Apple Watch Ultra 2 (2023)

Top screen ; Excellent sports tracking ; The best Apple Watch

Fitness tracking feels dated ; Lack of performance analysis ; Mapping rolling out slowly

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 strikes a great balance between powerful outdoor features and being an excellent smartwatch companion. It’s also just an Apple Watch power user’s dream, and offers all the latest gesture features, a gorgeous titanium build and,...

Faster processor ; Brighter display ; New gesture control (Double Tap) ; Offline Siri ; Carbon Neutral product (when paired with certain straps)

Might be hard to justify coughing up this much money on a yearly basis

If you liked the first iteration, you’ll love Apple’s latest rugged wearable offering. It’s prettier, smarter and faster than before without any price increase. A no-brainer upgrade for those who had an older Apple Watch and were thinking about...

Onboard processing for better battery life and improved data privacy. Helpful haptic features. WatchOS 10 includes offline maps and new hiking and cycling features. Fun new watch face. Precision locating rules.

No offline maps without the phone??? Battery life still nowhere near industry standard for sports watches. Carbon neutral claims are iffy. Constant toggling between functions is annoying. 3,000-nit display doesn't make a huge difference.

Bright screen ; Slick operating system ; Great for tracking sports & workouts

Works exclusively with iPhones ; Not as many fitness metrics as the competition ; Topographical maps cover US only

With so few user-perceptible upgrades over the original, it isn’t worth upgrading to the Ultra 2. However, for everyone else, it’s a phenomenal smartwatch with very decent battery life.

Rugged premium design ; Super-bright display ; WatchOS 10 is a joy to use ; Fast and responsive thanks to the new Apple S9 chip ; The new Modular Ultra watch face is great (and so is Snoopy) ; Enriched watch band options ; Better battery life than...

Double Tap feature not available at launch ; Little to no changes from the previous model ; Still a single color option

The TL;DR version: The updates to this year’s watches may not be the most exciting, but they do improve the Apple Watch user experience in meaningful ways.