The Apple Watch Ultra is an excellent smartwatch. It’s received a great deal of options, very lengthy battery life, a titanium shell, and a particular design. You can learn all about how good it’s in my colleague Victoria Song’s evaluate from earlier this fall. Be certain to take a look at the feature-length video evaluate we lately printed that does a deeper dive into Apple’s distinctive claims for the Ultra.

But nearly as good because the Apple Watch Ultra is, it’s not the Apple Watch for me. I’m not an adventurous athlete and don’t have any aspirations to be, however I’m each a smartwatch devotee and an appreciator of effective mechanical watches (that, let’s be actual, I gained’t ever be capable to afford). The Ultra ought to attraction to me primarily based on these deserves — in any case, no one dives with a Rolex Submariner on their wrist, even though it’s thought of a “dive” watch within the mechanical world. The Ultra’s top-of-the-range standing, larger-than-normal design, and larger-than-life capabilities communicate to lots of the identical elements for why giant, showy dive watches are well-liked.

I had the chance to long-term demo the Ultra this fall, and whereas there are particular issues I actually like about it, a month on my wrist wasn’t sufficient to persuade me to purchase it. What it did persuade me to do is discover a secondhand Series 7 Edition and purchase that as a substitute. Here’s why.

There have been three elements concerning the Ultra that I actually appreciated: the big display screen, the titanium body, and the lengthy battery life. During my time carrying the watch, I might simply go two-and-a-half days between charging it, even once I wore it in a single day for its silent alarm perform to wake me up. The display screen is huge, brilliant, and simple to learn; the bigger, extra closely knurled digital crown is enjoyable to spin and click on, and I didn’t have points hitting the opposite buttons accidentally once I bent my wrist, as I do know others have run into. The matte end on the titanium body appears to be like higher than the shiny end on Apple’s chrome steel fashions and feels nicer and extra sturdy than the aluminum on the usual Apple Watch. It’s a pleasant stability between the 2 different metals Apple makes use of.

What I didn’t like concerning the Ultra was simply how huge it sat on my wrist. There’s no hiding this watch: it’s huge, it’s thick, and it stands out. Though it wears lighter than I assumed it could, it’s not the form of watch that I can placed on and overlook that I’m carrying half the time. I can’t simply match it underneath a shirt or jacket cuff, and I’m always apprehensive about banging it into door frames and such once I’m carrying it. The Ultra can be inconceivable to decorate up — regardless of if I outfitted it with a leather-based band or a steel bracelet, it nonetheless appears to be like like a rugged motion sports activities watch.

I additionally am not an enormous fan of the flat show. It’s not as good to swipe and work together with because the curved glass on commonplace Apple Watches, and the best way it plateaus on high of the watch makes it look disconnected from the remainder of the design.

The Ultra’s different options fell quick in my day by day use, as nicely. It’s nice to have one other button on the facet of the watch to do issues with; it’s a crying disgrace how little I can truly do with it. (As my colleague Vjeran Pavic famous in our Ultra review video, it’d be nice to have this watch change its perform primarily based on Focus Modes, very like how the watchface can routinely change.) I don’t take calls from my wrist, so the louder speaker didn’t come into play, both.

So the Apple Watch Ultra didn’t work for me. But it did encourage me to seek out one thing that does, and I’ve discovered it with the 45mm Series 7 Edition. This watch has a display screen that’s almost as giant because the Ultra’s however maintains the curved sides which might be simpler to swipe on and look nicer on my wrist. It has a titanium body that, whereas not precisely just like the Ultra’s bead-blasted end, is shut sufficient to my eyes. It’s smaller, sleeker, and extra comfy to put on than the Ultra, and I can simply costume it up for various outfits.

The important factor I’ve given up is the Ultra’s battery life — the Series 7 is a day by day cost system, it doesn’t matter what. But my private routines have tailored in a manner that it’s not likely an issue for me: I cost it for an hour or so to full every evening earlier than going to mattress, then put it again on the charger once I get up and bathe to high it off for the day. I’ve but to run into a problem with the S7’s battery dying earlier than I used to be able to cost it.

You could also be questioning why I’m referring to the Series 7 mannequin right here, the watch that Apple launched over a 12 months in the past, and never the newer Series 8, which shares its design and options. Well, the issue is that Apple discontinued the Edition model of the Series fashions when it launched the Ultra, so I can’t get a Series 8 within the titanium that I like. The upside to that is that to get a Series 7 Edition, I had to purchase one secondhand, and I used to be in a position to seize one in glorious situation for lower than half the worth of an Ultra (and half the worth of what the Edition was when new).

After a month or so of carrying the Series 7 as a substitute of the Ultra, I’m fairly pleased with the place I’ve landed. I’ve a “nice” Apple Watch with lots of the identical traits the Ultra provides, with out the drawbacks that include it.

I suppose what I’m taking on 1,000 phrases to say is: carry again the Edition watches, Apple.