Upgrading from Ultra 1! Apple Watch Ultra 4 Unboxing & First Impressions
I haven’t upgraded my watch since the original Apple Watch Ultra, but Apple has officially stopped supporting it, so I picked up the $800 Apple Watch Ultra 4 with my own money to see if the upgrade is actually worth it. Compared to my Ultra 1 it’s a completely different watch at this point, with 2 days of battery life, a brighter screen, and a new heart rate sensor. In this unboxing and first impressions I compare it side by side with the Ultra 1, test whether it’s any thinner, unbox Apple’s Titanium Milanese Loop, put it next to the Series 12, and check out the bezels, double tap, and the brighter always-on display.
My Honest Take: the design is basically unchanged — I put it right next to my Ultra 1 and everything looks exactly the same aside from a slight color difference in the ceramic back and a slightly smaller bump from the new heart rate sensor. I was really hoping it would be at least a little thinner, but it isn’t: the Titanium Milanese Loop, sized perfectly to the Ultra 4, felt the same or even a little looser on my Ultra 1. That rugged titanium does earn its keep, since bumping the edges while rock climbing or doing extreme sports hits the titanium instead of cracking the screen. The Titanium Milanese Loop was the surprise of the unboxing — incredibly lightweight, maybe even lighter than the silicone band, soft, color-matched to the watch so it looks like jewelry, with no hair pulling during normal movement, and on a whole other level from a knockoff I tried from Amazon. Next to the 46 mm Series 12, the Series 12 is significantly thinner and more comfortable for runs, but you give up satellite connectivity, the battery life, and the rugged look, and I still prefer the way the Ultra looks. Coming from the Ultra 1, you get much smaller bezels and a larger screen, double tap and wrist flick to control the watch, and a brighter, punchier always-on display that keeps refreshing in real time, which my Ultra 1 never could.
Watch the full Apple Watch Ultra 4 unboxing to see it next to the Ultra 1 and the Series 12, plus how the Titanium Milanese Loop looks on the wrist. Final thoughts: it’s definitely a good upgrade over the first-generation Ultra, and I highly recommend the titanium band, but I wish Apple had kept updating the Ultra 1 for another year or two so perfectly good tech wasn’t retired this soon — I’m going to live with the Ultra 4 for the next few days before deciding whether it’s worth keeping.
