Apple Watch Goes Pro, I Mean Ultra
The Apple Watch Ultra hit retail shelves today. My order arrived after my morning run, so this is the first look at Apple's new smart watch with a stronger fitness focus.
When the Apple Watch first came out, the company showcased it as a smartwatch with several health focused features. In fitness, it came with the basics - GPS, heart rate monitoring, and a workout app to help track various workouts. As the years went by, we saw relatively minor enhancements which did make the device better, however it fell behind and other wearables like the ones from Garmin became much better options for people looking to track their fitness and workouts.
Personally, I love my Apple Watch, having bought the original model, upgrading to a Series 1, then a Series 4, and then the Series 6. However, half way through using the Series 4, I was convinced to try out a Garmin. That’s when I picked up a Garmin Forerunner 935 and never looked back. It just offered a superior run tracking features. It did lack some of the “smart” features of the Apple Watch, so my setup was to use the Apple device for every day wear, and the Garmin exclusively for running.
However, with the introduction of the Apple Watch Ultra, Apple addressed the features that got me to switch to a Garmin. For this reason, I’m giving them another try. There are three main features I’m really excited to try on my upcoming runs - improved GPS, precision start, and improved battery life.
Improved GPS
The AW Ultra now includes L1 and L5 GPS. This dual frequency chipset allows for better accuracy when running in cities. This technical talk doesn’t mean too much for me, but hopefully it results in better mapping in my next big city race. Taking my Garmin Forerunner 945 LTE through the streets of New York City proved a challenge for the watch, but it may be fun to see how this watch performs.
In addition to this, the AW Ultra’s upgraded GPS chipset no longer needs to piggy-back off an iPhone’s GPS signal. This was one of the shortcomings of previous generation watches and why I think I had less accuracy compared to my Garmin. By using the on-board GPS all the time, I’m hoping to see an upgrade on distance calculations and route maps.
Precision Start
It was silly for this feature to not be here since the first Apple Watch. With precision start enabled (its disabled by default), a workout will not begin until you tell it to. When it comes to running, this means you can establish a GPS lock and start you workout once that’s ready. Im my previous watches, I’ve found that the first few minutes of my run has a very wobbly route, likely due to the GPS signal not being locked on. After a few minutes, my routes start to look correct. Again, my first Garmin from 5 years ago had this feature and has been really helpful in getting that accuracy.
Increased Battery Life
This new watch now has an advertised battery life of 36 hours, double of the 18 hours rated of previous watches. This time can vary depending on use, but still doesn’t compare to the battery efficiencies of a Garmin or other running watch. My Garmin Forerunner 945 LTE easily lasted a week with my normal workout routine before needing to get recharged. So when comparing it to that standard, 36 hours is still terrible.
However, the truth is, I don’t need days or weeks of battery life. For me, the battery life only needs to last me long enough to finish a race. When I did my first marathon, I ran with my Apple Watch and was disappointed to see it die about 22 miles in. Granted, I ran a slow marathon finishing at 7+ hours (I hurt my ankle at about mile 20), your tracking device dying and losing your run is just disappointing. With the new 36 hour battery life, Im optimistic that I can trust this device for those longer runs.
Other Features
There’s definitely a bunch of other features and upgrades this watch has over its previous generations - a siren, new dive features, a larger and brighter screen. There’s plenty to talk about. However those three features, along with the WatchOS9 software updates, were big selling points for me to upgrade.
Garmin does still have more mature software and hardware, holding superiority for a running watch. Features like its running analytics, additional running dynamics, safety tracking, and more are not found on Apple’s devices. So for many runners, Garmin and other watches may still be preferred. However, for me, Apple has shown enough where I’m excited to give this a try. I really hope this is just the start of more updates and upgrades to come. After I get a few runs in with the device, I hope to share more thoughts about it, but for now, here’s a quick size comparison of the Garmin Forerunner 945 LTE, Apple Watch Ultra, Apple Watch Series 6, and an SD Card for scale. Thanks for reading!
