You look at the Apple Watch Ultra 3. You look at the Huawei Watch Ultimate 2. Same price range, same “ultimate adventure watch” promise. And behind it, a real, somewhat violent question: where you put your €900 note without regretting it in six months.
Because here, we are no longer talking about a small office fitness watch. We are talking about war machines for mountain, sea, diving, off-grid. And if you're on the wrong side – Apple when you're Android, or Ultimate 2 when you'll never set foot under 20m – it's a waste of money. Clearly.
We start with the thing that everyone dodges: the two watches play in the same price range. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 costs around €800–900 depending on the bracelet and promotions, the Huawei Watch Ultimate 2 is between €899 (black) and €999 (blue) at most resellers. We are in the same club: very high-end, without net.
Basically, you pay for three things:
If you want to push the comparison further on the autonomy/pure outdoor side, take a look at our Ultra 3 comparison with the Garmin Enduro 3 in ultra-distance. That immediately raises the bar.
On the Apple side, the Ultra 3 remains faithful to its recipe: 49mm titanium caseflat sapphire glass screen, water resistance up to 100 m, IP6X dust rating. It's the Ultra design you already know, refined, very readable, with a massive but intuitive crown. If you want to dig into the material, we have a dedicated focus with our complete guide to titanium watches on the wrist.
On the other hand, Huawei is not pretending: zirconium-based liquid metalnanocrystalline ceramic bezel, sapphire crystal, case rated for 20 ATM, i.e. theoretical resistance at 200 m and practical diving up to 150 m. The Watch Ultimate 2 is clearly designed as a diving and shipping toolnot just a pretty connected watch. It goes deeper, longer, and is designed for salt, sand and rocks.
Frankly, on the feeling of solidity, both check the “tank” box. But as soon as you speak committed divingthe Ultimate 2 takes the advantage on paper: 20 ATM, max depth 150 m, dedicated diving features. The Ultra 3 remains limited to recreational diving up to 40 m via compatible app.
If your obsession is the watch that survives everything, also check out our selection of ultra-robust connected watches for extreme use.
Both are big. Really. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 remains at 49mm, around 61–62g without a strap. The Huawei Watch Ultimate 2 grows to 48.5 mm, with an even more pronounced visual presence because of its diver's bezel.
In daily use (work + sport + night), the Ultra 3 goes a little better for many wrists: slightly more balanced case, visually more compact rectangular screen. The Ultimate 2 really is a “big diver’s tool watch”. If you have a thin wrist and you plan to sleep with it, think twice. It's still wearable, but we're not going to tell you that it's discreet. That would be dishonest.
On the screen, we are at the very top of the basket.
Yes, on paper, Huawei wins the race for numbers (3,500 vs 3,000 nits). In real life, both are perfectly readable in full view. The difference is especially felt at certain angles, on the surface of the water or with a big reverberation. But if you choose one or the other, it won't be 500 nits apart. Honestly, that's not what should decide your purchase.
Apple announces forApple Watch Ultra 3 until 42 hours of battery life in “normal” use, with a low consumption mode which extends to around 72 hours. Serious field tests revolve around 2.5 to 3 days with notifications, spot GPS, sleep tracking and Always-On screen enabled. For an Apple Watch, it's very good. For a so-called “ultra” watch, it’s just “correct”.
There Huawei Watch Ultimate 2 plays another score: 867 mAh battery, up to 11 days announced in typical use, and approximately 4 to 6 actual days in heavy use (notifications, several sports sessions with GPS, active screen). In diving mode, we are talking about a battery range that is more than sufficient to carry out a series of dives on a cruise, without recharging every evening.
So yes, if we just talk about autonomy, without emotion: Huawei puts a real distance on Apple. Not because Apple is falling behind, but because the Ultimate 2 is designed as an expedition watch that must last several days away from an outlet, whereas the Ultra 3 remains a very complete connected watch... but always calibrated on a frequent recharge logic.
To compare with other brands and ranges, you can read our complete file on the autonomy of modern connected watches.
Imagine a typical week: 3 sports sessions (running, weight training, cycling), notifications galore, a few calls, night monitored on the watch.
It’s not “good or bad”. It's a philosophy. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is the watch that constantly talks to your iPhone, which runs a lot of functions in the background. The Huawei Watch Ultimate 2 is a more closed watch on the ecosystem side, but with a autonomy tank much bigger. Basically, you choose between the software brain… and duration.
This is probably the point that turns this comparison the most. Apple Watch Ultra 3 vs Huawei Watch Ultimate 2.
If your program is two baptisms and one soft diving cruise per year, the Ultra 3 is more than enough. If you are the type to do deep dives, to prepare tek, to want an extra margin of safety on the wrist, Ultimate 2 is much more consistent. Important nuance: it does not replace a dedicated dive computer on complex dives. It's still a watch, even if it's pretty close.
To broaden the diving subject, you can consult our selection of the best watches for extreme diving for men.
There, Apple hits very hard. L'Apple Watch Ultra 3in addition to cellular connectivity, integrates satellite features : Emergency SOS, location and Messages via satellite in some cases. Concretely: you can trigger an alert even outside the traditional network, and send or receive text messages via satellite within a well-defined framework.
Important: this is not not a complete satellite phone. You don't make unlimited voice calls from the bottom of a canyon. You send emergency messages, you can exchange text messages using your iPhone and a compatible subscription, and you have an extra layer of security for the mountains, trekking, coastal sailing. But it remains targeted: no gratuitous chatter, just the essentials.
There Huawei Watch Ultimate 2for its part, offers an eSIM, a very modern GPS (multi-constellations, Sunflower, etc.) and an underwater sonar, but it remains dependent on classic mobile networks for everything that is “land” alert. Underwater, it allows you to communicate by ping sonar with another equipped diver. On earth, there are no satellites. It's clear.
For the rest of the outdoor functions (baro altimeter, multi-band GPS, navigation, return to start), the two watches are at the asking price: very good. Clean tracks, stable signal, reliable compass, useful elevation and pace alerts.
If your focus is mainly on altitude, alpi, long trail running, you can complete your thoughts with our comparison of the best altimeter watches for committed mountaineering.
In summary: Huawei dominates underwater, Apple dominates off-grid security. On pure dry outdoors (trail, hiking, trekking), the difference is more due to the ecosystem and the apps than to the sensors themselves.
We will be very clear: buying an Apple Watch Ultra 3 without an iPhone is a bad idea. You won't have full integration, not the apps, not the ecosystem. The Ultra 3 really comes into its own when attached to a recent iPhone, with Apple Pay, Apple Music, sports apps, Home, etc. To see what changes compared to the previous generation, you can read our Apple Watch Ultra 3 versus Ultra 2 comparison and the complete Apple Watch Ultra 3 sheet with all the detailed specs.
The issue here is also API and third-party apps. On the Apple side, you have thousands of apps that make full use of the hardware: altimeter, health data, GPS, specific training, sleep analysis, personalized coaching, advanced navigation. It's a mature ecosystem. On the Huawei side, the universe is more closed: AppGallery, a few partner apps, but fewer ultra-sophisticated solutions. This directly impacts the wealth of specialized tools that you can install, especially for very geeky athletes who love cross-referencing data.
There Huawei Watch Ultimate 2it is compatible with Android and iOS, but its best terrain clearly remains the Huawei / Android ecosystem. You can connect it to an iPhone, yes, but certain functions are limited, and the absence of complete Google services + the small application tweaks end up tiring some users. So, if you are very app-dependent, things can get stuck.
If you are still hesitating between several Huawei watches, our guide to the best Huawei connected watches for 2025 and the detailed sheet of the Apple Watch Ultra 2 to compare the generations will give you a broader vision of the range.
We cut with a knife. Without wooden language.
Before taking out the card, concretely:
In summary? If you live with an iPhone and your life is as much the city as the mountains, theApple Watch Ultra 3 remains the most logical choice. If your playground is the ocean, the depth, the committed dives and the expeditions far from a hold, the Huawei Watch Ultimate 2 takes the advantage.
You don't buy "the best watch" in general. You choose the one that fits your real life. And there, suddenly, the answer becomes much simpler.
Article updated on November 18, 2025. Written for L'Swiss Made Watch by David Deteve, editor & field tester.
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