Our review: A fantastic smartwatch and a handy sports watch, but battery life and lack of navigation see it lose points for outdoor enthusiasts
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GPS watches have been including more and more functionality that you’d find on a standard smartwatch over the years, such as notifications and music controls.
But they don’t quite match up to standard smartwatches. The result has normally meant a choice: do you want a smartwatch or a GPS watch?
Does the Apple Watch Ultra successfully combine the brand’s smartwatch expertise with GPS functionality to make it an option for outdoor enthusiasts?
What’s the design like?
The square display is housed in an aerospace-grade titanium case, resulting in a very smart-looking watch.
Out of all the GPS watches we’ve tested, this one would probably be most at home crossing over from casual or smart occasions to the outdoors in terms of style.
The display is covered with sapphire glass to help provide impact and scratch resistance. While we’ve not tried scratching it to see how well this works, we’ve not heard of any issues.
Our test sample came with a white nylon strap that secures via a Velcro-style closure. While it fits well, it doesn’t quite match the premium aesthetic in my opinion.
Of course, you can opt to purchase alternative straps, which I’d recommend doing.
How easy is it to use?
You need an iPhone to be able to use an Apple Watch Ultra and, providing you’re well accustomed to the system, it should be fairly straightforward to use.
The touchscreen is pretty much faultless, with the only negative being you simply have to use it to use the watch.
This means if it’s raining you’ll struggle to operate the wet screen and you’re limited by what the buttons can do, as there’s no ‘select’ function.
That aside, the ‘crown’ (the button on the top right) is large, responsive and can be rotated to move through menus.
There’s then an action button on the left that you can customise to do what you want. For example, I’ve got it set to open up workouts when pressed, but you could set it up to switch on the screen’s torch setting.
Meanwhile, another button on the right will bring up the control centre where you can do things like turn off Wi-Fi, switch on the screen-based torch or change the size of text.
You can also use the Watch app on your iPhone to change settings and add apps.
How does the display perform?
It’s up there with the best. It’s vibrant and has enough space to display lots of information.
There’s also dozens of different watch face layouts for you to choose from, many of which are customisable.
This means you can opt to display widgets such as weather, wind conditions, a compass and dozens of other options.
How good is the navigation?
Ah, navigation. Now that’s where things get a little tricky.
You see, the only navigation the Apple Watch Ultra comes with is the standard Maps app, similar to what you get on your phone.
That’s fine if you’re sticking to roads in urban environments, but no good if you’re heading outdoors.
There’s no way to create routes, import GPX files or view your progress so far on a map, not natively, anyway.
You can download third-party apps such as Komoot, which will allow you to follow routes and navigate more effectively, but if you want offline maps or turn-by-turn directions then there’s an additional fee.
I wondered if my OS Map app subscription would help, but while there is a corresponding watch app, there’s no mapping available at the time of writing.
You do get a compass, though, and you can set and follow a bearing, too. You also get altitude, longitude and latitude info.
Another potentially useful feature is the backtrack functionality. Switch it on in the compass app and if you need to retrace your steps you can press a button and then follow an arrow back to your start point.
This feature is meant to switch on if you lose phone signal while out walking, but we’ve seen multiple reports of this not working.
What training and performance features does it have?
There’s dozens of sport profiles to choose from including your usual hiking, running, cycling, pool swimming, open-water swimming, and more unusual things like social dancing, fitness gaming and pickleball.
You can customise what data screens you have to scroll through, which’ll include metrics like time elapsed, calories burned, pretty accurate heart rate data and zones, pace, elevation and so on.
It’s a good spread of info, though it sometimes doesn’t feel as well presented as it could be, as much of the info is displayed in similar fonts, making it awkward to read quickly when glancing down.
Another handy aspect here is that for some sports, such as running, you can select from pre-made workouts, helping you get in sessions like intervals. If you don’t find what you want, you can even make your own custom workouts.
After recording an activity you can view a summary, while the data will also feed into your Health and Fitness apps on your iPhone.
What other features are there?
So many! The Apple Watch Ultra is arguably the king of smartwatches and there’s a huge library of stock and third-party apps to choose from.
This includes everything from activity tracking, weather reports, contactless payments, sleep tracking, medication reminders, a torch (using the screen), a (particularly loud) siren alarm and fall detection.
You also get things like music controls (I’ve been using it with Spotify), can reply to text messages, make phone calls and access many other apps, though many will require you to have your phone nearby, unless you have a cellular plan for your watch.
How good is the battery life?
Well, not amazing. Apple quotes a battery life of 36 hours, and that’s only with 60 minutes of activity tracking taken into account. It’s then 18 hours in full GPS mode.
This means if you’re planning two long days of activities, you’ll need to charge it in the evening of the first day for it to get you through the next.
That said, if you’re planning several days of hiking and don’t need the most accurate GPS data (you can’t view yourself on a live map, anyway) then there’s a low-power mode, which reduces the frequency of GPS and heart rate readings to get up to 60 hours of juice.
Buy if…
You want a watch that prioritises being a smartwatch alongside its duties as a sports watch.
Just bear in mind that it’s not one for multi-day excursions where you won’t have access to a charger on an evening, nor is it an accomplished navigational aid.
Facts at a glance: Apple Watch Ultra Review
Price: £849
Size: 49mm x 44mm
Thickness: 14.4mm
Weight: 61.3g
Display type: Always-On Retina LTPO OLED display
Display size: 49mm
Battery life: 36 hours normal use and 18 hours in full GPS mode
Barometer: Yes
Ready to buy?
Head to our full roundup of the best GPS watches for more model options and expert reviews.
