Getting Reacquainted with Apple watch Ultra
When Apple mailed me my proverbial goodie box of new iPhones for review back in September, the company included the also-new Apple Watch Series 11. As a Series 10 user, I initially was inclined not to open the Series 11 because I thought what I had was good enough. And it is, except I determined I really do like the new space gray finish on Series 11. In fact, I’ve been wearing it mainly for that reason over the last several weeks.
Last week, however, I was trying to clean the calamity known as my “office” in the dining room when I came across my original Apple Watch Ultra. It’d been a while since I last worn (and reviewed) it, and I was immediately struck by the bigness of its screen and by the niceness of its titanium build. The moment of admiration got me wondering if perhaps I should reconsider wearing the Ultra; after all, I figured, an Apple Watch’s screen is tiny relative to that of my iPhone Air, for instance, and it would be sensible to want the biggest version of the smallest display for accessibility’s sake. So, I charged the Ultra’s battery, repaired it with my phone—you can have multiple Apple Watches paired to your iPhone now—and upgraded its software to run the latest watchOS 26.
After all was said and done, I strapped the OG Ultra to my wrist for a few hours.
My initial impression was twofold: I was delighted by the aforementioned bigness of the Ultra’s screen while slightly aghast at the device’s heaviness on my wrist. As an Apple Watch’s screen is so small, it isn’t something I want to stare at for more than a minute or two; the Ultra’s 49mm case reminded me why I adored it—it is so easy to see the clock, complications, and notifications. By contrast, however, heavy is the wrist that wears Apple Watch Ultra. The Faustian bargain of using iPhone Plus/Pro Max models is just as apt here: you can have the big, beautiful screen, but you must incur the cost of using a relatively unwieldy object in return. Like I said about iPhone Air last month, what I found so endearing about Apple Watch Series 10 last year was its Goldilocks attributes; I can have a “good enough” screen size (46mm) in a form factor that’s considerably lighter—and less conspicuous—on my body. Put another way, it’s not that I can’t cope with the compromises of Apple Watch Ultra (or iPhone Pro Max) practically speaking. It’s more that Apple offers alternative models which helpfully give me the best of both worlds.
All that said, this brief dalliance with my old Ultra has me curious about the new one. I like the new Double Tap and wrist-flick gestures in watchOS, and the giant screen is undoubtedly alluring. What’s more, I am appreciative of the handsomeness of Apple Watch Ultra as a fashion piece—especially the black finish. I think it looks really nice.
We’ll see what the future holds, but as happy as I’ve been with my Series 10/11, I’m happy to have confronted my complacency and revisited the Ultra, even for just a little while.
