Apple Watch Ultra 2 Review: The Smartwatch Worlds Best Screen Ever
Apple Watch Ultra 2: 1-minute review
The original Apple Watch Ultra was the most radical redesign of the Apple Watch. It was something completely new, a great innovation to celebrate, and the best Apple Watch we've ever seen. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is also very good because it is essentially the same watch.
It has a bright screen (in fact, the brightest screen ever made by Apple), but Apple's new S9 SiP chip and watchOS 10 account for most of the changes. The S9 chip, like the Apple Watch Series 9, offers a number of new features, including excellent hands-free double-tap controls. This innovative gesture lets you start a workout, stop timers, answer calls, and more, all hands-free.
Many other features, including Siri, no longer require a cloud connection, and some changes to the Depth app complement the changes. The company has improved its environmental credentials by using recycled materials inside and outside the watch. The newer collections also share these principles, placing greater emphasis on sustainability by promoting new designs.
However, when it comes to the main mission of the Apple Watch Ultra 2 (an Apple Watch you can wear in the wild and underwater), not much has changed. There's no longer battery life, new workout features, or navigation innovations that you won't find on the original Ultra either, thanks to watchOS 10. The Apple Watch is still amazing and probably the best in terms of specs. It's a clear contender for our best smartwatch guide, but it falls into the same small annual update cycle as regular Apple Watch models.
Apple Watch Ultra 2: Specifications
Apple Watch Ultra 2: Price and availability
US$799 / £799 / AU$1,399
Just one model
Currently available
Apple Watch Ultra 2 is now available. This time, your purchasing path is pretty simple: The Apple Watch Series 9 has so many options (what color? What size? Which band? GPS or cellular?) that there's only one Apple Watch Ultra 2 to choose from.
You get one size, 49mm, and one color, which is the standard titanium, although it's rumored we'll see a black or midnight version later this year. LTE is presented as the cellular communication standard. The only important choice you need to make when purchasing is which strap to include, but we'll go into more detail about that in the design section below.
If $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 is too much for the Watch Ultra 2 or you don't need extra adventure-oriented features, you might want to look at the Apple Watch Series 9. Read more about it in our hands-on Apple Watch review 9.
Apple Watch Ultra 2: Design
At first glance, like the Series 9, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is more or less identical to its predecessor. Both feature the same durable titanium case, a raised housing for the digital crown and side buttons, and the now iconic orange action button. The position of the microphone and speaker is also the same as the original.
The main differences relate to the screen and the straps. Firstly, the screen is better than the first version, capable of offering an impressive 3000 nits of brightness at full power. It's Apple's brightest display yet, the refresh rate is like water off a duck's back, and it's definitely Apple's best. From a purely technical point of view, this is probably the best smartwatch display I've seen in person.
This world's best display comes to life with a new exclusive and highly customizable watch face that subtly displays the seconds. Meanwhile, your favorite complications such as movement, dance, temperature and compass ring settings can be integrated to display on the watch. It's a smart replacement for last year's Wayfinder and looks particularly good in night mode, although if I had to choose, the Wayfinder would still look better.
However, that's all we can say in terms of software design, since most of the innovations presented here are part of the watchOS 10 operating system, which is also available on other Apple watches. It's unfortunate that there's nothing new or unique about what you can do with watchOS 10 and the Ultra 2 action button: it's still programmable and can be assigned to different functions, but there aren't any interesting new features this time around. The button is not used.
The groups are driven by the same environmental message that has dominated Apple's launches this year. Like the original, the Ultra 2 is available in three straps: an Alpine G-Hook strap, a nylon strap, and an Ocean Fluoroelastomer dive strap.
I had to settle for the road frame, which had a slightly redesigned design to be more rounded and cleaner. Like the Series 9 Loop Sport Band, the nylon band is now made from recycled wool. The Alpine and Trail frames have a circle of green leaves on their packaging, indicating that they are part of Apple's carbon neutral system, and will also be highlighted online. The titanium watch case is also made from 95% recycled titanium, an impressive figure.
Apple Watch Ultra 2: features
Apple Watch Ultra 2 still has the same adventure features as its predecessor, including next-level GPS tracking, using the action button to sound a siren to call for help, durability in hot and cold temperatures, and Oceanic+. An app that turns your watch into a functional dive computer. If you want to check it out, we tested a real dive trainer on the Apple Watch Ultra to see how it works.
The Depth app, which differs from Oceanic+ in that it is Apple's own diving feature, allows you to more easily access logs from previous dives on your watch. It's also compatible with freediving, although you're unlikely to take this seriously until you've fully tested the watch. The original Ultra's soft, infrared-like night mode had to be activated manually using the Digital Crown, but now it turns on automatically thanks to ambient light sensors located below the screen.
That's it for Adventure Gear, but in terms of other new features, the double-tap gesture is the big winner here. Although it won't be available until October and I wasn't able to test it on the Apple Watch Ultra 2, I was able to test the feature on the Apple Watch Series 9, which uses the same chipset and sensors.
For those who don't know, hold the watch as if you were going to check the time and with two taps with your fingers you can activate any widget or application that you have open at any time. For example, if you download a workout, you can start or end it. I've tried answering a phone call, starting a timer, and scrolling through the new widgets in watchOS 10 using this feature, and it's very nice and easy to manage. This may be a useless trick, but Apple has made this feature a feature you probably use every day.
Another new feature is the S9's use of Ultra Wideband technology to improve the device's search performance. If you're using the iPhone 15, which also comes with Ultra Wideband, you'll not only see which direction your phone is facing, but you'll also see how far it is from you. The live demo was great, but of course it depends on you having access to both new devices at the moment. The ultra wideband can also be used to control music on your Apple HomePod when you're nearby, which I think is useful, but it's not a stay-at-home watch. This is an outdoor watch and I would like to see more innovation here.
Apple Watch Ultra 2: early verdict
I haven't fully tested the Apple Watch Ultra 2, but from what I've seen it's the best Apple Watch yet. In fact, this watch is still among the best smartwatches out there. But while the S9 chip's new features improve the clock, it's ultimately a very iterative upgrade and can't be judged the same as its predecessor because it no longer overloads the system.
Apple already has an impressive array of fitness features, and watchOS 10's improved cycling performance means this device could become a must-have for triathletes. It won't be suitable for all adventurers, though - I'd like to see a larger battery to make it a better option for a weekend in the wilderness, but 36 hours of endurance won't be enough to beat the Garmin if I'm sitting without power. for long periods of time.
I hope to test it thoroughly to see how much difference a 3,000 nit display will make to battery life, but we'll have to leave it at that for now: the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is technically Apple's best watch. . We see it from time to time, but this is a small update. Which means it is only for people who do not have the original form.