A Close Look At The Black Apple Watch Ultra 2 After 100 Days Of Wear

[@mlegrand]

I'm currently seeing this AWU 2 Black for about $30 off on Amazon: amzn.to/3DIMfSN (affiliate link)

[@slapfan1]

Came from an AWU 1, couldn't resist the black coating and pulled the trigger. I don't regret it at all, it looks amazing.

[@mlegrand]

Nice! How's it holding up? Mine seems solid

[@slapfan1]

@ one tiny tiny scratch, upper right corner, hard ding against a marble countertop. I’ll take the small scratch, when it happened I though it was going to be completely broken.

[@rutgervanzonneveld5719]

Hi Matt, an owner of an old Garmin Fenix 3hr here, and not looking for an Apple watch, but your video's are such feast for the eye. They are amazing, so I will keep on watching! Thanks for all your great work. Greetings from the Netherlands

[@mlegrand]

Wow, thank you so much Rutger! That is super nice to hear.

[@antoninoamico544]

Great video I did return my black one and kept the natural as I find it more versatile than the black finish. But both great watches 👍🏼

[@mlegrand]

It's nice that you got to try both. I'm not sure I'm a great judge of style. I feel happy with either style. 🤷‍♂️ Hope all is going well over there Antonino!

[@BrunoDECOURCY]

Your videos are a treat for the eyes!!!!! Beautiful!!!

[@mlegrand]

Wow, thank you so much for the kind words Bruno!!! I really enjoy trying to make these nice. I'll keep trying to improve. Thank you for watching and taking the extra time to comment. I really appreciate it. 👍

[@ZeRo-22-]

Owner of an Ultra 2 Black but close to pulling the trigger on a Fenix 8. Best of both worlds.

[@30mattdavies]

Its not. By splitting the use, you'll get incorrect and partial metrics on Both?

[@mlegrand]

I'm always wearing two watches and it's frequently these two watches. They're both great watches.

[@ZeRo-22-]

@@mlegrand ended up pulling the trigger on a 47mm Fenix 7 pro SS. Under $600 currently on amazon!

[@mlegrand]

@@ZeRo-22- - Wow, that's a solid deal!!!

[@goldgymca]

I consider to grab one because if the Garnin ecosystem. 😊

[@patrikpatterson]

Love the close up detail shots!

[@mlegrand]

Thanks! I'm trying to show things that are hard to see in the regular marketing shots. It's tricky to even see what's going on but you can tell that the watch is holding up really well. Take care Patrik!

[@curtism5333]

The quality of your video is outstanding, especially with the macro shots. I’ve had my ultra 2 in black for a month now and really like it. I much prefer the look of it to the regular series watches and I thought it would be a lot bigger than the 46mm series 10 but it really isn’t.

[@mlegrand]

It does sit up a lot higher on the wrist than the Series 10. It's thicker. So I do find that I catch it on more stuff day to day. But I'm pretty used to this size watch at this point and I like the extra functionality and battery life built in here. Thank you for the kind words Curtis!

[@curtism5333]

@ My Omega Seamaster Heritage is 0.5mm thinner. In the automatic watch world, 14mm and more is not an uncommon thickness. Not to mention weight. The AWU is OK.

[@nightstalker824]

I dinged mine within the first 2 weeks, and I baby this watch. I was taking a leak at Applebees, when I turned around my watch lightly grazed the ceramic tile. I have a small ding and scratch now. The bare titanium shows through the black. Bottom line - The DLC holds up well, BUT IT WILL SCRATCH AND DENT if swiped/brushed up against something that is harder than the coating itself. Also, I have apple care. If the scratches become too annoying, I’ll just smash my watch and go get a new one from apple for $79.

[@mlegrand]

Moral of the story: Don’t take a leak at Applebees. jk 😂 Thank you for watching and taking the extra time to comment. I really appreciate it. 👍

[@Im_PeterPanda]

Loved this!

[@mlegrand]

Wow, thank you Peter! I really appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment!

[@dawidchojak_dcsolo]

Matt, as always, your video production is outstanding. May I ask if you’re planning to review the Fenix 8? I know there’s plenty of content about it on KZbin, but your opinion is always spot on.

[@mlegrand]

Wow, Dawid. thank you so much for the kind words. I actually did review the Fenix 8 but have another video about it coming up in a few weeks after having worn it for 100 days.

[@dawidchojak_dcsolo]

@@mlegrand How could I miss that? I need to catch up! Thanks!

[@dickyfam29]

I’m a gym goer and was looking into the Garmin fenix8 amoled to replace my Apple Watch. However, freaking Tesla just came out with an app for the Apple watches. I guess I just have to wait for the ultra 3, hoping it would get a better battery life.

[@mlegrand]

I have high hopes for the Ultra 3 but we'll see. I really want it to get better battery life also but Apple seems to insist that people are ok with less battery life. 🤦‍♂️

[@KenFat2]

@@mlegrand I agree, I don't think that they will increase the batter life but instead might make it smaller as the chip gets more efficient. They are kinda like Nintendo, they do what they want to don't care if many people are clamoring for a specific feature.

[@krmtdfrg]

Saw no need to get this as I have the natural titanium version. It does look very nice though as I love all black everything. I have the blood oxygen sensor on my Ultra 2.

[@mlegrand]

You're lucky to have gotten the blood oxygen sensor. It's still missing on the watches sold after about december of last year. Thank you for watching and taking the extra time to comment. I really appreciate it. 👍

[@BadDoggyBreath]

Man I’ve been bouncing between an AWU and a FR965. It’s so tough to not just rock the AWU full time. Working in technology as a career having some of the AW productivity tools is so clutch. With Apple leaning into health as heavy as they have been I’m really curious what features will come next gen.

[@mlegrand]

Yes! Me too! I wonder if we'll see blood pressure or even maybe blood glucose levels in the AWU 3. That would be insane. I'm typically wearing two watches at a time so best of both worlds at the cost of looking like a complete whack job. 🤷‍♂️

[@BadDoggyBreath]

⁠​⁠@@mlegrand😂😂 I don’t quite have that dog in me to wear both yet. But, honestly blood pressure/glucose + increased battery life would probably push me completely over the edge to abandon Garmin at this point.

[@Phat-rj3jo]

@@mlegrandit won’t be in AWU 3, especially the blood glucose, based on all the indications everyone (Apple, Garmin, and the likes) are still far away.

[@derksenjenny]

i have the ultra in black, I love the sleek look of it. I have multiple bands with it to change the look. but I like the ice blue band and the black trail loop the most . I haven,t seen it on another person in the real life and definatly never on a woman. but the ultra give me enough battery for my workouts, the series 10 wasn't enough. I've tried garmin the battery was great but heart rate didn't work on me so well, and don't want to wear a chest strap all the time. the ultra is perfect for me

[@nightstalker824]

That’s how I wear mine. It’s on my wrist right now. Black with ice blue band. I’m a guy and it looks cool. I think it would look cool with an orange band as well

[@joaobaccarin5552]

Hey Matt, thanks for another great video! Loved the macro shots. Can I ask you if you felt like the new watchOS has brought any improvement for swimming over the last iteration? Or is it basically the same?

[@mlegrand]

Actually, they did work on the swimming functionality in WatchOS 11. It's subtle but they've added the ability to import swim workouts and they've organized it so that it can show pace by 100 and even show rest intervals similar to how we'd want to see them for a swim workout. But I've had issues importing workout so that I could actually see these new features. To me, it just looks the same as it always has been. So user error maybe? 🤷‍♂️

[@joaobaccarin5552]

@@mlegrand no problem! thank you so much Matt!

[@spadbob24]

I have ultra2 for 6 months. Love every single aspect of it - its just the best Only issue is battery - I wish and hope battery goes to weeks some day, than 2-3 days right now

[@mlegrand]

I wonder if micro-leds for the display would get us closer. 🤔

[@thebonchavez236]

I love the look of the Ultra 2, and maybe I’m the odd ball, but I’d love to see it in 51mm for longer battery. I just need a bigger watch and Garmin Instinct 2x Solar has provided that thus far.

[@mlegrand]

That Instinct 2X has been a fantastic device. Did you see that Garmin announced the Instinct 3? Looks very interesting. Hopefully I'll be able to pick one up and review it here soon. Thank you for watching and taking the extra time to comment. I really appreciate it. 👍

[@larry3412]

Debating between bad sleep tracking of Garmin vs no SP02 on Apple. Which way would you go if both were important to you?

[@aparagarwal1234]

I would suggest if sleep tracking is your primary focus/goal, go for Apple Watch. Their sensors are best in class.

[@mlegrand]

I actually prefer Garmin's sleep tracking to Apple's and I very often wear both of them to sleep. But overall, I think there would be things from Apple that you might miss if you ended up going with Garmin. It all kind of depends on if you are leaning towards a smarter smart watch or a more fitness focussed device.

[@aparagarwal1234]

@@mlegrandOh, I have F6 pro and it always detects more "deep" sleep than my Apple watch.. I agree Garmin is more fitness oriented, and should be considered when you are out for an activity for more than 10-12 hrs.. as AWU can also manage 8-10 hrs activity. Also, not to forget that Garmin doesn't roll out new features to 2 years old model and beyond which is opposite to Apple. Eg - morning report is unavailable on my F6 pro :(

[@ActiveIdeas]

Silky smooth 🔥🔥

[@mlegrand]

Ha! Thank you!!!

[@bonn1771]

Great video Matt The watch looks nice For it do you need. It to be lte or can just without. Might get my sister an apple watch that is why I am asking

[@mlegrand]

The AW Ultra only comes in LTE but it's an option on the AW Series devices. So it depends on what you're buying. BTW, you're a hell of a good brother. 😂

[@bonn1771]

@mlegrand good to know. Well she helped me in the past.. I will see if she wants it or something else. As her polar watch isn't doing her laps swimming correctly now

[@kiosh]

awesome video

[@mlegrand]

Thank you for watching and taking the extra time to comment Kiosh. I really appreciate it. 👍

[@dbcooper6592]

I think it is ridiculous Apple didn't settle the lawsuit and screw their customers over.

[@mlegrand]

I really thought we'd see a new optical heart rate sensor that worked around this patent issue. 🤷‍♂️

[@AndrewAllgaier]

Great video, as always - thank you. I'm very curious about battery life... I have the Ultra 1 and cannot find conclusive info on if the 2 has any real world battery improvements. I know on paper it's the same but how is it in actual daily use?

[@mlegrand]

In use it's almost impossible to tell the difference. If anything, it's because the AWU 1 is older and has an older used lithium ion battery that's just degrading slowly. Thanks Andrew!

[@AndrewAllgaier]

@ good to know… fingers crossed they focus on battery for the 3 to get closer to its name. Thanks!

[@tomm2639]

Great macro but u need to get rid of the colored lights and stick to white light with 6500 Kelvins, with ur colored lights the shots are ruined, evidenced by the black up close looks grey, u have mixed too much light

[@mlegrand]

You're probably right Tom. I did want to show the black. The black has a metalic sheen to it and it looks really grey in these pictures. Thanks for the help!

[@KenFat2]

I’m one of those weird people who has a Garmin Fenix 8 watch and an Apple Watch Ultra 2. I usually go between the two but I love my Apple Watch. I feel like I wear that most of the time just because it’s more convenient in day-to-day use cases, but I keep the Garmin for multi day hikes. If Apple could ever figure out how to get about four or five days in normal use, not Low Power Mode then I would be more in line with the Apple Watch. That’s what I want to see. But thanks for the content. I love your channel. I always watch all your new videos on the various watches.

[@mlegrand]

Super weird but you're not alone. I'm right there with you and most of the time, I'm wearing one on each wrist. I agree with you on battery life. Hopefully microLEDs could boost battery life? 🤷‍♂️ But overall, it sometimes feels to me that Apple is slowly becoming more like Garmin and Garmin more like Apple. But it's a slow process.

[@camivey7936]

This is helpful as I just got the ultra 2 but have always been a garmin guy. I have the fenix 6 pro still. I did try the Fenix 7x saphire but wanted to try the ultra 2. It's been like 5 days so far and I would agree it seems more day to day practical. I think the only things I don't like about the ultra 2 is the battery life of course and not having the tactical flashlight like the fenix 7x. I'm still torn on wether I want to keep the ultra or not...

[@asian_mando]

Subbed!

[@mlegrand]

Thank you asian_mando!

[@DavidSmith-qv6tg]

Its not. I have a few chip on my paint. And its definitely noticeable.

[@mlegrand]

Yikes, sorry to hear that. What do you see under the chip? The bare titanium?

[@jakeva9802]

If apple ever increases the battery , i would pick one up.

[@mlegrand]

Yeah, with the original AWU, I was expecting about 5 days. We got 2 🤷‍♂️

[@Phat-rj3jo]

They can’t, Apple have different priorities than the likes of Garmin. The functions that AW users likes consumes more power. And the fact that with AW series 10, where Apple was able to slim down the SoC, instead of taking the opportunity to enlarge the battery, what did they do? They made it thinner. This goes to tell you your typical AW users don’t mind charging battery regularly.

[@parkerkerth8446]

Comment for the algorithim!

[@mlegrand]

Thank you Parker!!! Hope training is going well!

[@monkeyguy80]

Anyway It’s all better than the Aluminium, I didn’t banged or dropped, just within a month, the frame automatically had stressed cracks small lines at the edges on it! 3 months later a total had 3 small cracks lines on edges ya! 🤷🏻‍♂️⌚️

[@mlegrand]

Wow, that is not great. I've had my AWU 1 for 2 years now and it's still holding up well. I can't believe yours is struggling.

[@michaellanger5671]

DLC will scratch….and those scratches are nasty, because you see the Ti shining through….so be careful

[@mlegrand]

Yeah, that’s a really good point. So far so good. Thank you for watching and taking the extra time to comment. I really appreciate it. 👍

[@nightstalker824]

Some people hate it, some people like the patina. I don’t know where I stand lol. I have a ding on black watch ultra with the Ti showing through. My friend has a black Galaxy watch that is beat to shit, and honestly it looks kinda cool with the black coating showing some wear.

[@mercersg]

just can't seem to switch from the Garmin ecosystem ...

[@mlegrand]

Yeah, I get that. There's actually a lot to like within the Garmin ecosystem that I think a lot of people overlook. The Garmin Connect app is pretty powerful. As long as it's not in the middle of an outage. (as in earlier today 😬) Thank you for watching and taking the extra time to comment. I really appreciate it. 👍

[@rhaibi12]

Man I loved my Garmin… just had so many issues with it CONSTANTLY disconnecting from my phone.