultra is great, but often can look clumsy with tailored clothing.
 
My favorite Apple product to come out in years. It's exceeded my expectations since day one. Not upgrading it this year, but will definitely replace with another Ultra in 2024.

As a side note, and a total ego-related perk, I have never been asked more about a watch or Apple device more than the Ultra. Routinely asked by hospital co-workers and patients. I think it's just different enough looking that many people will inquire about it.
 
I still remember the arguments about “does this look big on my wrist”… I have tiny wrists and it doesn’t bother me.
The action button and better battery life are worth it for me, 2 quick taps and my swim workout is set - one more tap on the action button and I can start when ready. I swim 5 times a week so this is very handy! The precision start is also nice for when I go on walks, seeing the GPS lock reminds me of my Fenix.
The watch body is holding up far better than any SS one I’ve had (I started with the 0), battery life is still OK (probably getting about 36-40 hours). I’m expecting to replace it next year.
 
I hum and haw at this. I use my series 3 primarily for time, activity, message reading, glucose readings (via iCloud calendar), notifications. I really want the multi-day battery. I keep the watch on overnight.

But for the price, a Garmin Fenix 7 is the better watch san screen brightness.
The customizable third party watch faces look to be decent. A Garmin strap for monitoring heart rate will be more accurate.
18 days average for battery life.

Presuming there may be another Garmin with a better screen, with custom watch face. What I'm after is graphing blood glucose with use of Nightscout, which by the looks of it works on any Garmin watch.
 
Balooba said:
The average new Rolex watch will cost about $10-12k. For that you can buy 12-15 AWUs or 45 years of use assuming a new every 3 years, or more if you sell them every time you upgrade. And the Rolex doesn’t know who you are, where you are, what you want to listen to, where you’re going, or how fast and for how long and what your heart rate was, and it doesn’t allow you to make phone calls, pay for coffee, change watch face or open your front door. And it won’t change or update over time while my twelve AWUs constantly will improve. How will your Rolex meet your needs in year 2068?
Click to expand...
Mine is 28 years old and I was offered $11,000 for it. I paid $3,000. However, I love my Ultra and use it everyday.
 
now i see it said:
Buy a Rolex and keep it for a lifetime.
Buy an Apple Watch and another a few years later and another and another and another.
It’s the  way.
Click to expand...

The Apple Watch Ultra is the only Apple Watch that's gotten me to stop wearing my Daytona. I've tried a few normal Apple Watches before but never lasted longer than a month.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Back
Top