The Cupertino tech giant recently launched the 2023 Apple Watch models including the next-generation Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Apple Watch Series 9.
With the exception of a few similarities in both 2023 Apple Watches, there are several differences in their design language, capabilities, battery life, durability, and price that set them apart.
Similarities in 2023 Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Apple Watch Series 9
| Chip | New features |
Health features |
Emergency features |
Navigation features |
| S9 SiP W3 wireless chip 4-core Nural Engine 2nd-gen Ultra Wideband |
Double tap gesture Precision finding for iPhone |
Blood Oxygen app Temperature sensing Cycle Tracking with retrospective ovulation estimates Sleep stages Mental wellbeing ECG app High and low heart rate notifications Irregular rhythm notifications Low cardio fitness notifications |
Emergency SOS International emergency calling Fall Detection Crash Detection Noise monitoring Backtrack |
Compass with Waypoints, Backtrack, and new Elevation view Always-on altimeter |
Apple Watch Ultra 2 vs. Apple Watch Series 9: Differences in design, features, color and price
| Specs | Apple Watch Ultra 2 | Apple Watch Series 9 |
| Design | Titanium | Aluminium Stainless steel |
| Variants | GPS + Cellular | GPS + Cellular GPS |
| Size | 49mm (1185 sq mm display area) | 45mm (1143 sq mm display area) 41mm (904 sq mm display area) |
| Weight | 61.4g | 45mm 38.7g (Aluminum, GPS) 39.0g (Aluminum, GPS + Cellular) 51.5g (Stainless Steel) 41mm 31.9 g (Aluminum, GPS) 32.1 g (Aluminum, GPS + Cellular) 42.3 g (Stainless Steel) |
| Thickness | 14.4mm | 10.7mm |
| Case | Raised edges to protect the sapphire front crystal |
Flat Ion-X front glass in aluminum casing Flat sapphire front crystal in stainless steel casing |
| Display | Always-On OLED display Up to 3000 nits brightness 1 nit minimum brightness |
Always-On OLED display Up to 2000 nits brightness 1 nit minimum brightness |
| Resolution | 410 by 502 pixels | 45mm – 396 by 484 pixels 41mm – 352 by 430 pixels |
| Controls | Action Button Digital Crown Side button |
Digital Crown Side button |
| Water resistance | 100 meters Swimproof Recreational dive up to 40m High-speed water sports |
50 meters Swimproof |
| Features | Water temperature sensor Depth gauge Siren Depth app Dive Computer app Always-on altimeter with 500m to 9000m range Tested to MIL-STD 810H EN13319 certification |
NIL |
| Speaker/Mic | Dual speaker Triple-microphone with beamforming |
Single speaker and mic |
| Connectivity | Precision dual frequency (L1 and L5 GPS) |
L1 GPS |
| Battery life | Up to 36 hours Up to 72 hours in Low Power Mode |
Up to 18 hours Up to 36 hours in Low Power Mode |
| Color options | Nautral Titanium | Aluminum: Midnight, Starlight, Silver, Pink, and Red Stainless steel: Graphite, Silver and Gold |
| Price | $799 | 41mm Aluminium starting from $399 45mm Aluminium starting from $429 41mm Stainless steel starting from $699 45mm Stainless steel starting from $749 |
Buy an Apple Watch Ultra 2 if..
Apple Watch Ultra 2 features the largest and brightest display in an Apple Watch which makes it a great smartwatch for outdoor excursions, especially during the day to display your metrics and other information at a glance while hiking, fishing, sandboarding, marathons, and other activities.
Furthermore, it delivers longer battery life and exclusively offers support for recreational dives up to 40m for extreme water sports enthusiasts.
However, it is nearly 2x heavier than Series 9 models and its 49mm size might not be a good fit for all especially for people with slim wrists like me.
Thus, you should buy an Apple Watch Ultra 2, if you have over $700 budget, love extreme sports, and can carry the bigger and heavier smartwatch.
Buy an Apple Watch Series 9 if..
Apple Watch Series 9 is durable, offers good battery life, and features almost the same health, emergency, and navigation capabilities as the Ultra 2.
Series 9 is ideal for users who want the latest features but at an affordable price. It is lighter than Ultra 2 and comes in two different sizes to fit a wider range of wrists, alongside a range of colors and a selection of two materials: Aluminium and Steel.
I will advice you to visit your nearest Apple Store or retailer and try on the new smartwatches to see how it looks on your wrist before purchasing one.
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