Apple Watch ULTRA vs Series 8

Table of Contents

Is the Apple Watch ultra worth $800, or should you get the series eight instead? Well, that’s exactly what we’re going to answer by comparing everything from the design, the sizes, the new display, the battery life, the new speakers and microphones, exclusive features and more.

Unboxing & First Impression

Now, let’s be honest, guys, I think most people that are going to be buying this watch are not crazy ultra runners, uh, climbers or divers, even though some of them will. That is such a fantastic graphic here, showing off that you want to be adventurous with it. But I think most people want something new. The Apple Watch has been similar for so long. We finally have a change, and of course, the better battery life. It’s fantastic that they switched up the packaging. It still split like that. All right, we got it opened up here, and woo, that’s that is, let’s get this. Here’s heavier titanium light. It has some weight to this thing.

Size & Weight Difference

I looked it up, and it is almost 60% heavier than my series eight large Apple watch. And you know what? I think it’s probably more severe than this setup with my Patak carbon fibre band, which is super lightweight. Let’s feel this. Oh my goodness, Yadi, I think it is heavier overall. That is crazy. All right, you know what? Let me go ahead and try it on. Apple said the Ultra is compatible with previous watch bands, including the eight series. So hopefully, this is going to be friendly and lightweight. Go ahead and try it on. Thankfully this thing has a magnetic class. There you go. I feel the weight, but it’s not too bad. Maybe the watchband is helping because it’s made from natural carbon fibre instead of plastic with a thin sheet or fake paint, so it weighs almost nothing.

You guys like this. You guys could check it out. I’ll link it down below. Uh, the next thing I’m noticing is that size difference. Not only that this thing is thick, but you see that. I mean, it’s, this thing is thick on my wrist. I want to see you side by side. Let me grab the loop: we also have the charger. It is a braided cable. Now the ultra is the only one with that, so that’s nice. I got the green alpine loop, but I wanted the trail one.

They just sold out insanely fast. Let’s pull it out. Oh, that colour looks a little different in person. This thing has a little stretch; of course, you have this clasp. Let’s pop this thing on here. It has these bumps. You’ve got to pull up, and then we’ll pull this through. Come on here. All right, and look at that, guys. It is more significant, obviously, but that thickness difference is pretty substantial. Now I also bought an ultra for my wife. She’s been using an older one for a while. She’s very active. I think it will be too big and too thick for her.

Buyers BEWARE

Now, before I set it up, I notice several things. We have a flat screen with this Raised kind of edge that sticks out, making the watch look a little thinner than it is, But this edge is sharp. I was like, what is this on the top corner? And it’s my fingernail getting scratched off. You do not want to put this on your iPhones screen or have it touch anything that you don’t want to scratch up. Here’s my old donor phone. Let’s see this. Oh my goodness, you hear that scratching going on. The series eight has these rounded edges, super smooth, that meets with the glass. This thing will not scratch your phone, furniture, or anything else.

Screen Real Estate

Some people mention that even though the Ultra has a giant screen, you don’t see more. So here, I adjusted both to the same text size and searched. And as you guys could see on the Ultra, we see the open button was on the series eight. You have to scroll down to be able to see it and press it. The Ultra’s bezel is much more noticeable because it has a flat screen instead of the series eight, which curves the glass to the side where it meets the aluminium.

Durability Difference

But the plus is that the ultra has this raised lip around the screen, which will protect the screen from hitting objects. And this thing also has a sapphire display, whereas the series eight aluminium uses ion X glass, which sounds cool but is not durable. Both my wife and my son have scratches on this screen.

Of course, aluminium also scratches easily compared to titanium, which is much more durable. And that’s probably why we only have a single colour that is unpainted titanium, just so you don’t scratch that off, which I already have a small scratch on the aluminium here and the glass of the series eight.

So, in general, the ultra is a lot more durable. Looking at the backs, you guys see those screws instead of just having glue applied. And with that, we have doubled the water resistance. It’s just a more extreme sport watch overall.

Design Comparison & Features

We are looking at the sides. Now, instead of just having this thin digital crown, we have this fat one, and we have this crown guard around it so you don’t accidentally bump it. The height has these deeper grooves, and I noticed that the haptics feel more robust on the ultra. With that, we have our button here that protrudes, so it’s easy to press even if you have gloves.

One thing that’s a first on an Apple watch is these bands right below the top of the display. The previous Apple watches didn’t have that at all, and this new Ultra has dual GPS, which is incredible. I wish I could give that to my kids because sometimes open up find me, and I’ll see this wide circle or I will see a closed circle, but then it hops around, and I thought my kid left somewhere from their friend’s house, but then it updated back there. So having the extra accuracy of the dual GPS is excellent. And another first is the additional action button on the left-hand side of International Orange. If you press that, I can give you a bunch of different things. I set mine up to be a flashlight, so it gets bright as soon as I press it. You can also change it to various things like working out or using waypoints.

Now, if you hold it down, it will give you a popup for your shortcut and then we have the side right here. So let’s go ahead and test that out. Interesting. It’s getting that vary, so it’s a frequency but doesn’t sound that loud.

Speaker Comparison

Now, if you guys look, the speaker girl on here is massive compared to this little slot. So let’s play something and hear how it sounds. That louder on the, so if you’re noisy environment, you’re taking a phone call, it’s going to be a lot easier to hear. Now with that, let’s cover the microphones. The Ultra has three of them, one on the left and two on their right, whereas a series eight only has one. Let’s go ahead and do a test.

Microphone Test

The microphone quality of the Apple Watch series eight is the quality of the Ultras three microphones in a room that doesn’t have too much noise. Now I want to turn on some background noise from a cafe to mimic being in a louder environment. For the series eight microphone quality if you’re in a noisy environment.

The Apple Watch Ultras microphones are in a noisy environment. We listened to the recordings, and I have to be honest, I think that series eight sounds better in both scenarios. You have more clarity and a bit more base in the microphones. I don’t know how Apple chooses which one to use. Maybe you use the one on the other side, and there’d be a bigger difference if you’re in the wind and the other mic will kick on. But overall, I was expecting a bigger difference.

Display Comparison

Now the other thing we haven’t mentioned is the brightness of the displays. Series eight is rated for a thousand. It’s maximum compared to 2000 for the Ultra.

You guys can see a big difference when I open the flashlight app. With typical usage, you’re not going to see a difference because the Ultra is capped just like the newer iPhones. But if you’re outside and in direct lighting, you notice that extra brightness that can come in handy.

Battery Life Difference

Now I want to talk about battery life, which is why I like the Ultra. Not everybody needs 36 hours of battery life, which is double what a series A gives you. But one thing you have to think about is that two, or three years down the line, the battery life degrades on these Apple watches, and my current Apple Watch doesn’t even make it through a full day every night.

Now before I go to bed, it dies on me. And that’s not even counting doing a long workout, or you’re tracking things just because the battery is degraded. So having magic capacity is excellent, not only not to have to charge every day or go on trips and do long workouts but just because it’s going to last you a lot longer.

Prices Compared

Now, regarding prices, many people say the Ultra is double the cost of the series eight, and that is not true. First, the larger size, 45 millimetres, series eight, which competes with it, is more expensive than the base. And then, if you add cellular, which the Ultra has, that makes it even more costly. So the difference is only $270, which is still a lot, but it’s not doubled the price. Now with that, the Ultra uses Sapphire glass as well.

So you have to spend even more money if you want a durable series eight that won’t scratch the screen and the aluminium won’t scratch. So now, if you’re getting one with a better band, anything other than the cheapest one, you’re spending 800 bucks, the same price as the Ultra.

Which Watch Should YOU Buy?

So with that said, which one should you buy? Honestly, I think that if you are okay with the larger size in this styling, you should get the Ultra because you get a lot better battery life, a more excellent display, and a lot more extra features. For example, uh, the depth sensor that I didn’t mention earlier, the action button you have, the better GPS and all of the other things compared to the series eight, which is an older design. Now it will be updated in the future. And significantly, if you upgrade to cellular or stainless steel, the Ultra is a killer value. Now, who should buy series eight?

Well, we have the size and weight difference, but with that, if you like the excellent sleek design that doesn’t look super sporty. If you want something that’s going to be thin on your wrist, if you want to have the choice of colours and materials, and of course, if you don’t need the cellular and you want to buy aluminium anyways, it’s a much lower price point. But with that, I would say go ahead and pick up a series seven cause there are very few differences. You can buy those deeply discounted.

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Title: Apple Watch ULTRA vs Series 8 – ULTIMATE Comparison!