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shr631

macrumors 6502a
Dec 13, 2013
881
968
A few comments..... First, I love how everyone loves to murder everyone on this forum.
I said "Likely" I love this thing, and really love the overall look and functionality. And I agree, I probably don't use either watch to the full capabilities. The good news is, I have another 1.5 weeks to continue to enjoy it until I have to make a decision.
It’s a new device and this is an enthusiasts’ forum. Other forums like Reddit have a more balanced sampling of viewpoints about the device, including more critical and negative comments. So in some ways, this forum is a safe harbor for enjoying and celebrating Apple products. Saying you’ll return or likely return something sets some people off because it’s interpreted as offensive/judgmental/critical of what they like and they’re rather sensitive to the opinions of others. Don’t worry about the reactions. You didn’t bash the device. Commenters who get all worked up are riding the hype train hard and fast right now, but it’ll eventually settle and everyone will be cool in a few weeks. In the meanwhile make the purchase/return decision that’s right for you and for any reason - i.e., ignore the inevitable “but you knew the specs before you ordered!” comments 🤣😁
 
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MsRandall

macrumors 65816
Nov 27, 2011
1,229
742
Bay Area, Ca
Well after several days of wearing the ultra- I have decide to pick up a titanium 7 45mm and I will be returning the ultra

While I like it - I don’t love it as much as I did when I first got it. I have 45 AW bands I’ve collected and many of them simply look awful on the ultra

It’s a great watch just not for me with my large band collection
 
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ArchEtech

macrumors 6502
Sep 25, 2022
474
429
A full color OLED screen with call function, heart and temp monitors etc etc is not going to have the battery life of a watch design to have battery life over certain feature. You knew going in the Ultra doesn't have a 20 day battery, so why would you get one then send it back because it performs how its supposed to?
 

usagora

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2017
4,869
4,456
I mean, thanks for not trashing it like some folks do, but did you not realize what the battery life was before buying it? It's pretty well known you're not going to get many days of battery life out of an Apple Watch, especially an actively used one. Or are you saying you'd thought you'd be ok with that but then changed your mind?
 

Fthree

macrumors 65816
Mar 14, 2014
1,313
506
I've had the Ultra since Friday's release. I'm in love with this thing!! I really love the rugged look, and the overall size. Looks great on my wrist! Beautiful piece of technology!!

Coming from the Garmin Tactix Delta, I prefer the Apple interface, and overall functionality. My biggest issue, is battery life. I get 18 days with the Garmin, and my experience with the Ultra is 48 to 55 hours. As much as I love the Ultra, I am likely returning it simply because I am spoiled in not having to throw my watch on the charger every other day, or worry about taking a charger on vacation.

Tough to let this go, as again its a bad a?* looking device. :(
I also have a tactix and love it. I did know going into an ultra how much of a pain in the butt charging would be the only thing I didn’t realize as much is the major difference in metrics. Why doesn’t the Apple Watch just put everything in one easy to find spot?
 

NotApplicable

macrumors 65816
Sep 18, 2019
1,068
2,062
To each consumer their own.

Though the battery life was well-published and reported before OP bought the device, and OP is getting well above published battery life by their own admission, so one has to wonder what exactly changed in the OPs mind.
 
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h1r0ll3r

macrumors 68040
Dec 28, 2009
3,920
19
Maryland
I'm really liking mine. Only issue I'm having is trying to find a band that I like. I'm using a Series 7 Nike band right now.
 

Fthree

macrumors 65816
Mar 14, 2014
1,313
506
I'm really liking mine. Only issue I'm having is trying to find a band that I like. I'm using a Series 7 Nike band right now.
I don’t know if you’ve tried it or not but the ocean band is probably the best band apple has ever made.
 

Jkeith85

macrumors regular
Dec 16, 2015
194
151
I don't understand this battery fixation; as long as you need to sleep there's ample opportunity to charge any device.

Want sleep tracking? Chuck it on the charger while eating/showering/chilling.
It’s nice to have the extra battery.
 

msackey

macrumors 68030
Oct 8, 2020
2,857
3,292
I've had the Ultra since Friday's release. I'm in love with this thing!! I really love the rugged look, and the overall size. Looks great on my wrist! Beautiful piece of technology!!

Coming from the Garmin Tactix Delta, I prefer the Apple interface, and overall functionality. My biggest issue, is battery life. I get 18 days with the Garmin, and my experience with the Ultra is 48 to 55 hours. As much as I love the Ultra, I am likely returning it simply because I am spoiled in not having to throw my watch on the charger every other day, or worry about taking a charger on vacation.

Tough to let this go, as again its a bad a?* looking device. :(
If you turned off all the features that the Garmin doesn't offer, such as cellular and wifi, and maybe turn off bluetooth when you don't need it, I bet the battery life for the Ultra will go way way longer than what you're experiencing.

In some ways, one reason you can't really compare battery life between Ultra and many of the Garmin models is because the Ultra offers much more connectivity types and those all take energy. Turn those off and you should see much better battery life.
 
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Jkeith85

macrumors regular
Dec 16, 2015
194
151
Honestly don’t know. Does the watch turn off cellular when connected to my iphone?
 

xdhd350

macrumors 6502
Mar 9, 2010
371
80
I don't understand this battery fixation; as long as you need to sleep there's ample opportunity to charge any device.

Want sleep tracking? Chuck it on the charger while eating/showering/chilling.
Yup. I wear mine to bed every night. First thing I do in the morning is pop it on the charger while I drink coffee and read news. In about 30 minutes, I have a fully charged watch, ready to take me through the next 24 hours. Although I have cellular service for my watch, I keep that turned off unless I happen to leave my phone behind and need the cellular connection.
 
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ArchEtech

macrumors 6502
Sep 25, 2022
474
429
The concern was/is that with my S7 fully charged in the morning, often I would barely make it until the end of the day sometimes, then I'd have to make sure I charge it before bed for sleep tracking, then I'd have to charge in the morning a bit to make sure it made it through the day. I frankly don't know how people dealt with it on the earlier apple watch. I didn't get one until S6 though which didn't have terrible battery life. Its not that the S6/S7 weren't adequate, I could deal. It is; however, nice to not have to worry about it nearly as much and i can just top it off once in a while since it lasts at least 3 days pretty easily (and longer depending on use).
 
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Fiona FTW

macrumors member
Mar 16, 2022
94
156
If you turned off all the features that the Garmin doesn't offer, such as cellular and wifi, and maybe turn off bluetooth when you don't need it, I bet the battery life for the Ultra will go way way longer than what you're experiencing.

In some ways, one reason you can't really compare battery life between Ultra and many of the Garmin models is because the Ultra offers much more connectivity types and those all take energy. Turn those off and you should see much better battery life.

You‘d lose that bet. The main reason Garmins have better batter life is because of the lower quality screen that doesn’t gulp energy. Garmins actually have more, not less connectivity than AW because they have ANT+ compatibility. I keep the WiFi on because that’s how it syncs to Garmins cloud. I keep BT on because that’s how it connects to the app when WiFi isn’t available. Garmins battery life whips AW, one hand behind its back.
 
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fdw777

macrumors regular
Mar 7, 2012
238
179
A few comments..... First, I love how everyone loves to murder everyone on this forum.
I said "Likely" I love this thing, and really love the overall look and functionality. And I agree, I probably don't use either watch to the full capabilities. The good news is, I have another 1.5 weeks to continue to enjoy it until I have to make a decision.
Stand TALL!!!! Right there with you. My guess is that you will stay in-love and keep it.
 

antiprotest

macrumors 601
Apr 19, 2010
4,342
15,971
A few comments..... First, I love how everyone loves to murder everyone on this forum.
I said "Likely" I love this thing, and really love the overall look and functionality. And I agree, I probably don't use either watch to the full capabilities. The good news is, I have another 1.5 weeks to continue to enjoy it until I have to make a decision.
You only get murdered on here if you say anything critical about Apple or point out the flaws in its products and policies, even when you are right.
 
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papbot

macrumors 68020
May 19, 2015
2,302
1,077
thread title and original post suggest you've made up your mind - what is it? why the post?
Normally threads like this are started by those seeking some kind of validation from others for their decision. Or just to rant. If battery life is paramount, which is understandable depending on your uses, then choose a device that gives you the battery performance you absolutely need. My guess is that you will give up certain features to achieve that. We all have to balance what it is we actually need. For the vast majority here it seems like the Ultra, and the other Apple Watch versions, are the perfect balance.
 
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canyonblue737

macrumors 68020
Jan 10, 2005
2,227
2,785
I've had the Ultra since Friday's release. I'm in love with this thing!! I really love the rugged look, and the overall size. Looks great on my wrist! Beautiful piece of technology!!

Coming from the Garmin Tactix Delta, I prefer the Apple interface, and overall functionality. My biggest issue, is battery life. I get 18 days with the Garmin, and my experience with the Ultra is 48 to 55 hours. As much as I love the Ultra, I am likely returning it simply because I am spoiled in not having to throw my watch on the charger every other day, or worry about taking a charger on vacation.

Tough to let this go, as again its a bad a?* looking device. :(

only you know what is important to you. for me, the look and superior smartwatch functions of the Apple Watch are most important and the workout metrics and battery life have improved enough that I would no longer consider a Garmin (I considered the Epix 2 but held firm, in particular because of rumors of improvements in WatchOS 9 and a rugged Apple Watch which mostly came to pass.) I still think in general you have to charge this watch at least every two days, but for me I'll charge it daily... the good news is charging daily you can pick ANYTIME each day to charge it and likely the charging time will be shorter as you won't be under 50% any you can wear it to sleep at night in that equation too. with the regular Apple Watch I would have to charge TWICE daily to allow me to wear it at night and that was a pain in the ass... now I just pick anytime (and it can be different each day) and get it on the charger for 40 minutes and I'm good... if I didn't wear this to sleep then it would be brain dead easy.
 

canyonblue737

macrumors 68020
Jan 10, 2005
2,227
2,785
Because Apple is targeting people like me with the Ultra who train for and run endurance events (like marathons). Most runners I know who use an Apple Watch only use it as a daily driver, and wear a Garmin for training and races (and recovery metrics).

yep. the Ultra finally makes Apple Watch a practical tool for the many runners who train for longer endurance events like the marathon... not that regular Apple Watch can't do it, but doing 3, 4, 5 hour runs (in particular if cellular is used) wipes much of the battery out making it a near necessity to immediately charge the device to use it as a regular watch the remainder of the day, something that isn't practical when you are busy trying to fit your running into your life. many of us made due by using multiple apple watches but that isn't good either. the Apple Watch ultra now easily handles the typical training load of marathoners with power to spare for the full day, or more.

I do think Ultra is marketed to adventure / ultra-marathon athletes and while some of that may be possible it comes with caveats like using lower power modes and then likely being right back in the previously described scenario where after lengthy training you would need to charge immediately but maybe in Ultra version 2 or 3 it will get there. but for "normal" marathon athletes, sprint triathletes etc. the Ultra finally makes the Apple Watch a practical device that fits into your life.
 
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