After a long period of small updates from year to year, Apple is finally ready with a big news in the smartwatch category. Apple Watch Ultra is the name of the new smartwatch that comes with exactly the same functions and control system as the Apple Watch Series 8, but can be considered a bigger, more robust and stronger version of the famous Apple smartwatch.
In fact, the watch is marketed for extreme sportsmen and the Apple Watch Ultra can therefore also boast a sapphire crystal flat screen, titanium case, water resistance up to 100 meters and a construction that can withstand temperatures including. between -20 and 55 degrees Celsius.
The Apple Watch Ultra also received a larger battery, which promises 36 hours of battery life, double what we’re used to from all Apple Watch predecessors.
In other words, the new smartwatch should be particularly suitable for those who take walks in the wilderness, dive with dolphins and sharks or launch themselves from the peaks of the mountains on a hang glider.
And then what I have to say is that I don’t fall into any of the above categories. I don’t care about sleeping in a tent (too cold and too many mosquitoes!), I prefer to swim in the heated hotel pool, and my weight doesn’t allow me to climb mountains or hang gliders.
However, the Apple Watch Ultra is the smartwatch I’ve always wanted. And in my opinion the best smartwatch on the market at the time of writing. There are several reasons for this.
A men’s watch!
First, the size is a welcome improvement over previous Apple Watch models. With a 49mm screen, the watch finally fills the entire arm and it doesn’t matter if the Apple Watch Ultra weighs 61.3 grams, a whopping ten grams more than the larger 45mm version of the Apple Watch Series 8. It gives me an experience of robustness and quality that I had never previously experienced with an Apple Watch.
And it’s also liberating not to have to worry about accidentally ruining the watch. Otherwise, the beautiful Apple Watch watches may look very “used” with a lot of damage and scratches in the glass, but the durable design of the Apple Watch Ultra protects, among other things, the screen and digital crown much better than before.
The larger screen and sturdier design also mean the watch is easier to use. Whether you only have big fingers or try to operate the watch with gloves, it’s easier with the Apple Watch Ultra, which has even been equipped with a so-called additional action button, which can be programmed to instantly start a function. specific, for example a particular workout, mark a waypoint with the compass or even use the watch’s bright screen (up to 2000 nits) as a flashlight.
Brightness and powers
In general, the large and extremely bright screen of the Apple Watch Ultra is another factor that can only excite. There’s room for more here – regardless of whether you want more or larger text on the screen – and the screen is readable in both sunlight and pitch dark. Of course, without being dazzled. At least if you use the Apple Watch Ultra’s unique “Wizard” face, with a special night mode that turns all elements on the face red so you don’t embarrass night vision.
It is not possible to perform a benchmark test of the battery life of the watch, but I can say this that during the test I used the watch for a whole day, even in connection with martial arts training, and then the I wore it all night to test the user’s sleep tracking feature and the next morning there was still over 40% battery left on the watch.
Since it only takes an hour to charge the watch from 0% to 80% – which you can do in the morning while showering and having breakfast, for example – with the Apple Watch Ultra it is for the first time possible to completely relax. switched off without having to constantly keep an eye on where the nearest outlet is.
New features
The Apple Watch Ultra has a couple of important new features in common with the other new Apple Watch models. The most important of these we haven’t been able to fully test it in practice, but assuming it works as promised, Apple has really dealt a serious blow to safety when driving a car.
We are talking about the so-called Car Crash Detection – registration of accidents in Norwegian – which can be registered if you are exposed to a serious traffic accident. This is possible thanks to the watch’s accelerometer, gyroscope and barometer, as well as built-in microphones that help determine if there is an accident that requires assistance.
If so, the watch itself calls the alarm control unit and all emergency contacts with a message about your location.
The same function is also found in all the new iPhone 14 models, but if you are wearing both an iPhone 14 and an Apple Watch Ultra, in the event of an accident it is the smartwatch that takes care of alerting those around you. Simply because the watch’s sensors are more accurate.
Health above all
Of course, the Apple Watch Ultra is also packed with various health features. Including automatic recognition and recording of physical activity, recording of falls, ECG, blood oxygen level, sleep recording and a new temperature sensor, which partly helps women to measure and follow the menstrual cycle (which I could not test) and partly to generally measure your body temperature at night if you wear your watch on your arm while you sleep.
It’s hard to find a smartwatch on the market that has so many health and fitness features combined with such an extensive ecosystem of other services (like Apple Pay and Siri) like Apple Watch Ultra.
Extreme sports
And then, of course, there are all the features that are exclusive to the Apple Watch Ultra – and which should definitely be mentioned here, even if you don’t have to be an extreme sports athlete or the wilderness type to get much out of the smartwatch anymore. Apple wild.
In addition to the ability to record very particular forms of sports such as interval training, multisport (another word for triathlon) and open water swimming, the Apple Watch Ultra offers, among other things, an improved GPS (by virtue of two separate GPS signals, i.e. L1 and L5), which together with the new compass app makes it easier to find your way around. The dual GPS signal is more accurate and, thanks to the new option to mark route points along the route, it becomes difficult to get lost. Regardless of whether you are exploring in a large unknown city or in the wasteland north of the Arctic Circle.
And thanks to the watch’s depth gauge and water resistance up to 100 meters, the Apple Watch Ultra is also the smartwatch that many sport divers have been waiting for.
The “Depth” app is activated fully automatically when the Apple Watch Ultra is lowered into the water, and later this fall will arrive the Oceanic + app, developed in collaboration with Huish Outdoors, which gives the smartwatch the same functions as a real dive computer.
Although the Apple Watch Ultra is actually water resistant to 100 meters, Apple recommends sticking to a maximum depth of 40 meters. In return, Oceanic + will then be able to track factors such as tides, water temperature, visibility and current conditions during the dive. When the app appears once.
Conclusion
Whether you’ve never owned an Apple Watch before or already have an older model, there are good reasons to invest in the Apple Watch Ultra. At least as long as you already use products from the Apple ecosystem. If you are exclusively an Android user, you don’t need to read any further.
Apple Watch Ultra is Apple’s best smartwatch ever. In addition to special features for extreme sportsmen and adventurers – such as the improved GPS and compass app, depth measurement, water resistance up to 100 meters and a sturdy construction that can withstand temperatures between -20 and 55 degrees Celsius – the smartwatch also offers new safety and health features such as Car Crash Detection, temperature sensor, improved sleep monitoring, etc. It’s in addition to all the smart health and fitness options that have already been launched with previous generations of the Apple Watch.
And you don’t have to love the wilderness or complete triathlon four times a year to benefit from the Apple Watch Ultra. Thanks to the sturdy construction, large 49mm screen with intense brightness up to 2000 nits, as well as the best battery ever in an Apple Watch, this smartwatch is impossible to miss if you are a man and have wanted a smartwatch that can do everything, work for most things and last but not least can have energy both day and night without having to be recharged on time or out of time.
