Many of the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals on fitness trackers are big discounts on older devices that offer great value to people who don’t need the absolute newest features on their watch.
However, as much as we rate those deals, it’s almost more exciting to get just a little off the latest and best watches, and that’s what Amazon is offering with its deals on the Apple Watch Ultra.
Apple’s flagship watch was only launched in September, so we were surprised to see it discounted on Amazon in both the US and UK. In the US the Ultra has been reduced to $739 from $799, and in the UK it’s now £819 now from £849.
These are small discounts in percentage terms, but if you want the best Apple Watch on your wrist, getting anything off its RRP is a welcome bonus considering how new the watch is.
I have been using the Apple Watch Ultra since its launch, testing it alongside the best sports watches on the market like the Garmin Epix 2, and it stands up well as a sports tracker thanks to the updates Apple has made with the watch.
These include the action button, which can be used as a lap button, and also dual-band GPS, with Apple’s GPS tracking now matching up to Garmin’s as the most accurate on the market from any brand.
The native Workout app has also been overhauled to be far more useful. You can track more stats and also create structured workouts to follow on the watch. The biggest advantage of the Apple Watch Ultra is that any time you find the native app lacking, you can turn to the App Store and find excellent sports tracking apps like WorkOutDoors or Footpath.
I’ve run both the Berlin and London Marathons with the Apple Watch Ultra this year, testing it against the Garmin Epix 2 at both. On distance tracking alone the Ultra came out on top, especially in London where the high buildings around Canary Wharf flummoxed both watches, but the Epix 2 more.
That’s not to say the Ultra is a better sports watch than the Epix 2 (which is reduced by $100 in the Garmin sale). The Epix 2 offers more impressive sports tracking, detailed training analysis and the best mapping features available but the Apple Watch Ultra is no longer far behind, and is clearly a better smartwatch.
