There's no doubt that the Apple Watch Ultra is the best Apple Watch you can buy right now. It might be overkill for average users, but it certainly makes a great case for adventurers, athletes, and explorers with its rugged design and plethora of fitness and sports features. The Apple Watch Ultra has the biggest and brightest display of any Apple smartwatch — capable of reaching 2000 nits at its peak — encased in a Titanium case and protected by a flat sapphire front crystal. Not only that, but the new watch also boasts dual-frequency GPS support for a more precise navigation experience.

The Apple Watch series has always offered GPS support (in addition to other global satellite navigation systems), but the Apple Watch Ultra is the first to come with dual-band GPS (L1 + L5). Most smartwatches on the market, including the Galaxy Watch 5, only support single-frequency GPS and can only receive satellite signals on the L1 frequency. Dual-frequency support allows the Apple Watch Ultra to lock onto L1 and L5 bands simultaneously. This greatly improves navigational positional accuracy and reduces multipath errors in urban areas and other challenging environments.

Apple Watch Ultras with different colors and bands.
Apple Watch Ultra

The Apple Watch Ultra features a larger, more solid design. It caters to athletes and extreme users through its exclusive features and specifications.

For the unaware, L1 is the oldest GPS signal in use, and for the most part, it's pretty reliable and accurate. However, since it operates on a relatively slower frequency, it doesn't travel effectively through obstacles such as cloud cover, buildings, trees, etc. The L5 band operates on a faster frequency and has higher bandwidth, and addresses many of the shortcomings of the L1 band. L1 is quite accurate and reliable on its own, but when you use it in conjunction with L5, you can get an even more precise and faster navigation experience. And that's the reason Apple decided to integrate the precision dual-frequency GPS in the Apple Watch Ultra. In addition to dual-frequency GPS, the watch also supports all major global navigation satellite systems, including GLONASS, GALILEO, and BeiDou.

The Apple Watch Ultra is now on sale, and at $799, it's far more expensive than the Apple Watch Series 8 and the Watch SE 2. If you're planning to buy one, be sure to check out the best Apple Watch Ultra deals to save big.