Delivering Soon: Apple Watch Ultra 2: Dilettante Device or Rapid Refund?

2023-09-19 • SEND FEEDBACK |
Related: Apple, Apple Watch, bicycle power meter, heart rate, SRM

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

re: Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
re: Apple Watch

I swore never to buy a watch again, let alone an Apple Watch. And I may end up sending it back if it cannot be configured to show me just what I want in large font without useless crap like what is shown at right. I do not need or want shitty little symbols (music, sports icons, etc) cluttering it up; the screen is already tiny and in dim light I gotta be able to see what I need.

What I want and it had better do well, in large font, on a primary display:

• Heart rate, and it had better be accurate or I’ll just revert to my Polar heart rate strap @AMAZON.
• Altitude — I want to know altitude at a glance while hiking in the mountains.  Better be accurate.
• Time of day.

On a 2nd page which must be reachable with a simple button press:

• Ascent/descent — altitude gained or lost.
• Distance hiked — how far have I gone?
• Calories burned — and it had better be ±10% accurate vs my SRM power meter, 15% the outer limit otherwise it is a crap solution.

All of this should be possible on my phone too, but so far it all sucks sucks sucks on iOS. The Watch must also connect to my SRM power meter on my road racing bike, and my Polar heart rate strap @AMAZON. I have zero confidence that Apple has any clue how to do it right, but I’m open to it not being another dilettante design.

If it cannot do these things, then it’s a toy vis-a-vis my needs. And I don’t need nuisance jewelry that hassles me for software updates every 6 days and needs some special charger (does it?) that forces me to not forget it on a trip. It has to be a serious tool.

Already it seems that the ECG feature won’t work for me; my resting heart rate is around 43, and Apple says that under 50 bpm the feature might not work. Seriously? My RHR has never been about 50 my entire adult life.

What I *really* want is blood pressure monitoring and blood glucose monitoring. But that is likely years away, if it can ever be done accurately.

f9 @ 1/110 sec electronic shutter focus stack 6 frames, ISO 100; 2023-08-13 16:35:30
Fujifilm GFX100S + GF20-35mmF4 R WR @ 18.2mm equiv (22.1mm)
ENV: White Mountains, altitude 12200 ft / 3719 m, 58°F / 14°C
RAW: Camera ASTIA, LACA corrected, vignetting corrected, WB 5050°K tint 21, push 0.8 stops, +60 Shadows, -100 Highlights, +40 Whites, +50 Dehaze, +10 Clarity, +10 Vibrance

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