Watch Ultra 2 vs Watch Ultra 1

[UnifiedMelody]

Trying to decide between Watch Ultra 2 and Watch Ultra 1.
My provider has 300$ off Watch Ultra 1 [which I'm going to do a 12 month instalment interest-free plan] - 999aud rrp.
new watch ultra 2 is now 100aud more at 1399aud rrp...

As someone who never used watches before and procrastinated on getting one i am fully pulling trigger now.

What I do:
I walk a load, want a slightly more accurate tracking of my footsteps as i set a 20k/day goal minimum to stay healthy.
Need great battery life which is why I didn't consider SE/Series 9. Seen reviews where Watch Ultra has better longetivity in battery health % and actual use [some rate 2-2.5 days on normal mmode] which is insane.

Do not intend to use Mobile phone//watch cellular often as I always have phone in pocket and don't feel the need to "call people without my phone around me" without my phone. I'm very attached to my phone most of the time so looking for a watch ultra purely because of build quality, longevity.

need assistance... initially i wanted SE/Series 9 cos it was cheap but after hearing issues of battery health % plunging quicker and i use my tech alot i want something longer lasting.

 

[Night Spring]

I think the problems with battery health on the regular watches may be overblown. People complain when the battery life is bad, but when it is good, they don't come here just to post "my battery life is fine." I've had the S0, S2, S4, S6 and now the S8, and I never had a problem with their battery life. From the S0 to the S4, I put them on when I woke up, wore it all day and put them on the charger to charge overnight. The S6 and S8, I charge them for an hour before bed, and then wear it to bed to track sleep, and just keep wearing it all day until it's an hour before bedtime again. This is with AOD off, and about an hour and half to two hours of workouts every day.

 

[Stuey3D]

With that amount of money off grab the Ultra 1, the 2 isn’t worth that kinda money extra over the 1. If the 1 didn’t have such an extreme discount I’d have said get the 2 for “future proofing” but really the 1 is a fantastic watch. Also I’ve had 3 days out of my Ultra 1 regularly just by disabling the always on screen.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Definitely get Ultra 1.

 

[addamas]

If you have time I would suggest waiting for TheQuantifiedScientist to review Ultra 2 first.
This guy have the best watches tests on YT

https://www.youtube.com/@TheQuantifiedScientist/videos

If time is short - go for old one, for sure they changed something silently as they did between 7 and 8 where in my case battery was lasting longer on S8, but without tests it's too risky

Also if this counts - you don't need esim installed to have emergency call working if only Apple Watch is cellular version

 

[MarkNewton2023]

ultra 1 should be okay if you do not need new features such as extra memory on your watch for music and others, two finger tapping for operating certain features, etc.

 

[NickYanakiev]

32GB has been storage aplenty for me with the OG Ultra, even with downloading offline maps, storing music and audiobooks. Personally, I cancelled my Ultra 2 order.

 

[Tdude96]

I think the problems with battery health on the regular watches may be overblown. People complain when the battery life is bad, but when it is good, they don't come here just to post "my battery life is fine." I've had the S0, S2, S4, S6 and now the S8, and I never had a problem with their battery life. From the S0 to the S4, I put them on when I woke up, wore it all day and put them on the charger to charge overnight. The S6 and S8, I charge them for an hour before bed, and then wear it to bed to track sleep, and just keep wearing it all day until it's an hour before bedtime again. This is with AOD off, and about an hour and half to two hours of workouts every day.

Agreed. In the two watches I've had (Series 4 GPS & Series 7 GPS), I've generally gotten up to two full days of use when needed, although as someone who has a little "battery anxiety" I only do that when absolutely necessary (say going camping or backpacking for a weekend). I normally pop it on the charger in the morning while I get ready and about an hour before bed when I'm least active, and doing that rarely see it drop below 50% on any given day. I did fine with this on my Series 7 for step counts in the neighborhood of 16,000/day all last summer. YMMV, but a GPS Series watch actually has pretty great battery life, despite Apple's claims to the contrary.

I'm planning on getting an Ultra primarily for the fact that I'm wanting to introduce more running into my routine, and I can't abide carrying a phone when I run. But I also need to stay connected for work, so having a cellular-enabled watch will be vital for that, and I suspect the cellular connectivity will eat up battery like crazy. Otherwise I'd absolutely stick to the Series watches. I also think the Ultra will be great for things like longer term backpacking trips compared to the Series watch. I also very much want a titanium watch. Just a personal preference. And Apple has somewhat limited my options there.

 

[jclardy]

Ultra 1, buy some Apple stock with the extra $300, cash it out in 2 years and buy an Ultra 3/4.

 

[UnifiedMelody]

I think the problems with battery health on the regular watches may be overblown. People complain when the battery life is bad, but when it is good, they don't come here just to post "my battery life is fine." I've had the S0, S2, S4, S6 and now the S8, and I never had a problem with their battery life. From the S0 to the S4, I put them on when I woke up, wore it all day and put them on the charger to charge overnight. The S6 and S8, I charge them for an hour before bed, and then wear it to bed to track sleep, and just keep wearing it all day until it's an hour before bedtime again. This is with AOD off, and about an hour and half to two hours of workouts every day.

i would turn off always on display myself... while yes people need to "see it" all the time i also tend to use my phone for that purposes [which would require a raise to wake, or tap to turn on] so it's not a huge dealbreaker for me...

one of the things i wanted to try out was sleep tracking... if i forgot to include that in my post i apologize. as i was curious to see how my sleep patterns were as i sometimes wake up gasping for air [when my room light was left on all night]. - personal comment, but thought i'd let you guys know because it helps give a better context of understanding where i come from.

 

[UnifiedMelody]

Agreed. In the two watches I've had (Series 4 GPS & Series 7 GPS), I've generally gotten up to two full days of use when needed, although as someone who has a little "battery anxiety" I only do that when absolutely necessary (say going camping or backpacking for a weekend). I normally pop it on the charger in the morning while I get ready and about an hour before bed when I'm least active, and doing that rarely see it drop below 50% on any given day. I did fine with this on my Series 7 for step counts in the neighborhood of 16,000/day all last summer. YMMV, but a GPS Series watch actually has pretty great battery life, despite Apple's claims to the contrary.

I'm planning on getting an Ultra primarily for the fact that I'm wanting to introduce more running into my routine, and I can't abide carrying a phone when I run. But I also need to stay connected for work, so having a cellular-enabled watch will be vital for that, and I suspect the cellular connectivity will eat up battery like crazy. Otherwise I'd absolutely stick to the Series watches. I also think the Ultra will be great for things like longer term backpacking trips compared to the Series watch. I also very much want a titanium watch. Just a personal preference. And Apple has somewhat limited my options there.

i have sprung for the ultra 1 version... at 300aud off rrp its a no brainer... and usually hard to find apple watch on discount here. its the carriers that are offering the discounted stock
luckily for me i wont use the cellular/mobile linking option because the phone is always in my pocket... but its not like i need my phone in my pocket when running, i can get by without it... just like the data recorded [steps, bpm etc] probably more things but im just thinking surface basic level at the moment w/o overwhelming myself

so i may be able to eck out even more battery life by not enabling the cellular feature of the phone/watch link.