Hey everyone, I ran a brightness test for the Ultra 1 and Ultra 2 to see how much brighter the Ultra 2 really is. According to Apple, it is 50% brighter, but apparently it requires the sun to be the brightest it’s ever been to see the true potential of the newer display.

And when the sun isn’t at its brightest, you won’t see a difference between the two watches.

It is also worth noting that the Ultra 2 is now dimmer than the Ultra 1 in low-light environments, as the 2 dims down to 1 nit in low-light.

I am a bit disappointed in the aggressive marketing of the Ultra 2 being the brightest display ever on an Apple Watch, but it is what it is, and I still love the watch.

What I really would love to see is the ability to control the brightness on the Ultra 2, and I am surprised Apple doesn’t allow this, as they are known for personalization/ease of use.

With that said, here are the results of that test:

https://thewearableguy.com/apple-watch-ultra-1-vs-2-brightness/

    • thewearableguy@alien.topOPBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      It sure would! I don’t think anyone wants that. The biggest issue is the user not having control of the new brightness, the new brightness not applying to the flashlight, and the new dimming under low-mid light which makes it harder to read.

  • pavel_vishnyakov@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    brightest display ever on an Apple Watch

    The marketing isn’t wrong, they just omit the fact that you need very specific conditions to benefit from the brighter display.

  • Otherwise_Break_4293@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    There’s a lot to unpack here. Between your post and your replies within the post. 1, the watch has an oled display. Oleds are more likely to suffer from burn-in with brighter displays. 2, Apple is not know for personalization. They for sure have their way of doing things. 3, You conducting a speed test doesn’t do much. I would bet Apple didn’t claim the gpu in the new s9 SiP to be 30% faster. I’d bet they claimed it to be “up to” 30% faster depending on the task.

  • Bigmizzoufan@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    The dim screen in low light conditions definitely sucks. I upgraded from S6 to AWU2 and feel like I took a step back in dark rooms.

  • yakface_1999@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I love my AWU 1 and was very excited about the 2. I was actually meeting someone prior to the announcement to sell my 1 so I could get the 2 and he cancelled last minute. After seeing the announcement I decided to keep my 1 and I’m happy I did.

  • edogawafan@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I agree. Brightness was the whole reason I bought the ultra 2. There’s currently a bug with the ambient light sensor and complications can barely be seen in low light. I’m returning mine.

    • OphioukhosUnbound@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I definitely don’t have this issue.
      You might try just getting a replacement UW2 first (assuming you’ve already done a hard reset to check software)

      Also possible that this is a human variation thing. 🤷 (Is there a consensus yet? I’ve seen a few people mention this, but most UW2 users seem to have no problem.)

    • thewearableguy@alien.topOPBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I don’t think it’s a bug, it’s a feature. Apple stated the screen brightness reduces to 1 nit in low light, unless you’re referring to something else.

      I still love my U2, just wish there was a manual option to control brightness to really get the most out of it.