Apple Watch Ultra 2: A Runner’s Perspective after 3-Months
The Watch Ultra 2 finally gave me the confidence to run my first-ever Half Marathon and I did run it. Since I bought the watch, I have tried to put it through some “ultra” workouts to find out how the watch holds up for a Runner like me.
Three months ago, I upgraded from an Apple Watch SE (2020) to an Apple Watch Ultra 2 after using the previous watch for a good two and a half years. The Watch SE was my first smartwatch ever and I loved it. For me it wasn’t just a smartwatch but also a fitness tracker that got me to think about my health and fitness seriously. That’s when my weight loss journey and running journey began.
I would often go on morning runs back then and my Watch SE would be my running partner. I would wear my AirPods which automatically paired with the Watch while I figured out which playlist I wanted to listen to. Then I would start the ‘Outdoor Run’ workout and customize it to my target distance so it notifies me when I am done. Tapping on the AirPods would help me skip songs that were low-beat while the watch notified me about my distance milestones every kilometer. When I couldn’t go out for a morning run for any reason, I would do a quick 45mins HIIT workout at home, following the ‘Seven’ app on my iPad.
That was me two years ago before I decided to sign up for races like 10K and Half-Marathons. I quickly realized the SE was holding me back because of its battery life. A few buggy updates even drained the battery in less than a day. I clearly couldn’t bank upon the SE for a bigger race.
And so I decided to upgrade to an actual Runner’s watch.
And thus I began my frequent trips to the nearest Garmin Store to look at their running watch collections. Even searched up Coros Pace watches. The Apple Watch Ultra was always at the back of my head but I was unsure how it would help me with my running journey specifically compared to Garmin watches that come with a ton of different workout metrics and an incredible battery life that even the Watch Ultra can’t beat.
Long story short: I went for the Apple Watch Ultra 2.
But trust me, this wasn’t an Apple Fanboy decision I made but rather an analytical one after listing down every pro and con for the watches I was thinking of. Towards the end of the story, you shall realize it all so bear with me as I vent out my 3-month experience of using the Apple Watch Ultra as a Runner and why I think it’s completely worth it!
👉 INDEX 👈
After switching from Watch SE…
What A Runner gets from the AW Ultra and what they don't
Apple Watch Apps that make the experience better
What didn't work for me…
Conclusion
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After switching from Watch SE…
The first few nights sleeping was difficult. This was expected as most reviewers had pointed out earlier that sleeping with a 49mm display watch that weighs close to 60g (double of my previous SE) is going to be difficult. It takes a few days to get used to the weight on your wrist.
But once you are okay with it, you will instantly fall in love with the longer battery life if you have upgraded from any previous Apple Watch. The Ultra instantly took from a single-day battery to almost a 4-day battery life. And that my dear readers, makes a whole world’s difference in how you use the watch as a fitness tracker too.
Let me elaborate…
Scenario #1: Imagine going to bed and realizing your watch is out of battery. This means a whole night’s worth of data is not being recorded. You might not get proper recovery metrics in this case. Your choices are to either sleep without the watch or put it to charge and wait till it charges to at least 50%. Not to mention, you might be losing that much percentage of your sleep hours too.
Scenario #2: You wake up in the morning and realize you have less than the necessary juice from your morning workout. This means you have to delay your morning workout and consequently other work-related tasks too which might be non-negotiable so you just give up on the day’s workout.
Scenario #3: Outdoor workouts, you say? That requires GPS tracking too. And in case you are thinking of going hiking or diving, that often involves opening multiple apps (apart from the Activity app) and running them at once. All of these might use GPS simultaneously. You might be bidding farewell to your watch’s battery before it tracks the entire workout.
If any or all of these scenarios make you dread, you are probably thinking along the same lines as me and need the battery life of an Ultra. I remember Scenario #1 playing out for me when I had the SE and I would always compromise on my sleep hours. The Ultra, in comparison, has saved me from that scenario and delivered me quite a lot of peace of mind.
Compromises in health metrics are a big NO for me and that’s why the Watch Ultra 2 became not just my second smartwatch but also my first real fitness tracker. Real because it gains a lot in features despite being only three generations ahead of the Watch SE that was released in 2020.
We are talking about:
Wrist temperature sensor: A metric that could be helpful to look out for after a night’s sleep (along with other metrics) to understand your recovery level. Certain apps take care of this metric analysis so you don’t have to. Keep reading till the end to find out.
SpO2 Sensor: Another metric that could be beneficial to track after a night’s sleep but more importantly for outdoor workouts too. For hiking workouts that involve elevation and reaching a certain altitude, this sensor could be life-saving and alert of you any disastrous trend, if any.
Brighter Display: An absolute must for outdoor workouts. My previous SE despite having a 1000nit display, wasn’t as bright outdoors at noon. So much so that I had to change my watch face so that it displays the time in big bold fonts. The new Ultra with 3000nits display hasn’t made me complain once. Not to mention how cool the backlit red watch face looks at night.
These are just some of the new features added over the last three generations. More specifically these are the ones I need to keep track of as a runner. There are quite a lot of improvements like diving sensors and health-related sensors like ECG too, for those who use them.
For me, the Ultra, despite being bigger and heavier than my previous SE, fits much better on my big wrist. The titanium body looks super clean and even after 3 months hasn’t got any scratches or stains. That might not speak volumes for the durability of the watch just yet as my SE did a pretty great job after 2.5 years too.
But let’s get deeper into this now – What does the Watch Ultra offer for a runner or someone who is thinking of getting into running or some outdoor sports? What made me choose the Ultra 2 over Garmin’s range of sports watches that are considered to be “real” fitness trackers?
Here’s why…
What A Runner gets from the AW Ultra and what they don’t
Back in February, when I was debating internally about which watch I should upgrade to, there was one thing I was clear about – it better have more than 2-days of battery life. Charging a watch every night was a hassle and tracking multiple workouts sometimes drained the battery even faster. Thankfully, every watch I was looking at seemed to guarantee that right out of the box.
My next set of expectations comes from the previous watch I owned. The Watch SE tracked metrics like Sleep, VO2 max, and heart rate quite well. VO2 max, in my opinion, was an absolutely important metric for me as it helped me understand my fitness level after every run, and track it over some time. For me, it is even greater than just weighing yourself on the scale every few days. The Ultra guaranteed these features along with some others like wrist temperature and SpO2 which I feel are more like recovery metrics if you are a runner.
I had heard some complaints about how the Apple Watch Ultra seems to perform poorly for outdoor activities while recording heart rate as the Watch wobbles a lot due to its huge size. In my case, I didn’t experience this issue as I have a bigger wrist by default so the Watch Ultra sits just perfectly on my wrist and hardly moves on it, while I run. However, for those once-in-a-blue-moon events when the Watch doesn’t record the HR properly, I simply tighten it more around my wrist or clean the sensors at the back using a dry tissue after the workout. I have never had two unreadable HR metrics in a row so I can’t elaborate more on this.
Then we have the Action Button. Honestly, I have had absolutely zero thoughts about this button. I have ignored it for the most of three months. The whole of three months. My brother annoyingly would poke at the orange button and realize it did nothing because I never set it up in the first place. I just don’t find that I need to trigger a quick action or if there is any action worth triggering in their list that I want to set up for the Action Button. Maybe if the next update allows us to do something different with the Action Button, I would start using it then. C’mon Apple, surprise me.
PS: I don’t feel the Action Button has ever been triggered unnecessarily. You might encounter more ghost touches on the display that could start a workout but almost no ghost touches on the Action Button since the button is much more shallow. Even if your hand were to bend or stretch putting pressure on the Watch, it might press on the digital crown and trigger Siri at the very least. Apple got the engineering part of the Action Button right.
But there are places where Apple Watches including the Ultra just fall flat. Because recording data and displaying metrics is just one thing. It’s a completely different experience when your watch (or the phone you are paired it with) simply works on all this recorded data and offers you a glimpse of your recovery level or training readiness. And that’s where Garmin’s range of sports watches comes in.
Garmin has multiple series of sports watches from Forerunner 965 to Forerunner 265 and many more. Some of these have solar charging too so you can juice them up while on an outdoor run or hike. They have an insane level of customization when it comes to displaying the metrics you want to keep track of while working out. Garmin watches go to the level that they even suggest you daily workouts based on your training readiness or help you train for your upcoming race more consciously with their so-called ‘Garmin Coach’. To be honest, as I write this I still feel tempted by Garmin’s watches.
Did I just accept that I made a stupid mistake buying the Apple Watch Ultra 2?
Yes and No.
Yes, because I still feel tempted how Garmin manages to pack all of these awesome features in their sports watches while Apple still seems to be drinking from their beer glasses patiently after introducing two generations of Apple Watch Ultras (specifically meant for ‘Ultra-sports’ players) while not working on watchOS proactively to give us anything close to Garmin Coach. It frustrates us, the Ultra users.
And No, because while Apple has been quietly from their glasses, the App Developer community has been doing their job excellently. And trust me, that makes a whole world’s difference. While Garmin watches are somewhat stuck with just Garmin Coach and not a lot of other options for training, Apple Watch users benefit from the plethora of apps on the App Store. Most fitness-related apps have a watchOS app too for the watch and do a better job than Apple’s very own Fitness app. Stay tuned until the next section where we talk more about these apps in detail.
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But the App-plethora excuse can’t be the only reason to buy an Apple Watch Ultra over a Garmin sports watch right?
Again the answer is a Yes and No.
Yes, the app situation is a major advantage for Apple Watch users. After you are done looking at the metrics and have completed your workout, your watch falls back to a smartwatch and even then you have tons of apps to get your job done – texting/calling friends, using Apple Pay, etc. However, if you are deep into fitness, these other features that even your phone can manage, won’t matter much to you.
Which brings us to – No. What the Garmin Connect app can do, the Fitness app on the Apple Watch/ iPhone can barely come close to. The Garmin is a no-excuse fitness watch and doesn’t even look like a precious piece of jewelry, the way Apple Watches do. If you see a Garmin watch on someone’s wrist, you know how seriously they take their fitness. Unfortunately, you can’t say the same about the Watch Ultra which just sits like a glorified Apple Watch with a slightly longer battery.
But… (there is always a but)
If you train more indoors in a Gym for your runs, like I did last month, there is a good chance your Apple Watch will connect to the Gym equipment much more easily than Garmin or any other watch. Why? Gym equipment that comes with Apple Fitness pairing mode uses Apple’s native WorkoutKit API to pair with the watch and show your workout metrics on their equipment. It’s as easy as just holding your watch next to the Gym machine and voila! A popup appears on your watch asking you to start the workout.
This is something that even Garmin watches seem to lack in integration. Connecting to gym equipment often involves toggling through the machine’s Bluetooth interface and pairing it manually with your sports watch. Sometimes you need multiple third-party apps to integrate all the data and store it in one place.
As a runner, if you don’t want to miss out on smartwatch features then the Apple Watch Ultra is your only savior just like it was for me. Otherwise, the Garmin Sport Watches are a much better option for a runner who is signing up for races left and right.
But before you head out or close this story, hear me out about why I think the Watch Ultra along with its App Store apps make up for a great experience overall.
Apple Watch Apps that make the experience better
To start with, the Fitness app on iPhone sucks. And I don’t think that’s breaking news. Apple Watch users might know this as a fact. This is why I have been ranting about the whole App Developer Community around Apple Devices since the last section. They have been doing the job that Apple needs to and are killing it! They make the Apple Watch feel somewhat like a sports watch if not entirely.
Gentler Streak
This app shows you your training readiness based on recovery metrics gathered from your previous night’s sleep and previous workout efforts. It offers a great UI experience both on the iPhone as well as the Apple Watch.
https://apps.apple.com/in/app/gentler-streak-workout-tracker/id1576857102
Athlytic Pro
This app functions similarly to Gentler Streak minus the UI experience. However, it offers raw numbers on a spectrum for different recovery metrics to help you understand your training readiness. If you are a fan of graphs, charts, and raw numbers then this app could be just for you.
WorkOutdoors
There isn’t a single one in the running community of Apple Watch users who shall not mention this app. It allows you to customize your workout screen(s) to whatever metrics you want instead of sticking to whatever the native Activity app offers you to customize. Even the map data for your run is much more detailed. You can even associate certain actions like double tap for triggering intervals in your workout and export your workout metadata as different file types.
Nike Run Club
Another app you absolutely can’t miss out on if you have an Apple Watch and are planning to run a 5K, 10K, Half-Marathon, or a Full Marathon. NRC is to Apple Watch what Garmin Coach is to Garmin Watches. Once you set your race day date, it plans an entire training schedule for you and all you have to do is connect your AirPods or Bluetooth earphones to your watch and start the NRC workout. You will be assigned a trainer who will train you throughout your workout sessions, and teach and motivate you too. You can’t go wrong with this app.
These four apps alone can elevate your Apple Watch experience to a level that you feel somewhat close to a Garmin user. Let’s say you will be 70% there. The rest 30% might be something you can’t help with but just deal with because it’s about the way the Watch Ultra looks and feels.
At the end of the day, the Apple Watch Ultra will just be a smartwatch. Until at least, Apple takes watchOS seriously and delivers something Ultra-like for the Watch Ultra. I can’t end this story without ranting about what I wish Apple would deliver with watchOS 11 or some future update so here’s another section to cover just that.
What didn’t work for me…
Apple has been taking the fitness side of watchOS seriously for quite a few years. They added more metrics like Average Power and Cadence to running and walking workouts. Even Sleep Analysis made a debut in watchOS 9 – that’s nine years of Apple denying that Sleep Schedule matters more than Sleep Analysis. These are just some of the many things Apple is stubborn about and takes its own sweet time to implement.
While Running Peeps can manage with apps like Nike Running Club, it is difficult to find a good Coaching app like Garmin Connect. No matter how strong your App Developer Community is, there are always certain things locked behind APIs for developers and Paywalls for us users. Only native apps can deliver a free alternative to these and this is exactly why Apple needs to take watchOS seriously and give the Fitness app an overhaul – perhaps, an AI overhaul would do just fine.
Certain rumours going around the next update are getting me excited and I really hope Apple delivers them and much more. The Apple Watch Ultra has unparalleled hardware – from the S9 Chip to 64GB storage to the Neural processor getting faster and whatnot. Now we only have to watch out for watchOS updates doing justice to this powerful hardware. Perhaps, a dedicated ‘Sports Mode’ that turns Siri into a Fitness Coach. I seriously can’t wait for that to happen.
While we speak of hardware, I feel three months is a very short time to talk about the durability of this watch however I do have to say that it has held up well for a person who keeps banging the watch on walls and cupboard doors every once in a while. I don’t even see any minor defects or scratches near the edges.
But just a note of reminder: if you are into outdoor sports mostly, then avoid buying the white-colored trail loop as it discolors very quickly outdoors. This is a mistake I made and this is how the watch band looks after three months of use:
Conclusion
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is my second smartwatch.
It gave me the confidence to sign up for Marathons without worrying about the battery dying halfway through them. I ran a Half-Marathon with it and it didn’t disappoint. It lost close to ten percent battery during the three hour run and I feel that’s okay keeping in mind the GPS that was on too during this period. I have taken the Watch Ultra on two hikes since then too. I only wish I had turned on backtrack on the hike so I could review it in this story. Maybe, we should leave something for the next story – what would you like to know more about the Watch Ultra 2?
I have tried to sound as neutral as possible while reviewing it as a fitness tracker for Runners. There are times I straight out called it for being lazy in implementation and I stand by it. Apple needs to up its game with watchOS now after having delivered such a powerful hardware update. To be honest, at the time of purchase, somewhere my hopes were with future watchOS updates delivering what Garmin has. And that’s purely because I believe that when Apple delivers they deliver better than anyone else.
I would like to know from all of you – what Apple Watch or other Fitness Tracker are you using for your workouts. Is there anything in particular you like about your Watch better than others? Drop your thoughts in the comments below and let’s have a nice chat – I am going to be replying to everyone.
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Originally published on adiexplains.wordpress.com on May 28, 2024
