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AW10 VS ULTRA

Hiimkevin062

Hiimkevin062

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 16, 2018
69
35
Orange County
So I currently have the Apple Watch Ultra and with todays announcement I’m heavily considering switching to the series 10.

I did the comparison on apples website but I’d like to hear your thoughts. Would this be dumb?

I have a $260 gift card at best buy and if I trade in my ultra I get another $260 which would pay off the aw10.. am I being tricked to wanting something new by myself?
 
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Hiimkevin062 said:
So I currently have the Apple Watch Ultra and with todays announcement I’m heavily considering switching to the series 10.

I did the comparison on apples website but I’d like to hear your thoughts. Would this be dumb?

I have a $260 gift card at best buy and if I trade in my ultra I get another $260 which would pay off the aw10.. am I being tricked to wanting something new by myself?
Click to expand...
Only advantages of ultra is better brightness and battery life

Series 10 has all the rest and newer chip. So depends on battery life
 
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I’d imagine, if you’re considering switching away from an Ultra that you don’t really need the benefits of what the ultra offers.

So the question then is which do you prefer? It may also be that the 10 has features you will use which are not present on the ultra.
 
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Got to ask:
How is the battery life when using: AirPods, Spotify/fm radio, sometimes talking during 1 hour long outdoor run. Will the battery on ultra2 last for 2 days? AW10 will last a full day?
 
I have owned the Ultra but go back to the S10 simply due to the size and bulk. The S10 does everything I want in a smaller more sleek package. To each his own.
 
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Initially I was quite happy with the thinness and reduced weight of the S10, but once the novelty wore off I ultimately went back to an AWU 2 for the action button, precision start and Modular Ultra watch face.

The S10 got passed on to a family member.
 
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I actually just got a 46mm 10 since my ultra 1 pooched. Battery *may* have been swelling in the ultra. Wore the ultra yesterday and it was just acting weird. Did a reboot and carried on thinking its fine. Turned out, vibration wasn't working, the crown button wasn't working but scrolling was. Several other things not working at all. THen noticed the bezel where the antenna is was separated a bit and I could fit my finger nail right into the side of the bezel. Basically done for. So without any time wasted I picked up the new black AW 10. Experience and usability pretty much the same. But the comfort and look are soooo different. I didn't want to spend $1099 (Canada) on basically the exact same watch(ulttra 2) so figured I'd go for the change of pace and save $400. WHile I miss the chunky industrial look of the ultra, I am enjoying the wearability of the 10. I even slept with it and I never did that with the ultra. It isn't much of an "upgrade" per se. Just a different animal. So easy to put on my winter jacket now without the giant chunky ultra. lol
So far battery life is ok with AOD off. Charged it at 10pm yesterday, and used sleep tracking, did a workout, several texts all day and emails, 8+k steps so far etc. and am at 66% at 4pm after 18 hours. So should easily last a day with my usage, and I assume it will only improve over the next week or so as I haven't even had the watch 24 hours yet.

Curious what the OP ended up doing.
 
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I already had the Ultra 2 and was debating on going to AW10 but BestBuy had $50 off on Black Ultra 2 so that made the price the same. Too used to the bulk to go back. Plus battery life really cant be beat....yet.
 
Apple Watch Ultra is a great product. Depending on your battery health it will last you a few more years. The Apple Watch 10 is also a good product. They look and feel different on the wrist. I alternate between an Ultra and a Series 9 these days. There is a place for both in a wardrobe IMO
 
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The dilemma!… So undecided, even after reading threads and comparisons like this one. I might go with the 10 because it’s so much sleeker and I don’t really like the screen of the Ultra 2, not its thickness. It has a few extra features though, night mode being one that would help me the most, as I don’t have a very good night vision. Anyone with low night vision choosing the Ultra2 over the 10 because of this?
 
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sfrangu said:
The dilemma!… So undecided, even after reading threads and comparisons like this one. I might go with the 10 because it’s so much sleeker and I don’t really like the screen of the Ultra 2, not its thickness. It has a few extra features though, night mode being one that would help me the most, as I don’t have a very good night vision. Anyone with low night vision choosing the Ultra2 over the 10 because of this?
Click to expand...
Do you currently have an AW and if so, which one?
Ultra screen is easier to read, not because of size but because it is flat, for me that is.
If you have an Apple Store nearby, put both an Ultra and S10 on, compare and then decide for yourself.
 
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Absolutely love my Ultra2. Screen size and brightness are excellent. Battery performance is exceptional (over 2 days without charging) and the modular ultra face is better than anything I've found on the non ultra watches IMO..
 
jz0309 said:
Do you currently have an AW and if so, which one?
Ultra screen is easier to read, not because of size but because it is flat, for me that is.
If you have an Apple Store nearby, put both an Ultra and S10 on, compare and then decide for yourself.
Click to expand...
The most recent one is Series 7 and I can’t complain. I did all kind of try ons, in and out the Apple Store (from a colleague). I like the 10 because of its bigger visible screen (from an angle, with its curvature), while I really don’t like the flatness of the Ultra’s screen. I like the extra features Ultra has, so it’s still hard to decide, ugh. Thank you for the input.
 
Hiimkevin062 said:
So I currently have the Apple Watch Ultra and with todays announcement I’m heavily considering switching to the series 10.

I did the comparison on apples website but I’d like to hear your thoughts. Would this be dumb?

I have a $260 gift card at best buy and if I trade in my ultra I get another $260 which would pay off the aw10.. am I being tricked to wanting something new by myself?
Click to expand...

I have an ultra 2 (have had S2, S4, S6 prior), GF has a 10 since December.

Pros/cons of the 10
  • Fast charge - it really does charge a HEAP faster than the ultra 2. This is probably the only thing I'd even think about giving up my Ultra 2 for (but most likely I'll just upgrade to an ultra 4 or ultra 5 or whatever which will have that by the time my U2 needs replacement).
  • available in smaller sizes
  • Significantly less battery life (at least in the smaller size)
  • no action button

In terms of performance I have noticed basically zero difference in responsiveness between the S4, S6, Ultra 2 and S10.

So if your current watch is working just fine and does what you want.... I wouldn't both unless you want something smaller than the Ultra - or fast charge.


edit:
as an aside, my ultra 2 is 13 months old and still 100% battery health.
 
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They charge as fast as each other, the S10 just has half the capacity of the Ultra so will get to 100% twice as quick.
 
Pug72 said:
They charge as fast as each other, the S10 just has half the capacity of the Ultra so will get to 100% twice as quick.
Click to expand...
Nah not JUST capacity difference. the s10 has fast charge. It’s really fast. Something like (haven’t timed it exactly but based on my routine) less than half an hour vs multiple hours for a full charge from say 15 percent.
 
Both have fast charge.

From Apple site:
'The battery level on Apple Watch Series 10 can go from 0 per cent to 80 per cent in about 30 minutes. The battery level on Apple Watch Ultra models can go from 0 per cent to 80 per cent in about an hour.'

The approx. battery last of S10 is 18 hours, the Ultra 36 hours.
 
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I went from an ultra gen 1 to the s10 slate. I look at it this way.

Ultra= sports watch 1st, regular watch 2nd

S10 = watch 1st, sports watch second.

For me battery life isn’t an issue as I just charge the s10 while I shower and am good to go.
 
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