The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is the company’s longest-lasting wearable to date, but there’s more to it than endurance.
Apple Watch Ultra 3
Apple’s rugged smartwatch is now available to preorder.
The watch gets an additional six hours of battery life for a total of 42 hours of wear.
Sleeping with the smartwatch is difficult.
If the new Apple Watch Series 11, Apple’s baseline smartwatch, is the girl next door, then Apple’s Ultra 3 is the Mt. Kilimanjaro-scaling, rugged neighbor. People might be using the Series 11 to train for their first marathon, but people are certainly using the Ultra 3 to record their fifth Ironman.
Apple unveiled its latest rugged smartwatch last week at the annual September iPhone event. The Ultra 3 arrives alongside two Apple Watch options – the affordable SE 3 and the baseline Series 11. Its biggest upgrades come in small but meaningful packages, like a wide-angle display for quicker viewability, longer battery life, and emergency features.
Over the past week, I tested all three to understand their capabilities, similarities, differences, and who would get the most out of which watch. So, how does the Ultra 3 stack up? Let’s dive in. Apple Watch Ultra 3
The Ultra 3 offers the largest display out of the Apple Watch lineup, 42 hours of battery life, and emergency communication features.
After a week of use and tinkering, the Ultra 3’s biggest selling point is its battery life. Apple includes the S10 chip in the Ultra 3, lengthening its battery life by six additional hours, for a total of 42 with regular use. I’m not religiously proactive about charging my smartwatch, but the 42-hour upgrade kept me ahead of battery drain and made continuous use simple.
The Ultra 2’s satellite communications didn’t perform as well as his Garmin inReach Messenger or Spot X satellite messenger, though. “It’s a faff finding satellites” on the Ultra 2, he tells me. The Ultra 3’s upgrade could change that.
When used in an emergency, Apple has designed a questionnaire that Ultra 3 users can click through to quickly and effectively receive help. Users can call 911, then select options about their predicament, like whether they’re in a car crash, someone is sick, or they’re lost.
