The Ultimate Apple Watch Experience: A Personal Review of the Ultra Edition

As I held my Apple Watch Ultra for the first time, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and anticipation. With its sleek design, advanced features, and impressive build quality, this watch is truly one of the finest pieces of tech that I currently own. One of the things that immediately stood out to me was the rounded edges of the display, which made it incredibly easy to tap on the buttons. In my opinion, this feature alone makes a huge difference in terms of usability and user experience.

I've found that the flat face of the display is also a major plus, allowing for effortless navigation and interaction with the watch's various features. Whether I'm scrolling through notifications or adjusting the settings, everything feels smooth and intuitive. The combination of these two design elements has made it so easy to use this watch that I feel like I can perform just about any task without breaking a sweat.

But what really sets the Apple Watch Ultra apart is its construction quality. This watch is built like a tank, with a brushed middle case that's both durable and stylish. The glass screen has held up beautifully, even after being subjected to rough handling on multiple occasions. I've had my fair share of accidental drops over the years, but this watch has never shown any signs of damage. In fact, it still looks and feels like new, even after all that time.

One feature that I've particularly come to appreciate is the secondary action button on the right side of the watch. This button allows me to customize certain features, such as the notification toggle or the workout tracking options. While I haven't been able to fully take advantage of this feature just yet (I'm still waiting for an update that adds a pizza delivery integration – yes, really!), I love the idea behind it and appreciate the attention to detail that went into its design.

Another aspect of the Apple Watch Ultra that's won me over is its cellular functionality. Gone are the days of needing my iPhone to stay connected; with this watch, I can leave my phone behind and still receive notifications, make calls, and check email on the go. This has been a game-changer for me, especially when it comes to things like soccer practice or work meetings. Of course, there's always the caveat that I do need an iPhone to set up or change settings on the watch, but in my experience, this is more of a minor hassle than anything else.

Perhaps the most significant advantage of the Apple Watch Ultra over its competitors is its independence from my iPhone. This isn't just a minor feature – it's a total shift in the way I interact with technology. With this watch, I can take phone calls, check and respond to text messages, and even access certain apps (although, as I mentioned earlier, there are still some limitations). It's amazing how seamlessly integrated everything feels, making it easy for me to transition between my phone and my watch.

One thing that might be worth noting is the occasional criticism that Apple watches can't always be completely independent from our iPhones. While this is technically true, I've found that this watch comes closest to achieving just that in the entire lineup. With its advanced features, sleek design, and reliable build quality, it's clear that Apple has put a huge amount of thought into creating an all-in-one device that truly feels like a separate entity from my phone.

Overall, I've been thoroughly impressed with the Apple Watch Ultra, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone in the market for a new smartwatch. Of course, if you're just looking for a basic fitness tracker or a stylish accessory, there are plenty of other options available that might be more suited to your needs. But if you want a top-of-the-line watch that can keep up with your active lifestyle and provide seamless integration with your iPhone, the Ultra Edition is the clear winner in my book.

As I continued to use the Apple Watch Ultra over the past month, I couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction and delight. Whether I was running errands, checking email, or taking phone calls, this watch performed flawlessly and made it easy for me to stay connected on the go. And while there are still some minor drawbacks to owning an Apple watch (such as the need for an iPhone to set up or change settings), these have been far outweighed by the benefits of using this device.

If you're considering purchasing the Apple Watch Ultra, I'd say go for it – it's worth every penny. With its advanced features, sleek design, and impressive build quality, this watch is truly one of the best experiences that money can buy. And if you do decide to take the plunge, be sure to check out our unboxing video to see exactly what comes in the box.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enoh the Apple watch Ultra both the most expensive base model and the physically biggest apple watch currently on the market but why after a month of use is it my favorite Apple watch ever made let's find out and while we're finding out I'd like to thank today's sponsor Squarespace the Apple watch Ultra is almost a direct turnaround from the normal Apple watches they are normally small svelt unassuming gadgets that fit a lot of tech into just the tiniest amount of space the ultra on the other hand is pretty up there as far as smart watch size goes and it's really close to as big as my old Casio Pathfinder but it makes a lot of really smart design decisions and it fits even more Tech under the hood than the standard Apple watch and while yes it's more expensive I think it's absolutely worth it seriously I like this watch so much this video almost turned into a you should buy video but it's hard to tell somebody to buy an 800 piece of flair from the one week later video to today nothing major has occurred software Hardware or firmware wise for the Apple watch Ultra so we'll be refining opinions today instead of breaking whole new ground or blowing your mind with something that just stopped working on my watch and I do think there is a lot of value in confirming initial Impressions and it gives a sense of a video that it's not just a flash in the pan but actually good or bad things that continue to get worse or better over a longer period of time so let's start off with the negatives because minus the price I only have one negative that's continued through from initial to follow-up to long-term video the Alpine Loop watch band is literally my least favorite watch band that I've ever worn I'm talking worse than chintzy old metal bands that will sometimes pinch your wrists I'm talking worse than big cheap plastic ones you know the ones that strangle your skin and cause your wrist to sweat all day because it just won't let your skin breathe it's just bad and okay I know a lot I was hyperbole for YouTube it's bad for me maybe there is somebody out there maybe you specifically that loves this thing but this Loop does two things really wrong for me one with its sizing it's either too tight or too loose yes watch fit is a totally personal thing but where and how I wear my watch specifically I cannot get this to comfortably rest on my wrist rest on my wrist try saying that five times fast so I have to pick for this specific moment and whatever I'm doing do I want it to dangle a little bit or do I want it to be overly tight and uncomfortable but I need the sensors to work properly now I did buy and am waiting for my Trail Loop to come in it's like a month out even a month later but with its hook and pile Fastener yes I didn't use the brand name for that it should have a lot more adjustability for me to fit my watch properly the second thing the Alpine Loop does that drives me crazy is hooking the loop to where the watch it's just awkward to try and loop this hook into the fabric even to wear the watch the end of this hook gets caught often making it fumbly to get the watch on and I find that the hook will also catch on the way out making it harder to get the watch off I understand that part of the Allure of the Alpine band is that it won't come off when you are out mountaineering so I'm not exactly the Target demographic here but I think even Mountaineers can get frustrated by a watch that doesn't go on or come off properly if I were to buy this again today I would absolutely only consider the Trail Loop Edition or if I couldn't get one of those because they apparently came out after the rest of the watch came out I would go for the dive band over going for the Alpine Loop yes I could also complain about the price but as far as expensive watches go or even regular extreme fitness trackers this is either on the moderate or even the cheap side other dive watches and Other Extreme long duration cardio options exist and they cost far more than the ultra so if you are a regular person looking for a watch it's expensive and I don't know that I would recommend it but if you are an elite athlete looking for a tool then I would say it's not that bad of a deal thanks to today's sponsor Squarespace you can create your own very beautiful website Squarespace is the all-in-one platform to build a professional website online store or portfolio it's easy to claim a domain slash URL create a custom site that matches your style and bring your ideas to life head on over to squarespace.com for a free trial and when you're ready to launch head over to squarespace.com everyday dad to save 10 off your first purchase of a website or domain so let's continue on to the things that I've continued or discovered a new passion for with the Apple watch Ultra one month later easily the thing I've liked most since we talked about this a few weeks ago is the battery life it's the best I've ever seen on an Apple Watch and I don't mean it's a little bit better I mean it's a whole hecking lot better I've gone several days without charging this thing and I used to never be able to get away with that on any other Apple watch that I've ever owned and I've owned a couple of them Apple says you can get 36 hours of life from this darn thing that's remarkable seriously remarkable think about it computers phones and other devices can't last even half as long as that and they've got batteries five and six times the physical size of this watch Apple's been able to create a very powerful CPU that fits into such a small place but that CPU is also so so efficient that it can run the watch for a day and a half of constant use I don't know how to say that they've achieved that other than saying that it's probably magic but if that doesn't impress you I don't know what else would Plus in the coming months they will release low power mode which will turn off some of the persistent features to give 60 hours of life that's not too shabby and I can appreciate that even if I'm not a hardware developer I'm an integrator or a software developer so Hardware yes it doesn't really compete with my other watches that have literal years of battery life but this has so much Tech and it has so many features that it can do practically speaking I never worry if my watch is charged for my series three through eight I would always have to make sure to put it on the charger before bed or I risk having a dead watch when I want to go run but in the past month I've only really put the ultra on the charger when I stopped to think about it it hasn't been all that often and that's what I like about my tech I like thinking about using it or maintaining it to just fade into the background and I I like being able to use my gear as a natural extension of my needs the Apple watch Ultra is the best watch so far that does that next up is the screen it also continues to impress me every time I see it no kidding sometimes I'll just be sitting at my desk and I will turn the screen on and move the icons around because of how nice this is to look at yes it's a big watch and that pretty much means it'll also have a big display but it's like watch OS was always waiting around to have this much screen real estate to work with because it's hard for me to go back and try to use my series 8 or Series 7 and that is specifically why there hasn't been a follow-up series 8 video I just don't want to use it when I've got this in hand the icons are perfectly sized in Space the brightness is amazing even when I'm out running I can see everything I want to either track or if I want to change a song or open an app everything is just the easiest to interact with this just handles incredibly well and in combination with the size of the display the flatness of it really works for me when trying to tap on those buttons now maybe it is always in my head because I'm not sure that I could mathematically prove that the rounded edges of the other watch models are harder to tap and maybe this is me just internally trying to justify the expense of the watch subconsciously but I do find that it's straight up easier to use this because of the flat face of the display continuing on from there something else I've absolutely loved is the overall construction of the watch this is without a doubt one of the finest pieces of tech that I currently own that might not be saying much because I generally don't buy very extravagant accessories but everything about the build quality here is Top Notch the brushed middle case has held up to a few tumbles the glass of the screen spends most of its time face down on a table or in a desk as I'm typing and I still haven't seen a single mark on it the dial and the buttons are the nicest to press of any Apple watch I've ever seen sometimes side tangent because I'm a runner the wheel gets really gross after a few runs and I have to regularly clean it or it gets all gummed up but thus far I haven't cleaned this at all and the wheel is still has totally smooth action I love that it's got a secondary action button that you can customize however you wish within reason within reason I still haven't been able to customize this so that it's a one-touch pizza delivery tool but I'm sure somebody out there could I hit the button and start my workout and even the small friction of my tech life is just smoothed out effortlessly I love it something else that I like but it's more of a minor addition is that I've really continued to like this comes included with cellular functionality you don't have a lower end Ultra and an even more Ultra watch with a hundred dollar surcharge on there maybe this isn't a big deal for you if you only get the GPS variants but since my Series 5 I've always gone with the cellular and I'm not sure that I could go back to the old ways it's just so much more convenient of a device that you can leave your phone behind because you've got your phone with you on your wrist yes a negative of all Apple watches is that you can't ever totally drop the iPhone you do need an iPhone to set it up or change stuff on your watch but this is the closest thus far that we've come to having a watch totally independent of our iPhone there are a ton of times now that I just don't bring my iPhone with me soccer practice running work meetings Etc all of that is now on my watch unless you really want to be able to check email efficiently or watch a video everything else or at least everything else for me can be comfortably done from this Apple watch Ultra and that's its own thing that I've really continued to like I take phone calls on this all the time I check and respond to text messages almost as fast as I do with my phone it's not that far of a stretch to say that this is an all-in-one device man maybe maybe we should do a video about foregoing the iPhone altogether and spending a week only using the Apple watch and I just really continue to like all of the other Apple watch functionality on display here it's really nice to be able to have an all-in-one watch where before I switched to Apple watches I would need a fitness tracker a swimming tracker a nice watch to wear for work a watch to wear around the house and just getting all of that combined into one I think is personally worth the price of admission and the ultra is the best overall watch experience that I've yet had with this lineup and that's pretty impressive because I've really enjoyed all of my time with apple watches so far in the past the fact that they can keep impressing me and keep me coming back and buying more because it's got legitimate upgrades in it that's a good line to me so yes a month later I continued to really like the Apple watch Ultra would I recommend one well that's a little tougher because it works for me but if you just want a nice Smart Watch I'd probably recommend a series 7 or one of the new watch SES you get most of the same functionality but for like half or less than half of the price but if you need a big rugged durable watch yes I have absolutely no problems recommending the ultra and if you like this video and you want to see what comes in the box with the ultra click here to watch the unboxing video click click click click click click click thanks for watchingoh the Apple watch Ultra both the most expensive base model and the physically biggest apple watch currently on the market but why after a month of use is it my favorite Apple watch ever made let's find out and while we're finding out I'd like to thank today's sponsor Squarespace the Apple watch Ultra is almost a direct turnaround from the normal Apple watches they are normally small svelt unassuming gadgets that fit a lot of tech into just the tiniest amount of space the ultra on the other hand is pretty up there as far as smart watch size goes and it's really close to as big as my old Casio Pathfinder but it makes a lot of really smart design decisions and it fits even more Tech under the hood than the standard Apple watch and while yes it's more expensive I think it's absolutely worth it seriously I like this watch so much this video almost turned into a you should buy video but it's hard to tell somebody to buy an 800 piece of flair from the one week later video to today nothing major has occurred software Hardware or firmware wise for the Apple watch Ultra so we'll be refining opinions today instead of breaking whole new ground or blowing your mind with something that just stopped working on my watch and I do think there is a lot of value in confirming initial Impressions and it gives a sense of a video that it's not just a flash in the pan but actually good or bad things that continue to get worse or better over a longer period of time so let's start off with the negatives because minus the price I only have one negative that's continued through from initial to follow-up to long-term video the Alpine Loop watch band is literally my least favorite watch band that I've ever worn I'm talking worse than chintzy old metal bands that will sometimes pinch your wrists I'm talking worse than big cheap plastic ones you know the ones that strangle your skin and cause your wrist to sweat all day because it just won't let your skin breathe it's just bad and okay I know a lot I was hyperbole for YouTube it's bad for me maybe there is somebody out there maybe you specifically that loves this thing but this Loop does two things really wrong for me one with its sizing it's either too tight or too loose yes watch fit is a totally personal thing but where and how I wear my watch specifically I cannot get this to comfortably rest on my wrist rest on my wrist try saying that five times fast so I have to pick for this specific moment and whatever I'm doing do I want it to dangle a little bit or do I want it to be overly tight and uncomfortable but I need the sensors to work properly now I did buy and am waiting for my Trail Loop to come in it's like a month out even a month later but with its hook and pile Fastener yes I didn't use the brand name for that it should have a lot more adjustability for me to fit my watch properly the second thing the Alpine Loop does that drives me crazy is hooking the loop to where the watch it's just awkward to try and loop this hook into the fabric even to wear the watch the end of this hook gets caught often making it fumbly to get the watch on and I find that the hook will also catch on the way out making it harder to get the watch off I understand that part of the Allure of the Alpine band is that it won't come off when you are out mountaineering so I'm not exactly the Target demographic here but I think even Mountaineers can get frustrated by a watch that doesn't go on or come off properly if I were to buy this again today I would absolutely only consider the Trail Loop Edition or if I couldn't get one of those because they apparently came out after the rest of the watch came out I would go for the dive band over going for the Alpine Loop yes I could also complain about the price but as far as expensive watches go or even regular extreme fitness trackers this is either on the moderate or even the cheap side other dive watches and Other Extreme long duration cardio options exist and they cost far more than the ultra so if you are a regular person looking for a watch it's expensive and I don't know that I would recommend it but if you are an elite athlete looking for a tool then I would say it's not that bad of a deal thanks to today's sponsor Squarespace you can create your own very beautiful website Squarespace is the all-in-one platform to build a professional website online store or portfolio it's easy to claim a domain slash URL create a custom site that matches your style and bring your ideas to life head on over to squarespace.com for a free trial and when you're ready to launch head over to squarespace.com everyday dad to save 10 off your first purchase of a website or domain so let's continue on to the things that I've continued or discovered a new passion for with the Apple watch Ultra one month later easily the thing I've liked most since we talked about this a few weeks ago is the battery life it's the best I've ever seen on an Apple Watch and I don't mean it's a little bit better I mean it's a whole hecking lot better I've gone several days without charging this thing and I used to never be able to get away with that on any other Apple watch that I've ever owned and I've owned a couple of them Apple says you can get 36 hours of life from this darn thing that's remarkable seriously remarkable think about it computers phones and other devices can't last even half as long as that and they've got batteries five and six times the physical size of this watch Apple's been able to create a very powerful CPU that fits into such a small place but that CPU is also so so efficient that it can run the watch for a day and a half of constant use I don't know how to say that they've achieved that other than saying that it's probably magic but if that doesn't impress you I don't know what else would Plus in the coming months they will release low power mode which will turn off some of the persistent features to give 60 hours of life that's not too shabby and I can appreciate that even if I'm not a hardware developer I'm an integrator or a software developer so Hardware yes it doesn't really compete with my other watches that have literal years of battery life but this has so much Tech and it has so many features that it can do practically speaking I never worry if my watch is charged for my series three through eight I would always have to make sure to put it on the charger before bed or I risk having a dead watch when I want to go run but in the past month I've only really put the ultra on the charger when I stopped to think about it it hasn't been all that often and that's what I like about my tech I like thinking about using it or maintaining it to just fade into the background and I I like being able to use my gear as a natural extension of my needs the Apple watch Ultra is the best watch so far that does that next up is the screen it also continues to impress me every time I see it no kidding sometimes I'll just be sitting at my desk and I will turn the screen on and move the icons around because of how nice this is to look at yes it's a big watch and that pretty much means it'll also have a big display but it's like watch OS was always waiting around to have this much screen real estate to work with because it's hard for me to go back and try to use my series 8 or Series 7 and that is specifically why there hasn't been a follow-up series 8 video I just don't want to use it when I've got this in hand the icons are perfectly sized in Space the brightness is amazing even when I'm out running I can see everything I want to either track or if I want to change a song or open an app everything is just the easiest to interact with this just handles incredibly well and in combination with the size of the display the flatness of it really works for me when trying to tap on those buttons now maybe it is always in my head because I'm not sure that I could mathematically prove that the rounded edges of the other watch models are harder to tap and maybe this is me just internally trying to justify the expense of the watch subconsciously but I do find that it's straight up easier to use this because of the flat face of the display continuing on from there something else I've absolutely loved is the overall construction of the watch this is without a doubt one of the finest pieces of tech that I currently own that might not be saying much because I generally don't buy very extravagant accessories but everything about the build quality here is Top Notch the brushed middle case has held up to a few tumbles the glass of the screen spends most of its time face down on a table or in a desk as I'm typing and I still haven't seen a single mark on it the dial and the buttons are the nicest to press of any Apple watch I've ever seen sometimes side tangent because I'm a runner the wheel gets really gross after a few runs and I have to regularly clean it or it gets all gummed up but thus far I haven't cleaned this at all and the wheel is still has totally smooth action I love that it's got a secondary action button that you can customize however you wish within reason within reason I still haven't been able to customize this so that it's a one-touch pizza delivery tool but I'm sure somebody out there could I hit the button and start my workout and even the small friction of my tech life is just smoothed out effortlessly I love it something else that I like but it's more of a minor addition is that I've really continued to like this comes included with cellular functionality you don't have a lower end Ultra and an even more Ultra watch with a hundred dollar surcharge on there maybe this isn't a big deal for you if you only get the GPS variants but since my Series 5 I've always gone with the cellular and I'm not sure that I could go back to the old ways it's just so much more convenient of a device that you can leave your phone behind because you've got your phone with you on your wrist yes a negative of all Apple watches is that you can't ever totally drop the iPhone you do need an iPhone to set it up or change stuff on your watch but this is the closest thus far that we've come to having a watch totally independent of our iPhone there are a ton of times now that I just don't bring my iPhone with me soccer practice running work meetings Etc all of that is now on my watch unless you really want to be able to check email efficiently or watch a video everything else or at least everything else for me can be comfortably done from this Apple watch Ultra and that's its own thing that I've really continued to like I take phone calls on this all the time I check and respond to text messages almost as fast as I do with my phone it's not that far of a stretch to say that this is an all-in-one device man maybe maybe we should do a video about foregoing the iPhone altogether and spending a week only using the Apple watch and I just really continue to like all of the other Apple watch functionality on display here it's really nice to be able to have an all-in-one watch where before I switched to Apple watches I would need a fitness tracker a swimming tracker a nice watch to wear for work a watch to wear around the house and just getting all of that combined into one I think is personally worth the price of admission and the ultra is the best overall watch experience that I've yet had with this lineup and that's pretty impressive because I've really enjoyed all of my time with apple watches so far in the past the fact that they can keep impressing me and keep me coming back and buying more because it's got legitimate upgrades in it that's a good line to me so yes a month later I continued to really like the Apple watch Ultra would I recommend one well that's a little tougher because it works for me but if you just want a nice Smart Watch I'd probably recommend a series 7 or one of the new watch SES you get most of the same functionality but for like half or less than half of the price but if you need a big rugged durable watch yes I have absolutely no problems recommending the ultra and if you like this video and you want to see what comes in the box with the ultra click here to watch the unboxing video click click click click click click click thanks for watching\n"