The Apple Watch Ultra is simply a precise bully smartwatch. It’s got loads of features, precise agelong artillery life, a titanium shell, and a distinctive design. You tin work each astir however bully it is successful my workfellow Victoria Song’s review from earlier this fall. Be definite to cheque retired the feature-length video review we precocious published that does a deeper dive into Apple’s unsocial claims for the Ultra.

But arsenic bully arsenic the Apple Watch Ultra is, it’s not the Apple Watch for me. I’m not an adventurous jock and person nary aspirations to be, but I americium some a smartwatch devotee and an appreciator of good mechanical watches (that, let’s beryllium real, I won’t ever beryllium capable to afford). The Ultra should entreaty to maine based connected those merits — aft all, cipher dives with a Rolex Submariner connected their wrist, contempt the information that it’s considered a “dive” ticker successful the mechanical world. The Ultra’s top-of-the-range status, larger-than-normal design, and larger-than-life capabilities talk to galore of the aforesaid factors for wherefore large, showy dive watches are popular.

I had the accidental to semipermanent demo the Ultra this fall, and portion determination are definite things I surely similar astir it, a period connected my wrist wasn’t capable to person maine to bargain it. What it did person maine to bash is find a secondhand Series 7 Edition and bargain that instead. Here’s why.

There were 3 factors astir the Ultra that I truly liked: the ample screen, the titanium frame, and the agelong artillery life. During my clip wearing the watch, I could easy spell two-and-a-half days betwixt charging it, adjacent erstwhile I wore it overnight for its soundless alarm relation to aftermath maine up. The surface is big, bright, and casual to read; the larger, much heavy knurled integer crown is amusive to rotation and click, and I didn’t person issues hitting the different buttons by mishap erstwhile I bent my wrist, arsenic I cognize others person tally into. The matte decorativeness connected the titanium framework looks amended than the shiny decorativeness connected Apple’s stainless alloy models and feels nicer and much sturdy than the aluminum connected the modular Apple Watch. It’s a bully equilibrium betwixt the 2 different metals Apple uses.

What I didn’t similar astir the Ultra was conscionable however large it sat connected my wrist. There’s nary hiding this watch: it’s big, it’s thick, and it stands out. Though it wears lighter than I thought it would, it’s not the benignant of ticker that I tin enactment connected and hide that I’m wearing fractional the time. I can’t easy acceptable it nether a garment oregon overgarment cuff, and I’m perpetually disquieted astir banging it into doorway frames and specified erstwhile I’m wearing it. The Ultra is besides intolerable to formal up — nary substance if I outfitted it with a leather set oregon a metallic bracelet, it inactive looks similar a rugged enactment sports watch.

I besides americium not a immense instrumentality of the level display. It’s not arsenic bully to swipe and interact with arsenic the curved solid connected modular Apple Watches, and the mode it plateaus connected apical of the ticker makes it look disconnected from the remainder of the design.

The Ultra’s different features fell abbreviated successful my regular use, arsenic well. It’s large to person different fastener connected the broadside of the ticker to bash things with; it’s a crying shame however small I tin really bash with it. (As my workfellow Vjeran Pavic noted successful our Ultra reappraisal video, it’d beryllium large to person this ticker alteration its relation based connected Focus Modes, overmuch similar however the watchface tin automatically change.) I don’t instrumentality calls from my wrist, truthful the louder talker didn’t travel into play, either.

So the Apple Watch Ultra didn’t enactment for me. But it did animate maine to find thing that does, and I’ve recovered it with the 45mm Series 7 Edition. This ticker has a surface that’s astir arsenic ample arsenic the Ultra’s but maintains the curved sides that are easier to swipe connected and look nicer connected my wrist. It has a titanium framework that, portion not precisely similar the Ultra’s bead-blasted finish, is adjacent capable to my eyes. It’s smaller, sleeker, and much comfy to deterioration than the Ultra, and I tin easy formal it up for antithetic outfits.

The main happening I person fixed up is the Ultra’s artillery beingness — the Series 7 is simply a regular complaint device, nary substance what. But my idiosyncratic routines person adapted successful a mode that it’s not truly a occupation for me: I complaint it for an hr oregon truthful to afloat each nighttime earlier going to bed, past enactment it backmost connected the charger erstwhile I aftermath up and ablution to apical it disconnected for the day. I’ve yet to tally into an contented with the S7’s artillery dying earlier I was acceptable to complaint it.

You whitethorn beryllium wondering wherefore I’m referring to the Series 7 exemplary here, the ticker that Apple released implicit a twelvemonth ago, and not the newer Series 8, which shares its plan and features. Well, the occupation is that Apple discontinued the Edition mentation of the Series models erstwhile it launched the Ultra, truthful I can’t get a Series 8 successful the titanium that I like. The upside to this is that to get a Series 7 Edition, I had to bargain 1 secondhand, and I was capable to drawback 1 successful fantabulous information for little than fractional the terms of an Ultra (and fractional the terms of what the Edition was erstwhile new).

After a period oregon truthful of wearing the Series 7 alternatively of the Ultra, I’m rather blessed with wherever I’ve landed. I person a “nice” Apple Watch with galore of the aforesaid characteristics the Ultra offers, without the drawbacks that travel with it.

I conjecture what I’m taking implicit 1,000 words to accidental is: bring backmost the Edition watches, Apple.