If you’re reading this, you had the same thought as I did before purchasing: is the Apple Watch Ultra useful for women? Is gender even an issue? Read on to find out!
I’m assuming the following: you already know a fair amount about Apple Watches in general (i.e. whether you want one), have an iPhone, and are a woman.
Why is gender even an issue? Well, at 49mm, the watch is objectively ginormous. If you’ve had an Apple Watch before and gone for the smaller size, it’s something that warrants consideration.
Do I think it was made specifically with men in mind? Not sure. Part of me says OF COURSE, IT’S SUPERMASSIVE (cue Muse – YouTube link for your ease!). The other, more forgiving part whispers that perhaps it needs to be bigger for the ‘ruggedness’ and ‘battery’.
I wandered into this quagmire because my trusty Apple Watch Series 4 (40mm) was losing steam in the old battery department, and I wanted to ensure I had a trustworthy wrist companion as we were travelling. It was at the point where it was touch and go whether it would make a few hours’ walk and live to tell the tale (mostly reliant on whether I’d remembered to charge it beforehand). I first started using my S4 in January 2019, so it lasted (with my impatient battery habits) almost 4 years (December 2022).
Without further ado, let’s get into what I’ve found the headline pros and cons of the Apple Watch Ultra for women – note that these might be a little overshadowed by the pros and cons in general.
Here are some unedited pictures of my wrist, so you can check out the size and how it looks after 2 months of usage.
Pros – where the Apple Watch Ultra is useful!
Battery Life
Compared to other Apple Watches, this is a clear reason to buy the Ultra. The battery comfortably lasts for 24 hours with multiple workouts. If you’re on a walk, I found that my watch lost about ten percentage points per hour. If you turned the activity off while you were faffing about, most people doing intense activities would comfortably have a full day out of the battery. I am awful at tracking how long I’ve gone between charges, but Tom’s Guide managed to comfortably get 48 hours, and Apple suggests 60 hours is the max you can get.
Durability
Something I hadn’t really considered was how durable this thing is: titanium and sapphire crystal. To me, this sounded a combination of ‘fluffy‘ or ‘should be a given’. I’m impressed how good it looks a couple of months on. However, I’m actually really impressed by the fact my watch looks as good as new, even a couple of months on!
With my S4, I first wrapped it in everything I could to stop any dings, to keep my investment spick and span. I had a case and a screen protector, and eventually dispensed with the case. It was getting easily grimy underneath, and moisture collected under the case (because I was washing my hands). It ended up with a fair amount of scratches on the screen, which was a bit frustrating because of how much I’d paid.
By the way, I think ‘Apple products holding their investment’ is a myth nowadays. I was offered £25 for my £300 watch. Hardly worth it.
The only ding it has (and I don’t think you’d spot it if you didn’t know it was there) was from the day before I wrote this article. And yes, that hurt a lot because I was admiring how ding-free it was at the time… I then dropped a glass bottle against the bezel. Not a happy bunny.
Siren?
Perhaps a bit more tenuous, but worth mentioning. Of the Apple Watch lineup, only the Ultra has a siren – it is 86 decibels and can be heard from up to 180m away. I’ve not used it, but have seen it on my watch (it’s there!). It was implemented for hikers, but I think it could have implications for ladies being harassed – think personal alarm. I’ve had one before (but never used it – my Mum made me get one because she loves me but it made me squirm).
Safewise advises that a good personal alarm should be 120-130dB. The alarm falls short here, but it’s a start: safety in a wearable could have more implications than getting lost while hiking, or falling over.
Cons – where the Apple Watch Ultra isn’t useful!
Size
If you considered the Apple Watch big compared to a non-smart watch, the Ultra will make you cry a bit. It feels a bit like those brick phones in the 90s… It is big. It’s not the size of a phone though, and for most people, it will fit on your wrist. Will it look proportionate? Maybe not. I’d really recommend trying it on – possibly a few times – before committing. Francis absolutely hated it on my wrist when I first tried it on. It’s a shock, but like with most things, you’ll get used to it.
Just don’t be surprised if your wrist is mostly watch.
Price
Do I hate myself a little because I keep buying into the Apple universe? Yes. I remember when I thought a £300 phone was expensive, yet thanks to payment plans, I suddenly have the iPhone 13 Pro (macro lens was the kicker) with an RRP from £1200 (Amazon affiliate link). So forking out £800+ for a watch did not make me feel good about myself.
What’s extra annoying is that my decision hinged on battery life… To my mind, on a portable wearable that should be at the forefront of development, yet here I am shelling out my hard-earned £££ for it.
Features
I really appreciate the features on my Apple Watch. Briefly:
- If you have an Apple personal computer, unlocking etc is a dream
- The fact it has heart rate zones is pretty useful for training purposes
- There are new features for women’s health – primarily coming from the new temperature sensors. These can be an indicator of ovulation, and (though it has only been 2 months) I can see a correlation between my period hitting and my wrist temperature going back to baseline… Maybe that’s why I feel colder in those first few days!
- The compass app has a backtrack feature
I can hear you… Why am I singing the praises in the Cons section? Well, to put it simply, all of the above is available on the Series 8 as well (affiliate Amazon link). For half the price. The features I use ‘on the reg’ are the same. And no, I’m not a diver. The GPS is also supposed to be better than the base models… Though I don’t think you could call GPS on the S8 bad by any stretch. I haven’t even really noticed much of a difference between current features and my S4. Seriously. The only thing I’ve actually noticed between S4 and Ultra is temperature and sleep monitoring – both of which you can get on a S8, or perhaps even earlier (Guardian review of S8).
Conclusion: is the Apple Watch Ultra useful for women?
Short answer, yes. Long answer: if, like most people you are mindful of how much something costs, you can get everything bar extra battery (apparently S8 is up to 36h now which is a step up), siren and durability in the less expensive model.
Would I make the same decision? Yes. Why? It’s easier to downplay spending once that spending is in the past… But that battery life? I don’t think I’d be happy taking a step back now. Do I still think this level of charge should be baseline? YES, but it’s not. So if I have the money, I’ll still spend *double* (oh wow that makes me cringe just typing it out). But is the Apple Watch Ultra useful for women over, e.g. the S8? I don’t think it’s that different for most people.
Blue-Sky Thinking ☁️
This is hard! But I’m forcing thinking here, because a wearable that costs almost a grand should be really pushing the limits. Here’s what I’d like to see out of the Apple Watch in general, and with women like me in mind:
- I want to see the battery last a week. Other smart watches have had longer lives for ages); I also want to see baseline durability increased. It’s a wearable and should perform as such. I get they’re expensive, but that’s Apple’s USP, no?
- I want to see more use of that temperature function. The wrist temperature function is surprisingly accurate for an external monitor. Sorry, I can’t find where to cite this! However, temperature functionality is hidden, and you won’t get an an alert if your temperature is outside certain limits. Especially in the context of recent times, having an early warning system wouldn’t be a bad thing.
- I want to see this tech improved with a focus on personal safety. According to Hiker’s University, 120-150 hikers pass away each year in the US, whereas 618,000 women are raped or sexually assaulted each year (Rape Crisis). I don’t know that a siren would fix it, but surely there’s something we could do to improve wearables here.
Blue Sky Conclusion
I just want more! If features haven’t really changed that much in 3 years… What’s going on?? I do understand that development takes time, but we’re talking Apple here. Wasn’t Steve Jobs famous for making staff cry when they told him they couldn’t do it and he told them they had to? Maybe we should be demanding more of big tech companies. I want carcinogen detectors, cholesterol and blood results. I want real solutions to the health and environment issues we’re seeing! Yeah maybe that’s a stretch, but that’s what we should be striving for!! Who’s in a better position to front that than Apple?
There’s more than your fill of whether the Apple Watch Ultra is useful for women! Here’s an Amazon link (affiliate) to the Apple Watch Ultra if this has persuaded you to take the plunge!
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