The Apple Watch Ultra Review

Written: 06/10/2022

By: Tomás Woods

Since September 9th 2014, the Silicon Valley tech giant Apple, has been known for designing and manufacturing the most widely respected luxury smartwatches. Yet again, Apple led the chain into an unexplored industry and created something users love. Exactly 1 month ago, they announced another watch, but this time, called Ultra. How bold is it?

Striking proportions, daring looks, stupidly rugged and packet with tools that will redefine the way you face adventures. The price? 799$. This is the most sophisticated tool Apple has ever conceived for athletes, divers and mostly anyone who needs to replace an iPhone by a watch during an adventure.

The ultra-hard titanium case makes the watch both light and resistant, and this time, Apple decided not to polish the metal like they used to on the previous high-end Series 7 watches. Which means less fingerprints and more of an aluminum look. Unfortunately, the outer case color cannot be reconfigured and details such as the action button and the crown remain orange. The face holds a huge 49mm screen with a thin titanium border rather than the curved glass we see in other watches. The crown is also a bit larger and is protected by part of the case that stands out. In general, it is all optimized for maximum protection and durability (the watch is set to resist 100m deep dives with an IP6X dust resistance and temperatures between -20℃ and 55℃).

The screen is a Retina, industry leading 2000 nit peak brightness display. An action button (in orange) was also introduced and can be adjusted to several uses taking different roles within different applications. In addition to a precision dual-frequency GPS Antenna, it promises an 86-decibel siren which can be heard 180 meters away. Both tools will help people to find the user when lost, and accurately guide them to the desired path. Dual speakers were also added to improve audio volume enabling calls to be heard even in places with extreme sound levels. Also featuring a depth gauge which provides accurate underwater depth measurement down to 40 meters along with water temperature readings. Finally, the best feature of all, is the battery, which holds a record-breaking lifetime of up to 60 hours in low power settings and 36 hours during normal use.

In summary, this new Apple Watch is packed with (this smartwatch works independently from iPhone):

Health features:

• Temperature sensors

• Sleep tracking

• ECG (Heartbeat)

• Blood oxygen

Safety features:

• Car crash detection

• Fall detection

• Emergency SOS

Cellular features:

• Maps

• Apple Pay

• Call & Text

• Music

• Siri

• App Store

Of-course, this is one of the best smartwatches money can buy, it is pricey, and many believe it is overpriced. Personally, I do believe it could be less than 800$ and just to put this price into perspective this small device costs as much as an iPad air, or an iPhone 14 or even worth 3 great 20-inch monitors or 2 high-end 3D printers. But, given that so many people have been waiting for a product like this for a long time, I don’t see why they wouldn’t get it. Specially because getting such a beautiful and fine quality product from another company with these many features in it would be almost impossible. At least for now.

Sources:

- https://www.apple.com

- Yard, Rocket. “Apple Watch Ultra Takes Lineup to New Heights—and Depths.” Rocket Yard, 7 Sept. 2022, eshop.macsales.com/blog/83677-apple-watch-ultra-takes-lineup-to-new-heights-and-depths/. Accessed 7 Oct. 2022.

- “Apple Watch Ultra.” TechRadar, 21 Sept. 2022, www.techradar.com/reviews/apple-watch-ultra-review. Accessed 7 Oct. 2022.

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