If you’re thinking about buying an Apple Watch Ultra DON’T DO IT. This is by far the worst Apple Watch ever made by Apple.
For starters, it’s downright ugly as delivered from Apple. The titanium finish looks like the cheaper aluminum watches. And the hideous orange accents on the Actio Button and crown only make it look worse. There is one color that I almost never wear and that’s orange. I don’t want to see it on my Apple Watch. Sure, nobody else is ever going to notice, but the problem is that every time I look at the time I notice. And that’s all that matters.
I was able to make lemonade out of lemons by spending countless hours polishing that Titanium finish until it had a mirror like finish similar to the other stainless steel Apple watches. And I used my Dremel to rub out the orange color on the action button. Let me tell you, Titanium is a very hard metal. It was not easy.
I couldn’t get the orange off of the crown though because it’s in a recessed groove. But now, after refinishing the watch, the best thing about my Ultra is the appearance. No thanks to Apple.
My biggest gripe by far about the Ultra though is the crown. It’s just not very usable compared to the earlier watches. Part of the problem is the humongous crown guard around it. That means you can only turn the crown from the top. And guess what happens when you press down on the top? You guessed it, it rubs against your skin. Which makes it difficult to turn. Gone are the days of effortlessly scrolling with the crown like on the Series 7. I sometimes have to lift the watch with my thumb in order to turn the crown.
At this point someone might ask “Why do you wear your Ultra so tight that the crown rubs against your skin”. Ah! Glad you asked! That would be because the Ultra is so freakin’ heavy it flops around a lot more than the older watches. To compensate for that extra movement, I tend to wear the watch a little more snug. But yeah, that results in the crown becoming almost unusable. You can’t have everything I guess.
Last is the Action Button. It triggers way too many accidental pushes. Why? Because that darned crown is not only hard to turn but it’s also hard to push. Yes, I’m back to griping about that darned crown guard. It makes it harder to do push the crown by feel alone. So you naturally want to squeeze the watch with opposing fingers. And guess where your thumb wants to push? Yeah, on the lower left side where the action button sits. <<< sigh >>>
I still think that the idea of the action button is sublime. I like pressing it to quickly get to my stop watch without having to do any extra taps. However, the button idea isn’t working. You know what would be even better? A ForceTouch ANYWHERE on the screen. Not only would it be way easier but it would never accidentally happen. It would be easier because the screen is about 10x larger than the action button.
The ONLY reason I could see for getting this large clunky watch is for the battery life. Which is pretty good and the only reason I’ve kept the watch. I’m a heavy duty watch user. I’m doing 3 workouts a day and Bluetooth streaming music and podcasts all from my Apple Watch. I work from home so I don’t even know where my iPhone is half the day. My Apple Watch is my main workhorse during most of the day. My Series 7 was regularly getting down to 5 – 10% battery life by the end of my day if not outright dying. But not my Ultra, it’s usually still above 50% at bed time. That’s a huge improvement.
So if you don’t need the battery life steer clear of the Apple Watch Ultra. The Series 8 Apple Watch is a much more useable watch. It’s lighter, more attractive, easier to use the crown, and doesn’t suffer from accidental pushes of the Action Button.
I was able to make lemonade out of lemons by spending countless hours polishing that Titanium finish until it had a mirror like finish similar to the other stainless steel Apple watches. And I used my Dremel to rub out the orange color on the action button. Let me tell you, Titanium is a very hard metal. It was not easy.
I couldn’t get the orange off of the crown though because it’s in a recessed groove. But now, after refinishing the watch, the best thing about my Ultra is the appearance. No thanks to Apple.
My biggest gripe by far about the Ultra though is the crown. It’s just not very usable compared to the earlier watches. Part of the problem is the humongous crown guard around it. That means you can only turn the crown from the top. And guess what happens when you press down on the top? You guessed it, it rubs against your skin. Which makes it difficult to turn. Gone are the days of effortlessly scrolling with the crown like on the Series 7. I sometimes have to lift the watch with my thumb in order to turn the crown.
At this point someone might ask “Why do you wear your Ultra so tight that the crown rubs against your skin”. Ah! Glad you asked! That would be because the Ultra is so freakin’ heavy it flops around a lot more than the older watches. To compensate for that extra movement, I tend to wear the watch a little more snug. But yeah, that results in the crown becoming almost unusable. You can’t have everything I guess.
Last is the Action Button. It triggers way too many accidental pushes. Why? Because that darned crown is not only hard to turn but it’s also hard to push. Yes, I’m back to griping about that darned crown guard. It makes it harder to do push the crown by feel alone. So you naturally want to squeeze the watch with opposing fingers. And guess where your thumb wants to push? Yeah, on the lower left side where the action button sits. <<< sigh >>>
I still think that the idea of the action button is sublime. I like pressing it to quickly get to my stop watch without having to do any extra taps. However, the button idea isn’t working. You know what would be even better? A ForceTouch ANYWHERE on the screen. Not only would it be way easier but it would never accidentally happen. It would be easier because the screen is about 10x larger than the action button.
The ONLY reason I could see for getting this large clunky watch is for the battery life. Which is pretty good and the only reason I’ve kept the watch. I’m a heavy duty watch user. I’m doing 3 workouts a day and Bluetooth streaming music and podcasts all from my Apple Watch. I work from home so I don’t even know where my iPhone is half the day. My Apple Watch is my main workhorse during most of the day. My Series 7 was regularly getting down to 5 – 10% battery life by the end of my day if not outright dying. But not my Ultra, it’s usually still above 50% at bed time. That’s a huge improvement.
So if you don’t need the battery life steer clear of the Apple Watch Ultra. The Series 8 Apple Watch is a much more useable watch. It’s lighter, more attractive, easier to use the crown, and doesn’t suffer from accidental pushes of the Action Button.
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