@@Dcrainmaker 14:05 whats the software you used to get the line chart for HR? I am a crossfitter and I would like to see the entire time line of my HR during WODS. Thank YOU!
The Ultra 2 is probably not worth the upgrade from an Ultra 1, but it's definitely a sweeter deal for people who were interested in the Ultra 1 and were holding out.
I feel all the new features on the new ultra 2 would work with a software update on the ultra 1 like the clock screen update 🤣 that was in the latest update
This has to be the most complete Ultra review out there who actually does the sports as well as understanding the tech, which most couch tech’s reviewers fall short.
Got a Series 4, battery is not great now and have been thinking of upgrading and just taken the plunge with a Ultra 2. Apart from walking the dog, not a major outdoors (or fitness in general type), but the battery, sapphire screen (lots of micro scratches on my current one) and larger screen has won it for me. Should feel like a very nice upgrade :) Update, had the Ultra 2 for a couple of weeks now and it’s a huge upgrade. Love it :)
Not true! I have watch tan lines on both wrists. I wear either my Apple Watch Series 10 or my Apple Watch Ultra on my left wrist, and then my Agelocer flying tourbillon skeletonized watch on my right wrist. I love the incredible functionality of the Apple Watch, but also love the look and motion of a more traditional watch. I didn’t want to have to decide, so I wear both! I collect watches (among other things), so I have a nice little collection. That way I can switch off whenever I have the urge.
We got the same watch with minor changes that no one asked for. The lack of significant improvement in battery life is a huge gift from Apple to Garmin, which has gained an extra year to introduce esim cards and further improvements to epix and fenix
Damn, still no cellular on the fenix 8. Not many huge changes either. I’m thinking the ultra 3 and watch x won’t have big changes based on the garmin having not too many but I hope im wrong
Read my post. Garmin cannot save your life - Ultra just did for me. Battery life is not as important as real life. (This is not a HR range that even a Fitbit can do, this is AF - a real life issue that will kill you). I considered Garmin, wont ever change now (guess why the Ultra has shorter battery life? It is monitoring 24/7 to protect you. Go with Garmin at your peril. I don't have a heart issue, I had a virus)
Love how thorough & informative you are with what you presented. You got a new sub! I desperately want the AW Ultra 2, but I’m super disappointed they don’t offer it in black/space grey. If they did I would have pre-ordered. Fingers crossed they add some colour options ASAP.
1) I have a feeling the ultra 2 batter will last longer than ultra 1 just due to watchos 10 and we have yet to realize it. 2) On device siri is enough for me. I often want to speak into my phone like to start a workout and current siri is too high latency.
All Apple prices for their premium products are atrocious. A series 9 is half the price. There"s another for 250.00. Essentially ail premium products are for those who can spend that kind of money without blinking. If you don't want to buy those, you can buy one of the others. If those are too much, you can buy a Timex for 10.00 at Walmart. There's something for everyone.
Hi DC, thank you as always for a very well made informative video. I have been a long term garmin user and currently use the 965 for tracking all my activities such as - strength training, yoga, running, cycling. Along with my recovery metrics such as sleep, body battery, HRV, training readiness. These recovery metrics i beleive are very important. From my understanding the Apple watch doesnt have these metrics, even though its heart rate tracking is superior to that of Garmin. Would you say having the Garmin with slightly less accurate heart rate tracking but better metrics is a good trade off ? is it possible to get recovery metrics on the apple watches? thank you.
I've been using the cycling workout app on my Ultra 1 since last year. I love the HRM and GPS accuracy, but the auto-pause feature was never great (~5 sec delay). Auto-pause is worse now with Watch OS 10. I'm getting delays of 10 seconds on average. Then it restarts with any slight movement. Not good. Apple needs to add a user selected speed (like 5 kph) to initiate auto-pause.
The apple watch is a very beautiful watch both aesthetically and its functionality. However, l still prefer the Garmin Epix or Fenix because in my eyes the apple watch looks more like a gadget rather than a sport instrument.
Outside of the fitness functions, the feature most important to me is the vibrating alarm. I’ve gotten used to auditory alarms and will sleep through them. I realized that vibrating alarms have existed for the deaf community. I could never go back now.
Be interesting to find out if wearing gloves interferes with double-tap. Very useful for my work and cold environments. The latest IOS has solved some problems I have had on my series 7. I am thinking of going Ultra and then using my 7 for sleeping until the battery is done.
It should work as it’s detecting the slight movements through the accelerometer as the fingers tap. You can test the feature in the accessibility settings on your series 7
I don’t understand how at launch topo maps are not across the entire US. Even national parks such as Smoky Mountain National park do not have topo lines. How did Apple drop the ball this bad on a Watch OS 10 advertised feature? The action button isn’t even programmable to bring up a map. Since we don’t have a map within the hiking activity app itself, an action button short cut would have at least made it a little easier. None of this implemented. Very half baked.
Siri is hopeless..and you don't really need a watch to "watch" you doing exercise...Any exercise will do your body good, the most important thing is you do it.
Love your real world reviews! I know I can count on you to test this thing... Question, is it too big (heavy) and bulky compared to the Series 9 or a Garmin forerunner 255?
Great detailed review. Why ppl don't wait for the Ultra 3 when features are yet to be available for Ultra 2 is beyond me. The Ultra should be a 2 hr cycle. Let the regular watch be yearly
It should be more than a two-year cycle. There’s not much more that can be added. The ultra 1 is light years ahead of the regular Apple Watch. This new ultra is basically the same with a little bit faster chip, nothing with “sustenance”
My problem with apple watch for monitoring resting HR and HRV is that... data it provides is indeed consistent, but almost useless, because of the method it uses.
Thought about getting a Garmin to train for running but I went with the Ultra 2 and have no regrets! Honestly who needs a 20 day battery? I take my watch off when I sleep and charge my watch at night. I’m not doing a 5 day hike in the woods. I download music to it from Spotify, throw on my AirPods and off I run without the bulkiness of my iPhone..I absolutely love it!
They should just add some LEDs on the case for a better actual flashlight instead of relying on the screen brightness, its geared tword “outdoors” but everyone could use a flashlight on their wrist
The fact that Apple will buy back your ultra 1 for $360 now on a trade in really makes the simple upgrades in battery and memory and NITS of 3000 worth it . Plus you get a new. battery and a better chip. This is a simple decision to upgrade.
From someone that just switched to IPhone 15 PM and works out 4-6 times a week excluding swimming or hikes , is it worth getting the Ultra 2 , it also looks so cool , was deciding between series 9 45mm aluminum or Ultra 2 . Any feedback is appreciated .
After I swam, with my ultra 2 watch it stopped working I lost 1200 Singapore dollars after I go Apple and they told me to pay $700 for a repair bad experience with stupid watch The company says it is waterproof and in fact it lost due to water
I use a power wheelchair, wish there was an option to shut off the steps while in my power wheelchair but able to turn on when using my walker. It says I did over 1,000 steps yesterday pretty good for a high functioning quadriplegic 😂
I live in Alaska. We have winter for 9 months. The spec’s state the watch is only operational on wrist if temperatures are -4 to 130. For 800$ the watch probably doesn’t work for 4-5 months for me.
I charge the battery every four days. I have the brightness of the screen set to about 2000 nits and the AOD always on. All health functions are on and I cycle indoors twice a day. I also use the watch with Apple car play and to read messages and emails, and occasionally if I don't have the phone at hand I make calls with it. I bought the straps from Ali Express and the screen protectors too. This year I bought the Samsung 6 and the 6 Classic, the Huawei GT4 and the Huawei 4 Pro, the Garmin Venu 3, but the Apple watch Ultra 2 is really the best watch I have tested this year..
Great video. I would really love to see an athlete like yourself do a video on how they would use this watch as a fitness watch for different sports like running, hiking, biking, swimming, alpine touring, etc. Like, which apps are almost a requirement and how do you use them? How would you aggregate all the activities, etc. Any plans to create something like that?
I remain curious as to what Apple will do with the Apple Watch’s low power GPS mode. If they truly do have a large chunk of the US trails mapped out, I can see them having one of the best “ultratrack” equivalent GPS modes on the market because it will leverage Apple Maps data for distance accuracy. I hope you can test this feature when we finally have a complete US map!
I think there's a difference between having topo maps, versus having trails, versus having precise trails. Topo maps are more about the terrain. And while Apple Maps has tons of data for trails, I'm not sure if it's quite accurate enough to correct GPS based on it.
My son is a contractor and loves his. Wears it all day and used to use the protective screen with it. After the 3rd one broke, he didn't replace it. I'm a larger guy and I'm curious if they're as tough as they seem. I do tech appliance repair work sometimes and my hand gets into tight places with a lot of metal edges. I worry about breaking the face. Would love to hear from active people how their watches are holding up?
We still have not seen the full on commitment to make the watch independent from the phone. With all connections and downloads on the watch without the need for the phone. There are plenty of people who want to leave the phone behind them and fully move to wrist displays and controls but we're not there yet. Phones will be used as the computer where we use them for more advanced editing and watching and editing videos etc
I think I’ve figured out what Apple is trying to do with the AWU - create the ultimate sports watch, but also the ultimate watch for everyone. I want to buy it so badly, but I don’t know if I can give up my Fenix 7X just yet..
I’m fully aware of how ridiculous this is, but I refuse to get an ultra until they do away with the orange action button. The day they do that will be the day I get it. I despise orange lol
I’m ex military and do a lot of hiking in areas were cellular is limited. Between the tactix 7, and ultra 2 which have u found to have better sat ability’s? Also do you like the maps in the apple or Garmin better? Have u found any other watches that you could recommend that can hang with these two? Like fenix 7 or epix pro gen 2?
I as well want to know this info. Apple Maps is definitely more user friendly but my tactix delta has gotten me out of some ish. Definitely want to know how good gps is on this. Hope someone responds.
@@lima4282 ok so I’ve recently bought the new Epix gen 2 51mm sapphire. Mainly for the battery life Amolte high resolution screen. Now I’ve found the new mapping system paired with the Garmin explore mapping app to be by fare the best most accurate and easiest duo to use! The ability to follow trails and make your own trails is superior to the tactics and fenix. Not to mention better than suunto and kills the apple programs.
Guessing the new S9 chip should allow updates a bit longer into the future than watches with the S8 chip - I like the 64 GB storage upgrade since I want to load all my music and podcasts onto the U2 - in the gym I don’t carry my iPhone with me. Glad I upgraded to the U2 from my series 7 - trade in and 3% cash back, and no sales tax made this workable for me.
Excellent review - thanks. I have an Ultra s1 (my first smartwatch) and, in terms of its performance relative to my expectations, it's meh. I definitely won't be upgrading. Sometimes it will give me a workout prompt (i.e. when I've started walking), sometimes not. Example : I'm walking from A to B, with a distance of around a mile. The Ultra doesn't provide a workout prompt. A few minutes later I make the return journey, B to A, using the exact same route (just reversed) and the Ultra provides a workout prompt. It's absurd. My biggest gripe it heart rate tracking when cycling, especially off-road. Even with the Alpine Loop band adjusted snug, but not tight (it needs to be comfortable), the Ultra picks up very few heart rate data to the point that it's effectively useless. The Ultra s1 was an expensive purchase and I'd describe its features and performance as "convenient" rather than "impressive".
OBSERVATION. Apple is still going after the serious athletes that use Garmin and fenix. They are not after the casual sports person like me. I have a couple friends who are tech influencers in Singapore. Apple gives them everything from iPhones to speakers to MacBooks for free. They refuse to give them Apple Watch ultra even if they want one. They get the series 9. One guy is even a cyclist but more of a tech guy, tv host. I think they are really trying to keep the Ultra in the image of actual athletes. For example a friends friend who is a power lifter fitness influencer got an Ultra. TBH the Ultra is no where close to Garmin in utility. Not even close. I imagine all the users are like me. Who don’t need an ultra but want the best apple offers
Yup, an awesome spot to run. Quickly become my favorite any time I'm in town. And argueably, that run might be in my top 5 worldwide favorites. Such a great climb up - nothing horrific, but something you can push the pace on, and then the sweeping back down into the trees is awesome.
If you have neither would the 2 be the way you go or catch the 1 on sake or just go with a Garmin? I want to get one for overall fitness tracking and some outdoor activities.
Battery life is still an issue. My Coros Vertix 2 will last for a month (which is admittedly way more than I need), but I’d need an Apple Watch to last at least 4 days, hopefully a week on a single charge before I consider going back to it. 36 hours only is deal breaker.
Bingo ! At least 4 days (with always on and normal exercise routines) and ideally at least a week. After using watches like the Garmin Epix 51mm etc., which last for around a month, I have no desire to go back to the daily charging routine with the Apple Watch. I had high hopes when they came out with the Ultra-2, but on the battery life front, they did not move at all.
@@rgmALC Exactly. I don’t need a full month in the backcountry, but I do need more than a day or two of GPS workout battery life on one charge. He even mentioned that on a full day workout it will use nearly all the battery in a single day. That doesn’t work for me.
@@marcushecht there’s a give and take. Yeah my Garmins had better battery life, but day to day stuff my Ultra blows them away - in terms of day to day stuff. If I do overnighter’s, I have to charge it, but I have a battery bank anyways. The Ultra has a Ferrari engine for what it does and does NOT sip battery. Garmins really don’t do that much other than HR, barometer, accelerometer and so on. They can sip on battery with a super slow CPU
Open Water Swim tracking of Ultra 1 was not reliable, sometimes it gave great data, sometimes had bad gps points and recorded extra distances. I wrote about this numerous times to Apple and also posted on Reddit, Macrumors etc. I bought a new Ultra 1 to compare and try it and had the same issue. Did you have that issue with Ultra 1? Does it seem to be fixed with Ultra 2?
@DC Rainmaker - Love your content and all the time and effort you put into testing and staring the best persecutive on the review and amazing data to back it. Thank you! I do have a question to you and the community here, I was using Garmin Coach to teach me to run and be able to do a 10k ... busy summer with work and injury put me back to the beginning with months off, I am not a runner but was enjoying it. I am now looking to start a path to 10k on my apple watch ultra 2 instead, can you recommend a good learn to run app/coach for Apple Watch tracking?
Recently took a light step into the world of Garmin with the budget Forerunner 55 and it does MOST THINGS and does them well. Cannot see the value in the AWU when the Fenix 7 is half the price here in Australia. Screen on my Forerunner 55 the main thing that makes it feel budget - otherwise just a fraction of the price and very comfortable. Would consider the S9 Apple Watch but the battery life... I just can't charge each day
Cellular calling with the AW is the main thing I miss. I have a Fenix 7Pro SS, trying to ditch my phone usage, having a device you call with in reach is something Garmin still hasnt widely adopted..
WatchOS 10 kills the battery on my ultra. It was charged to 94% @ 12pm, and I just got home and put it on the charger @ 35%, and my usage hasn’t changed. In fact I normally track a 3 mile walk to and from work, and today I didn’t, and the battery life still sucked. With tracking my walks I would normally get home from work with around 67-72% battery remaining. Like I said, I did less on my watch today and the battery just catered since 12pm, and the graph in the battery setting reflects that. Hope Apple puts out an update to fix that. Longer battery life is one of the two main reasons why I paid so much for the ultra, which I had to save up for three months to afford. Just putting my experience out there for anyone who is contemplating updating their watch. I love the update, but the battery issue makes me wish I had waited to update.
Dang. Came across this randomly, thought why not take a peek? Always have bought Casios (I have a 20 year old Casio in very good condition) as they're cheap, reliable & functional (& often with good waterproofing) But this watch? Ok, when I win a lottery lol. But isn't technology so cool, remeber old movies where people used their watch as a phone way back in the day (1970s, 1980s)? Well, we're at that stage now, what's next, I wonder?
Very disappointing regarding the topographic maps. Just like their look around, I have been waiting for literal YEARS for the look around feature to be available in my city (Nashville). Look around has been out for how long? YEARS! So I can only assume topographic maps are going to be available in 2031, just like their driver license on wallet app that they promised.
Thank you for this review. It would be great if they could get around the issue of this working with tattoos without having to put a plastic sticker on the back of the watch
Hi my friend! how r u? can u tell me if the displays goes to 3000 nits just when the torch is on, or always when u put the maximum brightness? and than, by video i dont really understand the difference between the 2 displays...u, having both in your hands, can u say if is so evident the differnce of btightness? thanks a lot!
Confirmed by Apple. The GPS function doesn’t work without a paired phone or without cellular data. If you are expecting to have navigation directions from Ultra 2 without a paired phone or cellular data then you need to look for a Garmin watch. I can’t believe Apple advertises this watch with a built in gps module 🤦
Also note that in order for sleep tracking you work you have to set your bed time. It will NOT TRACK SLEEP AUTOMATICALLY. You can also manually trigger it by turning on "sleep" in the focus widget on the watch
@@DcrainmakerAnd if you fall asleep at 11pm, you "lose" an hour of sleep, right? I put it in Sleep manually every night, considering that I need my phone and my watch to turn off the display in a darkened room. It seems so easy that I wonder why people bother with setting a bedtime.
@@burjoes Sorry, just to be clear, the setting of the bedtime is more of a silly background thingy. It doesn't impact tracking of sleep once enabled once. So if you fall asleep earlier, it'll still track just fine.
@@burjoes The sleep setting is merely a one-time configuration thing, where basically you tell the watch the daily schedule for when to go into the sleep mode (for backlight savings). It doesn't have anything to do with the actual detection of sleep itself. You can manually enable or disable sleep mode (for the backlight), whenever you want, but it will still track nightly sleeps either way.
Audio is distorted during phone calls. My brand new Apple Watch Ultra 2 makes cracking sounds when I make calls with the speaker volume at Max. Audio is distorted only during normal or FaceTime calls. The problem does not occur when recording or playing sounds from the speakers. It's never been in the water, I haven't even washed my hands while wearing it. It may be a software issue because the Apple Watch Ultra (1) had the same problem and it was solved with the watchOS 9.0.1 update. Apple then had the following note in said update: «This update includes improvements and bug fixes for your Apple Watch Ultra. Audio could be distorted during phone calls using speakers.» I hope that the problem will be solved again through a new update and that it is not a hardware problem. Finally I should note that until recently I had the Apple Watch Ultra (1) and it had no problems related to what I mention.
Am I the only one that actually had physical pain of the watch ultra2, that few gram extra doesn’t seem a lot but my wrist disagree(pressure point on the back of the watch). Love the design though (but why so heavy!!) And I hated the design of the 9 (my life it is like having the same car for 50 years, the same design e-ve-ry year! Wish they had a ultra that weigh less (even we the trial loop it hurts). So ended up returning both, ultra2 to heavy causing pain, the 9 boring as hell! Already hoping for a new apple watch design for a few years now (so annoyed). So stuck with my also boring watch 5. Would love a new design after so many years.
Don't know leave my AW4 for a Garmin (loosing apple fitness) or buy AW9 or an Ultra2. I mostly run and I'd like to have a precise GPS. AW9 seems good enough even in woods and city.
Thank you for exercising like a madman to actually show us the accuracy of so many of these features as they're being added to Apple Watch! Big up!
Thanks!
exercising is the reward ;)
@@Dcrainmaker 14:05 whats the software you used to get the line chart for HR? I am a crossfitter and I would like to see the entire time line of my HR during WODS. Thank YOU!
The Ultra 2 is probably not worth the upgrade from an Ultra 1, but it's definitely a sweeter deal for people who were interested in the Ultra 1 and were holding out.
I bought used ultra 1 after ultra 2 release. I am super satisfied, in full sun light while surfing the screen was clearly visible.
Its a free upgrade with my UK service provider so I will upgrade from my ultra 1 and get a new watch band
I feel all the new features on the new ultra 2 would work with a software update on the ultra 1 like the clock screen update 🤣 that was in the latest update
Questionable if the Ultra is worth the price in the first place. Maybe for divers I would say.
Do you hear a wetsuit?!... If so you use it under or on top?.. Isn't to bulkit to wear it if wetsuit?@@przemysawmarciniec5180
This has to be the most complete Ultra review out there who actually does the sports as well as understanding the tech, which most couch tech’s reviewers fall short.
Thanks man, nice to see a review that doesn't feel like an Apple ad 👏
Thanks - much appreciated!!
Got a Series 4, battery is not great now and have been thinking of upgrading and just taken the plunge with a Ultra 2. Apart from walking the dog, not a major outdoors (or fitness in general type), but the battery, sapphire screen (lots of micro scratches on my current one) and larger screen has won it for me. Should feel like a very nice upgrade :)
Update, had the Ultra 2 for a couple of weeks now and it’s a huge upgrade. Love it :)
I’m about to do this upgrade too!
Enjoy :)@@xKILLAxCAMx
@@xKILLAxCAMxwas it worth it?
DC Rainmaker: the only person with watch tan lines on both wrists ;-) Great stuff as always, thank you!
:)
Not true! I have watch tan lines on both wrists. I wear either my Apple Watch Series 10 or my Apple Watch Ultra on my left wrist, and then my Agelocer flying tourbillon skeletonized watch on my right wrist. I love the incredible functionality of the Apple Watch, but also love the look and motion of a more traditional watch. I didn’t want to have to decide, so I wear both! I collect watches (among other things), so I have a nice little collection. That way I can switch off whenever I have the urge.
We got the same watch with minor changes that no one asked for. The lack of significant improvement in battery life is a huge gift from Apple to Garmin, which has gained an extra year to introduce esim cards and further improvements to epix and fenix
If I was an active sportperson I would probably have picked the Garmin, but for me and 95% of the population, the Ultra is the better buy.
Damn, still no cellular on the fenix 8. Not many huge changes either. I’m thinking the ultra 3 and watch x won’t have big changes based on the garmin having not too many but I hope im wrong
Read my post. Garmin cannot save your life - Ultra just did for me. Battery life is not as important as real life. (This is not a HR range that even a Fitbit can do, this is AF - a real life issue that will kill you). I considered Garmin, wont ever change now (guess why the Ultra has shorter battery life? It is monitoring 24/7 to protect you. Go with Garmin at your peril. I don't have a heart issue, I had a virus)
Starting at $799 is atrocious 😮
Upgrading from a series 4 to Ultra 2 (arriving tomorrow). Thanks for the video. Wonder was radar support mentioned at the Wanderlust event?
Oooh, that's a good question. But I think the radars rely on the ANT+ radar implementation.
Man I don't know how people get theirs so fast. I ordered mine today upgrading from Series 6. It won't ship until tomorrow-oct 6th.
Jumped from my Apple Watch Ultra to Garmin Epix Pro
Zero regrets.
Love how thorough & informative you are with what you presented. You got a new sub! I desperately want the AW Ultra 2, but I’m super disappointed they don’t offer it in black/space grey. If they did I would have pre-ordered. Fingers crossed they add some colour options ASAP.
I really hate the increasing number of features being marketed but not yet available year over year.
It would be a little ridiculous to have a huge feature dump only once per year, with nothing in between.
@@mattmcmullen8244why?
1) I have a feeling the ultra 2 batter will last longer than ultra 1 just due to watchos 10 and we have yet to realize it.
2) On device siri is enough for me. I often want to speak into my phone like to start a workout and current siri is too high latency.
Psh the garmin Fenix watches last 20 days on a charge. No thanks apple.
I had to wait 17 minutes for the request to whack the Like button………..Always keep your audience waiting…..Cheers.
Hahah...doh!
All Apple prices for their premium products are atrocious. A series 9 is half the price. There"s another for 250.00. Essentially ail premium products are for those who can spend that kind of money without blinking. If you don't want to buy those, you can buy one of the others. If those are too much, you can buy a Timex for 10.00 at Walmart. There's something for everyone.
Hi DC, thank you as always for a very well made informative video. I have been a long term garmin user and currently use the 965 for tracking all my activities such as - strength training, yoga, running, cycling. Along with my recovery metrics such as sleep, body battery, HRV, training readiness. These recovery metrics i beleive are very important. From my understanding the Apple watch doesnt have these metrics, even though its heart rate tracking is superior to that of Garmin. Would you say having the Garmin with slightly less accurate heart rate tracking but better metrics is a good trade off ? is it possible to get recovery metrics on the apple watches? thank you.
I've been using the cycling workout app on my Ultra 1 since last year. I love the HRM and GPS accuracy, but the auto-pause feature was never great (~5 sec delay). Auto-pause is worse now with Watch OS 10. I'm getting delays of 10 seconds on average. Then it restarts with any slight movement. Not good. Apple needs to add a user selected speed (like 5 kph) to initiate auto-pause.
You + Desfit = smart/sportwatch world domination.
Thanks!!!
The apple watch is a very beautiful watch both aesthetically and its functionality. However, l still prefer the Garmin Epix or Fenix because in my eyes the apple watch looks more like a gadget rather than a sport instrument.
I wear both simultaneously. Ultra on my left wrist, Epix Gen2 on my right wrist. They both have features thenother dont have that i need.
Could you expand on this reasoning for me features deep.. thanks.
no shit
Outside of the fitness functions, the feature most important to me is the vibrating alarm. I’ve gotten used to auditory alarms and will sleep through them. I realized that vibrating alarms have existed for the deaf community. I could never go back now.
Be interesting to find out if wearing gloves interferes with double-tap. Very useful for my work and cold environments. The latest IOS has solved some problems I have had on my series 7.
I am thinking of going Ultra and then using my 7 for sleeping until the battery is done.
It should work as it’s detecting the slight movements through the accelerometer as the fingers tap. You can test the feature in the accessibility settings on your series 7
Thanks for the review, for now I think I’ll stick with my Garmin 530 and Fenix 5X for now. Apple has a long way to go.
For 800, they could have incorporated solar power. Damn!!
I don’t understand how at launch topo maps are not across the entire US. Even national parks such as Smoky Mountain National park do not have topo lines. How did Apple drop the ball this bad on a Watch OS 10 advertised feature? The action button isn’t even programmable to bring up a map. Since we don’t have a map within the hiking activity app itself, an action button short cut would have at least made it a little easier. None of this implemented. Very half baked.
Nope if the brightness is the biggest change I’ll pass my Ultra is plenty bright for me. Not worth it.
The only benefit of the stronger brightness is at night using the watch's "flash light" feature.
Siri is hopeless..and you don't really need a watch to "watch" you doing exercise...Any exercise will do your body good, the most important thing is you do it.
Love your real world reviews! I know I can count on you to test this thing... Question, is it too big (heavy) and bulky compared to the Series 9 or a Garmin forerunner 255?
Great detailed review.
Why ppl don't wait for the Ultra 3 when features are yet to be available for Ultra 2 is beyond me. The Ultra should be a 2 hr cycle. Let the regular watch be yearly
that's why I buy the Garmin Marq. Expensive, but about a 3 year cycle before the new one comes out.
It should be more than a two-year cycle. There’s not much more that can be added. The ultra 1 is light years ahead of the regular Apple Watch. This new ultra is basically the same with a little bit faster chip, nothing with “sustenance”
My problem with apple watch for monitoring resting HR and HRV is that... data it provides is indeed consistent, but almost useless, because of the method it uses.
Thought about getting a Garmin to train for running but I went with the Ultra 2 and have no regrets! Honestly who needs a 20 day battery? I take my watch off when I sleep and charge my watch at night. I’m not doing a 5 day hike in the woods. I download music to it from Spotify, throw on my AirPods and off I run without the bulkiness of my iPhone..I absolutely love it!
They should just add some LEDs on the case for a better actual flashlight instead of relying on the screen brightness, its geared tword “outdoors” but everyone could use a flashlight on their wrist
The fact that Apple will buy back your ultra 1 for $360 now on a trade in really makes the simple upgrades in battery and memory and NITS of 3000 worth it . Plus you get a new. battery and a better chip. This is a simple decision to upgrade.
Still doesn’t come close to the epix 51mm
Can you at least use Siri offline to control audio? Play/pause/next? Limited use case, but would hope Siri can at least do that.
Amazing ! Just what I was looking for - let’s go!
Thanks!!!
$800 watch....? cough cough
Cough even more in the uk it translates into £799 instead of being subject to the exchange rate, which should be £640
Unless my ultra 1 breaks or I lose it, definitely no reason to update to the ultra 2.
From someone that just switched to IPhone 15 PM and works out 4-6 times a week excluding swimming or hikes , is it worth getting the Ultra 2 , it also looks so cool , was deciding between series 9 45mm aluminum or Ultra 2 . Any feedback is appreciated .
How accurate is the blood pressure app on this thing?
After I swam, with my ultra 2 watch it stopped working I lost 1200 Singapore dollars after I go Apple and they told me to pay $700 for a repair bad experience with stupid watch The company says it is waterproof and in fact it lost due to water
You didn’t think to pay five dollars a month to get AppleCare or some other third-party insurance on a $1200 device?
We need timestamps please.
short answer. no its not worth it lmao
Body temperature also helps to verify whether or not a patient is asleep as well as which sleep stage they may be in
I use a power wheelchair, wish there was an option to shut off the steps while in my power wheelchair but able to turn on when using my walker. It says I did over 1,000 steps yesterday pretty good for a high functioning quadriplegic 😂
Unfortunately, double tap works 💩 have to try tapping several time to use it. Don’t like it
Works fantastically well for me, just to add balance to your experience.
Works fine for both of us.
I live in Alaska. We have winter for 9 months. The spec’s state the watch is only operational on wrist if temperatures are -4 to 130. For 800$ the watch probably doesn’t work for 4-5 months for me.
just ordered mine today (free gift from work lol) thanks for this thorough review!
I ordered it it arrives tomorrow, but I increasingly think that an aftermarket version 1 would be enough- thanks for the great work as usual!
I charge the battery every four days. I have the brightness of the screen set to about 2000 nits and the AOD always on. All health functions are on and I cycle indoors twice a day. I also use the watch with Apple car play and to read messages and emails, and occasionally if I don't have the phone at hand I make calls with it. I bought the straps from Ali Express and the screen protectors too. This year I bought the Samsung 6 and the 6 Classic, the Huawei GT4 and the Huawei 4 Pro, the Garmin Venu 3, but the Apple watch Ultra 2 is really the best watch I have tested this year..
If you have the original Apple Watch Ultra you DON’T need to “upgrade”
Great video. I would really love to see an athlete like yourself do a video on how they would use this watch as a fitness watch for different sports like running, hiking, biking, swimming, alpine touring, etc. Like, which apps are almost a requirement and how do you use them? How would you aggregate all the activities, etc. Any plans to create something like that?
I remain curious as to what Apple will do with the Apple Watch’s low power GPS mode. If they truly do have a large chunk of the US trails mapped out, I can see them having one of the best “ultratrack” equivalent GPS modes on the market because it will leverage Apple Maps data for distance accuracy. I hope you can test this feature when we finally have a complete US map!
I think there's a difference between having topo maps, versus having trails, versus having precise trails. Topo maps are more about the terrain. And while Apple Maps has tons of data for trails, I'm not sure if it's quite accurate enough to correct GPS based on it.
Wait...people actually wear their Apple watches (or any watch for that matter) to bed?? Why??? 🤣🤣😂
My son is a contractor and loves his. Wears it all day and used to use the protective screen with it. After the 3rd one broke, he didn't replace it. I'm a larger guy and I'm curious if they're as tough as they seem. I do tech appliance repair work sometimes and my hand gets into tight places with a lot of metal edges. I worry about breaking the face. Would love to hear from active people how their watches are holding up?
with cell data ,can you use the watch to run amazon music to the apple AirPods Pros without lugging your phone around the gym?
11:47 I want to use the siren as a bike bell
😂
@@Dcrainmakercould you set the action button to quick turn it on ?
We still have not seen the full on commitment to make the watch independent from the phone. With all connections and downloads on the watch without the need for the phone.
There are plenty of people who want to leave the phone behind them and fully move to wrist displays and controls but we're not there yet.
Phones will be used as the computer where we use them for more advanced editing and watching and editing videos etc
I think I’ve figured out what Apple is trying to do with the AWU - create the ultimate sports watch, but also the ultimate watch for everyone.
I want to buy it so badly, but I don’t know if I can give up my Fenix 7X just yet..
Depends if you want a toy or a world class tool watch that will take you anywhere
@@BilloBob1231 AWU is aiming to be both; A category that is lacking in the Garmin lineup.
@@BilloBob1231you’re straight up tech literate to suggest this is a toy
@@CoreyMarlin and fails miserably
I'm confused. I thought the ultra two has only just been released so there was this video year-old. ?
Why did they take the lock option out of activities, even worse they just left a blank gap ffs
Still getting it but I’m just bummed the leaks about a black variant ended up not being true
I wish I could use it, but it's too bulky to use with a dress shirt.
So you exercise with a dress shirt on ?
@@cappaculla No, but I do go to work with it.
I really wish I could have my heart rate zones on the same page as my pace like Garmin watches support..
How about heart rate measurement speed, any improvement over the original Ultra ?
I saw another video. It was the same the guy said
The value come right back to zero
I’m fully aware of how ridiculous this is, but I refuse to get an ultra until they do away with the orange action button. The day they do that will be the day I get it. I despise orange lol
I’m ex military and do a lot of hiking in areas were cellular is limited. Between the tactix 7, and ultra 2 which have u found to have better sat ability’s? Also do you like the maps in the apple or Garmin better? Have u found any other watches that you could recommend that can hang with these two? Like fenix 7 or epix pro gen 2?
I as well want to know this info. Apple Maps is definitely more user friendly but my tactix delta has gotten me out of some ish. Definitely want to know how good gps is on this. Hope someone responds.
@@lima4282 ok so I’ve recently bought the new Epix gen 2 51mm sapphire. Mainly for the battery life Amolte high resolution screen. Now I’ve found the new mapping system paired with the Garmin explore mapping app to be by fare the best most accurate and easiest duo to use! The ability to follow trails and make your own trails is superior to the tactics and fenix. Not to mention better than suunto and kills the apple programs.
@@lima4282 trying this Epix out for 3 weeks and will decide if I’m keeping it or sending it back. But I love the fact I can sync it too my Garmin 67i!
Guessing the new S9 chip should allow updates a bit longer into the future than watches with the S8 chip - I like the 64 GB storage upgrade since I want to load all my music and podcasts onto the U2 - in the gym I don’t carry my iPhone with me. Glad I upgraded to the U2 from my series 7 - trade in and 3% cash back, and no sales tax made this workable for me.
Is the ocean band the only strap you can use for swimming
Excellent review - thanks.
I have an Ultra s1 (my first smartwatch) and, in terms of its performance relative to my expectations, it's meh. I definitely won't be upgrading.
Sometimes it will give me a workout prompt (i.e. when I've started walking), sometimes not. Example : I'm walking from A to B, with a distance of around a mile. The Ultra doesn't provide a workout prompt. A few minutes later I make the return journey, B to A, using the exact same route (just reversed) and the Ultra provides a workout prompt. It's absurd.
My biggest gripe it heart rate tracking when cycling, especially off-road. Even with the Alpine Loop band adjusted snug, but not tight (it needs to be comfortable), the Ultra picks up very few heart rate data to the point that it's effectively useless.
The Ultra s1 was an expensive purchase and I'd describe its features and performance as "convenient" rather than "impressive".
You've just summed up Apple in your last point.
If I would do 10% of the activities you do, I would crip walk in front of my friends.
Big! Definitely made with men’s wrists in mind. Guess we women don’t do sports, hiking, or anything like that. 😮😢
OBSERVATION. Apple is still going after the serious athletes that use Garmin and fenix. They are not after the casual sports person like me.
I have a couple friends who are tech influencers in Singapore. Apple gives them everything from iPhones to speakers to MacBooks for free. They refuse to give them Apple Watch ultra even if they want one. They get the series 9. One guy is even a cyclist but more of a tech guy, tv host.
I think they are really trying to keep the Ultra in the image of actual athletes. For example a friends friend who is a power lifter fitness influencer got an Ultra.
TBH the Ultra is no where close to Garmin in utility. Not even close. I imagine all the users are like me. Who don’t need an ultra but want the best apple offers
I have a series 6 watch. I just ordered the Ultra 2, mainly for the battery life.
This watch is 899€ in Germany, danm💀
Ha, I could tell that was either Kennedy Trail or Rancho San Antonio.. then the maps gave it away as Rancho.
Yup, an awesome spot to run. Quickly become my favorite any time I'm in town. And argueably, that run might be in my top 5 worldwide favorites. Such a great climb up - nothing horrific, but something you can push the pace on, and then the sweeping back down into the trees is awesome.
If you have neither would the 2 be the way you go or catch the 1 on sake or just go with a Garmin? I want to get one for overall fitness tracking and some outdoor activities.
Battery life is still an issue. My Coros Vertix 2 will last for a month (which is admittedly way more than I need), but I’d need an Apple Watch to last at least 4 days, hopefully a week on a single charge before I consider going back to it. 36 hours only is deal breaker.
You’d have to strip down most features of the Apple Watch, get a slower chip…then you’d have the battery life of the Coros
Bingo ! At least 4 days (with always on and normal exercise routines) and ideally at least a week. After using watches like the Garmin Epix 51mm etc., which last for around a month, I have no desire to go back to the daily charging routine with the Apple Watch. I had high hopes when they came out with the Ultra-2, but on the battery life front, they did not move at all.
@@rgmALC Exactly. I don’t need a full month in the backcountry, but I do need more than a day or two of GPS workout battery life on one charge. He even mentioned that on a full day workout it will use nearly all the battery in a single day. That doesn’t work for me.
@@marcushecht there’s a give and take. Yeah my Garmins had better battery life, but day to day stuff my Ultra blows them away - in terms of day to day stuff. If I do overnighter’s, I have to charge it, but I have a battery bank anyways. The Ultra has a Ferrari engine for what it does and does NOT sip battery. Garmins really don’t do that much other than HR, barometer, accelerometer and so on. They can sip on battery with a super slow CPU
not first
I went from a series 3 to the ultra 2. I know it’s a major jump but I absolutely love this watch
I’m about to do the same thing myself, can’t wait to get mine!
Open Water Swim tracking of Ultra 1 was not reliable, sometimes it gave great data, sometimes had bad gps points and recorded extra distances. I wrote about this numerous times to Apple and also posted on Reddit, Macrumors etc. I bought a new Ultra 1 to compare and try it and had the same issue. Did you have that issue with Ultra 1? Does it seem to be fixed with Ultra 2?
@DC Rainmaker - Love your content and all the time and effort you put into testing and staring the best persecutive on the review and amazing data to back it. Thank you! I do have a question to you and the community here, I was using Garmin Coach to teach me to run and be able to do a 10k ... busy summer with work and injury put me back to the beginning with months off, I am not a runner but was enjoying it. I am now looking to start a path to 10k on my apple watch ultra 2 instead, can you recommend a good learn to run app/coach for Apple Watch tracking?
Nice video. Almost started regretting I bought series 9 instead of UW2, although don’t need them in my cycling training.
Recently took a light step into the world of Garmin with the budget Forerunner 55 and it does MOST THINGS and does them well. Cannot see the value in the AWU when the Fenix 7 is half the price here in Australia. Screen on my Forerunner 55 the main thing that makes it feel budget - otherwise just a fraction of the price and very comfortable.
Would consider the S9 Apple Watch but the battery life... I just can't charge each day
Cellular calling with the AW is the main thing I miss. I have a Fenix 7Pro SS, trying to ditch my phone usage, having a device you call with in reach is something Garmin still hasnt widely adopted..
THX for an EXCELLENT REVIEW 💪
which when you travel overseas is useless......they have to fix this with the carriers
WatchOS 10 kills the battery on my ultra. It was charged to 94% @ 12pm, and I just got home and put it on the charger @ 35%, and my usage hasn’t changed. In fact I normally track a 3 mile walk to and from work, and today I didn’t, and the battery life still sucked. With tracking my walks I would normally get home from work with around 67-72% battery remaining. Like I said, I did less on my watch today and the battery just catered since 12pm, and the graph in the battery setting reflects that. Hope Apple puts out an update to fix that. Longer battery life is one of the two main reasons why I paid so much for the ultra, which I had to save up for three months to afford. Just putting my experience out there for anyone who is contemplating updating their watch. I love the update, but the battery issue makes me wish I had waited to update.
Thanks for the heads up
Battery will always suffer for 1-2 days following a major update. Should even out in a bit.
I ignored the other reviews of this watch and came to you because I knew he would review it brutally
Dang. Came across this randomly, thought why not take a peek?
Always have bought Casios (I have a 20 year old Casio in very good condition) as they're cheap, reliable & functional (& often with good waterproofing)
But this watch? Ok, when I win a lottery lol. But isn't technology so cool, remeber old movies where people used their watch as a phone way back in the day (1970s, 1980s)? Well, we're at that stage now, what's next, I wonder?
Very disappointing regarding the topographic maps. Just like their look around, I have been waiting for literal YEARS for the look around feature to be available in my city (Nashville). Look around has been out for how long? YEARS!
So I can only assume topographic maps are going to be available in 2031, just like their driver license on wallet app that they promised.
Thank you for this review. It would be great if they could get around the issue of this working with tattoos without having to put a plastic sticker on the back of the watch
Hi my friend! how r u? can u tell me if the displays goes to 3000 nits just when the torch is on, or always when u put the maximum brightness? and than, by video i dont really understand the difference between the 2 displays...u, having both in your hands, can u say if is so evident the differnce of btightness? thanks a lot!
Incorrect when DIVING 1000 vs 3000 is 3 times better.... 1:23 seconds in .. CORRECTION
Confirmed by Apple. The GPS function doesn’t work without a paired phone or without cellular data. If you are expecting to have navigation directions from Ultra 2 without a paired phone or cellular data then you need to look for a Garmin watch. I can’t believe Apple advertises this watch with a built in gps module 🤦
Also note that in order for sleep tracking you work you have to set your bed time. It will NOT TRACK SLEEP AUTOMATICALLY. You can also manually trigger it by turning on "sleep" in the focus widget on the watch
True. My bedtime has been set for years as 12am though, and when you first setup an Apple Watch it walks you through that.
@@DcrainmakerAnd if you fall asleep at 11pm, you "lose" an hour of sleep, right? I put it in Sleep manually every night, considering that I need my phone and my watch to turn off the display in a darkened room. It seems so easy that I wonder why people bother with setting a bedtime.
@@burjoes Sorry, just to be clear, the setting of the bedtime is more of a silly background thingy. It doesn't impact tracking of sleep once enabled once. So if you fall asleep earlier, it'll still track just fine.
@@Dcrainmaker hmm what about the “Sleep” setting? If you don’t put it in Sleep mode, will it detect sleep?
@@burjoes The sleep setting is merely a one-time configuration thing, where basically you tell the watch the daily schedule for when to go into the sleep mode (for backlight savings). It doesn't have anything to do with the actual detection of sleep itself. You can manually enable or disable sleep mode (for the backlight), whenever you want, but it will still track nightly sleeps either way.
Audio is distorted during phone calls.
My brand new Apple Watch Ultra 2 makes cracking sounds when I make calls with the speaker volume at Max.
Audio is distorted only during normal or FaceTime calls. The problem does not occur when recording or playing sounds from the speakers. It's never been in the water, I haven't even washed my hands while wearing it.
It may be a software issue because the Apple Watch Ultra (1) had the same problem and it was solved with the watchOS 9.0.1 update.
Apple then had the following note in said update: «This update includes improvements and bug fixes for your Apple Watch Ultra.
Audio could be distorted during phone calls using speakers.»
I hope that the problem will be solved again through a new update and that it is not a hardware problem.
Finally I should note that until recently I had the Apple Watch Ultra (1) and it had no problems related to what I mention.
very thorough.., well done
Am I the only one that actually had physical pain of the watch ultra2, that few gram extra doesn’t seem a lot but my wrist disagree(pressure point on the back of the watch). Love the design though (but why so heavy!!) And I hated the design of the 9 (my life it is like having the same car for 50 years, the same design e-ve-ry year! Wish they had a ultra that weigh less (even we the trial loop it hurts). So ended up returning both, ultra2 to heavy causing pain, the 9 boring as hell! Already hoping for a new apple watch design for a few years now (so annoyed). So stuck with my also boring watch 5. Would love a new design after so many years.
Don't know leave my AW4 for a Garmin (loosing apple fitness) or buy AW9 or an Ultra2. I mostly run and I'd like to have a precise GPS. AW9 seems good enough even in woods and city.