Apple Watch Ultra battery life: How long does it last?

The Apple Watch Ultra largely solves one of the wearable series’ biggest weaknesses: battery life. Not only does the Ultra’s bigger chassis allow for a more generous screen and tougher build than any Apple Watch before it, but it also packs enough room for the largest battery fitted to an Apple Watch. This means the Ultra can go even longer between charges. But just how long? Discover everything you need to know about the Apple Watch Ultra battery, including its longevity, charging speed, and these specs versus the competition.

Apple Watch Ultra battery specs

The Apple Watch Ultra claims the best battery life specifications of the series. Its reservoir is larger than the Series 8 and Watch SE (2022) allowing it to last twice as long on a single charge.

Apple Watch Ultra battery life: How long does it last?

If you’re looking for an Apple Watch that’ll last longer than any other in the series, the Ultra is for you. It features a 75% larger battery than the Apple Watch Series 8, translating into double the battery life. While Apple quotes the Series 8 to last up to 18 hours on a charge, the Apple Watch Ultra has a quoted 36-hour lifespan between charges. Impressively, we also found that Apple’s estimates are rather conservative. During our review, we regularly eked out around 40 hours per charge, but this figure largely depends on your demands as a user.

For adventure-orientated, multisport smartwatches, battery longevity is essential. We discovered that the bigger power store allows you to extract the most from the Apple Watch Ultra without the charging anxiety usually associated with the wearable line. It’s incredibly important when looking at the device’s specialized feature set, from its emergency siren to its depth sensor and diving features.

Low Power Mode

Apple has a software trick up its sleeve if 36 hours isn’t quite enough for you. By activating the Apple Watch Ultra’s Low Power Mode, you can get an estimated 60-hour battery life between charges.

The feature rolled out alongside the Apple Watch Ultra and watchOS 9 in 2022. It temporarily strips the Apple Watch Ultra of several core features to extend the device’s endurance. These include irregular and low/high heart rate notifications, workout reminders, background SpO2 and heart rate sampling, and the always-on display. Low Power Mode also disables Wi-Fi and cellular connections and incoming calls and notifications if your phone is off or not nearby. It’s also worth noting that you may see a reduction in watch face complication updates and slower Siri responses.

While you can enable Low Power Mode manually, Apple will automatically prompt you to do so when your Apple Watch Ultra’s battery hits 10%. The mode will automatically disable once your device is charged up to 80%. It’s also worth noting that Low Power Mode isn’t an Apple Watch Ultra exclusive feature. watchOS 9 has rolled out to older Apple Watches since its launch, so devices as far back as the Series 4 can benefit from battery saving.

Apple Watch Ultra charging: How long does it take?

The Apple Watch series doesn’t usually see a charging speed update yearly. As a result, the Apple Watch Ultra shares its charging speed with the older Series 7 and its Series 8 sibling. Thanks to its larger battery, the Ultra takes a little longer to reach a full tank. While the Series 8 will need 45 minutes to go from 0% to 80% charged, the Ultra requires 15 additional minutes. To reach 100% on the Apple Watch Ultra from 0%, you’ll have to set aside 90 minutes in total.

Interestingly, while Apple underestimates battery endurance, the company overestimates the Ultra’s charging requirements. We needed an additional 10 minutes to charge the device to 100% during our review. That isn’t a huge issue, but your overall charging times could extend to 100 minutes in some scenarios.

Importantly, Apple only provides one part of the Ultra charging puzzle. A bundled Apple Watch Magnetic Fast Charging cable is provided, but you’ll need a USB-C power adapter capable of pushing 20W to achieve fast-charging speeds.

Apple Watch Ultra battery life vs the competition

Apple is the smartwatch industry’s leader, but plenty of Apple Watch alternatives are available. As the Apple Watch Ultra is marketed as a durable multisport monster, it’s competing against similarly-billed products from Garmin and Coros.

The flagship Garmin Fenix 7 can last up to 22 days in smartwatch mode or 75 hours with the GPS burning in the background. We achieved more than 20 days during our review, which is below Garmin’s estimates but still impressive. It’s worth mentioning that our Fenix 7 review unit included solar-charging capabilities. While it’s nice to have and can add several days to its battery life, it’s difficult to see the benefit if you work inside or train in the dim winter sunlight. Granted, you may find it more useful out on the trail in summer.

Foregoing solar smarts, the Coros Vertix 2 is a bit of a battery duration king. It can last up to two months on a single charge, making it the preferred cross-continental hiking companion. However, you lose out on key features, from REM sleep tracking to several basic smartwatch features.

Of course, the Apple Watch Ultra is a smartwatch at heart, so it’s worth pitting it against the Samsung Galaxy Watch series and the Google Pixel Watch. Samsung has improved the battery life in the Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. We found that the former can regularly scale two days per charge during our review, while the Pro pushed that figure closer to three. The Apple Watch has at least one device firmly beat. In our review, we called the Google Pixel Watch’s battery life “painfully short,” and our opinion hasn’t changed much since. Google claims a duration of 24 hours, and that may just be achievable if you’re a conservative user.

Apple Watch Ultra battery FAQs