Could The Apple Watch Ultra Replace My iPhone?

  • last year
Are you tired of carrying around a bulky phone?
Do you want to simplify your life and streamline your technology?
In this video, Kate is challenged to go 24 hours with only her #AppleWatchUltra and see if it's capable of replacing her #iPhone.

She will put it to the test and see if it can handle all of the tasks her phone would tackle throughout the day, from making calls and sending texts to navigating and playing music.

Watch the video to see if the #Apple Watch Ultra is the ultimate all-in-one device that we've been hoping for.
Transcript
00:00 This is the new Apple Watch Ultra.
00:01 It costs $800, or about the same
00:04 as a new entry-level iPhone.
00:06 So if you're deciding between getting a new iPhone
00:08 or getting a new smartwatch,
00:10 could you be better off just getting the watch?
00:12 I am going to challenge myself to go 24 hours
00:15 without my iPhone and just use my Apple Watch Ultra.
00:18 The real challenge here is going to be seeing
00:20 if my Apple Watch Ultra can fulfill all the functionality
00:23 that I would normally need from my iPhone.
00:25 Apple estimates the Apple Watch Ultra
00:27 should last up to 18 hours with LTE enabled,
00:31 which I've already set up through Verizon.
00:33 But I'm actually gonna see if I can make it last 24 hours
00:36 and go a full day without my iPhone.
00:39 It is just after 2.30,
00:41 so I think it's time to say goodbye and lock this away.
00:44 All right, first things first.
00:55 I do not have my camera on my phone with me,
00:58 so I actually need to run to Best Buy
00:59 to get an SD card for my physical camera.
01:02 I'm gonna search on Maps the best way to get to Best Buy.
01:07 622 Broadway, 52 minutes, it shouldn't be that far.
01:11 It should literally be right here.
01:13 Wait.
01:14 It's permanently closed.
01:17 All right, well, that's annoying,
01:20 but the next one's only a 10-minute walk away.
01:22 Is that fine?
01:23 So when I tried looking up the Best Buy location,
01:25 I planned on going to,
01:26 I was informed that it's permanently closed,
01:28 but luckily the Apple Watch Ultra
01:30 let me know of some other nearby Best Buy locations,
01:33 and it turns out that there's one walking distance away.
01:35 I was gonna get on the subway, but this seems a lot easier.
01:38 So if I'm not paying attention or having a conversation,
01:45 get distracted a little bit,
01:47 the Apple Watch Ultra will give me
01:50 a little haptic feedback on my wrist,
01:52 a little like tap, tap, tap, just to remind me
01:55 that I am following directions
01:57 and I don't wanna miss a step.
01:58 There we go, I'm getting that buzz right now.
02:01 We are turning left on Fifth Avenue,
02:04 and we actually shouldn't be too far from the location.
02:07 It's right there, I see it.
02:11 On your right, Best Buy.
02:12 This might not be the most complicated walk,
02:16 but I have to say the Apple Watch Ultra's
02:18 estimation of my location is really on point,
02:22 and the distance from where it measures
02:24 where I need to turn or where my ultimate destination is
02:27 has been pretty spot on.
02:28 So I was able to go into Best Buy,
02:34 find an SD card, and check out
02:36 using only my Apple Watch Ultra.
02:38 Now what's really exciting for me about that
02:40 is now I know for sure that if I didn't have my phone
02:42 and I didn't have any physical credit cards
02:44 or forms of payment, that my Apple Watch
02:46 would be able to help me pay for something in a pinch.
02:49 I actually wanna take some photos of the watch
02:52 for a story I'm working on for work,
02:54 but I feel like the park would be
02:55 a really pretty place to do that.
02:57 I actually don't know where the nearest subway is,
03:00 and I wanna start heading uptown to the park
03:03 to use my new SD card.
03:05 It's showing that it's an eight minute walk to the B train,
03:09 and the B train should take me right to outside the park.
03:21 So I knew this would be the case,
03:22 but I am feeling really weird about not having my phone
03:26 to look down at, and I'm getting to pay
03:30 a little bit more attention to my surroundings, I guess,
03:32 but it's just weird.
03:34 It's such a habit of mine that I guess I don't even realize.
03:37 One of the features I was really excited to try
03:40 as part of this experiment was using Omni,
03:42 which is New York's version of Express Transit,
03:45 to get through into the subway.
03:47 You can use Express Transit through Omni
03:49 on Apple Watch or iPhone,
03:51 and that basically just lets me tap through
03:53 and get to my train very quickly,
03:55 and those cards work up to two hours
03:57 after the Apple Watch's battery dies.
04:00 I am at 88% after about two hours of doing this experiment,
04:03 so I got nothing to worry about, but let's go.
04:05 I would like to note with all this moving around,
04:15 I've already banged eight exercise minutes on my rings.
04:18 (train whistle)
04:21 It's here.
04:21 It's actually pulling up right there.
04:23 So normally when I get on a train,
04:33 I immediately pull out my phone and I look on TikTok
04:36 or I do my crossword puzzle, but I can't do that right now,
04:39 so I'm gonna pass the time with a little bit of music
04:42 that I've downloaded to my Apple Watch
04:45 and control my AirPods through.
04:47 (train whistle)
04:50 This little X here indicates that we're underground
04:52 and my cellular has disconnected,
04:55 which the same thing happens on my phone too,
04:57 so that makes sense.
04:58 I just turned on active noise cancellation.
05:02 Oh man, that was actually pretty easy.
05:11 I had all the resources that I need on my Apple Watch
05:15 to get to where I needed to be,
05:17 but time is getting away from us right now,
05:19 so I'm gonna make sure I get those photos in
05:21 before it gets dark.
05:22 That's actually a cool shot, right?
05:29 I think that's actually perfect for my story.
05:31 That was great.
05:38 I got the photos I needed,
05:39 but I'm actually coming up on dinner plans with a friend,
05:42 so I'm gonna use the Apple Watch Ultra to text them
05:45 and make sure that we're still on.
05:47 One of my personal favorite features
05:48 about the Apple Watch Ultra
05:50 is this giant 49 millimeter screen that's also flat,
05:54 so when it comes to texting on it
05:56 using that little keyboard,
05:57 it's actually a lot easier, more than you'd even expect.
06:00 One of my biggest anxieties of taking on this challenge
06:06 that I'm being reminded of as it's getting dark
06:08 is my personal safety.
06:09 Now, without my iPhone, a little wary,
06:12 but there are some features on the Apple Watch Ultra
06:14 that should give me some peace of mind.
06:16 A long press of the action button
06:18 actually can help me launch the siren.
06:20 The siren is a feature exclusive to the Apple Watch Ultra,
06:23 and as you might be able to hear,
06:24 it is launching a rather loud alarm.
06:28 Not for me.
06:36 Some other safety features built into here
06:39 if I were lost directionally,
06:40 there is a compass track back feature,
06:43 as well as emergency SOS and fall detection,
06:46 which are all really great to have
06:49 as I'm trying to go around the city without a phone,
06:51 but still be safe and connected.
06:53 All right, it's 5.30, which means it's happy hour.
07:11 I'm meeting my friend here for dinner,
07:13 and before I head inside,
07:15 I think I should do a quick battery check.
07:16 I'm at 75%, three hours into this challenge.
07:21 That's honestly pretty good.
07:22 We've been doing some pretty battery draining stuff,
07:25 especially using maps and sending messages
07:27 and things like that.
07:28 Hopefully now just chilling at dinner,
07:30 I won't see as much of a drain.
07:31 So I should have thought of this before,
07:35 but they only have QR menus that you scan on your phone,
07:40 so I can't look at the menu with that,
07:42 and I'm here before my friend,
07:44 so I'm just gonna have to ask the waiter
07:46 for a recommendation.
07:48 Despite not being able to see the menu,
07:52 using only the watch at dinner wasn't a problem.
07:55 After enjoying some tacos,
07:56 we were able to work out the check,
07:58 and I could send my friend $35 from my watch using Apple Pay.
08:02 After dinner, my Apple Watch Ultra was at 55% battery.
08:07 I did enable low power mode during dinner
08:09 because Apple estimates that the watch
08:11 can last up to 60 hours with low power mode enabled,
08:14 which just gave me some peace of mind
08:16 that I would get home from the restaurant.
08:18 It is 10.30 p.m. on the first day
08:23 of this no iPhone, only Apple Watch Ultra challenge.
08:27 I'll come up with a better name for that, I swear.
08:30 And 10.30 is my bedtime,
08:32 which means it's time to wind down.
08:34 Normally I would be probably on social media
08:38 or maybe even watching a YouTube video on my phone,
08:41 but I'm gonna have a nice screenless night
08:43 with this book that I've been meaning to read.
08:47 And the final thing I wanted to make sure I did
08:49 before I go to bed was have the strap here
08:52 fit on nice and snug so that I will have
08:55 proper sleep tracking and also make sure
08:58 that my alarm is set so that I can hopefully get in
09:01 some exercise before work tomorrow.
09:04 On that note, I'm gonna say goodnight.
09:06 (footsteps)
09:08 Good morning, it is 8.30 a.m.
09:14 The Apple Watch Ultra successfully woke me up.
09:19 There were haptics on my wrist.
09:21 I can see that the Apple Watch Ultra
09:23 took care of business overnight with sleep tracking,
09:26 giving me a full overview of my sleep stages
09:29 and how much rest I got.
09:30 I also can see my battery life, which is a bit of a concern.
09:33 It dropped down to 8% overnight.
09:36 Remembering Apple's 18-hour battery life
09:40 with LTE connectivity, this is panning out exactly
09:43 considering that I started at 2.30 yesterday.
09:47 So interesting to see that that estimate is accurate,
09:52 but this also means that I will need to charge the watch
09:56 in order to go to my workout and make sure
09:58 I get all my credit for closing my rings.
10:02 Okay, the Apple Watch Ultra is up to about 35%,
10:07 but that's all the time that I have.
10:09 So I also have the Alpine Loop,
10:12 which is made for security on the trails.
10:16 Let's hook her in.
10:17 I did a time to run workout using the treadmill.
10:24 And what's great about that is those workouts
10:26 are preloaded on my wrist.
10:28 You could fit one more metric on there
10:30 than you can on the standard Apple Watch.
10:32 I think everyone knows that the Apple Watch
10:35 makes a great fitness tracker,
10:37 and the Apple Watch Ultra just does a few things
10:40 all that much better.
10:41 I was at 35% before my workout, which is a half-hour run.
10:45 I am now down to 24%.
10:48 It's pretty obvious that the Apple Watch Ultra
10:52 is designed for fitness tracking and outdoor sports,
10:56 but Apple also promises its new ability
10:58 to make phone calls out in the elements.
11:01 I'm gonna put it to the test
11:02 against the Apple Watch Series 8.
11:04 Whether I love it or hate it,
11:07 New York is a notoriously noisy city.
11:10 Now, if I were to take a call on my Apple Watch,
11:13 I wanna know that the person on the other line
11:15 could hear me clearly.
11:16 So I've got the Apple Watch Series 8 here
11:18 and the Apple Watch Ultra,
11:19 and I'm gonna leave voicemails for our producers
11:21 so we can see side by side whether the call quality
11:24 on one smartwatch is better than on the other.
11:27 Call Marcus Cooper.
11:28 - At the tone, please record your message.
11:31 - First up, we have the Apple Watch Series 8.
11:33 Now, I've used the Series 8 to make phone calls before,
11:36 but those are kind of when I'm in a tight position
11:39 where I just need to pick up the call quickly
11:42 and then I'll reach for my phone after I've picked up the call.
11:44 Every time I've been on the phone with someone
11:46 speaking to them this way,
11:47 they said I sounded a bit hollow, but what do you think?
11:50 - Calling Marcus Cooper.
11:54 - Already, I think I can tell that the Apple Watch Ultra's
11:57 speakers are louder.
11:59 - At the tone, please record your message.
12:00 - That's pretty loud.
12:02 I feel like I can hear that pretty clearly.
12:04 - One for more options.
12:05 - Now I'm talking on the Apple Watch Ultra.
12:08 The Apple Watch Ultra is supposed to have better speakers
12:11 and microphones, and that is so that you can make
12:13 clearer calls with lots of ambient noise.
12:16 Now, it's designed for maybe more outdoorsy conditions,
12:20 lots of wind, for example,
12:22 but it's just as suitable against thorns
12:25 and all the hubbub in New York City.
12:27 Listening back to the phone calls,
12:30 the clearest difference for me is the background noise
12:32 is totally gone on the Ultra.
12:34 You can't even tell that I'm in the busiest part of town.
12:37 I still think the quality doesn't quite compare
12:40 to speaking directly into an iPhone,
12:42 but it is a major improvement.
12:44 Speaking of phones, there's just enough time
12:47 for me to hustle back to the office
12:48 before our 24 hours are up.
12:51 I did it, it is 2.30, which means I've survived 24 hours
12:55 without my iPhone and just the Apple Watch Ultra,
12:58 and it's time to get it back.
13:01 Look at the notifications coming in.
13:03 This is everything, just buzzing so much.
13:05 I know I joke that I don't even care about my phone anymore,
13:09 but it actually was not as bad as I was expecting.
13:12 I did keep reaching for it in my pocket at first,
13:14 but I eventually just forgot that I even needed to have it.
13:17 I replied to urgent messages on my wrist,
13:19 I still had my laptop for work,
13:21 and I had just the right amount of things going on
13:23 in the last 24 hours that made this challenge possible.
13:26 For those of you who don't know,
13:27 I run the Tom's Guide TikTok account,
13:29 so taking a break from that is like the number one thing
13:31 that I think would just be impossible without a phone.
13:34 Similarly, the Instagram and Twitter breaks
13:36 were probably good for me, but I could not do it every day.
13:39 I also know that I'd want the convenience
13:41 of a camera every day.
13:42 I have tested out Wristcam, which is a band
13:44 that actually does put a two-way cam on your wrist,
13:47 and it could be a solution, though it is a $300 device,
13:50 so pair that with an Ultra,
13:51 and you could also afford a pro model of an iPhone.
13:54 Though that reminds me that a lot of what I managed here
13:57 is also possible with a non-Ultra Apple Watch,
14:00 so the Series 8 or Apple Watch SE,
14:03 even if you have an earlier gen model,
14:04 as long as it has LTE connectivity.
14:07 But why the Ultra is best suited
14:08 for an iPhone-free experience is the battery life, for sure.
14:12 I got nearly the promised 18 hours of battery life
14:14 with LTE enabled, which actually isn't that far off
14:17 from what I get with my iPhone when I think about it.
14:20 This challenge showed me just how much I can really do
14:22 with the Apple Watch Ultra.
14:24 For communication, safety, travel, payments, and more,
14:28 this did the job.
14:29 I don't think the Apple Watch
14:30 will ever really replace the iPhone,
14:32 but the Ultra is as close as a smartwatch
14:35 has ever been to an iPhone replacement.
14:37 Let me know if you'd wanna see me try ditching
14:39 the Apple Watch for my next challenge.
14:40 Low-key, I think it would be harder for me,
14:42 especially after getting used to doing so much
14:45 here on my wrist.
14:46 Be sure to let me know your thoughts,
14:47 or hit me up on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram,
14:49 @tomsguide and @katekosich.
14:51 Thanks for watching, we'll catch you next time.
14:53 (upbeat music)
14:56 (upbeat music)