PUTTING APPLE’S ULTRA WATCH TO THE TEST
Apple’s rugged Ultra version of its wildly popular smartwatch is aimed firmly at the outdoor types.
In fact, such is the insistence that the Ultra is for those who like a bit of adventure, Apple has even made three new bands for the watch to match – one for the trail, one for the mountains, and one for the ocean.
I suspect, though, that even if every ultramarathon runner, mountaineer, AND diver, bought one of these – and they might – even that might not be a sustainable market.
It’s pretty clear, I reckon – Apple wants people who are adventurers to find this watch useful, but is also quite keen to make it appealing to those who would like to be adventurers.
In that spirit I’ve been testing the Ultra for a week or so without seeing the ocean or a mountaintop … others who know a lot more about usage in those environments can fill you in on how that works.
In making a rugged outdoor watch, Apple has succeeded in perhaps the most important way.
The Ultra is still an Apple Watch.
It’s an Apple Watch with bells, whistles, and a mega-loud siren, but it can do everything the standard new Series 8 can do.
What it has over the 8 is its rugged good looks – it’s handsome rather than beautiful – and a seriously useful battery life. One day of standard use dented the battery life by about 25% – the battery was still three-quarters charged by the time I went to bed.
In day-to-day use the bigger screen is a revelation, too – everything is more readable, and therefore more useful.
The Ultra has what Apple says is the most accurate GPS in any of its watches, and it could certainly track my movements around one of our big cities on a day of testing – high buildings blocking the satellite didn’t affect it at all.
The other headline feature for the Ultra is the action button – a new button the Series watches don’t have that can be configured to trigger a wide range of features.
It can, for example, start the Backtrack feature that remembers your route in case you get lost in the wilds.
I had mine turn the torch on so I could see where I was going when I took the bins out at night. Not very adventurous, perhaps – but eminently useful.
The Ultra is a great watch – certainly the best Apple Watch you can buy. And although it’s not for everybody, there’s plenty in there for the less adventurous.
A word of warning on that siren, which is designed to help you attract attention if you get in trouble off-grid. Don’t test it in your suburban back garden unless you have the kind of neighbours who don’t call the cops when they hear a burglar alarm…
Apple Watch Ultra costs £849 including one of the specially designed bands. Extra bands are £99 each.