The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is like the luxury Land Rover you see in safari brochures: It’s adventure-ready on the outside, with all the modern conveniences on the inside. This smartwatch is ready to carry you back to everyday life without the dust-in-your-teeth, back-busting bounce of a beat-up Jeep. It straddles that line between rugged and refined, with just enough upgrades under the hood to make it worth the wait.
Of all the watches Apple announced at its September event (the Series 11 and SE 3 included), the Apple Watch Ultra 3 was the one I was most curious to test. I’ve been reviewing smartwatches for over a decade, but this is my first time wearing an Ultra. I’ll admit, though, that I wasn’t looking forward to the added bulk, especially during sleep. For someone who won’t even wear a ring to bed if I can help it, the Ultra 3 might as well have been a wrist shackle.
I remember feeling crushed when I wasn’t the one reviewing the Ultra at its debut in 2022. With its first scuba certification and high-pressure water sports rating, I was daydreaming about dusting off my scuba license and taking it on a jet-ski ride somewhere exotic — realistically, it probably would’ve been the cold waters of Monterey Bay, California, near where I live. But between logistics and maternity leave, I sat out the first two Ultras. By round three, I was more than ready to put one on my wrist, even if it meant shelving my dreams of testing it in tropical getaways since most of the new features aren’t tied to water sports.
Apple Watch Ultra 3
Like
Two-day battery life
Ultra fast charging (12% in 15 minutes)
Satellite connectivity for off-the-grid emergencies
Bright screen for clear visibility in harsh sunlight
Don’t like
Only one (49mm) sizing option
$800 price tag is double that of the Series 11
Rugged design is less versatile than other models
Instead, the Ultra 3 builds on its predecessors with satellite connectivity, allowing for an extra layer of protection when you’re off the grid. There’s also a faster processor, longer battery life and, to my surprise, a design that isn’t as bulky as I feared. Even for bed.
In a smartwatch landscape where it’s competing with feature-first rivals, such as Samsung and Google, and endurance-first brands like Garmin, which offers week-long battery life and satellite features, the Ultra 3 lands right in the middle. It’s the all-wheel-drive SUV of the smartwatch world: built for adventure, but without sacrificing the comfort, convenience and that seamless iPhone integration that only the Apple Watch can offer.
But it doesn’t quite bridge the gap for people (like me) who prefer a slimmer, more polished design. While my husband, who’s never owned a smartwatch in his life, would happily wear it all day. I’d still swap it out for the Series 11 before a night out that required anything beyond tennis shoes. And just like I can appreciate the engineering of a Land Rover without actually wanting to drive one every day, I can admire the Ultra 3 without crowning it my ride-or-die.
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Best battery life in an Apple Watch
One of the biggest draws of Apple’s Ultra line, beyond its rugged features, has been better battery life. The Ultra 3 pushes past the 36-hour mark set by the Ultra and Ultra 2: Apple says it can run for 42 hours of daily use, but you can likely squeeze in a few additional hours depending on what you do with it. During my testing, I was able to get anywhere between 45 and 49 hours. This included at least one 90-minute hike (paired to my phone) and two nights of sleep tracking, followed by a mostly sedentary day of writing at my desk. For someone used to charging an Apple Watch almost daily, that extra day of charge felt almost disconcerting. For context, I got about 28 hours of use out of the Series 11, including a 45-minute run.
The 5G (technically 5G RedCap, or 5G Reduced Capacity) and new antenna algorithm makes it more efficient and less power hungry when using cellular, but it still drains faster than staying paired to the phone. Satellite use can also affect battery life, so on multiday hikes it’s probably worth switching to low-power mode to stretch the Ultra 3 to its promised 72 hours and save the emergency satellite features for when you truly need them. The Ultra 3 is also rated for 14 hours of GPS workouts with heart-rate tracking, which should just about cover a full Ironman if your pace is fast enough. Serious triathletes will probably still want the added buffer of a dedicated sport watch.
Where the Ultra shines past the sport watches, though, is in charging speed. This is the first Ultra to live up to its name with the ultra fast charging that we saw come to the Series 10 and Series 11 watches. You can now charge it from zero to 100% in about an hour, get 12 hours of charge in just 15 minutes, or get enough power to cover a full night of sleep tracking (8 hours) in the time it takes you to brush your teeth. For me, those top-offs have made the difference between skipping sleep tracking entirely and actually unlocking the full picture of the Ultra’s health features.
Satellite connectivity on the Apple Watch Ultra 3 can send out emergency messages even when you’re out of cell range.
Satellite connectivity beefs up emergency features on the Ultra 3
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is the first Apple Watch to offer satellite connectivity. It’s a feature that iPhones (14 and later) already include, but this one stays on you, even if you fall. Not only can you manually send out a cry for help or share your location with contacts when you’re out of cellular range, the watch can also do it automatically if the fall detection (watch) or crash detection (watch and iPhone) mode is triggered. And with low-power mode extending battery life up to 72 hours, it could outlast your iPhone in those emergency situations, giving you an extra layer of safety when you’re off the grid.
At this stage in life with three young kids, my off-the-grid camping days are few and far between. But when I unexpectedly found myself without service (and a little lost) on the winding backroads of Northern California’s wine country this weekend, I used it as the perfect excuse to test the feature myself.
I’ve been wearing the new Waypoint watch face, which adds a satellite shortcut in the corner, but you can also trigger satellite communication from SOS or location sharing (or automatically with crash and fall detection).
There’s also a demo mode to try when you’re within cell range. The watch first walks you through connecting to a passing satellite; because satellites aren’t static, you may need to step into open space or wait for one to pass overhead. Mine locked in right away. The SOS demo then asked a short series of questions Apple would relay to emergency responders to speed up help. If an emergency were triggered automatically (fall or crash) those prompts would be skipped.
When I visited Apple’s labs, I saw how the company tests this accuracy by simulating satellite geometry anywhere in the world, essentially tricking the watch into believing it’s deep in the backcountry. That accuracy is critical to making sure help is dispatched to the right place in a real emergency.
In addition to the emergency features and satellite connectivity, the Ultra 3 also has a safety siren you can access by long-pressing the Action button, just like triggering Emergency SOS by long-pressing the side button on all Apple Watch models. This feature, unique to the Ultra line, plays two alternating, piercing tones on repeat that can be heard from up to 600 feet away and can help further guide emergency responders to your location.
I didn’t need rescuing that day in wine country, thankfully, but it was reassuring to know the watch did in fact connect to a satellite while I was otherwise cut off.
The Hypertension notification on the Apple Watch Series 11.
New health features powered by longer battery life
The Ultra 3 adds a new hypertension (high blood pressure) notification, also coming to the Series 9 and later with WatchOS 26. I’ve never been diagnosed with hypertension, and I haven’t been wearing the watch long enough to trigger an alert (it requires 30 days of data), but the reassurance matters — especially since high blood pressure runs in my family and often has no obvious symptoms. Like the watch’s irregular heart rhythm and sleep apnea alerts, it runs passively in the background and requires nothing more than opting in during setup or under the Heart section in the Health app on your iPhone.
If an alert does appear, Apple recommends confirming with a traditional blood-pressure cuff and logging your readings in the Health app, which now allows you to export results as a PDF for your physician. Apple estimates that up to one million people could be notified of undiagnosed hypertension in the first year alone.
The other big addition is Sleep Score, also rolling out to older Apple Watches (Series 6 and later, SE 2 and later, and all Ultra models) with watchOS 26. Beyond just tracking your time in bed and sleep stages, Sleep Score gives you a 0 to 100 rating from “Low” to “Excellent,” based on three main factors: time to bed, duration and interruptions. Apple says it’s using the latest clinical sleep guidance to inform the scoring.
Because the feature is retroactive, I was able to see my past sleep charted out and notice how the Ultra 3’s better battery life and faster charging were already influencing my patterns. My previous data was all over the place, with averages skewed by nights I skipped sleep tracking entirely. Since testing the Ultra 3 (and the Series 11, which has the same fast charging), my sleep tracking has become a lot more consistent and dare I say “better” at least by Apple’s standards, despite still having the random toddler wake-ups and late-night writing sessions.
And while I still wouldn’t call myself a fan of sleep tracking, I am a proponent of using the Apple Watch to its fullest health-tracking potential. Sleep data unlocks other features like sleep apnea alerts, menstrual cycle and ovulation predictions and more robust vitals tracking. It requires at least seven nights of temperature data to give a complete picture.
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 with the Waypoint watch face.
Similar design, brighter screen, bump in processing power
Coming off the 42mm Series 11, the Ultra 3 felt massive when I first strapped it on. At 61.6 grams, it’s nearly twice the weight and its 49mm screen dominates the wrist. But after that initial “whoa” moment, it didn’t bother me nearly as much as I expected; no lopsided walking or swinging my arm into doorframes. I even got through a full week of sleep tracking without ripping it off in the middle of the night.
The Ultra 3 sticks with the familiar Ultra shape: a titanium flanked Apple Watch with a flat-topped sapphire crystal display that lies flush with the frame. The body this time around is made from 50% recycled titanium, but more notable is that it’s 3D-printed, not hewed from a solid block of metal. Despite that, I can’t see any obvious signs, such as layer lines, that it was manufactured differently.
It’s fit for recreational scuba diving up to 40 meters and high-speed water sports with an IP6X rating for dust resistance. You also get the dedicated Action button, which can be customized for quick access to features whether you’re in or out of the water, though I’ve set mine to start workouts. Under the hood is Apple’s S10 chip, which is new to the Ultra, but not new to the Apple Watch. All three 2025 Apple Watches run on this processor, which was first seen on the Series 10.
What really impressed me, though, was the screen. The Ultra 3 still reaches the same 3,000-nit peak brightness as its predecessor, but the switch to an LTPO3 wide-angle OLED display makes it look brighter in real-world use, while also being more power efficient. Reading my stats under a thick canopy of trees or in the harsh midday sun was seamless. I watched the display adjust in an instant as I moved from shade to sunlight keeping the screen looking just as clear and bright in the two opposing environments.
This means the flashlight is also brighter, and helpful in a pinch. I wouldn’t recommend buying an Ultra just to locate lost baby bottles in the middle of the night (for which it works like a charm), but for outdoor night use, I can imagine it would be especially useful.
All three Apple Watch models announced at Apple’s Sept. 9 event: Apple Watch Ultra 3, Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch SE 3 (left to right).
WatchOS 26: A nice paint job and some AI features
New software gives the Ultra 3 a fresh look once you turn on the screen. WatchOS 26 (preloaded on the Ultra 3) brings smoother animations and translucent overlays to the interface. The Liquid Glass UI, also on the iPhone and other Apple devices, makes the whole experience feel more cohesive across platforms, though the softer contrast can make things a little harder to read at a glance on the Ultra 3. (If it bothers you, you can dial it back with the Reduce Transparency toggle in Settings.)
WatchOS 26 isn’t just about looks, though. It also adds practical features across the lineup: a native Notes app, a redesigned Workout app that can cue up music or media automatically and new wrist-flick gestures that let you silence alarms or calls without touching the screen.
The biggest (but less obvious) addition is Workout Buddy, a feature that gives you real-time motivation and feedback during runs, walks and several other workouts based on your own metrics. It’s not the AI fitness coach some people expected, but after testing it out in beta for over a month, I think it’s a solid first step into the AI space — mostly because of how natural and un-scripted it feels. Right now it mostly gives me pace alerts and the occasional nudge and still needs the iPhone for processing power, but if Apple expands it into more personalized training down the line, it could become one of the most important building blocks for Apple’s eventual health coaching ambitions.
The Apple Watch 3 in the black titanium finish.
Apple Watch Ultra 3 bottom line
I can appreciate the perks of having the Ultra 3, but not enough to ditch my Goldilocks pick, the Series 11. I recommend the Apple Watch Ultra 3 for anyone who puts battery life above all else, even with the higher price tag. At $800, it runs about twice the cost of the base Series 11 and nearly three times the SE 3, which now brings an always-on display and advanced health tracking like temperature and sleep score (though not ECG or hypertension alerts).
The Ultra 3 is the rugged upgrade that lets you go off-roading without leaving the comfort and convenience of Apple’s ecosystem. And with satellite connectivity, its safety guardrails now stretch even further so you can go feed your thrill seeking alter ego without as much reckless abandonment knowing you’re always connected.
2025 Apple Watches compared
| Apple Watch Series 11 | Apple Watch Ultra 3 | Apple Watch SE (3rd Gen) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design & sizes | Rectangular, 42mm, 46mm | Rectangular, 49mm | Rectangular, 40mm, 44mm |
| Display | 42mm: 446×374 pixels; LTPO3 OLED Retina display (wide-angle) 46mm: 496×416 pixels; LTPO3 OLED Retina display (wide-angle) | 49mm: 514×422 pixels; LTPO3 OLED Retina display (wide-angle, Always On) | 44mm: 368×448 pixels (Always On Retina LTPO OLED) Apple 40mm: 324×394 pixels (Always On Retina LTPO OLED) |
| Brightness | Between 1 and 2,000 nits | Between 1 and 3,000 nits | Up to 1,000 nits |
| Thickness & weight | 46mm: 9.7mm; 37.8g (aluminum GPS), 36.9g (aluminum GPS+Cellular), 43.1g (titanium) 42mm: 9.7mm; 30.3g (aluminum GPS), 29.7g (aluminum GPS+Cellular), 34.6g (titanium) | 49mm: 14.4mm; 61.6g (titanium) | 44mm: 10.7mm; 33.0g (aluminum GPS+Cellular) 40mm: 10.7mm; 26.4g (aluminum GPS+Cellular) |
| Material & finish | Aluminum: jet black, rose gold or silver finish; Titanium: slate, gold or natural finish with sapphire crystal display (titanium) | Titanium, natural or black finish with sapphire crystal display (titanium) | 100% recycled aluminum, midnight and starlight |
| Durability | 2X more scratch resistant glass (aluminum), 5ATM Water + IP6X (dust) | Water resistance 100m; dust IP6X, scuba to 40m, tested to MIL-STD 810H | Cover glass is 4X times more resistant to cracks than the SE 2; made of Ion-X glass. Water resistant up to 50 meters. |
| Battery life | Up to 24 hours, up to 38 hours Low Power (always-on) + Fast charge: 80% in 30 min, 100% in 60 min | Up to 42 hours; up to 72 hours Low Power. Fast charge to 80% in 45 min, 100% charge 75 min | All-day, 18-hour battery life. Fast charging with 8 hours of normal use in just 15 minutes on the charger. |
| Sensors | ECG, 3rd-gen optical heart sensor, skin temp, depth gauge, SpO2, Noise monitoring, water temperature, compass | ECG, 3rd-gen optical heart sensor, skin temp, depth gauge, SpO2, Noise monitoring, water temperature, compass | Wrist temperature, Second-generation optical heart sensor |
| Emergency features | Satellite SOS, Emergency SOS, Fall detection, Crash detection, Check in and Backtrack | Satellite SOS, Emergency SOS, Fall detection, Crash detection, Check in and Backtrack | Fall Detection, Crash Detection, Emergency SOS and Check In |
| AI & coaching | Siri (voice assistant); Workout Buddy | Siri (voice assistant); Workout Buddy | On-device Siri, Workout Buddy |
| Processor | S10 SiP with 64-bit dual-core processor, W3 Apple wireless chip | S10 SiP with 64-bit dual-core processor, W3 Apple wireless chip | S10 SiP with 64-bit dual-core processor, W3 Apple wireless chip |
| RAM/Storage | 64GB (storage) | 64GB (storage) | 64GB (storage) |
| Payments | Apple Pay | Apple Pay | Apple Pay |
| Price (US) | $399-$750 (titanium) | $799 | $249 (starting) |
