Apple Watch Ultra Diaries: Part 2 — Trying not to die on a hike

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 ― While paying for my groceries, the cashier looked at my watch and said, “It's big, huh?”

He was pretty excited seeing the Apple Watch Ultra and how much better its battery life was, in comparison to his older Apple Watch, that he showed me on his wrist.

“Dua malam tak payah cas,” (I didn't have to charge it for two nights) I told him.

It was true. The Apple Watch Ultra battery life has exceeded the 36 claimed hours in my experience, with the battery barely budging even after 90-minute and 110-minute runs.

My watch was fully charged at 8.50am one morning and two days later, at 8am it still had 19 per cent battery left.

That meant I could go through two full days as well as sleep tracking, without needing to charge the watch.

That 19 per cent of battery could probably have taken me to lunch provided I did not do any exercise tracking or music listening.

There is no denying that the battery life on the Apple Watch Ultra in real-life is fairly impressive but only in comparison with other Apple Watch models.

For Apple Watch users like the cashier, it's an enviable upgrade. For people already using fitness watches with week-long battery life? Not so much.

Up the hills we go

With the weather being what it is and the short notice in finding a more exotic location, I settled on trying out the Apple Watch Ultra by going up Petaling Jaya's most popular hiking destination: Bukit Gasing.

My first piece of advice to anyone seeing trail maps listed “easy” on Alltrails or other websites, make sure they are actually easy.

The route I took up Bukit Gasing, meant to take my surprisingly willing friends and I to a suspension bridge, should be labelled “not for anyone without a basic level of cardio fitness.”

Bukit Gasing's trails are not clearly marked and signs are far and few. While there is a map at the Petaling Jaya arch entrance, not everyone is versed in map reading.

Now, Waypoints and Backtracking are new features on the Apple Watch that allow you to easily find your way back.

I must say on the Apple Watch Ultra, it's a lot easier to look at waypoints or make them as you go along.

Trudging along the steep steps up the hillside and trying to make it up before it got warmer or started to rain, it would have been annoying to stop for too long to fiddle with my watch.

But it was as easy as pressing the small footprint icon to start recording my journey, creating Hansel and Gretel-like digital breadcrumbs so if anything went wrong, I could help the group retrace the way back.

Backtrack is also available on any watch that supports and has installed watchOS9.

Halfway, one member of the party grew too tired and decided to turn back on his own leaving just me and my other friend.

The route forward got a bit confusing and we decided to return via another route, and that was where the compass came in handy.

I had only a cheap less than RM20 compass to compare the watch to, but the Watch Ultra did the job and looking at the watch, figuring out the direction we had moved in made it slightly easier in choosing the way back.

It was also a help that the final trail down had helpful markers with rope to hold onto, as it was a steep trail that was also slippery from recent rain.

Hilariously, my friend and I returned to the entrance before our previous companion who had unfortunately taken a wrong turn and was lost until another hiker guided him down, in the rain.

I'd like to think that the Watch Ultra was the digital equivalent of a friendly guide on my hiking journey.

Those pesky watch straps

After weeks of switching between the Watch Ultra bands I can confidently say that unless you have a use case for them, you won't need them all.

I found the Ocean Band uncomfortable to wear for longer periods ― it was made to be really difficult to take off. That's handy in the ocean on a dive (no one wants to lose their RM4,000 watch in the sea) but on land, it's inconvenient.

The Alpine Loop is snug and rugged looking, sure, but unless you're going around in terrain where you will be afraid of the strap failing on you, it's not a great day-to-day wear either.

Fortunately the Trail Loop was comfortable, easy to wash and was the strap I could easily take from day through sleep. If you're a distance runner or ultra marathoner, buy at least two of these, you're welcome.

As to how long the straps last, there isn't any official Apple documentation on it so we will just have to wait and see how they hold up over time.

Oh that reception

So I've been walking and running a lot, thanks to all the conditioning and training I'm doing for a race.

Apple has included both L1 and L5 GPS for more accuracy and so far, it has worked fine on low ground ― my running trails around the neighbourhood being neatly mapped.

With Kuala Lumpur and its inundation with obscenely tall buildings, the good news is that it mapped out my movements fairly accurately map-wise.

As to the accuracy of the distance recorded, it's not something I could certify as it is beyond my skill set unfortunately.

So far the Apple Watch Ultra seems to be a great hiking companion with a decent amount of stamina, and might be a good alternative to carrying around bulky equipment just to avoid getting lost.

Next week: why the Apple Watch Ultra siren should be on all Apple Watches and how it fares as a companion for distance running training.