I will use e-sim.
It will not drain it all the while. If your watch is within proximity of your iPhone, it will draw off that instead of from the watch. If you use only the Watch away from your phone the entire day, then you will see cellular have a significant effect on battery.

But then again, how often will you be using it without your iPhone on a daily basis? Coming from an earlier gen Apple Watch, I charge my watch daily so it whouldn't be an issue.

Editing in the fact that the biggest impact I saw was streaming songs/podcasts through the watch without downloading it to the watch first, during a run on exercise mode where GPS is tracking. THis was the biggest hit on battery.


This post has been edited by statikinetic: Oct 8 2022, 01:07 PM

Since we are talking about battery, those of you who prioritize duration between battery charges can consider the Low Power Mode if you are not too bothered about the tradeoffs. This isn't even the low power settings that is advertised to extend battery duration to 60 hours. That will come soon.

Low Power Mode turns these features off:

Always On display
Heart rate notifications for irregular rhythm, high heart rate, and low heart rate
Background heart rate measurements
Background blood oxygen measurements
Start workout reminder


If your iPhone isn't nearby, these are turned off:

Wi-Fi and cellular connections
Incoming phone calls and notifications


Other features affected by Low Power Mode include:

Making a phone call can take longer
Background app refresh happens less frequently
Complications update less frequently
Siri can take longer to process a request
Some animations and scrolling might appear less smooth

You need an iPhone to activate it. After that you can use without the iPhone.
Don't have an old iPhone?

Good early signs. Let’s see how long it goes before you have to charge it.
Keep us updated!

I am using the Series 3 since it was launched and will be upgrading to the Ultra.
If I'm not mistaken, the Series 3 is out of support and no longer receives the latest WatchOS updates.

My AWU in transit from Apple. Expected to come next Monday.
Sitting here reading posts so jelly.

Oh my. My Apple Store order which was estimated delivery at 2nd Nov has just arrived today!

Apple Watch Ultra with the black trail band.

Happy Apple Store customer.

I ordered late on 7th Oct but also had the 2nd Nov due date. Was surprised by a sudden Shipped status a couple days ago.
Not to get your hopes up but perhaps next week?

Charged the watch to 100%, going for a workout now. Let's see how long it lasts.

This post has been edited by statikinetic: Oct 15 2022, 03:49 PM

Status Update on my Day 1 with the Ultra.

Charged to 100% and started using around 1pm. No cellular yet. AOD on.
Took it for a 80 minute gym workout. Then out for grocery shopping.

It's at 84% now. Battery looking pretty good.

An 18% battery hit for a one hour run is a huge hit if you did it without streaming music. Something is running in the background. 20% for streaming during a workout looks normal.
I suspect the first use case may need some looking at. For the previous poster, he listened to downloaded music but had cellular turned on. That means there is data downloads happening evidenced by the WhatsApp message received. The key isn't streaming or not, it's having to maintain that cellular connection throughout the run.

Try doing that run again next time but with cellular turned off. You can reference the downloaded playlist on your watch.
A one hour run while listening to downloaded music shouldn't hit beyond 10% battery.

This post has been edited by statikinetic: Oct 16 2022, 09:24 AM

I just edited the post when I saw yours.
My opinion is that the hit is by having cellular on and maintaining that cellular connection. Whether you use it from streaming or just downloading WhatsApp in the background, it taxes battery all the same.
If saving battery is key, turn cellular off during the run and listen to downloaded music. GPS should still be good.

It's almost 24 hours since I fully charged my watch yesterday. Current battery is at 64%. Expect it to be around 60% at the 24 hour mark. This includes workouts, AOD but no cellular.
I'm guessing it'll last about 2 full days of normal use.

So since I'm used to charging my watch everyday, have decided to charge it daily and enable full functionality for the day. No point skimping.
This way, I'll get extra buffer for those crazy days where my watch dies before the day is through.

AOD. Cellular. GPS. Everything on. Let's go.

Went to KLCC and dropped by Machines to buy the Power Adapter for the watch. Saw a few people coming in hoping to see the Ultra but none on display yet nor available.
The only Ultra in there was the one on my wrist.

Sleep tracking is automatic. Didn't get much data on sleep when using the AW3, but the Ultra is data rich.
Needs a little getting used to wearing it to bed, quite chunky as compared to the AW3 which was okay.

Yes. The sheer size of it....don't think it will look good on the average woman here.
If the watch is wider than your wrist, it's too big.

I actually went to the store to activate and was informed there was no need to.
Everything setup from my iPhone was enough.

You don't seem to have a use case that requires Cellular. Getting it now is burning money.
You don't need it.

Maybe one day you may, activate it then. But you are safe in the knowledge that your watch can support Cellular. And activating it on the iPhone for Maxis takes only a few minutes when you need it.

Charged the watch and went to bed with 100% battery.
Woke up with 99% battery.

I could get used to this.

Yes, sleep tracking is enabled. Verified in my Health app. Slept for 6 hours.
Thinking of what would have contributed to it, could have been the Sleep Focus as I use it on my iPhone. Do you use Sleep Focus?

It changes the watch face and locks the screen so it doesn't light up while you are in bed. I think it may also slow down some internal running functions in the watch which saves battery.

Edited : For comparison, started using the watch and it is sitting at 93% currently since waking up at 6.30am.

This post has been edited by statikinetic: Oct 19 2022, 09:36 AM

I think so too. May just be a one off hence took me by surprise.
Didn't see it the previous days.

Will keep track of it and report back if it persists.

Plastic case ruins the look of the watch for me personally.
A bit of unsolicited feedback.

Welcome to cellular club then.
Kena racun.