My experience: first month with Ultra 4 after a decade of Series watches
# Disclaimer
I just want to share my experience as a first-time Ultra watch owner.
I'll try to keep this hardware-specific, as software changes and bothered me today could be resolved / removed tomorrow.
# Intro
I've started with Apple Watch back in 2016 when Series 2 was released (and I'm still wearing that same band that my Nike Series 2 came with - it's sort of a tradition now, which basically forced me to stick with "big" watches: first 42 mm, then 44 and later 46mm). Since then I've upgraded every two generations and used the watch for various activities like running, skiing, triathlon, rock climbing etc.
I "slept" on Ultra for quite a while because I simply didn't see the appeal - the battery life on Series was good enough for my use cases (I've done 70.3 triathlons with it with full tracking) and the need to charge the watch before going to sleep never bothered me, whereas the added bulk felt quite significant when trying the watch in stores. The last push came from [diving](https://www.reddit.com/r/AppleWatch/s/09PRLX5Ose), so I decided to pay up and upgrade not to Series 12, but to Ultra 4.
For reference, I wear two watches at a time (currently Ultra 4 and Garmin Forerunner 970) with the latter being my primary sport device and Ultra doing more smartwatch stuff as well as serving as a backup fitness tracker, so there will be some comparison between the two.
# Good
* red shift display. It's less disturbing compared to a "normal" full-color face and much better compared to just setting a watch face to dim red instead of multicolor. Don't really get why it's an Ultra-specific feature, but, I guess, you have to drop some exclusive software features to make Ultra not just "Series with a bigger battery". * precision start. Again, I don't get why is this feature Ultra-specific, as there's nothing that requires Ultra hardware. * action button. Marking segments is much easier during an activity. Plus - now I don't need to put Workouts app on the watch face - I can simply press the action button and it pops up. * battery life. I'm easily getting 2.5 days from the watch with all features on (no cellular though - when I want to have a phone, I bring a phone) and the same amount of activities as before (~2h outdoor activities daily with music playing from the watch).
# No category
* size. When Ultra was initially introduced, the biggest Series watch was 44 mm, so the size gap was quite noticeable. After wearing a 46 mm Series 10 for two years, the size gap is nowhere to be found. * bulk (i.e. thickness and weight). Yes, the bulk is there. Not only Ultra is thicker - noticeable when you pick it up from the charger - and heavier, it also has a boxier shape with sharp edges whereas smooth curves of Series watch help it to "blend in" with your wrist. On the wrist it isn't really noticeable, even swapping back to S10 I can't feel the difference in weight. Interestingly enough, additional thickness of the sensor package allows me to wear the band on the same hole as before while keeping the watch firmly on the wrist. * I wish Apple leaned more into "adventure" vibe of Ultra and made the watch operable with buttons only. There are plenty of sport watches that use a crown and two buttons (the entire Coros lineup, Suunto etc), so it can definitely be done. Heck, Oceanic+ makes a very good case for a watch app that is operated by buttons only. But, of course, it would require to rethink the entire watchOS UX a lot and it will likely impact Series watches as well.
# Bad
* red shift is based on the ambient light sensor. It's good when you walk into a dark room during the day, it's not good when you're wearing long sleeves. * red shift is only for the watch face. Use anything else - even open the notification tray or smart stack - and the watch immediately switches to full colors. On Garmin watches the red shift display is time-based (as there's no ambient light sensor), but at the same time it shifts the entire UI - even the third-party apps will be rendered in shades of red. Given the amount and quality of third-party apps on Apple Watch, I wish it had a system-wide red shift as well. * battery life. Bigger battery is good when the watch lasts longer, but at the same time - it charges longer as well. With Series and a fast charger I was able to charge it in 40-45 minutes. With Ultra I need a solid hour (or more) to charge it to 100%. * watchOS 27. I don't remember fresh Apple releases with this many bugs (and I've upgraded to OS X Lion the moment it was released, so I know a thing or two about buggy Apple releases). Granted, nothing critical like the recent Garmin pace bug, but plenty of minor annoyances. Hopefully they will be addressed soon in 27.1 * band colors. I was really looking forward for a neon green marine band, but since it has been discontinued, I had to settle for a smoke gray one. In general, I'm very disappointed that Apple suddenly decided to mute all of its colors (not just Apple Watch bands - all of them) this year.