2 in Fitness Trackers
Apple - Watch Ultra 1
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Reddit Reviews:
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Based on 1 year's data from Feb 15, 2026 How it works
Liked most:
59
17
"Apple Watch never fails at counting laps"
"Shockingly accurate for distances"
"When I tried yesterday with the AW, it even counted some very bad simple turns correctly."
138
45
"I’m one of those people the Apple Watch sent to the doctors 6 years ago and I had heart surgery in August! So it technically saved my life!"
"it has even detected heart issue during my sleep that got fixed by surgery later on."
"my AW alerted me to heart irregularities that sent me to the ER and findings of a small heart attack and a secondary artery in my heart with 99% blockage. I am AW for life now."
57
121
"I use it for the same reasons and love it. ... I would not consider the regular Apple Watch because of battery life."
"the ultra 3s battery (especially with fast charge) is now good enough for most- certainly for my iron man and ultra endeavours."
"I ‘upgraded’ from an Apple Watch Series 8 after my winter cycling proved too much for the Series 8 and the battery life was simply insufficient for a 6 hour plus ride especially in the brutal cold."
104
10
"I unlock my computer and phone with it."
"the fact that they integrate to the Apple Watch simply cannot be understated for me, I couldn’t go back to Garmin now, it is just so much part of my life now. ... Tracking weightlifting workouts, nutrition and other stuff, analysis of the data, send messages to HomePod, changing NC automatically, sending emails …."
"it's awesome to have everything perfectly working with my iPhone, being able to reply to messages. Having everything in sync. ... small things like it being in sync with your Focus. So when my phone is set to sleep, the apple watch goes dark (optional) and gets your ready for bed. ... the reminders app being able to be displayed on a watch face, and I can see how many reminders I have left on my iPhone. ... being able to remote start my car from the watch."
163
9
"I unlock my computer and phone with it."
"the fact that they integrate to the Apple Watch simply cannot be understated for me, I couldn’t go back to Garmin now, it is just so much part of my life now. ... Tracking weightlifting workouts, nutrition and other stuff, analysis of the data, send messages to HomePod, changing NC automatically, sending emails …."
"Paying for public transport is way more convenient with an Apple Watch."
Disliked most:
19
42
"Apple Watch will count a mid-lap stroke change (as you described) as two laps very reliably. ... For example: if you do 100IM in a 50m pool, it will appear as 200m IM in the Fitness app. ... So if you are really serious about loving mid-lap stroke changes I wouldn't use it."
"My Apple Watch is terribly inaccurate. ... Misses laps and seems to only count part of a lap at times which in a pool is odd. ... I’m a former college swimmer and from talking to others who are efficient and take few strokes per lap it seems to be off as well for them"
"Apple Watch is hot garbage for swimming indoors. ... It’s like they designed a swim profile without ever consulting people who actually swim."
1
107
"It misses key info and HR was clearly elevated compared to baseline even on the Ultra, but it doesn't count that. So a night of drinking and shit sleep, still give you a 95 score! ... But the vitals aren’t accounted by the sleep score as far as I can tell and my HR was higher though not abnormally high by Apple Watch standard but this could be because of sampling it does compared to the Garmin ... both HR and RR were elevated but not enough for Apple to flag but the sleep score doesn’t include those metrics, which I really think they should. ... The sleep scores doesn’t take into account vitals."
"its actually pretty wild how much apple watch will overstate your calories burned, even after a clean on the sensor ... some workouts where the whoop tells me i burned 600 calories, watch tells me i did 900 calories. ... That is a significant difference, especially when you are trying to plan out nutrition goals/fitness goals. ... sometimes when i'm doing a light lift, apple watch will tell me i'm burning 300 - 400 calories, and I'm barley breaking a sweat, but then whoop will say i only burned around 120-150 calories during that session ... to me something just seems suspiciously off with how apple calculates BMR. ... In general if you are looking to lose weight/build fitness, a more conservative approach to what whoop is offering me probably makes more sense."
"If you’re healthy and looking to improve your fitness, performance, or recovery, the Apple Watch probably isn’t the best tool. ... limited in terms of true fitness insights."
20
54
"one day I only got 3 1/2 hours of sleep and I got a 95 sleep score on Apple lol the Garmin was correct in telling me I got shit sleep."
"my sleep was very fragmented which the Apple Watch didn’t pick up. ... The difference is the garmin should a lot of awakenings which is what I really had. This is the effect of alcohol being metabolized."
"Better than my Apple Watch Ultra by a mile."
25
124
"The battery life is a literal joke. ... Do an activity? There goes 75% of your battery."
"Mine kept dieing one me mid run ... after two years of using it twice hours was about all an aw had battery for when using music and gps! By the 2:15 mark it would be dead. ... When I started running for longer than 2 hrs my battery would die mid run"
"If you’re tracking a multi day hike, or plan on being in the wilderness more than 2 days, the watch is useless to carry with you. ... satellite doesn’t help if your battery is dead"
0
24
"If you are in long sleeves in the rain, you need to lock the touchscreen to prevent accidental touches. But that prevents you from using the touchscreen without holding to unlock for a few seconds. So if you are doing intervals, it can be hard to end the interval quickly."
"i tried the apple watch ultra for diving, it’s ok but you can’t use it at all once in the water ... Not to mention i can use it with gloves etc etc."
"The biggest issue for me on the AW that stops me going only AW is Sweat. ... The screen becomes impossible to use when I hot and sweaty. I mean completely unresponsive. Can’t press the music controls, can swipe the screen etc."
1-2Midnight 1.0I’m using a awu 1 and a tactix 8 for work
303onrepeat 1.0> Satellite SOS are pretty big sellers for me. This is what I want it for. I drive in a lot of areas where cellphone service does not exist and I need the ability to contact someone if shit goes down. Got the U1 now but I am moving to the U3 because of this.
75Meatbags 1.0From the Ultra 2? Hard to say. I have an Ultra 1 and am thinking about it. But it's not an immediate thing, and if i get a decent trade in value, that will help the decision too.
AJA27 1.0Unfortunely it’s not really accurate enough to actually look for trends. It frequently measures 95% which could be a sign of medical emergency when nothing is wrong. I have an Ultra 1 but if this is your number one reason to get one, then please don’t. Just get a simple blood oxygen sensor for your fingertips which has medical grade accuracy. Ofc I’m no one to tell you what to spend your money on but I would not buy an ultra again, especially not for the blood oxygen sensor. Just waaay too expensive.
anethma 1.0I used to get 2 days when my ultra 1 was new but I’m almost down to 80% battery and now it will die half way through day 2. So I charge it daily.
brianlefebvrejr 1.0I agree. I’m still rocking the AU1. Just had it replaced at the beginning of the year under apple care, just before the extended warranty ran out. Replacement is at 96% and I was able to subscribe to monthly Apple care, no idea how long that lasts but at least I’ll get another 2 years out of it. Maybe the 4 or 5 will be worth an upgrade
Brooks823 1.0I ordered one today to replace my AWU 1. I’ll be using it for swimming, running, and the gym.
bugdelver 1.0Get the ultra. It goes 3 days on a charge and can control your Apple TVs in the house, Bluetooth speakers playing Apple Music, etc. also it allows you to get a good band that is sweat/mud/water proof. I ride 5-6000 miles annually, getting my ultra watch covered in mud, rain, sweat, etc. Is it the best thing if you need data from a power meter? No. Does the watch allow for tracking via Strava, allow you to turn your wrist up to see your hr/distance rode/avg speed quickly? Yes. Will you move onto a bike computer if you get really into cycling eventually? Almost definitely… My Apple Watch Ultra 1 has been going strong for 3 years (month of launch) and still holds 2 days of battery life at a time. The number one issue with Apple Watches is them not holding a charge -Apple figured out that issue… they just keep it behind a (ultra) paywall.
cal_jammer 1.0I’m not super excited about the ultra 3. But i ordered it and still got $250 trade in for my Ultra 1 I’ve had since launch. I may cancel my order and go Garmin. Apples formula is growing tired.
CasablancaDriver 1.0It’s not a big upgrade if you already own one but the bigger battery life of the Ultra 3 is hard to pass if it’s your first. My Ultra 1 day one is aging so bad in that regard. The longer the better.
Also surprised. I used an Enduro 3 all summer, pretty good watch by the way and last gen OHR sensor from Garmin, and the results vs my AWU1 were bad. A lot of cadence lock for example. It was not bad all the time but it was much less reliable than my Ultra gen 1. Then again those kind of results are also very dependent of the user physical profil so I guess it’s hard to make some generality. And I use also an external arm band when I train so…
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