Apple Watch Ultra 3

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is a more refined, tougher, and smarter watch than its predecessors. When I wrote about the Ultra 2 here on road.cc, I said it was Apple’s most complete smartwatch yet, and one that finally made sense for serious cyclists who use Apple products. With the Ultra 3, Apple hasn’t reinvented the wheel, but it has refined and improved things. The result is a smartwatch that feels more polished and a little more capable on the bike, even if it is less revolution and more evolution.

The Ultra 3 looks nearly identical to its predecessor, keeping the same 49mm titanium case, large sapphire crystal display, and the familiar orange Action button. It’s a big watch, but it is surprisingly comfortable. The biggest visual change is the new brighter screen, which means in bright sunlight it is genuinely easier to read than any smartwatch I’ve tested, and even under glare or when wearing sunglasses I never had to tilt my wrist to catch the right angle.

The new S10 chip is the key internal update. Apple claims it’s faster and more efficient, and in day-to-day use that feels true. Menus and workout screens open instantly, and transitions are smoother when switching between apps mid-ride.

> Best cycling training apps – get fit without getting bored

Battery life benefits too, stretching to around 40 hours of heavy GPS and heart rate use compared with 36 hours for the previous model (and roughly the same 70 hours as before in smartwatch mode). That’s a small but meaningful jump, and I often didn’t need to charge it every other night, which was almost always the case with the previous version.

Cycling appeal

In the saddle, GPS accuracy and sensor performance are the most noticeable improvements. Apple’s dual-frequency system locks on faster and holds signal better in dense urban areas or wooded climbs. A very unscientific test of this is that the sensors on the old model always asked me whether I was riding at exactly the same point whenever I went for a ride, while this version was around 40 seconds earlier – generally around 1:30 minutes after starting my ride.

Heart rate accuracy has taken another step forward too. Apple has reworked its optical sensor array, and it appears to be very accurate. Against an HRM chest strap, results were nearly identical on each of my rides. It still lags slightly on sharp accelerations, but for wrist-based tracking there doesn’t appear to be anything better currently on the market.

The workout data screens have also seen small but useful change. For cycling you can now see up to six metrics at once, with configurable layouts for power, cadence, speed, and heart rate zones. It is intuitive, uncluttered, and genuinely usable during hard efforts. You can even switch between ride profiles on the fly, which makes it feel more like a dedicated bike computer than before.

As with the previous version you can also connect cadence, power and speed sensors to the watch if they are Bluetooth enabled, which again adds to the effectiveness of the watch as a genuine alternative to a cycle computer when in a bind.

Although navigation on the watch by itself isn’t the greatest, by connecting my AirPods to the watch I found that the turn-by-turn navigation was excellent. I managed to use this when navigating through London which was a big test that it passed with flying colours.

The new on-watch translation feature is an unexpected addition but a fun one. Speak into the watch and it instantly translates to another language, displaying the text on-screen and reading it aloud through the speaker. I tried it in French and Spanish, and while it’s not 100 per cent perfect it is still almost like science fiction that it works as well as it does.

Hardware & software

Build quality is as good as ever. The titanium case still feels tough enough to take a few knocks, and the haptics and digital crown have been subtly refined. The crown is slightly larger and more textured, which makes it easier to use with gloves, especially when riding in winter. The microphone and speaker are clearer, too, improving Siri’s reliability and call quality on the move – I actually used the walkie-talkie feature for the first time during this review and it has become incredibly useful for group rides when somebody gets dropped.

The Ultra 3 runs watchOS 11, which brings a handful of genuinely useful updates, although it’s worth noting that this update is also available on all other compatible Apple watches. You now get more detailed recovery and sleep metrics, plus better automatic workout detection.

For everyday use, the Ultra 3 is still one of the most versatile smartwatches around. Notifications, calls, and messages work flawlessly, and the integration with iOS remains seamless. Apple Pay, music streaming, and Bluetooth headphone support all work exactly as you’d expect. I used it with the new AirPods Pro 3, and it’s a great pairing for solo rides if you don’t want to take your phone.

Value

At £749, it’s not cheap, but given that this is a fully titanium watch and probably the most capable smartwatch for mixing daily use with active use, it is probably justified.

The Garmin Fenix 8 (47mm AMOLED) has a longer battery life at around seven days and is better for a larger number of sports, but with prices starting at £899.99 it’s more expensive, and the watch is larger too.

We reviewed the Garmin Forerunner 970 recently, which is cheaper at £629.99, and smaller than the Fenix, but it doesn’t have the same all-round use as the Apple Watch Ultra, and is less rugged.

For more options, check out our guide to the best smartwatches.

Conclusion

Overall, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 isn’t a huge change from what came before, but it builds on an already excellent foundation. It’s not revolutionary, but it’s smarter, sharper, and better tuned for cyclists who want one device that can be very good at everything. I still wouldn’t choose to use it as a full replacement for a cycling computer, but when I did use it as one a couple of times it was more than good enough for most rides.

Verdict

An evolution over a revolution, and an excellent watch for on and off the bike

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