The Apple Watch Ultra 3 does an excellent job of tracking activity, exercise, and sleep, matching the capabilities of the Apple Watch Series 11. On the exercise front, you can use it to automatically or manually track a wide range of sports and other types of workouts.
The new Workout app makes it easy to set goals (Credit: Andrew Gebhart)
The Workout app gets an overhaul with watchOS 26. New buttons in the corners offer detailed customization options. The upper left button lets you set which metrics are visible as you work out and group them into screens, in your preferred order. The lower left button lets you set media to automatically play as you start working out, either your own playlist or Apple’s curated selections. The upper right button takes you to a menu to set goals and targets for metrics like distance, pace, and time. The lower right button turns on Workout Buddy.
Workout Buddy is an AI-powered assistant compatible with outdoor and indoor runs and walks, outdoor cycling, high-intensity interval training, and both traditional and functional strength-training workouts. You can choose from a number of different voices and customize the information it relays. It’ll always chime in with words of encouragement at the start and end of a workout and at certain milestones throughout, but you can also have it keep you up to date on your heart rate or pace, for instance.
Since Workout Buddy is powered by AI, you’ll need to pair your Ultra 3 with an iPhone with Apple Intelligence, such as an iPhone 15 Pro or later. You’ll also need a set of paired Bluetooth earbuds, such as the AirPods Pro 3.
I tested the Ultra 3’s tracking accuracy during a 30-minute run while wearing the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic ($499.99) on my other wrist. The Ultra 3’s heart rate numbers stayed within 3 to 5 beats per minute (bpm) of the Classic throughout. However, it adapted slightly slower than the Galaxy Watch when I started sprinting at intervals toward the end of the workout.
I thought it peaked at too low a number, but when I checked the metrics afterward, the heart rate chart and max heart rate numbers lined up with the Galaxy Watch exactly. I either missed the peak number when the screen showed it, or the screen was slightly delayed, but the measurements were ultimately accurate. After the workout, its values for my average heart rate and cadence lined up with Samsung’s exactly. For outdoor running, the Ultra 3 also tracks calories, distance, and pace, as well as advanced form metrics like ground contact time, stride length, and vertical oscillation. Each metric lined up reasonably well with Samsung’s measurements.
During the run, I enjoyed the music that Apple picked for me and my interactions with Workout Buddy. The cheery voice shows the most personality at the start of a workout, as it thanked me for getting started and offered words of encouragement. Most of the rest of the interactions were just metrics updates, including a full stat breakdown at the end of the workout.
When testing the feature previously, I noted that I found Workout Buddy annoying if I enabled additional reminders like heart rate or pace updates. Samsung’s comparable Running Coach can also become annoying, but it offers more prescriptive guidance for crafting a running workout and building toward a goal like a 5K or a marathon if that’s what you’re looking for. The Workout Buddy is more of a blank slate for your own goals.
The Ultra 3 also accurately tracked my sleep. I tested it while again wearing the Watch 8 Classic on my other wrist. The Ultra 3 measures time asleep and time in each sleep stage. It also charts heart rate and respiration over the course of the night. Each of these metrics, including the sleep stage chart, lined up well with Samsung’s.
I slept well while testing the Ultra 3 (Credit: Andrew Gebhart)
New to watchOS 26, the Ultra 3 also offers a holistic Sleep Score to encapsulate the rest of your sleep data on a scale from 0 to 100, with five levels of classification: Very Low (0 to 29), Low (30 to 49), OK (50 to 69), High (70 to 89), and Excellent (90 to 100).
You can tap the info icon under your Sleep Score to see a breakdown of how it was calculated. You can earn up to 50 points for duration, up to 30 for keeping a consistent bedtime, and up to 20 for minimizing interruptions, with the total equalling your score out of 100.
Both Google and Samsung provide similar sleep scores in their respective smartwatches, and they take more criteria into account. Samsung’s, for instance, factors in data like deep sleep and sleep latency. Apple’s is the simplest and the most straightforward, as it’s the only one that shows exactly how the different criteria add up to the overall score.
Like Workout Buddy, Apple’s Sleep Score isn’t meant to be prescriptive, just informative. Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 8 models have a Sleep Coach, which does offer prescriptive advice if you want that help.