At a glance

Expert's Rating

Pros

• Huge long-lasting battery





• Robust design





• Satellite connection





• High blood pressure notifications

Cons

• Takes a while to charge fully

Our Verdict

It’s not cheap, but the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is worth Considering for its mighty battery alone. A good choice for outdoorsy Apple fans.

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$779.99

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Whereas the Apple Watch Ultra 2 offered very minimal upgrades two years ago, the Ultra 3 is a complete overhaul of Apple’s rugged outdoor smartwatch. In addition to the expected leap to a new chip, the manufacturer has given the device a longer-lasting battery and a bigger and better screen.

There is also new connectivity that could come in handy on wilderness hikes. In addition to the switch from LTE to 5G, the smartwatch can use satellite connections to contact emergency services or share your location with contacts.

So it’s not a minor update. But is it a worthwhile one? Read on to find out.

Apple Watch Ultra 3: Bigger and better display

If you place the Ultra 1 and Ultra 3 next to each other, you’l notice how thin the display edges have become. Apple says they’re 24 percent thinner, while the display area has increased by five percent.

Apple has also improved the screen technology. As a result, the contents of the display can be seen sharply and clearly even from unfavourable angles.

Last but not least, scratch resistance is excellent. I tried several times to scratch the screen with my keys, without success.

Apple Watch Ultra 3: The perfect hiking companion

I took the Ultra 3 on a three-day hike in the Steinernes Meer to see how it behaves under stressful conditions.

On the battery front, it lived up to Apple’s promises, lasting almost two days on a single charge. I fully charged it on Thursday evening and went to bed with it. On Friday, we started our multi-day tour in Schönau, and the watch recorded a six-hour hike; I had loaded it with offline maps of the area and used it as a satnav. On the second day, we had a long and strenuous hike lasting 11 hours, of which the watch recorded eight. I only put it on a power bank in my bag towards the end of the tour.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to make an emergency call on the tour, but the Ultra 3 indicated with its satellite icon that network coverage is almost non-existent in the high mountains. On the Ingolstädter Haus, you had to go as far as the cable car ascent to send a message; during the three days on the trail, mobile coverage was spotty at several locations. Having the satellite connection was a reassuring backup for emergencies.

On the negative side, the Ultra 3 with its dual-band GPS still had problems finding its exact location in certain locations, such as between two high mountain faces. During the ascent via the Saugasse to the Kärlinger Haus, the WorkOutDoors app reported several times that I had deviated from the route, even though this is practically impossible: a single path leads to the plateau, which is bordered on both sides by the Sigeretplatte and the Simetsberg. Nevertheless, you can clearly see from the recorded route that the Ultra 3 made several mistakes.

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Halyna Kubiv / Foundry

Despite these quibbles, the Ultra 3 is the perfect companion for multi-day hiking tours. The large battery easily lasts for two days, even if you navigate using the watch. And the new satellite antenna ensures a connection even in remote locations.

The only thing Apple still can’t do magically is GPS. The Ultra 3 sometimes loses its exact location in gullies and ravines, and hiking apps can falsely report that you have strayed from the route. With or without the Ultra 3, you still have to rely on your own senses and not rely entirely on digital assistance.

Apple Watch Ultra 3: Gold standard for heart-rate measurement

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 measures heart rate very accurately.

As a comparison reference device, I wore the Polar H10 chest strap during training sessions and synchronised the data with Apple Health. On my first attempt, I did two stretching sessions over the weekend. The two devices, Ultra 3 and Polar H10, show a correlation of 96.1 percent cumulatively across all workouts. This means that the values from the Apple Watch Ultra 3 correspond exactly to the values from the Polar H10 96.1 percent of the time. The latter is a gold standard in heart rate measurement and is even used in clinical studies</a