Apple Watch Ultra 2 is the brightest and best

We write a lot about watches at City AM. Watches that have been up as far as the moon. Watches that have been down as low as the Mariana Trench. The versions of these trail-blazing timepieces that end up being sold to the likes of you and I enjoy a rather less salubrious fate, adorning the wrists of people having dinner at Sketch or – worse – taking up space in a display cabinet, recording the passage of time to an audience of none.

Demand for these watches far outstrips the number of people doing the things they are designed to do, essentially. And so it is with the Apple Watch Ultra 2, a piece of kit so dizzying in its technical specifications and so rugged in its construction, the average wearer will never push it anywhere close to its limits. 

This fact is on my mind as I deliberately let the Ultra 2 get a bit wet during a medium-strength downpour in Walthamstow, knowing it would continue working were the entire city to disappear under 100m of water (although admittedly knowing the time would be the least of my worries). Were I to wear it scuba diving, it would function as a depth gauge down to 40m, which is far beyond the two metres I might reach while splashing around in the surf on my holidays. Were I running through the great forests of North America, or traversing the plains of the Australian Outback, I’d be glad to take advantage of the most accurate GPS on any sports watch, although the most rugged terrain I have visited recently are the reservoirs of North East London. I don’t dare to test the 86 decibel emergency siren, the kind of feature you hope you’ll never need.

The ultra-bright display allows you to read your messages when travelling through the blinding light of the Gobi Desert at high noon, or when the sun threatens to break through the clouds outside Blackhorse Road Underground station

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 will look familiar to those who owned the previous generation. Mine comes in a new matte black titanium case – it’s actually more of a dark grey – which looks great with the orange detailing around the crown and on the customisable Action button. 

You notice one of the major selling points of the Ultra 2 as soon as you raise your wrist: the screen is the brightest Apple has made to date, clocking in at 3,000 nits. This is far more than even the flagship iPhone, which goes up to 2,000 nits. This allows you to read your messages when travelling through the blinding light of the Gobi Desert at high noon, or when the sun threatens to break through the clouds outside Blackhorse Road Underground station on a drizzly October morning. It also means you can use the phone’s screen as a viable torch, which is actually very useful (the light is red, which doesn’t stop your eyes from adjusting to the dark and also makes you feel like a spec-ops agent on an undercover mission from your bedroom to the bathroom).

For an undeniably vast watch – it has a 49mm case – there’s something about the rectangular shape that makes it look good even on my sparrow-like wrist. The Ultra 2 now comes with the option of a titanium version of Apple’s Milanese Loop strap (for an extra £100 when bought with the watch or £200 if bought separately), which is suitable for scuba diving. I still prefer the elasticated Trail Loop, however: simple, comfortable and understatedly stylish. A nice bonus with the Trail Loop is that your watch is, by Apple’s metric, carbon neutral.

The battery life is long enough that you don’t have to worry about it running out over a 24-hour period, with a charge lasting for 36 hours of normal use or 72 hours when in low-power mode (Apple also advertises 17 hours of continuous outdoor workout when in low-power mode, which is presumably great if you like to do things outdoors that take up to 17 hours).

I have the action button linked to the workout app so I can start tracking a run with one long hold, or record a swim or cycle with a couple of swipes. It delivers my messages to my wrist and lets me skip the song I’m listening to, often from one track by the Smiths to another track by the Smiths. Do I need an Apple Watch Ultra 2 for this? Not really. Do I love it regardless. Oh yeah.

Apple Watch Series 10

I also had a chance to try the new Apple Watch Series 10, and while it’s been relegated to this small aside, it is lowkey my favourite of the two. The virtually non-existent bezel makes this the biggest screen on an Apple Watch, just about pipping the Ultra 2, and the new wide-angle OLED gives it great readability at acute angles. Moreover, it’s incredibly light and thin (35.3g and just 9.7cm); wearing it after the Ultra, it feel barely there.

As the Apple Watch approaches its 10th birthday, it’s fair to say innovation has slowed – good news if you own an older model but a little disappointing for tech nerds like me. Still, as a jumping on point, this is a brilliant watch that will last for years.

• The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is available through the Apple website here