4 ms·

The Ultra is the most bizarre in the lineup. It's marketed at extreme adventurers, mountaineers, extreme hikers, etc. For that demographic, battery life of less

The Ultra is the most bizarre in the lineup. It's marketed at extreme adventurers, mountaineers, extreme hikers, etc. For that demographic, battery life of less than at least a week is a non-starter, not to mention 100% button navigation as opposed to touchscreen + dial. Those are really hard to operate whilst wearing thick gloves.

wil421 2y ago
Garmin makes solar powered watches for adventures types in the back country. The Ultra is probably good for scuba diving since you aren’t doing it for so long.
mcintyre1994 2y ago
I know the Ultra has an extra button, but I wonder if you can start a run on it in the rain (ie without using touch). That was what finally pushed me away from Apple Watch, and the marketing of the Ultra is quite funny if it doesn't solve it.
- jagermo 2y ago
  plus, no support for ANT+ is a dealbreaker.
  - nradov 2y ago
    ANT+ appears to be dying and Garmin has started moving away from it. Although I'm sure they'll still support it for several more product generations. https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2025/01/the-begining-of-the-end-for-ant-wireless.html https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2025/01/the-begining-of-the-end-...
    - thirdsun 2y ago
      ANT+ is still very much present in the cycling world and likely won't go anywhere. While most sensors and devices will also support bluetooth it seems to be a much more fragile and problematic connection. From my own experience I'd always opt for ANT+.
- kalleboo 2y ago
  > I wonder if you can start a run on it in the rain (ie without using touch) You can use Siri to start a workout
dagw 2y ago
I know several people who own the Ultra, and while they are all 'outdoorsy' sort of people, none of them are even close to 'extreme'. The market more likely is people that see themselves as "extreme adventurers, mountaineers, extreme hikers, etc", despite mostly doing half day rides at the nearest mountain biking trail, national park hikes where they spend one night in a cabin, and a weekend snow boarding at a ski resort.
- cassianoleal 2y ago
  I'm hardly extreme, and the Ultra is bad enough for me. If I'm out in the cold trying to navigate, I don't want to take my gloves off. When I retire to my tent, I don't want to worry about recharging my watch. > spend one night in a cabin, and a weekend snow boarding at a ski resort This should be enough to get people away from any watch without the features I mentioned - long battery life and button-operated.
- 827a 2y ago
  [dead]
etrautmann 2y ago
This is a bit silly. I was gifted an Ultra, and as a climber/skiier/trail runner, it serves my purposes extremely well. The maps using WorkOutdoors are far superior to what I've seen from Garmin devices (although I haven't tried) and I can always get all-day battery and charge within 30-40 min before bed. Yes, I wish the battery lasted longer but it's a tradeoff I'd always take for a more responsive and usable interface. One gripe is that the functionality with gloves is a little annoying since you can get false positive screen taps from sleeves/cuffs. A second is that the main button is pressed when doing a pushup or in some situations while climbing, which triggers the emergency alarm mode by default (but is configurable to turn off). Most adventures are not many days long without sleeping (for me) and this watch works pretty well.

wil421 2y ago

Garmin makes solar powered watches for adventures types in the back country. The Ultra is probably good for scuba diving since you aren’t doing it for so long.

mcintyre1994 2y ago

I know the Ultra has an extra button, but I wonder if you can start a run on it in the rain (ie without using touch). That was what finally pushed me away from Apple Watch, and the marketing of the Ultra is quite funny if it doesn't solve it.

jagermo 2y ago
plus, no support for ANT+ is a dealbreaker.
- nradov 2y ago
  ANT+ appears to be dying and Garmin has started moving away from it. Although I'm sure they'll still support it for several more product generations. https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2025/01/the-begining-of-the-end-for-ant-wireless.html https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2025/01/the-begining-of-the-end-...
  - thirdsun 2y ago
    ANT+ is still very much present in the cycling world and likely won't go anywhere. While most sensors and devices will also support bluetooth it seems to be a much more fragile and problematic connection. From my own experience I'd always opt for ANT+.
kalleboo 2y ago
> I wonder if you can start a run on it in the rain (ie without using touch) You can use Siri to start a workout

dagw 2y ago

I know several people who own the Ultra, and while they are all 'outdoorsy' sort of people, none of them are even close to 'extreme'. The market more likely is people that see themselves as "extreme adventurers, mountaineers, extreme hikers, etc", despite mostly doing half day rides at the nearest mountain biking trail, national park hikes where they spend one night in a cabin, and a weekend snow boarding at a ski resort.

cassianoleal 2y ago
I'm hardly extreme, and the Ultra is bad enough for me. If I'm out in the cold trying to navigate, I don't want to take my gloves off. When I retire to my tent, I don't want to worry about recharging my watch. > spend one night in a cabin, and a weekend snow boarding at a ski resort This should be enough to get people away from any watch without the features I mentioned - long battery life and button-operated.
827a 2y ago
[dead]

etrautmann 2y ago

This is a bit silly. I was gifted an Ultra, and as a climber/skiier/trail runner, it serves my purposes extremely well. The maps using WorkOutdoors are far superior to what I've seen from Garmin devices (although I haven't tried) and I can always get all-day battery and charge within 30-40 min before bed. Yes, I wish the battery lasted longer but it's a tradeoff I'd always take for a more responsive and usable interface. One gripe is that the functionality with gloves is a little annoying since you can get false positive screen taps from sleeves/cuffs. A second is that the main button is pressed when doing a pushup or in some situations while climbing, which triggers the emergency alarm mode by default (but is configurable to turn off). Most adventures are not many days long without sleeping (for me) and this watch works pretty well.