Apple Watch Ultra 3 Review: Bigger Is Better for Some, but Not for Everyone

In April, the Apple Watch turned ten. The first models, in aluminum, stainless steel and even 18k gold, shipped without a settled idea of what they were for. Apple pitched them as a fashion piece, a fitness tracker, a phone, a music player and a navigator all at once, and it seemed plausible the watch might one day replace the iPhone. A decade on, Gizmodo's reviewer argues that hasn't happened and may never happen, though the new Apple Watch Ultra 3 edges a little closer to that old ambition.

The Ultra 3 starts at $800, the same price as an iPhone 17, which the reviewer points out is a full computer with strong cameras rather than a phone accessory. The first Ultra was aimed at divers, climbers and other outdoors people who wanted a bigger screen, longer battery life, more precise GPS and a customizable Action button. Three years later, the reviewer sees Ultras on wrists with no mountain in sight. A sister bought one for her husband, who has a big wrist. Friends with slim wrists wear one anyway, because the screen is large and the battery lasts two to three days per charge. In this telling, Ultra now just means the most features in Apple's lineup.

The design is the same as on the first two generations, with a 49mm titanium case in natural or black. The reviewer says plainly that they find it too thick and too big, and prefers the regular Series watches, while granting that others want exactly that. What has changed is manufacturing. Apple now 3D-prints the case from 100 percent recycled titanium rather than machining it from a block, which wastes less metal and avoids new mining. The reviewer didn't test the case against rocks, but a few knocks against kitchen cabinet doors and a pile of 40-pound cat litter boxes left the black case without so much as a scrape.

Otherwise it is close to an Ultra 2. Apple thinned the bezel, but the screen gain is too small to measure with a ruler, and Apple lists no official display size. Brightness matches the Ultra 2. The newer LTPO 3 panel is about power efficiency rather than visibility. A new Waypoint watch face with a compass looks good, but Ultra and Ultra 2 owners get it through watchOS 26. The new S10 chip makes no noticeable speed difference compared with the reviewer's Series 9. What it does enable is 5G and satellite communication, both firsts for the Apple Watch. Only the Ultra models carry the top 100-meter water-resistance rating.

Two health features might tempt upgraders. Hypertension notifications run in the background after setup and alert you if the optical heart rate sensor's data matches patterns a machine learning algorithm associates with high blood pressure. The watch does not measure blood pressure and does not diagnose. The feature is FDA-cleared, not FDA-approved, meaning Apple showed it to be safe and effective compared with similar marketed devices. Sleep Score starts automatically when you fall asleep wearing the watch. It weighs duration, bedtime and interruptions, then shows a donut-shaped ring and a rating of very low, low, OK, high or excellent, with deeper detail in the Health app. The reviewer likens it to Activity Rings: seeing a daily "low" made them want "OK," though they admit to sometimes ignoring it for Netflix and the Switch 2.

Neither feature requires the Ultra 3. Under watchOS 26, hypertension notifications come free to the Series 9 and later and the Ultra 2. Sleep Score arrives on the Series 6 and later, SE 2, and Ultra and later.

Cellular 5G is now on all three 2025 Apple Watch models, but the reviewer saw no real-world gain over their Series 9; it is mainly futureproofing against an eventual 4G shutdown. The Ultra 3's true exclusive is satellite connectivity. It supports Emergency SOS, messages to contacts and location sharing through Find My. There is no app for it; you add a shortcut in Control Center, a sign that Apple expects occasional use. You go outside, move your wrist left and right to find a satellite, which can take a few seconds, then tap through the options. Recipients see a label saying the message came by satellite. It is slower than cellular, and the reviewer calls it reassurance you hope never to use.

The verdict: the Ultra 3 is Apple's biggest and best watch, but fundamentally still just an Apple Watch, no longer a generation of foundational leaps. Whether you need it depends on if you want the size, and whether satellite backup is worth the price.