the Apple Watch Ultra is Apple's largest

and most rugged watch to date.

It has dual frequency GPS, a peak brightness of 2000 knits,

a 36 hour battery life, a bright orange action button,

a titanium case, water resistance down to a hundred meters,

and of course an ultra price tag of $799.

Apple claims that-

- Every detail has been engineered to create the most rugged

and capable Apple watch ever.

- So in the last three months, we got lost.

Yeah, we're the fools with 20 pounds of gear on our back.

We dove deep.

(water splashing)

We went on long runs and we even tore it apart.

- Average use should probably get you about two years.

- To see just how ultra this watch really is.

So in this video, I've created these mini reviews

or vignettes that highlight some of the most important

features on the Apple Watch Ultra.

I've called in some pros too,

and I encourage you to jump around.

All of the sections are labeled down below.

The Apple Watch Ultra is an amazing device,

but much like a Jeep or a fancy pair of hiking boots,

it sells this grand idea of off the grid adventures

that it isn't always capable of delivering on.

Enjoy, bud.

(gentle music)

We're putting a lot of trust in technology today.

But lucky for one of us,

I've started my track back, so.

New to the Apple Watch SE, the Apple Watch Series Eight

and of course the Ultra is a track back feature

within the Compass app.

If you start a walk, a bike, or a hike,

it will automatically start dropping way points

as you're going so that you could track back.

But Apple claims that it will also start automatically

when you are quote unquote, "off the grid."

In the fine print on their website

it says that that means that you are away from locations

that you are normally in and you're away from wifi.

So I'm gonna start a hike which should automatically

start the track back feature but Vjeran

is not gonna start a hike and we're gonna see if it actually

starts tracking back for him because,

well, I think that you're gonna need track back

when you don't think you'll need it the most

if that makes sense.

Anyway, let's go get lost.

V, you ready for this? - No, no.

Not really.

We have a lot of gear.

Why, why are we doing this?

- [Becca] Apple in its September keynote

seemed set on convincing all of us that danger is everywhere

and only an Apple device running Apple software can save us.

On the Apple Watch Ultra, that means safety features

such as fall detection, emergency SOS that can alert

specific contacts if you need help,

car crash detection and backtrack.

This is my supervising producer, Vjeran.

- I'm so glad I brought my hiking shoes.

- [Becca] I made him set out on a six mile hike with me.

We were both wearing Apple Watch Ultras

and well quickly, our tech began to fail us.

- That way or that way?

- I think that way. - I say that way.

- First it was the lack of turn by turn directions

or way to follow a preset route.

So less than a mile into our hike

we took our first wrong turn.

This is embarrassing.

Even though I did have an offline map,

I was attempting to follow on my phone.

I think we keep veering in.

Let's go. - You think we keep veering?

- Veering like, oh. - Oh.

- [Becca] This mistake ended up adding

an extra three miles to our hike.

There were also multiple times

we had to make an educated guess about which trail to follow

since our trails were not well marked.

- Long story short, we're probably fucked.

- [Becca] No!

A watch meant for adventurers

should have integrated offline trail navigation.

- Hey, how you doing, kid? - I'm doing great.

I'm doing so good up here.

Second, holding my camera led to my wrist pushing down

on a combination of physical buttons,

which paused our walk for 0.6 miles before I realized

it was paused.

The watch still recorded points in the Compass app

for the backtrack feature even though the workout

was paused, but no one wants any amount of miles missing

from the final count of a workout.

Dumb, dumb!

I hate that.

And third and most importantly,

Vjeran's backtrack, it never started.

- There's absolutely nothing on here,

which is a little concerning.

- [Becca] Despite being incredibly off the grid

and having started a walk after the watch noticed Vjeran

was walking for a while,

the compass never began dropping any way points.

- [Vjeran] Yeah, at this point you really should see

a lot of little breadcrumbs.

- [Becca] So if he had gotten lost,

he wouldn't be able to use the backtrack feature.

- I guess you have to just like assume

that you will get lost.

- Dude, that sucks. - That kind of sucks.

- Since I physically started my hike workout on the watch

when we started, I had many, many way points to follow

on our way back.

Hello points.

V, thank God you got me.

What would you do without?

What would you do without me?

So at the top of the mountain,

which was the middle of our hike,

I simply pressed the backtrack button on the Compass app

and it led me to every point I had dropped.

This is going to be incredibly useful when bushwhacking

or hiking without a trail to the top of a peak.

But in our experience, with two days of hiking,

unless you physically start a workout,

this feature does not always start on its own

and I don't think it should be relied upon

when heading out on an adventure.

Don't assume this feature's just going to start.

Downloading an offline hiking map

such as one from All Trails is still a safer bet.

Another safety feature on the Apple Watch Ultra

is its siren.

(siren blaring)

Apple claims that they worked very hard

to make this 86 decibel siren unique

so that when you hear it, you know that it's not just

another sound in nature.

But to test it, I'm gonna start walking away from Vjeran

and every 30 seconds he's gonna sound the siren.

If I can hear him, I'll stop.

I can hear that.

And I'll note that I can hear him

and then I'll keep walking till I can no longer hear him.

But I've also bought a $4 whistle.

So after we test the siren,

we're gonna test just a normal whistle

and see how far away I can get from that.

Peace.

Wait, gimme that camera.

- In order to turn on the siren

all you have to do is just hold onto the action button

and then you'll get prompted to slide across the screen

to turn on the siren.

(siren blaring) - All right.

I'm 125 feet away and I hear that.

Oh yeah, I hear you.

- All right, she can hear that.

- Continuing down the path.

250 feet.

Yeah, I can hear that.

- All right.

- All right, this is 450 feet.

(siren ringing weakly)

Oh yeah, okay, 450 feet.

We're gonna go to 550 feet.

(siren ringing weakly)

Oh yeah, okay.

Point one miles, 550 feet.

I can still hear him, but barely, barely.