It’s abrupt, but I’m a Garmin smartwatch user. I love the fēnix 6S smartwatch in my daily life and sports , but I was able to borrow the “Apple Watch Ultra” released in September 2022 for about a month, so I’d like to take a look at that Ultra. I decided to try it out to make sure.
Although I was curious about it, I didn’t have high expectations because it wasn’t necessarily a sports-specific watch, but after trying it out, I was completely blown away by its high functionality in multisport. It’s gone!
I tried it with biking and running, a total of 76km multi-sport
table of contents
I’d like to use it for multi-sport that combines biking and running!
There is a setting to make the transition “automatic” on the watch alone!
Results of using cycling → trail running → cycling
I can do activities for more than 14 hours in a row!
I’d like to use it for multi-sport that combines biking and running!
Apple Watch Ultra and iPhone
Multi-sport is a sport in which multiple competitions are performed consecutively, and a typical example is triathlon, which consists of three events: swimming, biking (cycling), and running. But whether it’s just swimming and biking, or biking and running, it’s multisport. As you know, the Apple Watch series originally had a function to record a single sport or activity, but from watchOS 9 it finally supports multi-sport, and works by freely combining the three sports of swimming, biking, and running. I became able to handle outs.
Multi-sport selection from the workout screen on the watch itself
Suitable for indoor and outdoor swimming, biking and running
However, it seems that there were concerns about multi-sport support on the Apple Watch. For example, the battery life of the Apple Watch series so far has consistently been up to 18 hours. Moreover, it is only a guideline when using the standard usage that Apple assumes. When it comes to outdoor activities that make full use of GPS and constantly measure time and heart rate, naturally the battery life will be shorter (Apple official says that outdoor workouts can be used for up to 7 hours).
Even if it’s okay for a typical triathlon that takes 3 to 4 hours, I’m not sure if the battery will last until the end of a longer triathlon (more than long distance), and the battery will run out halfway through and the record will be incomplete. It doesn’t make sense. Although it is different from multi-sport, even a competition like an ultramarathon that runs more than 100km can take 12 hours or more, and I think that the Apple Watch series’ low battery is not suitable for such long-term activities. I think it was done.
However, the appearance of the Apple Watch Ultra seems to change the direction of the wind a little. The battery time is 36 hours, which is double that of the standard model (Apple official says up to 12 hours for outdoor workouts using GPS). Perhaps it has the stamina to handle multi-sport for long periods of time. As expected, I don’t have the physical strength or experience to challenge an ultramarathon, but it seems that I can check its performance a little in multi-sport that combines cycling and running for a certain amount of time.
That’s why I started a multi-sport program where I rode a road bike to Mt. Takao in Hachioji, Tokyo, which is about 34km away from my home, followed by trail running to the summit of Mt. I decided to try it on my Apple Watch Ultra. The total distance is about 76km.
The image is slightly different from the actual driving route, but it is about 34km from my home to Mt. Takao. Climbing is over 3 km one way, running a total of about 76 km round trip
There is a setting to make the transition “automatic” on the watch alone!
Setting is necessary in advance when performing somewhat irregular multi-sport like this time with Apple Watch Ultra. Display the multi-sport menu on the workout screen of the watch body, and create a new menu with the “Create Workout” button.
Tap the “Create Workout” button
Add activities one by one with “Add”
The first activity is ‘Outdoor Cycling’, then ‘Outdoor Running’, and finally ‘Outdoor Cycling’ again. Since it is mountain climbing, I would like to call it “trail running” instead of “outdoor running”, but it is not included in the activities that can be specified in multi-sport. In fact, the Apple Watch does not have an activity called “trail running” in the first place. This is where it gets a little disappointing (although there is one called “hiking”).
First select “Outdoor Cycling”
Continue to add “outdoor running” and another “outdoor cycling” to the third event
Also, in more detail, there are only 6 types of activities that can be specified in multi-sport, indoor and outdoor cycling, running, and swimming, and “indoor/outdoor walking” provided for normal workouts is multi-sport cannot be specified in . I will mention this later, but I’m guessing that “walking” is intentionally disabled in consideration of other functions.
Aside from that, what should be noted in this multi-sport setting is the “automatic” transition. A transition is a transition section during a triathlon competition when transitioning from swimming to biking or from biking to running. Equipment is changed and replenishment is done here, but since the time during such transitions is included in the competition time, it is important to make the transitions smoothly when aiming for a record.
“Transition” settings
Choose between “automatic” and “manual”
So, when recording multi-sport, it is important to be able to measure the time it takes to transition, but at this time most existing sports watches are used when “entering transition” and “moving to the next activity”. , It is necessary to operate the button on the watch body each time. This is actually quite a hassle, and it’s not always possible to operate the screen and buttons at the right time while in extreme fatigue.
On the Apple Watch, transitions can be handled manually like this, but by setting it to “automatic”, the transition and the end and start of activities before and after it can be handled without any button operation. It seems like something that will give you something. It is probably detected by the sensor provided in the watch body, but if this is really possible, it may be said to be epoch-making.
By the way, there is Wahoo’s smartwatch “ELEMNT RIVAL” that automates the recording operation before and after such a transition. However, because it is a mechanism that is realized by linking with the company’s cycle computer, not only a smart watch but also a cycle computer is required, and it cannot be used for a combination of swimming and running or indoor workouts. As far as I know, the Apple Watch series is the only smartwatch that can automatically transition indoors and outdoors.
This is actually quite a hassle, and it’s not always possible to operate the screen and buttons at the right time while in extreme fatigue.
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