Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 Reviews: Look Out, Oura Ring

The first reviews of the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 are now available ahead of the devices launching this Friday, September 18.

While both new Apple Watches look virtually identical to the previous-generation models on the outside, there are a handful of upgrades this year. For example, a more powerful S11 chip and larger LEDs on the optical heart sensor enable more accurate and frequent heart rate sensing, and HRV is now measured up to 24 times more often.

There is also a new Readiness app, more accurate step tracking, and faster charging. Finally, two new Audio Intelligence features Siri Rewind and Live Recap will be available later this year, as part of an upcoming watchOS update.

The Verge's Victoria Song said the S11 chip speeds up Siri AI:

The S11's impact was also noticeable in testing. Siri AI queries are faster on the Series 12 than my Ultra 3.

Song added that the higher-frequency heart rate sensing did not impact battery life:

I didn't notice a negative impact to battery life from continuous heart rate tracking. People will gripe that the Series 12 doesn't have multi-day battery and sticks to the Series 11's 24-hour battery estimate. But like last year, I maintain that faster charging is a fine enough solution. In a 20-minute charging test, I went from 20 to 64 percent battery.

9to5Mac's Chance Miller on Apple Watch Ultra 4 battery life:

In my testing, the Apple Watch Ultra 4 lives up to Apple's battery life claims. In my real-world test, I charged it to 100% around 8 p.m. on Sunday and didn't put it back on the charger until 8 p.m. on Tuesday. That's 48 hours on a single charge, including 90 minutes of workout tracking, three hours away from my iPhone, and two nights of sleep tracking.

CNET's Vanessa Hand Orellana noted that the Apple Watch's belated ability to show a readiness score stands apart from competitors like the Oura Ring by continuously updating throughout the day and not requiring a monthly subscription fee for some stats:

Many wearables give you a score in the morning based on metrics such as HRV, sleep, temperature and other overnight vitals, but since it's static and delivered once a day, it can feel like a life sentence (and sometimes a self-fulfilling prophecy) rather than a training tool. The Apple Watch keeps measuring your daytime vitals and adjusts your Readiness score as the day unfolds and rates you from 0–10 with actionable advice including Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready and Go for It. In theory, you could see how a midmorning nap affects your score and adjust your workout accordingly.

Apple also gives you the data behind your Readiness score at no additional cost. Oura, for example, shows you a Readiness score without a subscription, but you'll need to pay the $7/monthly fee to dig into what's driving it and to see long-term trends.

Apple's readiness score requires "at least" seven nights of data, and most reviewers said they were still not seeing a score yet after around a week, so we will need to wait for later reviews to get a better look at the feature.

Siri Rewind and Live Recap were not available to reviewers yet, either, unfortunately.

Still, Engadget's Cherlynn Low said the new models are a "solid upgrade" this year:

If you can ignore the Live Rewind and Siri Recap features that aren't even available on the Apple Watch Series 12 yet, the device is a solid upgrade over older models. The new health sensing system is a meaningful overhaul, while the expansion of gesture support has the potential to enable more hands-free interactions with your watch. The inclusion of a new type of HRV measurement, increased sampling rates and some additional watch face complications are small but helpful touches for those who obsess over their metrics.

There are some new case options and colors for the Series 12, such as Light Bronze aluminum and the return of ceramic in Pearl White and Night Blue.

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