This video is sponsored by Squarespace
Yes the Apple Watch Ultra could be priced better and…
I actually found a couple of issues with this watch that is making a bit nervous right now…
And if you are more of a Garmin user who may be toying with the idea of getting this watch,
I have some interesting thoughts for you.
But honestly for me, it’s already been worth every penny.
I am Alex and I do down to earth tech videos
And I do not climb mountains or do scuba diving.
So if you’re looking for a scuba diving test, I am sorry but I am just a regular dad
here having fun with my gadgets.
I know Apple targeted this at elite athletes but… they knew damn well what they were
doing to people like me… who love a new gadget!
By making it almost unattainable made me want it even more, which I am sure was their marketing
strategy.
Yeah I totally fell for that.
But unlike other products in recent times, I do not regret buying this, one single bit.
It’s not perfect though, there are some issues that I have to share with you, but
after 4 months, it’s been an interesting journey.
And I’m not gonna lie, I was VERY apprehensive buying this.
The Apple Watch Ultra is big watch, my wrist is JUST about on the medium size at 19 cm
but when I first tested and started to use it, it didn’t make me feel like it was too
big.
Now that I’ve been using this watch every single day since September last yer, I found
there are a couple of software issues that not many people talk about.
But before we go into that, let’s just appreciate a few seconds here of this beautiful design…
This large Saphire display takes this watch to a whole new level.
Not only is it amazing against scratches, the sheer size of the display makes the Apple
Watch apps so much more useful now.
I am not just saying this to justify that large (quote on quote) investment I made.
But it seriously brings the Watch apps to life… in a way that really surprised me.
I’ve used the Apple Watch for many years but really, didn’t use many of the apps
because they were kinda too small to be useful and quite fiddly to use.
So my Series 5 which is what I had previously, was mainly being used to tell the time, track
my exercise and a notifications device.
Especially if you have sausage fingers like me, the smaller Apple Watch is quite fiddly
to use.
With the Ultra this is completely different, typing on it would still be a push…
Though I found a neat little app that gives you a full keyboard instead of the tiny one
from apple.
But let’s not get over excited here…it kinda gets you out of jail, it’;s not something
that will replace your phone.
But the apps in general are much better to use now, Watch apps like Spotify, Shazam,
Carrot Weather, City Mapper are just much easier to use.
If you are interested in exercising apps or… you are a Garmin user who may be considering
this watch I have some great news for you but before that…let’s talk about using
this watch as a phone.
One of the things that I was really impressed by this watch was the call quality.
can you double check that copy I sent you and upload it to the website?
Yes sure - will do it straight away.
Great thank you.
I was also thinking…
Can you change the look and feel of that page, to align with our product a bit more?
Sure thing.
It’s gonna take a few days to get ready right?
Days?
No!
It will be ready in the next 5-10 minutes!
Oh right, how?
Well, I use Squarespace for my website, it will update very quickly.
Take a look at this link I just sent you.
Oh I’ve been looking for something like this for my own website!
Wow this looks very professional!
Oh you’re in for a treat!
With Squarespace, you can pick from all these different templates as well!
You want to advertise your social media business and sell your services?
No problem.
They’re super easy to use, you don’t need to be a website developer or have any experience
in coding or anything like that!
Oh man, that’s amazing!
You created this ALL yourself?
Yes, no coding experience, such a friendly way of creating websites.
I am able to update my website with new blog posts, with just a few clicks…
and as you can see here, anyone is able to do this.
I could be anywhere in the world doing this!
You don’t need to have any experience in web design or coding at all.
I’ve been looking for something like that for ages you know?
Wait until you hear this, if you use my code alexgeartech they will give you a 10% discount
when you buy your first domain or build your first website.
Thanks man, appreciate that.
That Watch Ultra audio quality sounds great by the way!
That was a pretty smooth ad read wasn’t it?
Well, I thought you’d appreciate me testing the call quality and making the ad read a
bit more entertaining.
There is a small issue with making phone calls though that I haven’t seen many people talk
about.
It will absolutely cane the battery!
So just be aware, making a phone call on the watch Ultra is a lot more doable now, the
multi array microphones and AI wind noise reduction makes the whole experience and call
quality very close to a real phone…
But I’d say this is more for very short calls when you are out and about and you don’t
want to pick up the phone.
Or maybe you’re out for a run and you don’t want to take the phone with you.
Right, as I mentioned there are a couple of issues with this watch that not many people
talk about.
The first one, is the price and quality of these watch bands.
I initially ordered the Alpine loop in Orange and it looks great, I really think of all
the watch bands this really matches up well with the Watch Ultra you know…
I don’t mind the fact that it gets dirty after a couple of weeks because the watch
is to be used, like I can see some people really getting this quite muddy… but it
does wash up really easily, with just a bit of warm water and mild soap.
Is it worth £100 dollars?
What are we paying for here?
I mean, it’s just material.
To give you an idea, this one costs 16 dollars.
And this one costs 100 dollars!
Nuff said!
You can see Tim here, clearly clued up on the whole process of his sweatshops in Asia.
Sorry...
On a serious note, 100 dollars feels a bit much for what it is…
So I bought two!
Well, to be honest that is more because I wanted to review them than anything else.
I am quite happy with the Alpine loop and provided it lasts it’s probably gonna be
the one I use the most.
It should last…
And to be fair to Apple, you can still use the standard loops from previous Apple Watch
Series so as long as the material lasts we will be ok…
But yeah I still think maybe 60 dollars would be a better price for these, 100 feels excessive.
I’ve tried quite a few 3rd party watch bands as well, and is funny that initially I felt
that it would be quite tricky to wear this watch with smart clothing but actually, it
goes really well.
You can make the watch face a bit more subdued or wear something more premium like this one,
Iwill leave links down below for you.
By the way, I am working really hard to grow this channel and bring interesting videos
for you.
If you liked this video please give it a thumbs up.
Every interaction here counts and the more I can grow this channel the better content
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Take a look around the channel if its your first time here and if you like my stuff,
it would be awesome if you subscribed.
What do you get?
Well, I am here at least once a week with a new…
down to earth tech video for you.
Not just apple stuff, so if you like your gadgets, you will be in good company here.
The second issue with the Apple Watch Ultra that I found is to do with the built-in exercise
tracking.
Now, I don’t claim to be a professional athlete or anything like that but when I do
use the watch for exercising I feel like the built in app is still very basic.
It hasn’t really changed a lot since the first Watch.
We are getting more data now, there are more sensors but it’s still quite basic you know?
I have the exact same issue with sleep tracking which I will cover in a bit..
But going back to exercise, luckily there are 3rd party apps and I found this app which
is AMAZING.
It does require a subscription to use some of the Pro features but it’s just annoying
that Apple themselves are not including these features.
Especially when you pay for Fitness plus subscription.
Another great app you should check out is Work outdoors, I have this on my watch and
used it for a long time, but I’ve been so happy with Athlytic that I don’t use Work
outdoors anymore.
The great thing about Work outdoors is the map though…. and this is where Garmin users
will tell me that this is already built in on their Garmin but… hear me out.
The map on this is pretty FRICKING amazing!!
Look at all these customisation features you can do on here via the app on the phone.
Each and every element of the screen is customisable.
You can even download the map for offline use.
Just AWESOME!!
I really think this is an opportunity missed
by Apple and as I mentioned, I have the same problem with the Sleep tracking.
Ergonomically speaking this Watch actually feels great to sleep with.
I’d say I sleep with it on five days a week.
But the data it gives me and the features of the built in app is just not good enough.
So again, I’ve been using Sleep Cycle which is great.
We’re gonna talk about battery performance now but before we go in to that, I did a video
about the best apps for the Watch Ultra so I won’t go into a lot of detail here in
THIS video but I encourage you to take a look at that video because some of these apps now
have really been brought to life because of this beautiful display.
And it’s one of the most popular videos on this channel, like…
EVER!
Just to close the loop on Apple Watch apps….
I honestly just wish we didn’t have to pay for a 3rd party app when Apple could really
just give us these features themselves in the first place.
I am not talking about every single app, but certainly sleep tracking and exercise tracking.
Or maybe just buy those companies!
The battery performance has been amazing for me.
Up until recently.
In the last 2-3 weeks I noticed that I am getting an entire day less of battery.
I haven’t been able to figure out what is causing this yet, and when I asked a couple
of people I know have the same watch they haven’t experienced this.
So it’s clearly something I’ve got here or something that I am doing differently.
Annoyingly there is no easy way to find out what apps or services are consuming the watch
battery.
If you have a solution for this let me know.
I find this weird though, because…
I am actually less active right now than I was when I got the watch so if anything the
battery should be lasting longer.
It is lasting about 48 hours now, but it used to last 72 hours without issues even when
I was more active with my exercising.
If I figure this out, I will make sure to do a short video on this.
But if you have this watch and you know what might be causing this, please let me know
in the comments.
This is not a timepiece that you could pass on to generations but it is certainly a memorable
watch.
I’d love to see Apple expand on this design and maybe bring this look and feel to the
next Apple Watch Series, I think this design would sell really well if Apple made a smaller
version.
At this size, even though it’s not as big as I initially thought it would be, it still
can be too big for some people.
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I hope they’re right.
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See you soon!