Apple Watch Ultra 2 Review: A Refined Upgrade That Rewards Newcomers More Than Last Year's Owners

The reviewer took the Apple Watch Ultra 2 off its charger at 6 AM on the first day of a two-day trip to Mumbai. He packed the charger and never used it. When he got back to Delhi on the afternoon of the second day, the watch still had more than 40 percent left. That detail, from a stretch when the watch was not on cellular, sums up much of the verdict: the Ultra 2 is a good product that Apple has found hard to improve.

The Nandagopal Rajan review in The Indian Express comes after he finished reviewing the Apple Watch Series 9 and moved on to the Ultra 2 for a couple of weeks of testing. The first Ultra, launched last year, was in his view the high point of what a smartwatch could do. Apple seems to have realised, he writes, that improving a product with few pain points is not simple.

The design is essentially unchanged: the rugged titanium case and the bright orange action button. Both have since appeared on the new iPhone 15 Pro series, which he reads as a sign the first Ultra worked. The watch is rated to depths of 100 metres and to extreme cold, as before. The one change he felt on the wrist was the new trail loop in the box, which he found far more comfortable over long hours. Last year's orange loop suited rugged use but not regular office wear.

Inside is the S9 processor, the same chip as the Series 9. It lets the 3,000-nit display, among the brightest in any gadget, adjust itself: soft at dawn when he is up early, and bright enough in the harsh Delhi sun to read emails on the large screen. The new modular Ultra watch face impressed him most, showing more than nine fully configurable data points at once. His carries air quality index, weather and a Go Gentler progress bar. In Mumbai, one glance told him whether rain was likely and how much the city's AQI had worsened since his visit a few months earlier. He notes he was not complaining, since Delhi was already sliding into its annual smog season.

The S9 also brings on-device Siri, which works without internet. In flight mode it answered how many feet are in a metre and how far Lucknow is from Noida. He has often found the watch to be the only charged device on him, so he sees real use there. The watch can also locate a lost iPhone offline, showing its direction and his distance from it while the phone sounds off.

GPS, already good, is more precise. After a late-night walk, even small detours to avoid a pack of strays showed up accurately in the fitness app. The watch now connects to biking accessories and can show workout zones live on the iPhone, though he does not cycle and could not test it. On the flight he watched elevation as usual and streamed Empire podcast episodes from the watch to his AirPods.

The double tap gesture, another new feature, will reach Indian users a few weeks later, so that part of the review must wait.

At ₹89,900, he calls the Ultra 2 a strong upgrade for existing Apple Watch users who want to become more outdoorsy and active. For those who bought last year's Ultra, as he did, it may not be worth it. He says he was disappointed by the lack of big additions and advises staying with the first Ultra for another year. His conclusion is that the Ultra is still the best smartwatch around, and the Ultra 2 makes it a little smarter and more comfortable. The double tap test is still to come.