At a look
Skilled’s Ranking
Professionals
- Spectacular sturdiness
- Vibrant show is straightforward to make use of open air
- Nice outdoor-focused options
- Supplies the core watchOS expertise
Cons
- Chunky on the wrist
- New straps want some extra work
- Expensive
Our Verdict
The Apple Watch Extremely is the proper wearable for these devoted to out of doors sports activities like operating, climbing and diving, with higher sturdiness, longer battery life and dual-band GPS offering extra correct monitoring information. It’s expensive, and the accompanying straps want work, however it’s nonetheless a really succesful choice that’s really cheaper than some rivals.
Value When Reviewed
$799
Greatest Costs In the present day: Apple Watch Extremely
$739.00
$799
Although the Apple Watch Sequence 8 is a wonderfully fantastic smartwatch for on a regular basis health monitoring, it’s not likely suited to extra excessive out of doors sport with its delicate design. Apple’s response? The Apple Watch Extremely, a brand new rugged model of the Apple Watch tailor-made to explorers and endurance athletes with a selected give attention to operating, climbing and diving.
It’s rather more costly than the Apple Watch Sequence 8 at $799/£849, and it’s not the proper wearable, however advantages together with the longest battery lifetime of any Apple wearable, dual-band GPS and waterproofing right down to 40m nonetheless make it a tempting purchase for some.
Design & construct
- Greater and bulkier than a typical Apple Watch
- Way more sturdy and immune to climate
- New straps might be improved
The Apple Watch Extremely should still have that signature Apple Watch look, however it’s actually extra sturdy and sturdy than the smooth Apple Watch Sequence 8 with a bigger, stronger case, a completely flat show and new straps designed for excessive train.
Let’s begin with the case itself; it’s the most important Apple has made to this point at 49mm, in comparison with the 41mm and 45mm variants of the Sequence 8. It’s additionally manufactured from titanium instead of the aluminium or stainless-steel on the cheaper Watches, permitting the watch to be each sturdy and comparatively light-weight. It does nonetheless weigh 61.3g, round double that of the Sequence 8, however the weight isn’t actually that noticeable in on a regular basis use.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
What’s noticeable, nevertheless, is the added bulk. It’s a much bigger Apple Watch in nearly each approach, and with a width of 14.4mm, you would possibly battle to suit it underneath some shirt cuffs. It’s additionally rather more noticeable when carrying the Watch to mattress – a possible dealbreaker should you’re into sleep-tracking analytics.
The aspect button and digital crown are current and accounted for, although sit barely additional out, semi-encased inside an extrusion of the case. That does make it more durable to show the digital crown shortly, however it’s not likely a dealbreaker – simply one thing to get used to.
The actual pleasure takes place on the left aspect of the Watch Extremely, which includes a new Motion button. It’s vibrant orange, or Worldwide Orange as Apple calls it, to assist it stand out from the titanium case, and might be assigned to varied features from initiating a exercise to accessing the Compass app, turning on the flashlight and launching the Backtrack navigation options (extra on that in a bit!).
Should you do use the motion button to provoke exercises, it will also be used to pause and finish exercises with out interacting with the show, excellent for winter jogs if you’ve acquired gloves on. It could get by chance activated once in a while, however the advantages outweigh the potential for unintentional activation for me.
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The intense sport-focused Apple Watch Extremely doesn’t merely look the half both; the smartwatch is examined to military-grade MIL-STD-810H to raised defend it towards shock and use in each excessive and low temperatures, excessive altitudes, and freezing circumstances. There’s additionally an upgraded sapphire crystal show to assist defend towards scratches and different knocks.
It additionally has higher water resistance certification that permits it for use at a most depth of 40m, excellent for scuba diving.
With a give attention to excessive sport comes new straps, tailor-made to both operating, climbing or diving. The nylon Path Loop is the lightest of the bunch, designed for runners and athletes, the Ocean Band is designed to be used within the water and the Alpine Loop strap, which I used to be supplied for assessment, is tailor-made to climbing.
Reader, I actually don’t like the intense orange Alpine Loop strap. Positive, it feels light-weight and comfy, however so does my normal silicone strap that ships with the Sequence 8. The fabric means it’s rather more breathable than the usual Watch straps, which ought to be a profit for lengthy sweaty hikes, however there are many downsides too.
The largest is that it will get soiled in a short time, and to a noticeable degree too, seemingly hoovering up each spec of grime as I went about my day by day life. It’s not as straightforward to placed on as the usual silicone strap both, with an odd hook attachment that goes into one in all many tiny loops on the within of the band. It’s additionally not waterproof, so it will get a bit damp if I get it moist when washing my palms, and it means I can’t put on it within the bathe both.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
The Watch Extremely is appropriate with 41mm and 45mm straps for the Sequence 8, so I’d suggest choosing up one in all Apple’s entry-level silicon straps for on a regular basis use and solely utilizing the devoted Extremely bands if you’re doing what they had been designed for. It’s what I did throughout my time with the Watch Extremely, anyway.
Show & audio
- Greater, higher-res show appears to be like beautiful
- 2000nits brightness makes out of doors use straightforward
- Devoted siren speaker alongside normal speaker
The upside to a bigger case is a much bigger show, eking out a smidge extra display area than the 45mm Apple Watch, although with an elevated 410×502 decision making all the things appear that little bit crisper. It’s additionally a completely flat show instead of the curved show of current Watches, encased throughout the titanium body.
Whereas that’ll doubtless higher defend the show towards aspect influence, it does make the bezels on the show that rather more noticeable than these of the Sequence 8, which appear to vanish throughout the curve.
It’s not only a barely larger, higher-res show both. The important thing characteristic right here is the 2000nit most brightness, 2x that of the Sequence 8. That makes the Extremely straightforward to make use of, even in vibrant out of doors daylight, and the watchOS torch perform is way handier with that vibrant show too.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
There’s additionally a brand new twin speaker setup on the Apple Watch Extremely, hidden beneath the grille on the left aspect of the physique. Whereas the highest speaker is identical as that on the Sequence 8, designed for telephone calls, incoming notifications and different watchOS sounds, the underside speaker is completely new siren speaker.
Apple says that it may be heard as distant as 600ft, excellent for emergency eventualities (particularly when climbing), and whereas I can’t verify that, I can say that it’s very loud certainly.
Good options & watchOS
- Comes with all the identical enhancements as Apple Watch Sequence 8
- watchOS 9 is among the many most succesful round
- No want to decide on between nice health monitoring and first rate software program
Whereas the design of the Extremely is tailor-made to excessive sports activities, the Apple Watch expertise may be very near that of the Sequence 8, full with the identical dual-core S8 processor and W3 and U1 chips because the flagship, together with the identical new options together with Automobile Crash Detection. You do get mobile connectivity as normal on the Extremely although, unsurprising given the character of the wearable.
That familiarity additionally extends to software program, operating the identical model of watchOS 9 because the Watch Sequence 8, so count on a really recognisable software program expertise, full with customisable watch faces with third-party issues, Apple’s signature app grid view and distinctive on a regular basis efficiency.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
As you’d count on from an Apple Watch, all the things feels responsive and immediate, be it tweaking the color of the watch face or opening the Climate app to verify for upcoming rain. There’s a plethora of third-party apps designed for the Watch that additional lengthen performance, excess of that of any Android-based competitor, and you may both set up from the Watch itself or the companion app for iPhone.
There’s additionally impeccable notification dealing with, permitting you to not solely see however actively reply to incoming notifications with out your telephone, the flexibility to make use of Apple Pay out of your wrist is useful and music companies like Apple Music and Spotify let you save music domestically so you may take heed to music with out your telephone or an lively web connection.
Siri can be very useful on the wrist, and I discover myself utilizing it extra usually on the Watch Extremely than I do on my telephone as a result of it’s so accessible – you don’t even must press a button, simply elevate to your mouth and converse.
It’s arguably the very best smartwatch working system round, and it really offers the Apple Watch Extremely an edge over fashionable rugged smartwatches from the likes of Garmin and Casio that are likely to fall flat on the subject of performance past well being and health monitoring. With the Extremely, you actually are getting the very best of each worlds.
Well being & health monitoring
- New dual-frequency GPS
- Backtrack for off-road climbing
- New Diving app for divers
- On a regular basis well being and sleep monitoring
In fact, it’s all in regards to the well being and health monitoring on the subject of the Apple Watch Extremely, with new devoted {hardware} and software program tailor-made to excessive sports activities.
The large headline characteristic that’ll attraction to runners, hikers and cyclists is the addition of dual-frequency GPS. The tech works through L1 and L5 frequency GPS bands and when mixed with Apple’s new customized algorithm, it might probably ship extra exact positioning information in difficult areas like forests or built-up cities.
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Whereas I can’t say I went for a run in a dense forest – there aren’t a lot of these in London – I can attest to the accuracy of the GPS monitoring when jogging on the road in built-up areas. Trying again on the heatmap routinely generated by the Apple Watch Extremely, it tracked my common jogging path completely. In actual fact, that goes for many of the metrics supplied by the Apple Watch when operating, together with my coronary heart price, cadence and common tempo.
These metrics are all damaged down each on the Apple Watch Extremely and the Health and/or Well being app for iOS relying on which you favor to make use of. It could additionally herald different metrics from different apps that feed into the Well being app to supply a extra holistic overview of your well being and health. That’s no totally different from the usual Apple Watch, however it’s price noting right here.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
All that apart, there are different options distinctive to the Apple Watch Extremely that ought to profit hikers. In addition to a brand new Compass app that give you three views to get a greater concept of your environment within the nice open air, however what’s handier is the brand new Backtrack characteristic. Because the identify suggests, the Apple Watch Extremely will information you again to your place to begin on lengthy off-path hikes – so long as you arrange the exact location monitoring mode earlier than you start, that’s.
With significantly upgraded water resistance from the Watch Extremely, it shouldn’t come as a lot of a shock that water sports activities are a spotlight. Specifically, the Apple Watch Extremely can double up as a dive look ahead to scuba divers that features each a depth gauge and water temperature sensors, with the Dive app routinely showing on-screen when you’re deeper than 1m.
People who desire a extra in-depth expertise can all the time go for the Oceanic+ app that basically turns it right into a fully-fledged Dive Pc.
Apart from that, it’s just about enterprise as normal for an Apple Watch, providing the flexibility to trace every kind of train, all-day health monitoring, ECG monitoring, blood oxygen monitoring, physique temperature monitoring, cycle monitoring and the vastly improved sleep monitoring launched in watchOS 9 that permits it to raised compete with most different health trackers.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
It doesn’t delve too deep into the weeds with information and evaluation in comparison with the likes of the Garmin Venu 2 Plus, however in contrast to loads of manufacturers together with the ever-popular Fitbit wearables, Apple doesn’t conceal any of its well being information or health options behind a month-to-month subscription.
Battery life
- Longest battery lifetime of any Apple Watch
- Can squeeze virtually three days out of a cost
- Longer to cost than normal Apple Watch
No matter it’s you’re as much as, I can assure that the Apple Watch Extremely will last more than another wearable in Apple’s assortment – and by an extended shot too.
The Apple Watch Sequence 8 tends to final for round 24 hours with minimal use and no GPS-powered exercises, which is best than the promised 18 hours however not that nice for multi-day use.
The Apple Watch Extremely, alternatively, can comfortably final for a few days earlier than needing a top-up. To present you an concept of the battery life on provide, I took the Extremely off cost at 5pm on Friday and it didn’t run out of battery till 4pm on Monday.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Admittedly that’s with none exercises over the weekend (don’t decide me!) and the battery does run down faster the extra you’re employed out, however it’s a two-day system at a minimal. The aid of not having to cost my Apple Watch day by day is welcome, and for the primary time, I don’t always verify my battery ranges all through the day.
You do have the choice of enabling the brand new Low Energy Mode that Apple says extends use to round 60 hours however doing so will scale back the frequency of coronary heart price and GPS information sampling throughout exercises, so I’d solely advise utilizing it if you understand you received’t be close to a charger for some time.
With the most important battery within the Apple Watch assortment, it shouldn’t come as a lot of a shock that it takes a bit longer to cost through the (properly braided) puck charger within the field. In testing, the Apple Watch Extremely achieved simply 28% in half-hour, in comparison with the 69% from the Sequence 8. A full cost takes round 90 minutes relying on the charger you employ.
The longer charging occasions imply it’s not fairly as handy to shortly cost earlier than mattress, however with for much longer durations between expenses, it’s a worthy sacrifice.
Value
Although some could wince on the $799/£849/€999 price ticket of the Apple Watch Extremely, I’d argue that it’s really fairly low cost for what’s on provide – particularly when you think about that some out of doors health rivals just like the Garmin Enduro 2 price as a lot as $1,099/£929.99, and also you get mobile connectivity as normal.
In fact, you’ll must be actually devoted to train to go for the Apple Watch Extremely – that or the lengthy battery life – because it does price round double that of the 41mm and 45mm variants of Apple Watch Sequence 8, which are available in at $399/£419/€499 and $429/£449/€539 respectively. Should you simply need an Apple Look ahead to notifications, on-the-wrist apps and entry to Siri, one of many cheaper Watches in Apple’s assortment could go well with you higher.
In case you are tempted, you should purchase the Apple Watch Extremely from Apple itself alongside US retailers like Greatest Purchase and the likes of Amazon within the UK.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Verdict
The Apple Watch Extremely would possibly simply appear like a much bigger, extra rugged Apple Watch, however there’s extra to it than that. It’s not solely extra sturdy however boasts plenty of enhancements particular to the high-end Watch that profit out of doors sports activities lovers, from the acute temperature resistance to the improved water resistance capabilities.
The brand new Motion button is a welcome addition that I hope makes its strategy to the usual Apple Watch, offering a useful strategy to entry key performance with out the touchscreen, and the dual-GPS is an actual game-changer for people who wish to get lost the overwhelmed monitor.
Positive, it’s larger, bulkier and weightier than the usual Apple Watch, however should you’re on the lookout for one thing that’ll take a knock or two and final days on a single cost, the Apple Watch Extremely is a strong premium choice. Nonetheless, should you’re solely on the lookout for an Apple Look ahead to day-to-day use, the cheaper, slimmer Apple Watch Sequence 8 could show extra tempting.